Many sources report that Irad’s great-grandmother was tricked into an education by a smooth-talking serpent. Whilst the records agree that she and her husband were evicted by their landlord shortly afterwards, the exact reasons remain an area of academic dispute. It is known with more certainty that once Irad founded the first library – the athenaeum – the serpent became a regular visitor, being credited with controlling the rat population. Shadows of the Athenaeum, by Methuselah Deusson
