I'm assuming this is in Ignus' home plane, and the research is related to his job that was touched on in your last short story.

The atmosphere in this art is excellent. There's a very gothic fantasy vibe; I'm imagining a musty archive underground, filled with ancient writing that is carefully guarded. Forgotten secrets, forbidden knowledge, and things man was not meant to know are secreted away here.

That, or it's the annex of a particularly large library.

I would have expected Vaati to be pleased to explore such a vast storehouse of valuable information. Then again, only if it pertained to magic. Why is he here?

I can't believe you correctly gleaned all of that from what little I've provided, LOL.

This is the Grand Archive of the High Tower. Ignus was head archivist there before going off on his adventure--the vault is where the artifact that showed him the vision is kept--and it's likely they begged him to take the job again to clean up the mess his replacement left behind, ha.

Vaati is quite excited to peruse the library actually, it's just a bit overwhelming!