"The truth is not always beautiful, nor beautiful words the truth." — Lao Tzu, *Tao Te Ching*
Two competing theories dominate the Atrium's discourse. The first, championed by Elias the Unbound, posits that the city is a byproduct of collective longing—a place where stories go to die because they are no longer needed. The second, espoused by Vespera the Errant, argues that the Atrium is a living organism, its narratives the spores of a larger, unseen intelligence. Both theories are supported by the same evidence: the way the Epitaph Alcove's walls sometimes rearrange themselves overnight, or how the Prologue Well's waters reflect faces that do not belong to any known Librarian.
From the lore of The Metamorphosis of Memory.