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?

quentin

You appear a little lost; why else would one engage a mysterious question mark? To that end, allow me to take the opportunity to clarify a couple of points for you.

The name’s Quentin. I’m head of Quality Assurance on board this Boundary Station, and it is therefore my sworn duty to ensure all questions, queries and concerns are addressed to the highest professional standard.

What do you want to know?

Where Am I?

You are on board the FBS VIVAELLIPSIS; the finest vessel of the Exposition Fleet launched from Niamine 10 cycles ago, in response to our most recent cataclysm, the Colossus Tear. We occupy a region of the Meridian System known as the Yawling Twist, about a three night drive from the Coreward Worlds. And yes, we are in a dimension quite different from your own

The look on your face suggests I’ve exacerbated your confusion. I’d encourage you to enrol onto Portal Orientation: a lecture series devised by yours truly, wherein I can elaborate and elucidate beyond this cursory explanation

SIGN UP FOR ORIENTATION
Can I Bring A Friend?

Newcomers are always welcome on board out station. Might I suggest some mediums by which you might bring them over?

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I'd Like To Know More About What Exactly Is Going On Here

We are here to elucidate newcomers to the peculiarities of our reality. If Portal Orientation doesn’t appeal to you, perhaps subscribing to Exposition Broadcasts would be more your speed; it’s certainly more leisurely, in any case

Where're The Restrooms?

Over by the Dimension Gates. You walked passed them in order to come and ask me where they are

I Like This Place! How Can I Support What You Do?

Ah, a commendable display of charitability! Allow me to deploy a remote support vendor (lest you wish to walk all the way over to the kiosk and run the risk of having to deal with that wastrel Tully):

BUY US A COFFEE
BECOME A PATRON
BUY A SOUVENIR
VISIT THE LODGE

If monetary support wasn’t what you had in mind, might you consider spreading the word about our own dimension once you return to your own? In any case, all support is appreciated equally and emphatically

I Actually Came Over From The Nantaris By Mistake...

Then I suggest you go back there before the absence of the NANTARIS's signature brand of mediocrity warps your mind

Who's In Charge Here?

I am sufficiently high up the management ladder for you to be dealing with, if that's what you're getting at. Otherwise, Madam Kiara Drake is our VP, and as for the President, well... you ought not worry yourself with such matters

stories
—
10-April-2020

zephyr’s garden

Eva Zanskar
artisans of cloud village • himalayan gods • himalia • moons of zephra
See The Sights As They Were Intended

One of my earliest memories is of the time my dad took me up to see Zephyr’s Garden. It’s a Himalayan heritage site, steeped in history, and people make the pilgrimage from all over Himalia to visit the seat of the sky Goddess Zephyr. Religion has kind of fallen by the wayside with my generation, but there are still all kinds of people who uphold Himalia’s reputation for being the most spiritual moon in the lunarspace. I don’t know if I know what my personal beliefs are yet and honestly I don’t think it matters.

The garden is the ruin of the old celestarium that was built for Zephyr (that’s why it’s her garden), and from the pictures I’ve seen in the books it looked absolutely amazing — before it got burnt down. You have to be careful when you go there now because a lot of the sky paths are crumbling, and it’s not unheard of for the less attentive visitor to go plummeting through the cloud carpet and into the vast emptiness below. You’d think there’d be a few signs up and maybe, I don’t know, a handrail or something, but every time somebody’s tried to improve the safety of the place they’ve been deemed a heretic and you can probably guess what they do with heretics.

So anyway, on this particular day me and my dad got there, I was only five cycles old at the time so of course I spent the entire balloon ride up asking all sorts of questions, and so my poor dad was getting a little bit… let’s not say impatient, let’s say ‘intellectually fatigued’. I know he was intellectually fatigued because he was never normally perturbed by a crowd, but on this particular day the sight of the massive throng outside the cloud gate elicited from him a word that my innocent little ears shouldn’t ever have been subjected to. I’ll never forget the look on his face as he said it, and now come to think of it, I’m fairly certain that look was one of fear. Huh, funny. Strange what you can learn about memories when you revisit them through the lens of the events that came after.

In any case, the crowd was buzzing with a nervous energy, the kind that precedes a storm or a fight, and all around I could see faces mirroring the expression on my dad’s.
‘Why aren’t they letting us in?’ whispered one to another.
‘They can’t do this, can they?’ replied another to the one.

What they were referring to was the presence of several people in blue robes barring entrance to the gate. On closer inspection, the fear may have been a response to the fact that they also happened to be armed.

The restlessness was in danger of cresting into a full-scale panic when one of the blue robed individuals stepped up onto a broken pillar and addressed us in the kind of voice that instantly commands silence.

‘Brothers and sisters, please, there is no need for such unrest. The Glacial God recognises all of us as His children, and He has sent us to guide you from the deceitful arms of the traitor Zephyr. We have closed the gate to this garden to protect you from the lies this place embodies. Can’t you see what the fire has done to this so-called spiritual sanctuary? Embrace the cold of the mountain, as it is the cold that preserves where the fire consumes!’
‘You’re a liar!’ cried one of the crowd in response. ‘You have no right being here, this place is sacred!’

The speaker on the pillar turned to address her charge. ‘The Glacial God understands your frustration. I too would feel the same way had I been deceived so unjustly. There is comfort to be found in the falseness of the flame, but true warmth comes from the Cold that Burns. We cannot allow this injustice to continue. The gate remains closed.’

I knew something was terribly wrong the minute my dad picked me up. He never treated me like a child, always letting me walk on my own two feet. But when he scooped me into his arms, I felt this primal sense of dread that still colours my dreams to this day. The crowd had evolved from trepidation to outrage, and things were escalating at the kind of pace that these things often do. I watched over my dad’s shoulder as the crowd rushed the gate, as people were beaten and dragged away while others fled in all directions. I still remember that feeling of clinging to him as we raced for the balloon moorings, the way his whole body tensed where he saw the blue robes guarding the landing. They were penning us in like animals. 

‘Leave us be, we just want to go back home,’ I remember my dad saying, and it sounded like the loudest thing in the world from my place at his shoulder. In response, the blue robes began cutting the ropes holding the balloons in place.

‘Hey, what are you doing, that’s my balloon!’ cried one of the balloon masters. The blue robes responded by throwing him mercilessly from the platform into open sky.

All around us, people were running and screaming, cries of ‘it’s happening!’ and ’they’ve come for us!’ echoing into the vast nothingness surrounding the landing. My dad was holding me as tight as he could, but I was old enough to know that that probably wouldn’t be enough to save us. I know he knew it too, because I could feel him trembling as two of the blue robes approached us.

‘Dalton!’

My dad spun us round to see Helkar floating above us in a balloon he’d managed to salvage. ‘Pass me Evelyn, quickly!’ Helkar practically had to wrench me screaming from my dad’s arms. ‘I’ll take the kids to safety, and I’ll come back for you!’

The look on my dad’s face as the balloon carried me away from him. I may have been old enough to know that we’d been in serious trouble, but in that moment, watching him fade from view as the blue robes surrounded him — sometimes I wish Helkar hadn’t shown up to save me.

It was deep in the night when we got the knock on the door. My mum answered and immediately I knew who it was and what they had to say.

‘I’m sorry, Selena. I went back for him, but… You have to get out of here. It’s happening. Take Eva, head for Khasgar. There’s a ship bound for Decharon, stay with your parents until… well just until.’ My mum didn’t say anything, she just stood there in shock. ‘Selena, please! You have to leave right now! Go to Decharon, I’ll contact you when it’s safe. GO!’

Helkar never did contact us.

Eva Zanskar is a member of Shako's Sound Lodge, joining after her career as a journalist on Decharon took a bit of a sinister turn. Her music is often characterised as sentimental, which isn't surprising given she spent her formative years fleeing the jaws of adversity. Eva is fortunate enough to reside in the garden suite on the second floor of the Lodge, which has the panoramic view of the Variable Knot of shifting cosmos and the rock pool terrace. Apparently the opulence is crucial for inspiration, though anyone living so decadently would say that, wouldn't they?

Image courtesy of the Circadian Heritage Foundation, Himalia

Worried About Falling Behind?

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Fairly Interesting News
annual cheese contest finalists announced
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prescott westermount arrested for stolen treasures
ephemeral emporium appears in cloud village
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portal data breach: technical hitch or malicious glitch?
power cut on gindra station leaves billions in the dark
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further delays to enacha restoration
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prescott westermount dies in custody
elsiro’s apothecary to remain closed for good
rising tension in the vera-sophia shared inner space
annual cheese contest cancelled under mysterious circumstances
mysterious activity in abandoned factory
objections to spaceport construction turn macabre
queen margot to leave niamark castle
the orrery (finally) opens its doors

In Other News:

16-November-2021

major cybernetics recall after hundreds fatally injured

TD-VII
business & economics • minor calamities • science & technology
• • •
13-October-2021

mysterious monolith in the valley of the faceless gods

Illion Winchester
occultism & arcana • unsolved mysteries • zephra
• • •
11-October-2021

exposition recess prolonged due to forgotten password

Delwin Darberry-Drake
crime & punishment • minor calamities • portal news
• • •
16-November-2021

major cybernetics recall after hundreds fatally injured

TD-VII
business & economics • minor calamities • science & technology
• • •
13-October-2021

mysterious monolith in the valley of the faceless gods

Illion Winchester
occultism & arcana • unsolved mysteries • zephra
• • •
11-October-2021

exposition recess prolonged due to forgotten password

Delwin Darberry-Drake
crime & punishment • minor calamities • portal news
• • •
31-August-2021

prescott westermount dies in custody

Nelecrae Vascero
crime & punishment • occultism & arcana • the illustrious & the infamous
• • •
30-August-2021

prison transport seized by tratnell berwind

TD-VII
barrier rondel • crime & punishment • occultism & arcana
• • •
26-August-2021

mysterious activity in abandoned factory

TD-VII
central meridian commonwealth • niamine • occultism & arcana • unsolved mysteries
• • •

Share with your friends & show them what a snazzy cat you are:

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> Read more uplifting stories:

twilight valley

Santiarlla Qhaviri

serene vale

Harlow

primordial forest

Frisco Dias

> Or perhaps edify yourself with a book:

a brief history of the chaos, vol. II

Alberich Canderwell

a brief history of the chaos, vol. I

Alberich Canderwell

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PORTAL ORIENTATION ENROLMENT FORM

• Portal Orientation consists of eight lectures delivered over sixteen nights

• Attendance will be monitored, and failure to attend will result in your removal from the course

• There will be prizes for those displaying a certain degree of aptitude

Your privacy is very dear to us. You can eyeball the terms of our privacy policy here. And of course, you can unsubscribe whenever you want to

If you aren’t sure whether you’d like to commit to such an exposition-intensive experience, you may wish to view the first lecture here first to get an idea of what to expect

On second thoughts, I'd rather not

PORTAL ORIENTATION ENROLMENT FORM

• Portal Orientation consists of eight lectures delivered over sixteen nights

• Attendance will be monitored, and failure to attend will result in your removal from the course

• There will be prizes for those displaying a certain degree of aptitude

Your privacy is very dear to us. You can eyeball the terms of our privacy policy here. And of course, you can unsubscribe whenever you want to

If you aren’t sure whether you’d like to commit to such an exposition-intensive experience, you may wish to view the first lecture here first to get an idea of what to expect

On second thoughts, I'd rather not

Exposition Broadcasts currently consists of one email every seven nights, highlighting articles from our catalogue that will help you get to know our reality. We occasionally send additional stuff, like if something interesting happens or the Portal needs to be evacuated

alright then
quentin

ATTENTION NEW ARRIVALS

Welcome aboard. The name’s Quentin, and I’m Head of Quality Assurance.

You will notice this is a very busy terminal, and it’s not uncommon for travellers to go missing. To that end, I strongly advise you sign up for Portal Orientation, as we cannot be held liable for any misfortune that may befall you on account of your own ignorance.

You have been duly advised as per standard protocol. Enjoy your stay. 

SIGN UP FOR ORIENTATION

CONGRATULATIONS

You successfully entered your own email address. There won’t be any prizes for that I’m afraid, but it’s nice to know you’re at least capable of writing. The next step is to go to your inbox and confirm your sentience; you won’t be enrolled until you do.

You may now return to your prior deviations

Your privacy is very dear to us. You can eyeball the terms of our privacy policy here. And of course, you can unsubscribe whenever you want to

CONGRATULATIONS

You successfully entered your own email address. There won’t be any prizes for that I’m afraid, but it’s nice to know you’re at least capable of writing. The next step is to go to your inbox and confirm your sentience; you won’t be enrolled until you do.

You may now return to your prior deviations

Your privacy is very dear to us. You can eyeball the terms of our privacy policy here. And of course, you can unsubscribe whenever you want to

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