Telling Stories

Being snatched into the Tiding Pool - a whimsical nexus that steals away fragments of worlds like a child plucking icing from a cake - was the best thing that happened to Desmond, a curious young man with a secret love for science. There was no life for him back home, no future. Here in the Pool he can learn and explore, meet creatures from realms he had only ever imagined, and tinker with their amazing gadgets. It's a dream come true.

Except that none of it is real.

It is a piecemeal work of fiction, woven from the discarded concepts of worlds that were never penned into stories of their own. Desmond knows he is nothing more than a character, mere ink on a page. So is his ill-tempered brother, recently trapped in the Pool as well. As is the dictatorial ruler of the Tiding Pool, the New World Order, and its spell-firing enforcers.

But then there are the Augurs, smug prophets of the Order who refuse to be content with simply reading the future of this story being told. They conspire to write it as well. Should they discover a way to wrest control of the Tiding Pool from its mysterious Author, their first step towards transforming it into their own private paradise will be to erase everyone who opposes them from the plot.

How do you thwart an enemy who might one day scratch you from existence? All Desmond has on his side is a knapsack full of broken electronics, an irascible smuggler, some space monks... and the Author, a devious entity who helps and hinders him as the story demands.