Pilgrimage of Grace

— — — IGNITION — — —

Main Plot Skeleton:

Open with Emeet waking in his house, he describes his home, family and land. Lays out some of the world details based on his description of the hot day (the structure of the house, the forever light and never ending darkness, as well as the horizon glint, Grace and the traveler etc etc.). His family are farmers and he describes the fields and the directions all plants turn. Notes one of the plants points to the horizon drawing parallels with his own struggle with the mundane.

As his parents work the fields he decides to go to town to see if the traders have any twine or other items from the sister region. During his walk he describes the town and what has happened and some of the local traditions before seeing Iyesans home. He describes Iyesan and how him and his father were close long ago before Iyesan decide to board the Traveler for a trip. This brings more details about hte nature of the traveler and time dialation etc etc.. He continues to the trading area (goes over the protocal since they are baswically a isolated community) He sees Iyesan speaking with a young woman from the sister region beyond the Traveler. Iyesan seems to know her and the conversation seems more hushed and problematic. Iyesan spots him and does introductions. She seems budened and boards the traveler.

Emeet asks Iyesan about her and he tells him that she is indeed from the sister region but as most places they are seeing hard times as well but not to worry. After this interaction Emeet penses over the Traveler and conrinues home. He speaks with his family over food and mentions he spoke to Iyesan and asks his father for a histroy. His father is not cold but tells it reasonably why it was a bad omen that he made the voyage pointing to Iyesan’s lack of age and the personality changes that came back with him. He talks about the value of a simple life etc etc.

Days go by and a build up of angst bubbles up in Emeet as he continues with the mundane day by day. We head a few stories from childhood of his exploits trying to reach the horizon making it to where the road ended and continuing. He also talks about how his father tells him aobut the sickness if you go to far from the Traveler. This makes the traveler both the source of life and is also a source of bad omen. In these stories we learn more about the sky and how it turns to night as you venture deeper.

Perhaps there is now a festival in the commnity (religious of some nature) that draws people together. This would act as the stage for the setting event which pushes Emeet to contempalte his own desitny. The festival could be for sending off Pilgrims on the Traveler either by choice or banishment. For banishment they are bound with chains and weights to ensure thye canot pass to the sister region quickly enough (ie. they will progress to far in time to make any use of it to return. Also certain traders are there to ensure they act right. Maybe this juxaposition between those that are forced onto the Traveler with those that seem joyous acts as a watermark for his curiosity. He once again sees Jannah at this event. Iyesan is not techinically a leader of the pilgrims but due to his knowledge of the traveler he acts somewhat as a sheppard for the pilgirms. In the community he is somewhat of a priest for his travels. His unique position allows him to convese wit hthe religous pilgrims and traders both (usually they do not like eachother since trade can be seen as using the Traveler (their god) as a tool).

After this there is a fetival and party (music that matches the hum of the traveler and tries to harmonize etc). Iti s of course daytime so there should be some things that are shadow based (ie. shadow shows for the children and ornate parasols that project imagry and shade.

Notes: Iyesan is actually younger (due to the time dialation on the traveler)

ACYUAL WRITING

“Someone left the netting open” is my first waking thought as I feel the tiny legs of a Leering fly scurry across my drooping lids while my brain fog gives way to the gentle warmth in the family hovel. I roll off of the modest comfort of the floor fabrics that compose my bed and dig my knee into the compressed dirt floor as I lift myself to my feet. I hear the slight whoosh of blood rushing from my head and transient a compression of my sinuses before I am able to normalize to standing. Now stretching tall I can capture a glimpse through my sheet covered window and can tell that the hovel is taking the brunt of the heat from another scorching day. I say a silent prayer in thanks before making my way to entryway of this one room cube of a home.

As I pass through the mesh netting of the front entrance I notice that the bottom right section has been torn. I make a mental note to collect some thread from the weaver when I do my daily rounds to the Traveler's Gate. The day is hot. Much hotter than the usual summer, which in this case is sensible as we have entered season Chaos. As is with season Chaos it is hard to tell what time of the day it is as the blazing sun seems to hold no set schedule and comes and goes as it pleases. I only know it is morning from the ache in my back telling me I have slept for some time. I gaze across the plains I call home; sometimes brimming with short and soft rolling grass hills, but now it looks like the gods painted over it with a pallet of reds and browns. A depressing yet expected sight this time of year. I gaze upwards at the source of this heat, our source Malihe which graces us with both warmth and blight. The size of a full adults hand with arm reaching toward her, she is in her wandering phase. Next to her sitting ever-present in life is the tower Grace. We say tower since there is not such a way to really describe it. On the horizon is the origin; the direction the Traveler is always moving at a slow but unyielding pace, a brilliant white spire that reaches to the heavens arching in a never ending circle around the sky. Closer in look to a ring that starts thick and thins as it reaches the opposite horizon. It is both a god for some and in the case of my tribe a curse. A few moments pass as I contemplate the sky before a welcome cool breeze meets the skin of my sweltering face and chest. It is time to head off to see what the Traveler has brough us today.

Mother and Father work the fields at this time, about an hour walk away from both Grace and the Traveler, deeper into the lands. As with most season’s Chaos the yield is low and many of our region have either passed, moved on by foot to the next village or chanced it on the Traveler. I begin my trek through the dry weeded fields toward Travelers Gate, passing old farm lands that once we called neighbors. A now desolate place not suitable for the likes old or young. Truly a place of no opportunity nor place of future. As the sun lashes against my skin I crest a gentle hill which gives way to the only stone structure I have seen and will likely ever see in my lifetime. It belongs to Iyesan the Scholar. The only man known in this region to have ridden the Traveler and returned. My Father told me that he knew Iyesan in their youth when he decided to make the pilgrimage but now even though Father has only 53 seasons to his name, Iyesan seems to be decrepit and almost on the edge of death. For many this is the outcome they know of the pilgrimage. Either you never return, or you come back with barely anything left. For all the rumors and distain I don't really mind Iyesan. A part of me truly respects him for taking the reigns of destiny into his own hands and seeing it though. When I pass the thin footpaths around his home I don’t see any movement in or around the area. “He must be at the Gate” I mutter to myself. A hundred strides later I get the first hint that I am approaching my destination. The shallow hum starts to set in. It is a sound so low that it is more of an experience than a sounds really. It sits in your chest as if almost trying to take over your heartbeat; another reason the Traveler is associated with bad omens. Not long now. The sensation grows deeper and stronger as I get close, now feeling it in my feel and vibrations on my skin. Just over the next ridge and there it is.

Chapter 1: Traveler

Every time I see it my mind needs a moment to comprehend the scale. The singular structure diligently drags itself scraping across the unyielding arid landscape reaching its way to Grace. The Traveler itself is the shape of an infinitely long tuber laid on its side made of a material unknown to my region and perhaps unknowable. While I have never boarded the Traveler, the region traders have and tell me the width is similar to that of the path from home to the fields. That would make the Travelers height a quarter its width and of course there is no end to its length. The region trades also share stories of families and communities they encounter on their trek through the width of the Traveler to trade with our sister region on the opposite side. The people never the same as they are always moving forward, but always simple and brutish as if they came from a former age.

He makes his way toward the town which is not as bustling as it was before and describes the types of trade and wares that can be found here. He says hello to some local townspeople noting that the normal villagers make a wide birth around both the traders and someone else. It is Iyesan speaking to a trade who it looks like just got off the Traveler. The sides of the Traveler have arched buttresses that scrape along the ground. Mysteriously in order to enter you walk between these large openings however there is no door. If the butterss passes over you to the outside you dissapear and presumably you have boarded. He also notes that there are other signs of a dying town in that trade has changed to other items than prviously. It should be mentioned that not long ago this place was much busier evidenced by the now dilapitaded huts and storage sheds that are in disrepair and empty. He has overhead mutterings from the traders from those inside as being refuges escaping the coming storm but of course these are just romours.

Also we note on the path next to the traveller which is very faint but well worn from long ago. Its last partron was Iyesan. Everything went bad after he came back with his bounty (anachronistic items from the future it would seem- need to determine what these future aretifacts actually are still). It is also noted that the traders live separate from the rest of the region due to the nature of their work. He wonders why they stay. Need to figure out what is traded in each region. Perhaps grains and fish from his and twine and threads from the sister across the Traveler. He hears that the sister region does not have open swaths of fresh water like they do so they cannot fish, but the regions climate also differs. Very strange since they are so close physically. He spots the twine he was after to fix the netting of the hovel and that is where he engages the traders.

Next to describe the protocol of interaction with the traders. As they are seen as dirty and cursed, but of course are a necissity for life there are rules and traditions when bartering with them.

You must never touch them of course. The item is place on the table on the right side each. You may not speak to the or look them in the eyes. They will only communicate with hand gestures used to barter. When the two items are placed on the table they will do X/Y/Z hand gestures to indicate the trade is fair or they do not wish to trade with that item or they want more of that item.

He does this trade with a random merchant before making his way to see what artefacts of more interesing nature have been brough. Nothing really stikes his eye. Some potentially anachronistic items are about (but only from the past) which indicates trade with the custodians and patrons riding on the Traveler. Do they riders need trade as well? Where do they get their food? It would seem the only things that go into the Traveler are from the merchants and in very rare cases from a pilgrim in the form of offerings. Who doe the offerings really go to? He heard that you keep them as insurance for what might happen in the future. Part good luck charm and part bartering chip. He cant help being curious. At that point he makes note of a woman, around his age, lean with shoulder length hair wrapped in a partial bun emerging from the Traveler. She is definatly not from his region because he would have taken notice. There is nobody his age around here anyways. He contemplates if she was a rider on the Traveler, but fogets that quickly seeing she is wearth clothing similar to his and does not have the indicative large brow and mouth that he heard to describe the riders. That leaves one option. She must be from the sister region.

He moves closer to overhear her conversations. It seem she is speaking to Iyesan when he gets closer. He barley hears over the rumble of the Traveler that she is talking about some fight or blight? something is happening in her region and it doesnt sound good. Iyesan seems to know her beyond this single transaction. As he approaches closer Iyesan eyes him and joyfully says “ohhh my, Emeet my boy please come. I would like to introduce you to Jannah”. They will have a quick hello before she says she needs to get back on the traveler as it will be a long journy back. She sets off. Iyesan is now described. He dresses more fancy than anyone here, better hygene and even speaks differently (more modern). He is adorned with some strange metal rings (not something he has seen in the region) and some sort of device on his face that has two round clear stones set in the bindings. He says it helps him see better. He holds back the urge to ask to try but of course that is forbidden and a bad omen (which is what is bringing the blight it is though).

Iyesan immediatly notes that he must be interested in Jannah, if nothing more by her age similarity and novelty in the region.

Maybe it takes no time to transition across back and forth the Traveller or something. ie you go in the arches and when the second one passes you are back with wares and look tired and worn?

She will be his first guide in the future on the traveller. Does she have some sort of mission that her and Iyesan are plotting?

She will be fleeing from some issue in the Regions (either natural disaster or socio-political issue)

Talk about trade and the route (maybe this is the first encounter he has with the Traveler when he gets brave).

Cuts across the landscape between the regions and that is how trade is done.

It cuts across While I have never seen the otherside

summary: Introduce the Traveler and Travelers Gate. Meets with Iyesan while at the market. Iyesan wants to share wisdom or something but Emeet is not super into it. Mostly this chapter is to describe how markets work and hint at the nature of the Traveler

Chapter 2: Region and History

build up a bit more of the lore of the region and the people that live there. Time will pass here and show how the life Emeet is leading is really going nowhere and this is what is pressing him into considering the pilgrimage. He speaks to his family tryting toe tease out information about Iyesan

Chapter 3: Scholar’s Lesson

Now more curious about the Traveler and the pilgrimage Emeet decides to speak with Iyesan. This is where we got a lot more detail of what is or could be on the Traveler and Iyesans journey as told. Here we learn about the time dilatation and the distances covered for trade. Also we learn about the generation peoples that reside on the Traveler which hits at the nature of the one way progression. In this chapter we also reveal a bit more about the Chaos and coming doom from the past. The ages are failing in time and there is a need for a pilgrimage to escape. Details on the Offerings (Antiquity Trade)

Other Chapters:

Boarding the Traveler

The First Ride

Homebound

Deciding the persure the Pilgrimage (Nature of Grace)

Details about being on the travler and her people

Moving within the traveler

Technology flow and Trade

Meeting Jannah(love interest)

Emeets First Stop (where Iyesan got off)

Politics on the Traveler

Slavery in the Ages

Escape

Moving Forward from Within

— — Concepts now — —

Death of Jannah

Is there a way back?

— — Ending Ideas — —

1. Reaching Grace allows for the climb (second story?) Grace and the origin are all the same but exists in different times. Exit in space age at the time of Ignition of the Reset Engine.

Summary: A world where a generational one-way train continuously runs seemingly outside of time. A young man Emeet with the guidance of the Scholar Iyesan reluctantly boards the train to find a new life.

World Building

If you get on every km you ride it’s 10km back and scales with technology. In the infinite distance is a tower that some view as heaven. This is a pilgrimage. Some come back at great cost to trade the items of the future Those who ride regard us as technologic gods. The train is massive almost generational and proceeds unhindered. This is my pilgrimage

Also. The future down the line the more time has passed. More technology and more problems. Different ideologies. People bring offerings with them on pilgrimages

World Topology and the Traveler

I want to write down the overall topology of the world the characters inhabit and the nature of the Traveler. The wolrd itself is technically infinite in length similar to how you would imagine an inverted black hole with the tower Grace being at the center rising up. This is more of a White hole type situation. The tower Grace and the Traveler are a singular object. The Traveler of course represents the steady march of time and Grace represents the infinite nature of space. As you approach Grace time moves forward faster and faster (same as a white hole) which is why there is a correlation between where you physically inhabit the world and the time and era you reside in. As you go futhur down the line time moves quicker relatively which is why they are more advanced (or destroyed). In addition those who reside closer to grace have the benefit of gifts from the pilgrims from the past. The only objects that exists outside of this set of rules is the Traveler and Grace. While on the Traveler you move at a constant speed regardless of where you exist in the spacetime world. For example if you board the Traveler and it is noon, if you ride the Traveler for 1 hour, it will be midnight when you get off. In addition, if you decided to walk back home after this at the same speed as the traveler it would take you 12 hours. This change is time gets more and more pronounced the closer you get to Grace. This is why the very few pilgrims who ride the Traveler come back as the path off of the traveler can be orders of magnitudes longer to return. This is also why trade can be dangerous if you are stuck for some reason too long on the Traveler you will have a very long path back. (this may be a plot point when Emeet goes with Jannah)

The way this manifests visually is the following. Where our main character begins, the height of the traveler is about 1km high. So high that it is an insurmountable barrier for people of his time to go over and thus they must go thru the Traveler to see the sister regions on the other side. This is what drives trade. The further down the line toward Grace you go the taller the Traveler becomes, at some point far down the path it starts to bend and curve toward the horizon. It would look almost like a very large and high cave. As you approach grace this becomes more and more pronounced, the plot device being there is no way to go over the Traveler because there is not an actual top to it. In reality it fundamentally connects at the top to the “end/horizons” of both sister regions like a very large cylinder. But from the perspective of our characters it manifests differently depending on the level of time and space warping. By the time you “arrive” at Grace the Traveler would have fully wrapped in on itself to become Grace which rises infinitely into the sky. At the end of the infinite spire of Grace lies the start of the Traveler, or at least it would if you could reach it.

I want to descript how the traveler looks a bit more. There is a main train component which could look like this:

however it is of course infinite and much higher and less directly mechanical in nature. This train forms the center column which sites inside an outer shell where it looks similar to metallic gothic arches forming an exoskeleton around it:

The inner train seems to move slightly faster than the outer shell. To board the train to simply walk through one of these arches and let it pass behind you as the Traveler moves. Once the arch overtakes you, you are now inside the Traveler.

To the outside it looks like you disappeared inexplicably.

What is inside the Traveler? This is something I fight with. I want it to house communities of people that are the pilgrims who only interact with Traders and in rare cases exit to experience the relative future. For many this leads to insanity as they cannot comprehend the change. In some case they are also taken from the Traveler by force as slaves.

I think inside the Traveler it looks much like the outside. As it acts outside of time I think from the inside it would look like there is an infinite moving horizon that you could not reach except for the exits (which I still need to define). People would trade and farm and have families perhaps, or it could be that they don't have resources and are poor. Not sure about this one yet.

What is known is that pilgrims are either fanatical, poor or desperate so the lives are not amazing and they are looking for something at Grace.

Why Does This World Exist?

This story like my other short stories wholly take place at an instant in time in our Universe. This instant in time is called “Ignition”. In our universe portal technology has led to a universal goal of finding the Source. The Source is the location in the universe where all portals have a slight but measurable pull to. Generally these portals only pull to their sisters but this external force is global. Multiple generations have worked to build portal hopping space ships to reach the Source. The Source is not as fleshed out as I would like it to be but it somewhat represents a reflection of the universe in itself. It is indeed an object of some sort, and anyone who gazes upon it understands it is some sort of machine. It becomes known that this machine can be activated via some means. At some point it was decided to turn this object “on”. It is sometimes referred to as the Anchor or Engine that drives reality itself. It is believed that starting this will either reset reality with different fundamental rules or bring us to a high plane of enlightenment. The moment it is turned on is called Ignition. In that moment all concepts of space and time are scrambled (which is why new realities and universes unbound by the rules of space and time (our story) pop into existence). In the case of our story they exists within a white hole or at least a fluctuation that allowed this type of concept to exist during Ignition. Think of Ignition like another Big Bang in that it happens everywhere at once.

Character Profiles

Emeet — Main Character:

Personatlity:

Relationships

Motivations

Conflicts