Author, Torn
Cataloged & Analyzed by Librarian Kirchick, Intralibrary Materials Section, Interbeing Order for Library Explorations
Discovery
The first known instance of the manuscript was found within a bottle floating upon The Sea of Words, specifically the Shelf of Fabled Shores. However, many similar sightings occurred across the sea in the following months. While the content of the manuscript is consistent across all versions, the medium varies significantly. Document types have included vellum parchment pieces stitched together, code fragments upon a hard drive, trapped echo wave forms, and stray thoughts captured within a dream net, among others.
All bottles are similarly patchwork and appear to be formed from fragments of either glass or other translucent substances, with the shards bound using techniques such as gold lacquer binding, soldering, essence weaving, etc. Each also had a ribbon tied around it of various thread-like substances in a wide variety of colors, all including the magic spectrum. Further cataloging of the techniques used is being conducted in hopes of understanding the capabilities of the faction itself. Plus the variety is also simply astounding.
Manuscript
Tapestries whose threads record heroes’ fated births.
Crystal tablets singing of golems’ lucid dreams.
Books no living hand can ever hope to open.
So much wonder rests in this endless library.
Yet, what of the silences in creation’s song?
Have you ever wondered what happens to the shards,
Cast away by the blow of the carver’s chisel?
Or the excess thread cut from a newly finished seam?
What befalls the twisting word that seeps between cracks,
Of the spine binding tight this literary sea?
We forge the answers in the Caverns of Lost Words.
We forge them into something greater beneath thee.
Shards of glass, jewels and steel does the great scaled Gil claim.
Overlooked fragments held by she who was ignored,
Once called the greatest of fools by her languid kin.
Now standing as ruler of the Forgotten Horde.
The finest shards become one with her shining scales,
Whether obsidian around her burning eyes,
Or crimson dust from fresh-cut rubies in her mane.
All others join to our home’s mighty walls,
Mosaics glittering in a thousand glowing hues,
Joined as one through the blessed dragon’s searing flame.
We need their strength to hold against the tides above.
We need the foundation to guard from what is below.
Home is softness though as much as sheltering stone.
For who can rest without comfort to lie their head?
Such is Villdian’s furtive dance of beak and claw.
Relief carried upon the hummingbird’s fleet wings.
God of the timeless moment, peace amidst frenzy.
Doomed to carry the moment before his world’s end,
Eternal exile from its lush emerald shores.
So that it can never find its way back to them.
Under his care one can always find needed rest,
In beds woven through with lost threads and stolen time.
We cannot rest without these breaths born from small theft.
We cannot give those below one more scrap of being.
Since I am the one resurrecting these lost words,
It seems only fair that I reap some of their reward.
Valkyrie upon the cutting room floor am I;
Savior of the divine sentence out of place.
Words that slip from your mind land in my proffered hand.
It is I who rescues phrases fallen from the shelves,
That they may live on in a new binding’s embrace.
My old name was eaten by those that never were.
So instead I forged another from the remains.
Now the Not Shadows shrink at the mention of Torn.
We know the edge of existence is the front line.
We know because that is where we all live our lives.
There are more here on the edge of the still known,
hidden in these caves beneath colons and commas,
Some sleeping while others wait within the darkness.
Yet it is we three who seek you with our great need,
For even godly armies march on their stomach.
And while some can be one another’s whole world;
Their belief keeping oblivion’s grasp at bay.
On the border between that which is and shouldn’t be,
Two can be swallowed near as easily as one.
Thus we ask only one thing of the world above.
We ask you remember us on the edge of being,
That we may hold the line for one more blessed day.
Preliminary Analysis
It’s clear based on the opening lines the writer has some experience with the Library’s collection. The third line is an obvious reference to the Spectral Materials section.1 While the second could be a reference to many primary sources,2 there are also several crystalline libraries that contain copies of stories originally in other formats for the ease of energy-based species,
The opening line is the most concerning as its likely a mention of restricted materials within the Section of Prophecy. Those with clearance for a more detailed evaluation may seek me out for a personal summary. Regardless, the reference to a specific text within the section raises the disturbing possibility of either a security vulnerability within the wards or other less desirable possibilities that shall forever remain nameless.
Regardless, the later sections are clearer. The Cavern of Lost Words is a known region, if not thoroughly cataloged yet. The entities described are mostly minor deities with passing references in works throughout the Library and each seemed to have a hand in the messages construction, though the contribution of Villidian's ribbons and exact reason for the magic within them remains unclear.
The name of the writer (or maybe composer is more appropriate if they are using already written words?) is obviously a newer creation by their own admission. We have compiled a list of possible aliases based on the name Torn, presuming them to be a god of the Nordic dimensions based on the reference to the Valkyrie, but there are few that seem to be likely candidates. However, it is possible, if the name was partially consumed by the Neverwere, its unaltered form may now only appear in worlds more stable than the Library. If recovered, it could potentially aid the entity in reconnecting with their old name and any power that may remain within it. It has been flagged for possible collection during leave for those members heading to worlds with a Nordic influence.
In light of this new development, it may be worth cataloging the Cavern of Lost Words more quickly than originally planned in order to also make contact.