Nathaniel’s Fob

As we walk on the skin of a ball of rock, the Ethereal realm is a bubble. That bubble contains myriad other bubbles, each one the home of a different ethereal creature or race. Some of them are bright and helpful, others are dark and will harm you if they can. Gravity in the Ethereal realm is a matter of geography. Which way up you are, in relation to our world, depends entirely on where you are standing. Add to this confusion that time in the Ethereal realm is a place. Time, as we understand it, is a fixed point in Ethereal space. To this end, you can visit certain times of day and stay there for as long as you wish. The lands of dusk are a particular favourite of mine.

In a world where up and down are relative and time doesn’t move, finding your way around can be difficult. Getting lost can be fatal.

At the heart of the Ethereal realm lies Midnight. This moment in time is a fixed point in space that never moves, and the rest of time radiates outwards from it. The further you stand from this point, the closer to midday you are. Midday lies on the borders of the Ethereal realm.

The first thing you need to ascertain when you take the fob from your pocket is which way up you are standing. This is where the arrow on the front of the device comes into play. The rune on the silver arrow is a binding rune, and it binds the arrow to our realm. This means the arrow will always point downwards in relation to home. You simply take it from your pocket and hang it like a pendulum from its chain. If it points straight up, you know you are standing upside down. Once you know which way up you are, the rest should be relatively simple.

When the device is opened, your thumb rests on an eyepiece and a needle stands up in the centre. You use these to draw a clear line of sight to the point of Midnight at the heart of the realm.

Taking an educated guess as to what time of day it is where you are standing will give you some idea of how far from Midnight you are. Next, you raise the smaller circular viewing window and, with the prior knowledge of which way up you are standing, turn it to line up the small holes with whichever realms (or bubbles) you can see in the sky around you. This should all help pinpoint your position. Once you have found out where you are you can raise the small pointer to help plan your route home along the many connecting pathways that link the realms together.

Travel safely and, wherever possible, always in the light.