Intro Text

This is a short story that was used to introduce the players to the world of the Seam.

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Deep in the valleys of the Thorncliffe Mountains, a long wooden hall stands amongst a crowd of dark green pine trees. The hall cuts a striking silhouette in the dawn light. Its sturdy timber frame supports a carved dragon head, the remnants of a campfire smoke softly in the paddock, and over the threshold, a bedraggled tomcat with lightning blue eyes stares into the forest. The cat emits a soft purr as the sun starts to rise, and turns to enter through an open window.

Inside, the embers of last night’s hearth fire have finally burned out. A plump halfling man is clearing long tables of tankards and chicken bones. At one of the tables, a large half-orc is snoring, the battle-axe strapped to her back shaking with each breath.

The cat sits and watches for a while, before continuing its journey. Prowling through the rafters, he sees another member of his master’s party passed out over a beam. His dark cloak has fallen over his face, but there is no mistaking the silver blades tucked into his belt, boots and waistcoat.

The tomcat creeps over the divider between the dining hall and the sleeping quarters. As they pass over the first chamber, they spot a set of panpipes resting against a bookshelf, and the red hair and self-satisfied smirk of the party bard unconscious in bed. In the next chamber, the white-haired cleric is performing her morning prayers with incense and holy oil. In the third chamber, the keen eyes of a Paladin of the Silver Temple catch sight of the cat stalking through the rafters, and she nods good morning in greeting.

Finally, the tomcat arrives in the last chamber, where his master is furiously scribbling notes into a battered, leather-bound book. The room is messy. Scraps of parchment carpet the floor. Tinctures, potions, salts and other alchemical ingredients are splashed haphazardly across the windowsill. But at the desk, the hunched figure continues to write, barely noticing the arrival of her familiar.

This is not where this story is set.

Over the back of the desk chair is a midnight blue robe. The Robe of Useful Things. This item is sought after by many magic users across the continent. Its power allows the wearer to produce useful items at a pinch. Just this morning, tens of feet of parchment were dragged forth from the pockets of the robe for its owner to use.

This is where our story is set.

Deep within the folds of the robe, in a pocket dimension is a hidden world, known by its inhabitants as The Seam.

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In the Seam, dark sky spreads in every direction. Only faint pinpricks of artificial light break through the shadow. The Chalks: Aged floating lanterns that guide airships through the black.

Some airships carry passengers; some ferry supplies between outposts; some are outfitted for piracy and war. But the most influential ships run stitches.

Stitch runners are responsible for satisfying the whims of the master of the robe. They deliver items to the pockets, often travelling far from the well-flown paths of The Chalks, deep into the black.

No-one applies to become a stitch runner. Runners are identified and selected by recruiters for the multiple competing guilds that take on stitches. The war over contracts and talent can be fierce, as for each completed stitch, the robe grants a guild more gold, supplies and equipment, giving greater control over the inhabitants of the Seam.

Most guilds have outposts spread throughout the Seam, but all of them have their headquarters in Velour, the beating metropolitan heart at the centre of the Robe.

Every ship travels through Velour at some point. It is the centre of the trade, manufacturing, business and crime in the Seam. Most importantly, however, Velour is where newcomers to the Seam arrive. Planar travellers lost in the Astral Sea are pulled through a portal at the very top of the city and face a stark new reality in the Robe of Many Things. With no hope for escape, everyone in the Seam must make the most for themselves in a back-stabbing, uncertain world.