32 Flames / 7 Souldeas  

Earth Translation: Technically always open. Emotionally? That depends on the lanterns.

The Archive Offices operate across all 32 Flames and all 7 Souldeas, though this should not be mistaken for availability, mercy, or a promise that the correct clerk will be present when you arrive. 

Please note that while the Offices may receive your message during any Flame, the paperwork may choose to stare at it for a while before allowing itself to be processed. This is normal. Mostly.

Ashlight through Longhold

Earth Translation: Morning through midday.

Applications are best sent during Ashlight through Longhold, when the lanterns are freshly lit, the ink is still behaving, and the clerks have not yet started arguing with the filing cabinets. This is the preferred window for Library Staff Registry applications, Witness consideration forms, and anything that requires a clean record before the day begins collecting strange little omens.

Applications sent outside this window will still be received, but they may be filed beneath “Arrived with Energy”, “Possibly Cursed but Promising”, or “Interesting. Watch Closely.”

Longhold through Dimming
Earth Translation: Midday through late afternoon / early evening.

Questions, follow-ups, project inquiries, beta reader messages, and general Archive correspondence are best sent between Longhold and Dimming, when the Offices are most likely to answer without sighing theatrically through the walls.

This is the ideal time to ask where to send something, which application belongs where, what door is currently open, or why a particular library seems to have developed opinions about your presence.

The Correspondence Office appreciates clear subject lines. The Correspondence Office also appreciates snacks, but unfortunately refuses to clarify what kind.

Dimming through Veilfall
Earth Translation: Evening into night.

Returned recoveries, feedback scrolls, reader notes, emotional damage reports, clarity concerns, favorite lines, pacing thoughts, and “this part crawled into my ribs and now I need to discuss it” responses are most welcome from Dimming through Veilfall.

The Recovery Office tends to be most awake during these hours. The candles burn lower, the shelves lean closer, and the drafts become dramatic enough to receive criticism properly.

Please return all assigned materials according to the instructions given with your recovery. If the pages begin whispering before you finish, continue reading. That usually means they trust you.

Veilfall through Final Flame
Earth Translation: Night through midnight.

The Restricted Office is technically open from Veilfall through Final Flame, though “open” is an ambitious word for a door that appears only when it feels respected. This floor handles mature shelves, deeper access, invitation-only materials, restricted inserts, and projects that require proper warnings before anyone goes touching the cursed drawers.

Access is not guaranteed. Curiosity is not clearance. A lantern can be interested in you and still tell you no.

If the doorknob is warm, proceed carefully.

If the doorknob is breathing, come back later.

Final Flame

Earth Translation: Midnight.

At Final Flame, the Archive Offices are not closed, exactly. They are simply no longer pretending to be normal. The records rearrange themselves. The candles bend toward unfinished business. The clerks begin whispering in languages that were removed from polite society for everyone’s benefit.

Messages may still be sent during Final Flame, but The Archive Offices are not responsible for lost time, haunted drafts, emotional revelations, vanishing bookmarks, or applicants being temporarily filed beneath “Why Were You Awake?”

Any Flame, Any Souldea 

Earth Translation: Anytime, but please be reasonable before making the paperwork dramatic.

Emergency lantern access may be used for urgent Archive-related matters, missing application information, beta reader material issues, project delivery problems, or correspondence that genuinely cannot wait for the next sane Flame.

This does not include asking whether the shelves are haunted.

They are.

That has already been documented.