Tomes, Categories and Canonical Entries
Last updated: August 21, 2026
- The tomes, in groups
- When a tome beats a category
- Entries are the citation unit
- Official source
- Related reading
Three layers of organisation sit on top of the Codex's records, and confusing them is the most common reason a search feels unproductive. A tome is an edited volume: it gathers material across categories because a reader interested in one part is usually interested in the others. A category is a taxonomic index: everything of one kind, listed. An entry is a single canonical record. Twenty-two tomes and over a hundred categories currently organise several thousand entries between them.
The tomes, in groups
The volumes cluster naturally. Origin and cosmology: Scroll of the Eternals, The Primordial Ledger, Astral Compendium, Tome of Stars. Power and law: Lex Imperialis, Factions & Orders, Xdripian Institutions. Practice: Book of Magic, Tome of Elements, Alchemic Ledger, Grimorium Vocara. Things and places: Reliquary of the Eternals, Elysian Arsenal, Ecosystemic Tome, Mining Tome, Mechanum Codex, Architectonica. People and time: Tome of Echoes, Tides of Time, Cultural Practices. And two that document the project itself: Guide to Tales of Xdripia and Game Manuals.
When a tome beats a category
Use a tome when your question crosses domains — how a material becomes a relic, how a rite binds a people to a place. Categories answer "what exists of this kind"; tomes answer "how does this fit together". For a single named thing, skip both and go to the entry.
Entries are the citation unit
Whatever route you arrive by, the individual entry is what you cite. Tomes and categories are navigation; they are edited and reorganised as the corpus grows, while an entry's canonical URL is the stable reference.
Codex tomes and the Grand Library's Insight Tomes are different things. Codex tomes organise encyclopedia records; Insight Tomes are immersive long-form volumes in the Library.
Official source
Canonical source for this subject: the Codex tomes. Checked 21 August 2026 — where this guide and the live service disagree, the service is right.
Related reading
- How to Browse and Search the Codex — Route patterns, indexes and search, and how to choose between them.
- Cosmology and Origin Sources — Where the Codex documents the Sphere, the eternals and the beginning of things.
- Insight Tomes — Immersive volumes of deep lore, and how they differ from Codex tomes.