<br>
The Great Library is vast and nobody is entirely sure where the bird came<br>
from or how it got there. Some believe it a piece of Nercuros, broken free<br>
from the moon during one of the many meteoroid impacts upon its surface. <br>
This piece eventually fell to a remote part of Aabahran and was eventually<br>
covered by time deep below the surface. Even buried as it was, the call<br>
from this piece of the Prime of Balance was felt and to it came many from<br>
both aspects of life. People settled nearby, drawn to the spot where the<br>
impact happened. They built a town above just as another creature burrowed<br>
a cavern below. To this end, the balance was preserved until those living<br>
in Anduin left it abandoned. Eventually, another city was built on top of<br>
the first. Life and order prospered on the surface once more while Shudde<br>
M'ell lived on below until Caraduin too, was set to ruin.
It was only the contingent of archaeologists sent from Khorandain that dove<br>
into the earth there, who found that which was so long ago buried. In their<br>
excitement in discovering what they thought to be a new type of stone, they<br>
salvaged what they could and sent it back to Khorandain as quickly as<br>
possible. There, it was categorized, mislabeled and set upon a stonemason's<br>
bench to build to be made into a statue for the library that was being built<br>
to the east. So he set upon the rock, chiseling pieces off until it took<br>
the shape of a bird he saw long ago on an island in the Dead Sea.
At first, it sat in the chambers of the Historians. After a time it was<br>
passed down to the Academicians. Eventually it made its way in the back<br>
corners of the library to gather dust. It sat there feeling the shifts of<br>
balance, back and forth until the balance tipped often enough. The Long<br>
Night turned to be the final straw and the statue moved ...
Aabahran