You find yourself in the middle of a vast expanse, on an elevated platform overlooking a sprawling series of halls, corridors, dead ends and loops, where the walls are not made of stone but wooden bookshelves. The maze appears still, but with every second that es you could swear you see something shift and move out of the corner of your eye, but as you go to look all is still. There is no ceiling… No, instead the space inverts in on itself and wraps back around, as if you’re inside of a cylinder on its side yet you do not see either end of it. Even focusing down one direction of this place boggles the mind as no end is in sight. No fog or haze obscures the distant labyrinth, no horizon is ever met, and with your limited, mortal perception you are burdened with the sight of something that seems as if it truly never ends, everything sinking into a pinpoint prick of your vision. You are burdened with true infinity. Keeping your eyes straight begins to strain you, more than you might have ever thought was possible. You clutch a book tightly in your hand, your ticket in and out of this place, with one goal.

It doesn’t take long for you to feel a gentle tap on your shoulder, turning to see a figure wearing a dark blue robe with light blue accents, symbols and trim and baggy, brown pants. His arms were covered in mostly brown and tan feathers, and looked like wings that could function easily as hands. Looking up you saw the visage of an owl with amber eyes. He looks.. Remarkably young for someone whom you thought would greet you here, certainly not even in his 30’s yet here he was. You recall that he introduced hims̸e̸l̸f̴ ț̵͊ẖ̴͆o̷͇͝ủ̴̦̥͉̉̌g̸̬̱̣̤̽h̶̩̠̫͐͑͆

"Welcome~ It's rare to have visitors to this place around this time of year.. but you're still welcome all the same. My name is Sebastian, and I'll be your guide through this place to see the Master." He gives a modest bow, putting his right arm across his body just under his chest and staying like that for nearly a second before rising back up and looking you over, though his eyes fall on the tome you are carrying.

"I assume that are here in the pursuit of knowledge? You have come prepared, that much tells me that you knew of this place before now." He asked, expecting a reply. You nod, recalling back your father's words, his order to bring the family's history to this place once he had ed, either through natural means or before his time, and you explain as much to the owl before you.

"I see. While I would like to help you here and now, there is a process for these sorts of things, and I will need to confirm that isn't a duplicate or false record. Please, keep close to me, and don't wander off on your own. However, if you are curious about anything, this is a library. You may ask any question you wish and I will answer what I am able.

Sebastian guides you down from this high platform down a series of stairs that were steep at first but gradually had more even and steady steps down to the base, but as you take the last step off and turn back to see just how tall that platform was from this perspective, it had vanished, replaced instead with bookshelf walls that turned down at the end of the straight. You were now in the maze, but turning forward, you saw Sebastian holding a hand against a corner of another series of bookshelves, prepared to make a turn.

"Please, stay close. This will be your last warning." He claims, understanding that this place may seem disorientating to most people. You make quick work catching back up to him and begin asking about this place in more detail. What this was, 'where' this was. Last you recalled, you were sitting in your room studying your family tome for any hint toward your father's words, before exhaustion and sleep took you over, setting aside the matter for tomorrow.

"This is the Grand Library, the one belonging to the God of Illusion. This is what he has made of his domain. It is the largest known collection of knowledge in all of existence, and I do mean ALL of existence. Every book, scroll, tapestry, inscription, cypher, and memory you may find here has either been donated throughout nearly two millennia, or has been collected through the ages by people like me."

Looking over to one of the shelves, you took note of what was there. The shelves weren't completely stocked to the brim, with a number of gaps and spaces left open, presumably for more books, but as you reached for one to look at it, Sebastian would speak up again.

"I would advise you not touch them until you are granted permission. That knowledge is not for you, and hasn't been earned yet." He'd start, and moving back to catch up with him, he continued.

"While this is a collection of knowledge, if it were left completely open for any mortal or entity to come and go as they pleased, it would pose a great threat to the integrity of this library. Beyond that, there is much knowledge that should be left alone.. Had you touched that book, you would have been taken elsewhere in the library, and I would not seek to aid you from there. Knowledge must be earned, and be given to those who can be trusted with it.. to this day, there are 16 people wandering this library, 15 of which did what you were about to despite knowing the consequence. The other, is you."

You point out the owl himself. Surely he counts in that metric

"Not quite. I don't see this place the way you do. To me, these halls have order, and I know how to navigate through them.. The truth is that the exit is never far from where you currently are, you just need to know what directions to go at what times. It doesn't help that much of this place has illusory magic coating every single surface.. If I were to recall the words of a prior visitor, "It's as if everything is moving around when I'm not looking at it". That sounds like something the Master would do.

'Who is the Master?' You ask, getting Sebastian to take a deep breath in and a slow exhale. Not so much out of annoyance, but it does cause him to slow down a little.

"Cillian... The name doesn't seem to ring a bell with you. That's to be expected honestly. Very few people are actually aware that he exists, and he would tell you that he prefers it that way. He is the current God of Illusion, succeeding who you likely expected to have that title, Kale Nuroth, or more popularly known, Alexander. It is true that he too had a library, but it pales in comparison to this.. But he hasn't been a god for nearly.. one-thousand eight-hundred and twenty-seven years now, if I have my years right."

The path taken through the corridors are a winding one, full of turns, curves, and the occasional dead end that when reached, Sebastion would command that you keep your eyes forward and take a certain number of steps back before turning around to continue down a new path. The notion of what he said boggled the mind though.. how does a god cease being a god?.. Was he replaced? Was he killed? or did something else happen entirely?

"You can not kill a god, not in the normal way at least.. in order for a divine entity to perish, then they need to be well and truly forgotten. Because of that, Alexander still lives on, yet he is no longer the acting God of Illusions.. as for why he is no longer a god, I am able to tell you the basic story and happenings, but I ask that we keep walking."

You agree, having walked a bit closer to the owl especially as he guided your steps through this maze. At some point you even offered a hand so that he could hold it, something he had immediately allowed to help insure you don't stray or do anything you might regret but not recognize in the moment. Presumably, so long as nothing bad happened to you, he'd have an easier time with this 'process'.

"Cillian was a mortal, like you and me, but he was particularly intelligent even among his peers. What he used to be, I do not know, but it was said that his wisdom rivaled that of the ancient gryphons, and I am well inclined to believe it. During his prime, he had gone to Alexander's Library, and proposed a trade and a game. He offered all of the knowledge he had in his possession to the library on the condition that Alexander would humor one request. That request was the game he would challenge the god to. What that game was, again, nobody knows aside Cillian and Alexander, but the implication was clear. When you challenge a god associated with one of the schools of magic, victory means that you can lay claim to their title. Most challenges tend to be a form of battle, and save for 3 cases in all of history, it does not end well for the mortal, but in this instance, it was a battle of wits. Based on what I could gather, it was an ancient game similar to modern day chess, where you use pieces in order to capture or control your opponent's pieces until victory is achieved, but they made one alteration to the rules. They had to declare what their 'next' intended move would be to the other, and they would have to follow through with that intention no matter what. How they conveyed that information was left completely up in the air, so long as something was done. Quiar, the goddess of conjuration was called into this contest to officiate and ensure that the rules were followed, and honesty was upheld."

He would pause to look back to you to make sure you were still present, holding your hand a bit tighter before he would stop and look around, giving a small sigh before letting go and staying in place for the time being, turning to face you fully. He would hold out both of his arms, his feathers spread out to the sides, as a flame appeared, and seemed to grow, yet despite being somewhat close to it, you didn't feel any trace of warmth from it, but looking into it, you could see an image form.. that of a large table with three figures, a small, shadowy man, standing across from a larger gryphon, and on the side, what looked to be a.. spider?.. or a human?.. No, no a drider, or something similar to one. Based on their positions you could figure who was who, with the gryphon being Alexander of course. Many libraries had a sculpture or effigy in his likeness.. the shadowy figure was likely to be Cillian, and the spider was left to be Quiar.. they were another god unfamiliar to you, but you had not quite taken up magical studies to become too familiar with divine natures.

"As legend goes.. Alexander remained completely truthful, yet spoke in ancient draconian, a language that Cillian at the time was only marginally fluent in. He was able to use what magic he had at the time to help fill in the gaps, but it was limited. Still, what he was able to piece together was apparently enough to get through it. That, and Alexander's illusions didn't seem to work as effectively as he liked. Not surprising, considering that Cillian was a master illusionist at the time himself.. Perhaps 'master' wouldn't even cut it.. but I ramble.. What Cillian did to gain the advantage was similar to what Alexander did. He spoke in Protean, which if you understand, is not a language to be 'understood'. It is a far more ancient language, one of chaos. Both in text and speech, the language is everchanging, making it difficult for those who still wish to learn it to properly grasp it because by the time they come to understand an iteration of it, the language has already changed, likely multiple times over. Being able to keep up with the change and being able to both write and speak it are reserved for only the most studied scholars and sages. But even then, that wasn't enough for the Master.. Where there is chaos, there must be some semblance of order. The same goes for the opposite. For order to remain effective, there must be some chaos to inspire change when it's needed. Cillian's greatest accomplishment, his 'magnum opus' was being able to accurately predict the Protean language before that iteration had been reached. It is unknown if he required aid from some form of divination at the time, but I can assure you right now, even if he were to not be a god right now, he would be able to predict the language's state up to 30 minutes in advance without the need for magic.. and if he were to divine to seek out future points in time, and given enough time to learn the language at that point, he would be able to predict much further in advance.. It was this tactic that he used, speaking a language that technically didn't exist at that point in time, in order to leave Alexander guessing as to what his next move was. He could not simply 'wait' to understand the message due to the rules of the game, but the Master was left in a state where he was being told, in general, what his opponent was going to do next, all while the opponent could only react.."

He looked back up to you with a somewhat cheeky smile showing at the base of his beak, the fire in his hands going out.

"Have you ever found yourself in a position where you're digging your own grave?.. That is what Alexander must have felt like in the moment. He had to play on the defensive, backing himself into a corner, but each mistake lasted, each mistake built up, and he was being constantly reminded as he ed the words of the Master once they finally made sense in the modern time, proof that he was not breaking any rule. Up until he had been completely, utterly defeated.. Cillian didn't even need to provide an illusion to aid him, he simply showed his mastery of intellect and understanding of the domain Alexander commanded to defeat him. In the end, Alexander accepted his defeat with grace, and even took pride in Cillian's achievement. It's not every century a mortal has the capability to one up an acting god.. but during that game, at that time, one did. The title of God was ed down, and the Master assumed the epithet of Illusion. He would be the leading figure in all the school is capable of, and was given his own domain among the planes of existence.. Thus, he created this library. It is located in the Astral plane, for the most part. Makes it a lot easier to get things done around here.. it's also the one plane where illusions can be made quite.. quite real~"

It was a fair bit to take in, but.. the way he spoke ionately about the story raised a few questions. But chief among them was why he was willing to give it all so freely. If information was to be earned, and worthiness proven, then why answer all of these questions?

"Well.. That's the thing.. If you could please close your eyes for a moment." You were confused, but would do as the owl asked

"Take a few steps forward with me." He'd say, ready to follow up with a few more words, but he took your hand in his, his soft feathers allowing for a tight grip without hurting him. You started walking forward, but you could swear you felt something push through the entire front of your body.. no.. not quite.. you walked into something, but you weren't stopped. The feeling was strange, and you felt a haze begin forming in your mind.. the last words you heard before it would consume your mind completely were simple

"You won't much of your time here.. That is why I can tell you.. But if you truly wish to recall all I've told you, keep your mind focused.. and try to me, and specifically me... and you will . I promise you."

B̵̡̰̩̂͠u̶̫̗̍͂̽̃t̵̨̙͊ w̵h̶a̶t̸ you do recall is finally having your eyes closed, taking a few steps forward, and opening them to the sight of a massive creature in a wide open space-...

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The second image of my backlog~ Featuring another character I have set in the same setting as Salazar's and a companion to the previous.

I wanted to shed some light on the nature of divinity, though I plan to, at some point, give a more proper document containing the nature of the gods, what they can do, what they are, how they work, as well as the associated magic system they are all tied to. This is the story involving Cillian's nature, and while it doesn't quite go too much into Sebastian, or Seb's own self, he is simply the chosen mortal to aid and assist the god, chosen by the god, his Master~ He himself is Illusion prodigy and holds many of the same values that Cillian has, in particular his pursuit of knowledge. I plan to go more in depth with him when the time is right, either paired with another picture, or as a stand alone story.

If people do have an interest in stories involving Salazar and his setting, I would be more than happy to. It is difficult to gauge interest for the most part, and while I would hold the most interest in writing for myself, it is a big motivator to write for other people as well, regardless if the story would have an image to go with it or not. For those who have read, thank you, sincerely. I greatly appreciate it, and would love to hear your thoughts and questions if you have any.

I have other pictures in my backlog, though not all of them have to do with Salazar or his setting. They are pictures I have gotten throughout the years for a multitude of reasons, and nearly all of them have a story to tell. I wanted to try and post one picture per day, but that may prove difficult. I will still see what I can do~

Once again, thank you!

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This character is another adopt I had gotten from  Ghost_Forger, more recently this time. It just happened that those two adopts worked very well for what I had in mind for the illusionist god and his chosen mortal, whom in universe would be referred to as the [School of Magic] Supreme... Certainly not in relation to any particular Doctor from popular media.

The original artist who made the character was  Chee, so if you like the style, please give them a watch!