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 souls inside.
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. It is possible that there is a genetic component to it and souls could be given to someone without that individual having ever interacted with a librarian.
Description[]
The Library was hand-dug from soft rock, low-ceilinged and bare. When Jacob first visits it, it seems to be empty aside from straw and broken pottery. The walls were dug into many 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. The coves contain soul jars, with older, better souls farther in.
The whole place is a maze of caverns with the floor sloping downward. The air grows colder deeper in, thanks to the temperatures of the souls. By the time the wights invaded, the souls in the outer rooms had mostly been raided, with more and more souls deeper in. The rooms also become larger to accommodate them.
In the largest cavern, there are thousands of soul jars, and despite the extremely cold temperature there is free-flowing water that springs from a tap, which flows into a shallow pool. The room is far brighter than others.
Spirit Pool[]
The pool is a spirit pool, an ancient means of summoning and communicating with the dead. A summoning occurs when a soul is poured into the pool. However, if a living person enters the pool while the summoning is taking place, they absorb the soul and gain its power.
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[]
