Agrial III
| Name | Agrial III |
|---|---|
| |
| Sub-Sector | Tertius |
| Type | Shrine World |
| Population | 1.1 million |
| Climate | Sub-tropical |
| Status | Imperial |
“Dull. Dull, dull, dull. I can’t imagine spending your whole miserable life here; frankly I’d rather do something appalling like join the Guard.” – Travel Diary of Lucius di Firro, 579.M41
About Agrial III
An ancient shrine world covered in dusty sepulchres and echoing chapels, Agrial III is a seldom-mentioned backwater planet that contains possibly one of the largest libraries in the entire Segmentum. Centuries ago Agrial was a powerful and populous shrine world with significant influence in the politics of the Prosperitas Sector. Located on a primary trade route through the subsector, countless traders and pilgrims stopped off at Agrial every year, either to refuel and resupply before moving on or to worship at the numerous temples.
It was not just its holy shrines which drew pilgrims, however. Agrial was well known for the vast libraries that each temple-city maintained, together forming one of the largest and most comprehensive collections of knowledge in the Sector.
Collecting information on countless subjects and in endless formats, the libraries of Agrial attracted countless scholars and sages, and even members of the holy Inquisition, all of whom came to study the vast catalogue of information. All were welcome to read freely of the books, tomes, scrolls and hololiths, and to spend as much time doing so as they desired; all that the Scribe-Priests asked was a small donation to the upkeep of the libraries and also a donation of knowledge to the library itself. Each visitor was asked to write down something –whether a short titbit of information or an entire treatise was up to the visitor- and add it to the archives of Agrial.
Trade routes are known to change however, and when they did, they brought about the end of the importance of Agrial. Without the income brought by the traders the shrine world faded into obscurity; the once-thronging streets are now quiet and the holy sepulchres and reliquaries dusty and often neglected. A few pilgrims and knowledge-seekers still visit Agrial, but now the libraries are echoing, cobweb-choked and dark, home to a few ancient custodians and ageing Scribe-priests.