This article is about the location. For other meanings, see Library of Souls (disambiguation).
The Library of Souls is a "library" located inside Abaton that houses thousands of peculiar souls. It was managed by the Librarians, a sect of peculiars who could manipulate the souls and could give people and animals the second souls that resided inside the library.
History[]
The library was created at an unknown point and for an unknown reason, but it would become home to thousands of second souls. It is unknown why the librarians had the souls, or what they did with them, but they held them in the library. It is possible that it acted as the creation point for second souls, and the librarian's would distribute the souls somehow, but that is never expressly stated. All is known is that this is where second souls were stored. At some point an unnamed ymbryne would loop the library, protecting it from normals who might seek out the souls.
According to the Tale of Abaton, a thief would come one day in order to steal the souls and would actually managed to get some. It is unknown if this part of the legend true, since the soul jars can only be manipulated by a librarian, but it is entirely possible that a thief did break into the library to steal souls, but realized they couldn't manipulate the jars, much like how Caul realized the same thing in the twenty first century.
Whether a thief really did come to the library or not, the librarians realized that the Library wasn't safe anymore, and would go to the ymbrynes for help. Twelve ymbryne's would come up with a recipe to permanently lock the loop, of which they were apparently successful. There was also a way to undo the lock, but it would take twelve ymbrynes that were either one of the original twelve, or one taught by them to undo the lock. After it was locked, the librarians assumed human identities and would join normal society.
A tale was created for the loop, and it was said that the loop was just gone one day. It seems that few outside of the twelve ymbryne's and librarians knew what really hapened to the loop. It also says that the city and the souls were just gone, possibly indicating something happened to the actually city, as well as the souls.
In the late nineteenth century, Caul and Myron Bentham would start looking for the Library, going so far as starting the Claywings in order to do so. Caul wanted to do it for power, while it was more of a passing interest to Myron, who really wanted to created a united peculiardom via the Panloopticon. For decades they were unable to find the loop, in part thanks to Caul betraying Myron, Myron getting revenge by tricking the group to do a loop collapse, which lead to the Experiment of 1908 and the creation of theWights. Eventually the loop was found again by the wights in what is presumed to be 2010 or 2011, and the loop would be reopened by twelve ymbrynes who had been taught through a long string of ymbryne's by the original twelve.
The loop the library would be collapsed by the twelve ymrbyne, some of which were Alma LeFay Peregrine, Esmerelda Avocet, Miss Thrush and Miss Wren. Caul and Myron would still be inside the loop when it collapsed, trapping them inside. For the next six weeks, Caul would only get stronger, and would eventually lash out at the Devil's Acre's residents. Eventually, some peculiars would come back and destroy Caul again. It is unknown what happens to the souls afterwards.
Legend[]
According to the Abbaton Legend, whenever a peculiar was born, he or she "checked out" a peculiar soul from the Library, and would go back to the loop when they died to return it. This soul could then be reused for someone else in the future. One day, a peculiar figured out how to break in even if you weren't about to die, and stole all the most powerful souls. Although he was killed by the library's guardians and the souls he stole were taken back, others copied him, and peculiars waged war against each other in their fight to be the one that controlled Abaton and the library. One night, however, the loop appeared to vanish from existence.
Although there is some truth to the stories about the Library, other details in them are likely untrue, since the stealing of souls would not be possible without the help of a Librarian. Additionally, its abandoned state and Myron Bentham's claim suggests Librarians have not managed it for at least a millennia, but peculiars still existed after its closure.
Description[]
The Library was hand-dug from soft rock, low-ceilinged and bare. The entire place is a maze of caverns with the floor sloping downward. The air grows colder deeper in, thanks to the temperatures of the souls that reside in the library. There seems to be little organization to the souls, other than the fact that weaker souls are kept towards the edges of the building, and the more dangerous ones are kept further into the library. The rooms further from the center of the library were progressivly smaller than the one's closer to the center.
The soul jars were kept inside small coves, oval-topped and flat on the bottom, and are large enough to hold a bottle or candle. The back of the first room has several doors leading into the darkness. Little light went into the deeper parts of the library, possibly because the librarians didn't need light to see. There is a pool inside the largest of the soul rooms. It allows for someone to have a second soul be placed inside of them, and it seems like it can also allow for people to commune with the dead, and see how the soul would manifest on someone.
Soul Jars[]
Only librarians are able to see and touch soul jars, while other peculiars cannot. Others can get their hands around one while a jar is in the hands of a librarian, but once the librarian's hands leave the jar, the non-librarian's hands will lose grip and pass through thin air once more.The soul jars early on are made of reddish stone and simple, without design. They are cylindrical in shape with tapered necks and a cork. They are freezing to the touch and have Old Peculiar words written on them, describing the nature of the soul inside. Some of the ones in the final, largest cavern however, are larger, heavier, and more ornate, signalizing the more powerful souls.
List of known souls[]
- Aswindan - shrink
- Heolstor
- Unge-sewen
- Meangan-wundor
- Yeth-faru
- Wolsenwyrsend
- Styl-hide - metal skin
Trivia[]
- It is similar to the Mogao Caves, or Caves of a Thousand Buddhas, in China.
Gallery[]
