Santiago Buddha
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The Santiago Buddha is a monument located outside of the northern woods of Santiago, an autonomous region within the Commonwealth of Naveria. It was discovered buried in the northern woods by Princess April and her family during springtime, and was cleaned and displayed soon after. The monument is not displayed for religious reasons — the entirety of Santiago's population is Christian — but is seen as a symbol of discovery and interfaith dialogue.
The Santiago Buddha is considered to be an anomaly because its origins are unknown and and it may be related to a second statue, called the Mekko Jaguar by some. It was discovered by Grand Duke Casper and a friend in the northern woods of the borough of Mekko in New Vundenberg, known as Orbly at the time, broken in half and buried under a mound of dirt. It was made of a shiny black material similar to that of the Buddha statue. Half of the Mekko Jaguar was taken into the United States shortly after its discovery, and is now missing; the other half was rediscovered but later destroyed.
History
At some point in 2019, possibly before the foundation of Navārdia, Casper and a friend of his discovered a statue of a jaguar buried under a mound of dirt in the southern forest of Mekko, then called Orbly. The statue was made of a glossy black material and in a state of disrepair; it was broken in half and filled with mud, implying that it had been buried for a long time. The front half of the statue was cleaned and taken into the United States, where it went missing. The status and location of the back half of the jaguar statue is not known.
In the spring of 2020, during a period of low communication between Santiago and the mainland Naverian government, Princess April and her family discovered a statue of Gautama Buddha buried under a mound of dirt and pine straw in the northern forest of Santiago. The statue was made of a shiny black material and in a state of disrepair; it was chipped and covered in mud, implying that it had been buried for a long time. The statue was cleaned and displayed in a small field of wildflowers outside of the northern woods. It has sat in the wildflower field ever since.
On June 12th, Casper returned to Santiago for the first time since the COVID-19 lockdowns and, on a tour of the changes to the region, discovered the Santiago Buddha. A connection between the Buddha and the jaguar was made due to the similar circumstances of the discovery of the statues. After the discovery of the Buddha, an attempt was made to retrieve the Mekko Jaguar. Only half of it was rediscovered, and was later destroyed by a New Vundenberg civillian.
Overview
The statue consists of a depiction of Gautama Buddha sitting upon a pedestal. It is made of a light, shiny black material and is around one foot tall.