Invitations
Dear Guest: I formally invite you to the library.
The Library's books can provide you with all the wisdom, wealth, honor, and power you seek.
However, an ordeal will await you in the library.
If you cannot overcome this ordeal, you will be converted into a book yourself.
- Angela, The Invitation
The Invitations is the game mechanic to invite Guests to battle inside the Library, by using Books that might be related to their interest or story. Most Receptions require sending an invitation beforehand to start them and the number of ones initially accessible to the player will increase once certain story milestones are met.
There are two types of Invitations: Red Invitations and General Invitations.
- Red Invitations are important battles that advance the Story. All of them require specific Books to start them, usually ones obtainable in the previous Reception. Completing Red Invitations will unlock the next part of the Story tree.
- General Invitations are battles against various Guests that don't influence in the story, and are used for obtaining additional key pages and combat pages. They don't require specific Books, as long as they are not the exact combination of Books used for Red Invitations.
Invitation Tab
The Invitation Tab can be accessed in the Main Screen at the top left corner. At the start of the game, the player is immediately sent to the Invitation Screen.
In the Invitation Screen, the player can see at the right the Invitation Envelope. With a note from Angela in the envelope, the invitation require Books to be sent, being books of interest to the receiver that the player has obtained. Red Invitations require specific Books. The bottom of the invitation will describe who the invitation is sent to. After pressing it, a prompt will appear asking to confirm.
At the middle of the screen is the Story Tree. The Story Tree contain various nodes, which are seperated into different sections. Progress up the Story Tree is limited by the completion of all nodes for that section, as well as the Library's level.
At the left side of the screen will be Guests' Information. At the top left corner will be a list of the Guests who will be called, along their name and stats, unless this is the first time they're invited, in which it will be filled with question marks instead. Below that list will be the number of deployable units allowed for a floor, the number of 'Acts', which are the number of battles that will take place for an episode, and the number of available floors that can be lost before the invitation results in defeat. Below the list will be the list of potential books rewarded for defeating the Guests. There is also two buttons to rewatch Pre-Battle and Post-Battle scenes, that are unlocked after winning the reception once.
After sending the Invitation, the player will advance to the Pre-Battle Story Cutscene if the invitation is new, and then to the Reception.
Story
"The invitations will guide me towards the one book that I truly wish to obtain."
- Angela,Canard Episode III
The Invitations are a creation of Angela, and the method used to bring Guests to the Library and guide her to the one book she desires. Guests are any people that the Invitation finds its way to, and the Books used in Invitation are related to the interests of the Guests. The Guests brought are offered the chance to find the 'Book' that they want inside the Library, and they will only gain it if they overcome the ordeal ahead, which involves fighting the Librarians. Failing in doing so, will result in the Guests' death and being turned into a Book themselves. The envelope will turn Red if certain books are put into a certain order, which will be then sent to people who will advance the progress of the Library.
The method of how the envelope is delivered is unknown, as the invitation itself find its way to the Guests. Most of the time, the invitation will appear in a spot near to the Guests or at a place where it will catch their interest. Locations vary from inside Guests' pockets, on their shoulders, next to them, or even inside looted bodies. Likewise, those that attempt to use an invitation intended for someone else will find it to have disappeared.
The Guests are said to be "destined to come" to the Library once the invitation is sent. While Angela initally states that the invitation is accepted out of free will, it is frequently shown that many do so out of the circumstances that these Guests are already in, being their situation, needs, desires or other factors that will encourage them to accept it. The invitation itself might be received by a single person, but multiple people can enter once they obtain one or even pass it to another party to use, although the invitation was likely intended for that party regardless.
The method by which the invitation transports Guests to the Library is quite vague, but it is mentioned that a door appears out of thin air once the invitation is signed.
So far, the only people who managed to get inside the Library without an invitation are Roland and the Uninvited guests.
