Resident Arcana

Each civilization will have ten index scores known as it's "Resident Arcana" ratings. These ratings represent how much arcane knowledge is immediately at the disposal of the rulers of a civilization. They range in value between 1 and 100, 100 representing comprehensive understanding of a topic. A civilization can increase it's ratings by obtaining assets which provide information on arcane topics. Collecting old books, sages and practitioners is a fine way to bolster these index scores. When a player wants information on an arcane topic, the DM will decide what is available based on the civilization's index score in the appropriate area. Keep in mind that a civilization only benefits from resources it's leaders have knowledge of and control over. A friendly wizard who moves in will contribute to the civilizations Thaumaturgy index. A secret cult of demon worshipers might only contribute if they are discovered, captured and coerced into sharing what they know. Here are the existing Resident Arcana Indexes.

Theology	Theology is knowledge of the dominant monotheistic religion of Falor. It includes understanding of the belief system and the workings of the church itself. Remember that the current conflict with the forces of Moloch are believed to be in fulfillment of prophesy. The war is in essence a holy war, the enemy believed to be the devil himself. Sufficient academic resources (and index score) in Theology are essential for the training of new clergy.
Religion	Religion covers knowledge of other religious systems aside from the faith of Falor. Most of these foreign religions are generally accepted as primitive or even heresy. Most look at this pool of knowledge as little more than superstition. Some however know the truth and realize that many of the deities and religions from others times and places are not without their credibility.
Necromancy	Necromancy is the study of death and the undead. This base of knowledge can be very useful in knowing of undead foes. Through study however it's secrets can show men who are willing ways to work wicked magic. Most repositories of necromantic knowledge are kept locked tight and access only granted the most trusted of souls.
Demonology	Demonology is the study of the infernal beasts and forces that exist in this universe to prey on ignorance and indiscretion. Like necromancy, knowledge of demonology can be invaluable at fighting the dark forces of the world by knowing ones enemy. It also poses dangers by providing means by which a person could contact and bargain with evil spirits.
Druidcraft	Druidcraft represents knowledge of fairies, nature spirits and druids. Civilizations with a good understanding of this may be able to have better relations with or understanding of the veiled world which surrounds civilization.
Thaumaturgy	Thaumaturgy is the index score that represents understanding of traditional spell magic. It's a vital resource for training new wizards and developing new spells.
Monster Lore	Monster lore represents a civilization's access to knowledge about all the strange and ghastly monsters that lurk out there. Proper preparation and foreknowledge can mean the difference between victory and failure when confronting monsters and beasts with supernatural powers. Though this index does contain a wide variety of subjects, it does not stand in for knowledge of undead, demons or fey.
Languages	This pool of knowledge represents the linguistic capabilities which may be needed to translate ancient or foreign text as well as establishing dialoged with any variety of foreigners, monsters, etc.
History	This index represents knowledge and understanding of that which has come before. They say knowledge of the past is essential if we do not want to repeat it's mistakes. Knowledge of history can also be useful when trying to make sense of uncovered artifacts, ruins, etc.
Myths & Legends	This is sort of a catch all pool of knowledge filled with all manner of fantastic stories of heroes, villains, magic and treasure. These stories have inspired and guided men for hundreds or even thousands of years. Generally speaking, this differs from history in that the people, places, events and things described are seemingly larger than life, historically elusive and likely only true in part.

Diversity is the Spice of Life

It's important to understand that index scores only increase when new information comes into the pool that leaders have access to. Redundancy is a good hedge to reduce the risk of loss, but it does not increase index scores. Having a pile of bibles would do no more good than a single one in terms of gaining new insight into what the book is telling us. Likewise, if a sage taught 20 new students all he knows about an arcane topic, the related index would only rise a small amount because a vast majority of the information is simply the same old information spread to many. You would now have 21 sages who all knew basically the same things. The index scores represent what percentage of total topical knowledge is available to the leadership. It has nothing to do with how widely information is distributed.

Public Policy Issues

As the leader of your civilization you will have to make policy about how arcane information is available or restricted in your civilization. Allowing everybody access to the rare spell books may foster the development of many fine mages in your society, but it could also result in your books being stolen or untrustworthy elements of you population learning magic spells with which to steal from the treasury. Public instruction in theology can promote a greater number of people interested in becoming clergy, but could also inspire discontent if your rule is in violation of religious tenants. Rulers must take great care in how they structure law about the dissemination of arcane knowledge.

The Power Curve of Higher Knowledge

A problem with trying to add more knowledge to an already existing pool is that it is not a simple matter of A + B = C. The fact of the matter is that the more information that already exists in a place, the higher percentage of information that you bring to it already exists there and is redundant. If you were to put two of the world's leading scientists on a project together, they would be a lot better off then either one alone, but certainly not twice as smart because so much of their knowledge is common to them both. This too is the case with Resident Arcane index scores. Each source of information that contributes to an index score has a set numerical value to contribute. Newly added bonuses are reduced in value by the exact same percentage that the index has in value prior to the new bonus being added. Let's say a civilization has a History index already of 50%. Along comes Bill the Sage who has a 20% rating in History. We assume that because the civilization already has 50%, that half of Bill's knowledge is redundant. He joins the society and adds 10% ( the other half of his knowledge, 10% was redundant) and now the civilization has a 60% history index. After all this, a collection of history books are uncovered and added to the civilization library. They normally would add 5% to the History index. Because the civilization already has a 60% rating, 60% of that 5% is redundant and 40% of the 5% bonus is new and useful. This adds 2% (40% of 5 is 2) to the civilizations History index making it 62%. As anybody with any math reasoning skill can see, this has a distinct rate of diminishing returns at the higher levels of mastery. Reaching the highest percentages becomes very difficult. It is also important to note that when these numbers are calculated, we start with the largest first and work our way to the smallest.