I headed up the hill and realised for the first time in ages (in ever?), there was nowhere that I had to be. I’d completely forgotten what that felt like. Even before I joined the Lodge I was always pushing towards the next thing, the thing that would get me away from the current thing, but the next thing always became the current thing until I realised no thing was ever going to be enough.

I’ve visited Circadian City twice up to now. The first time I only spent a night there on a layover waiting for a balloon out to Khasgar (I refuse to portal unless absolutely necessary), although that’s not to say it was uneventful. Maybe I’ll even tell that story one day. On this second occasion, I had a bit more time on my hands to head out and really see the sights.

To truly understand the magnitude of The Chaos requires a cursory examination of the circumstances that preceded it. Inevitably, this entails a focus on the behemoth planet Zephra. As much as I mislike placing blame in one direction or another, it is undeniable that Zephra can often be found at the centre of whatever misfortune befalls our System, so much so that discussion of any major astropolitical event in the last two hundred or so cycles necessarily begins, and ends, with Zephra.