Planar Musings OR The Life and Times of Felix Burrmeister

[Ozymandre]

Planar Musings

Within the possession of Felix Burrmeister is a simple looking book. Upon first glance it seems made of a dyed-green leather, with a cheap bound spine, and no ornamentation. Upon close inspection however the leather isn't dyed - it's clearly the natural hue of whatever animal the hide was taken from - lightly mottled with specks of brown, black and red. If touched, it even seems to have an elastic quality to it, albeit minor.

There is little else remarkable about it. The 'parchment' itself seems poorly made and handled, with obvious flaws and marks on virtually every page. Perhaps strange, though hardly remarkable are the number of pockets behind the cover, meant for storing charcoal, and perhaps other tools and colors, since the flap for each pocket is stained various hues.

The first dozen or so pages are primarily charcoal drawings. Primarily of buildings, though the denizens do make some appearances, whether in the pictures themselves or scrawled in to the margins and borders around the buildings. There is a meticulous amount of detail done regarding the architecture, which despite their strange and curious designs and proportions seem well drawn, with a practiced hand.

The people and creatures seem far more cartoon-ish by comparison, helped in no small part by their strange design.

It is only after that dozen or so pages of drawings and designs that actual, written text makes an appearance. Still, throughout the pages there are doodles and images tossed all around, often smudged and in ink now, though they never cease to appear - appearing at least every few pages.


A small sample of the sketches within those first few pages...

[Ozymandre]

First Musings

One of the first things I'd have liked to do here is to mark the passage of time. I feel as though a week had passed between my arrival and my decision to start making note of it all. It's clear to me now that if I don't start writing down the things I learn and see I may very well stumble across my own tracks, so to speak. This city could easily keep you walking in circles. The damn city itself is a circle! They don't measure anything beyond a day, really, and even then they make no use of seconds, minutes or hours. At least they don't call it that. As far as I've come to understand the options are 'peak' and 'antipeak' and anything between is refered to as to how close it is, or far it is, from either of those two. Peak and antipeak seem to be noon and midnight as near as I can understand. I find it terribly obnoxious but as my wife was often fond of saying, "When in Regental...". Even now I look to her advice; her encouragement, driving me on. Though often it's best to not linger with those thoughts. This place is proving quite the distraction, on the other hand...

For the moment I've been finding room and board with The Bleak Cabal, a strangely named organization that, as near as I can tell, expressly tend to the ill, the needy, the homeless and the mad. When I asked one of their number if they were a member of the government, they laughed in my face and asked me if I was clueless. He was right, I have no clue, and though he seemed rude to my reckoning I swallowed my pride and carried on with the line of questioning I had. He agreed to it, if I'd help him administer the medications and blankets he was tasked with administering and handing out, respectively. I agreed, not realizing that his task led him all throughout the enormous Gatehouse. However, he taught me a great deal.

Between these two paragraphs is a picture of a creature with the torso of a man and the body of a goat - with the torso seated at the shoulders, as though replacing the head

He went over the factions, which I believe serve as an equivalent government by council, since there is no seated head. We discussed that at length, since I couldn't quite understand how the city didn't descend in to anarchy. That drew more laughter, and he told me the city was nothing, really. It was the factions that caused the chaos to increase or abate. I held my questions so that we could press on but the nature of the factions and their role in governance hadn't quite made sense. I asked him if there were any wizards in the city. More laughter. Nearly everything I asked drew a laugh out of him, but there wasn't anything jocular about the man, or even that friendly, despite being exceptionally helpful. It wasn't until we went to restock on blankets that he told me his name was 'Eric'. He was gaunt and short, but driven. If ever there was a person devoted to helping the ill and blanket-less, it's Eric.

I am sure we met well before peak, and it was near to anti-peak when his work was just about done. My questions were still streaming at him. Though curt, he was patient. I know the difference between the Fated and The Free League. I know not to bother a dabus. I know what a dabus is, even, and what happens when you do bother them. I know about Portal now, and Keys. I've learned I'd very much appreciate having a Aoskian hound, which coincidentally seemed to be one of the inmates at the Gatehouse. I know the difference between demons and devils, or at least I've had it explained. That one might still confuse me... I know about The Blood War, and to avoid it. I know about the Outlands, and the towns that lie on their borders. I know about the strange breed of rat in this city - I know one is a nuisance, a dozen are a real threat... and there are wizards aplenty. Both good and bad, for my purposes. About the only thing he didn't know about was any wizard named 'Movas'. When I asked him which faction a wizard would most likely be in, he laughed at me again and said "Any of 'em. About the only one I can think of that they WOULDN'T be in is ours!"

Between these two paragraphs is a friendly looking picture of what appears to be a two-headed dog, both hears tearing a rat in half with it's brain exposed - while similar, brain-exposed rats scurry away

So, I think I might join the Bleak Cabal in that case. Though from what Eric tells me, the Mercykillers or even the Harmonium might be better suited to my cause. Still, a lot of what Eric tells me about the Bleakers makes sense to me - speaks to me on a level I hadn't anticipated.