"That I do not know. In case of Dewulfs, it is said that when Hendrik suppressed a rebellion, rather brutally, a local oracle and rebel-leader, Red William, said a curse upon him - 'There will be no seventh of your line'. I don’t know whether the curse is real, but if you only count male line of barons, it does indeed stop at six, followed by rather a lot of drownings."

"...Black and white and red."

"...Pardon me, that just...stuck out.  It's not like red is an uncommon color, but I do find myself wondering if it's related to the blooming tree.  ...And fearing that I thought to wonder, truthfully; I cannot allow myself to descend into the depths of my own mind so deeply, when I am so unmoored.  Not when I have a duty to the Library, however coercedly.  Not when I have a duty to Brancrug's people."

She sighs, suddenly and visibly exhausted.

"It is always so much.  Just once I would love to experience a pleasant surprise."

"You take a lot on yourself, Ophelia. It is admirable, but I do wonder whether it's wise. You just came out of a terrible storm, it hasn't even been a day, and you're already striving to do so much. Brancrug is not going to collapse if you let yourself rest."

"Oh, the storm wasn't hardly anything.  I don't think I even took lasting damage.  But what came before it...

"I am not sure I have the words, which should itself say something about the circumstances.

"And yet, I cannot justify rest until I have finished some very needful work - like ensuring I'll stay fed, and making sure the manor isn't going to kill anything I don't ask it to, and seeing to the Keeper's house..."

"Perhaps one day you can tell me your history, when you're more settled."

"I would be honored to."

"As for now, Curia's history?"

"Yes, please."  She could do with the distraction.

"So, in 1785, a group of scholars - Ambrose Westcott, Kitty Mazarine, Solomon Husher - acquire the deed to the Dewulf estate, and establish 'Curia of the Isle', with Westcott becoming first Librarian of the Hush House. They establish Hush House as a haven of knowledge, a proper library. Westcott is rumoured to have died of apoplexy after a particularly hasty trample up and down the stairs to argue with visiting priests, Mazarine takes over as second Librarian, and later retires peacefully. Husher is the third, and he disappears, leaving only a resignation letter, in winter of 1838, when a heavy snow fell on the Hush House. 

Curia then has some trouble with finding a new Librarian, and Fraser Strathcoyne, Treasurer of the Curia, becomes the fourth, to his annoyance. As soon as they found a suitable candidate, Strathcoyne retired, and Natalia Brulleau became fifth Librarian. After her retirement, Curia is again short on candidates, until the arrival of Williem Harries, who presented the Curia with some 'key long lost', and was appointed sixth Librarian.

The next part is a bit muddy, I couldn't quite figure out when Harries retired or where he went, but Thirza Blake is appointed seventh Librarian, and it's also not clear why. I have no idea why Curia appointed her, she was, by all accounts, quite insane, and eventually, in 1896 brought Hush House to penury. 

Then the Nocturnal branch stepped in, marking another period transition. The Hush House received funding, but submitted to yearly inspections, and surrendered a portion of the Isle - mostly Crucible Tower, to be the Branch's prison. Eighth Librarian was probably also chosen in relation to that - Sir David Greene, a former Nocturnal Branch superintendent. George Collers, formerly Secretary Vigilant of the Curia, was appointed by the branch to be Governor of Cucurbit Prison, as Crucible Tower became known. 

Greene eventually retires, and Brian Levinsen becomes ninth Librarian. About that time, in 1902, something called 'Ortucchio Incident' happens, and Nocturnal Branch is dissolved and reogonized into Suppression Bureau, though it doesn't affect Hush House or Cucurbit much, and Collers remains its Governor.

Brian resigns in 1914 to go volunteer as medical officer in the Great War, and has died there. Serena Blackwood becomes the tenth Librarian, but resigns early over the tensions between her and Collers. Gervinus van Lauren was eleventh, up until the fire seven years ago. And now we are here, 1936, and you are the twelfth Librarian. I should pick a new period name."

"Want more information on anyone specifically? I have rather a lot here."

"...Williem Harries' mysterious disappearance was not a mysterious disappearance, this much I can be relatively certain of.  If he neither died nor was removed, he must have - ascended, somehow; I've no concrete information on how or as to what, but I would bet on it.  I know what Archons look like.  And that explains Thirza, somewhat.  If she wasn't an attempt to - emulate, contact, or influence whatever Willem became...

"It's not immediately relevant, though.

"Tell me about Governor Collers; does he still hold the position?  What are his policies like?"

...She is going to have to seriously consider what she wishes to make emblematic of her 'reign'.  "As for the name of a hypothetical period starting with myself...

"Be careful what you choose, please.  It may come to mean much more than you'd think any word could.

"Perhaps the Archonal, in lieu of any better ideas."  She laughs, but without much humor in it.  "The walking gods of Kyros' Empire were Archons, and Kyros then Archon of Archons and Overlord above, from within the ancient Spires of a long-lost people with far more command of the world than us mere primitives."

"Harries ascending in some way might fit, though I doubt Thriza is that related, she was... rather different from him."

"Collers most likely died in the fire, and no new Governor has been assigned, I have no idea what the Bureau currently thinks of the House. Before the fire, the gaol was used to contain things and people too dangerous for normal prisons, and I think Collers was as interested in studying them as containing. I don't know the detail on his policies, they were internal to the prison, and Bureau is not keen on outsiders peeking at its workings. People were sometimes released, I think there was at least one escape assisted by a lucky earthquake."

"Archonal it is, at least for now."

"-- I said be careful, not assign the first thing I think of, Rector; please leave that space in your notes blank.  At least for now."

She pinches the bridge of her nose, clearly mildly exasperated.

"An Archon is defined and empowered by the stories told of them, and I must be careful with mine - I've already dealt with three Archons, as a mere Fatebinder, and lived to tell the tale - and the regnant Archon of War got his title by killing the prior holder.  Not that that one didn't richly deserve it, he was working for the utter bastard whose general horribleness interrupted my diplomacy with the revelation that he'd most definitely gorged himself on the soul of one of Ashe's children, just to hurt the man - Graven Ashe being the Archon of War, and present at that meeting - but if you even make an Archon bleed, you're closer to holding your own double-edged blade, and I refuse to impale myself upon it by going about mythbuilding stupidly.  Especially after getting a bloody title for how I managed to actually make the seemingly invulnerable Archon of Stone feel pain, when he - having gone rogue, and refusing to even talk about talking about seeking peaceful resolutions - was trying to stop me from reading Kyros' Edict against him.  ...It took a catapultfull of strong acid.  I'm honestly surprised I was the first to try that.

"...It's one of my greatest regrets that I didn't have two.  Perhaps I would not have had to salt my own land, on Kyros' orders, with the fucking Edict of fucking Stone.  That didn't kill him either!

"...Edicts, by the way - with a Capital Letter - are...well, 'supernatural declarations of things that are Going To Happen, in the Empire's known memory only issued by Kyros Themself and a unique symbol of their authority'; I believe they're strongly linked to the ancients' Spires.

"...I may or may not have improvised something off of that framework to open the Manor's gates to me."  ...She seems almost embarrassed to admit to that exercise of hubris.  "And.  Well.  It worked.  To my own surprise."

"Oh, of course. Apologies for my rashness."

"That does indeed sound like a lot going on. I can’t even begin to understand half of what you're saying. I don’t think I ever heard of anything like Edicts being proclaimed directly, but Powers do listen to words spoken of their interests, right words in a right place at a right time have been known to call miracles or curses into the world. And the Hush House is certainly an important place."

She nods.  "Much like the Spires, though made by man."

"Anything more you want to know?"

"I don't believe anything comes to mind, though in truth I'd like to make discussions like this a regular occurrence.

"Well.  I suppose, is there anything you know of that I ought to watch out for?"

"I'd be delighted to."

"I've mentioned van Lauren being known for forbiddings before, right? And I don't think places of importance take kindly to being abandoned, there might be presences there. Unfortunately, I can't offer more detailed advice without knowing the details, besides 'watch out for anything that is out of place'."

"Out of place like paintings knocked askew, or out of place like a chamberpot centerpiece on the dining room table?"

"Either could be a sign of something wrong, or might not be. That's the problem with it. Wouldn't put a chamberpot past being some sort of Thirza's joke, that was preserved for some reason."

"So, there's nothing solid.  Alright.  I'll make do.  At least I have a sense for what I'm doing."

"If you ever need help, you can ask me or maybe others in the village. People who live here usually have at least some knowledge of things that happen around here."

"I'm sure.  You've lived with the place all these years."

"...It has been a pleasure, Rector Timothy; I must, however, meet Denzil at the bridge, so I should take my leave."

"Of course, of course. Good luck to you, Ophelia."