The Black Index

No record agrees on the shape of the tool that formed the Third Mark. Some name a hammer, others a hand burned past recognition. All describe the same sound: one measured strike, followed by listening. The Unmade offered infinite versions. The keeper chose one, touched it to the world, watched it fail, and struck again. With every contact the shape became less impressive and more true. When it finally held, the maker's hand and the Mark could no longer be separated. The Archive therefore classifies craft not as talent, but as evidence left by attention.

The final strike is a myth. The hand stops only when another person can carry the weight.