Diary of a Seam Explorer

[Poolson]

Page 1:

All doors close and a new one opens. Funny how that works. Some things never change.

My name is Jaculus Amelius. Friends called me Jackie.

My friends were Joey Barrett, Howler Creed and Melinda Schmidt.

Joey was our trap man and general tinkerer. His wit was sharp and it didn't care who it pricked, a smartass to define all smartasses.

Howler was a half-orc. Our muscle man and danger guy. Life was harsh to man like him. He didn't talk about it but the scuttlebutt was that he came up in Bleeder's Way. Mother was some wildling with an orc for a husband, and went to go waylay the humans in the city for their stuff. Not sure if they ever found Vico's plunder, but they raised a bear of a boy. Gentle spoken but in a terrible frenzy when something set him off.


Melinda. Wizards got weird in the outer-rings. Melinda wasn't much different. Talked a good game, good logic, but the way she did things was so damn weird. It was like everything in our world had a different logic to the same effect. I'd call her insane, from all those weird, subtle mannerisms, but she was brilliant, when push came to shove. Who knew that knowing calculus on such short notice would save our hides at the bottom of that pyramid? She called Transmutation "trashmutation", though, so, I don't think she practiced that.


I was an employee at the Worshipful Guild of something. It's been so long now that I've forgotten. Seam Hoppers?

Seam Men? Hahahaha. Nice. Classic Joey.

Seam Explorers. Whatever. We roamed the city far and wide, looking for torn seams in the world that revealed the next one beyond. Lush forests. Nasty swamps. Infernos. Endless blizzards. Crystal fragments. The elemental planes, and pseudo-planes. The Wizard Warrens ate up everything we found, Ringrunners looking for some magic edge, you name it, we had it, life was good, gold to the gills.

Then came the unraveling.

I remember the day it happened. The Plane of Air. That giant lump of stone floating in the middle of the sky, with caves full of freakish praying mantis, crystals, mithril and gemstones. A bag full of loot and a smile on our faces. The sky itself shook. Stone cracked, then crumbled upwards. It was like it exploded from the inside, sending dirt, stone and grass flying every which way, and the air overhead breathed deep like a gasp.

The floating isle began to fall. The clouds began to sink, like soapy water pouring down a tub drain. Flying serpents and bird-creatures going into free-fall, flapping their wings, trying to stay in the air. There was that giant, scary, scaly thing that we were previously ignorant to, apparently leagues beneath us this entire time, and it fell belly first into the infinite blue beneath it.

I don't think I've ever screamed so hard, when the ground gave out from beneath us and we began to fall with everything else. Joey always joked it was a long way down. I hated how right he was.

I bet he did too, once he was falling with us.

I don't know where they are, now. I don't know how I'm here and on the other side. I try to think about it and I get really scared. I'm getting tremors just writing into this book.

They say it's the djinn's fault. Some magic hooplah. The city's magic failed, and in that chaos, the djinn pulled the string that unraveled the entire fabric, so they could sow it to be their own. They also said my planar sickness would go away, but, weird shit still jumps out of me, every now and then, so, what's the truth?

They're out there, somewhere, I hope I'll find them again. But until then, I'm on the other side now. What do I do with all this time?

- Elections are picking up in this city. Ephia's Well. Maybe I take up work with the Scribes, or get in with a League? But what would I do?

Joey would say "my best", the fucker. Hahaha.