Strange Solace

The clock was built in 1405 and is constructed from equal parts engineering, art and magic (although some say the first two are also the latter).

Twice as tall as its makers the clock’s eyes cast a watchful gaze over a small city in Germany. It is crafted from finest oak, tall and elegant in stature.  Its most intriguing feature is the golden celestial globe which depicts the moon and the stars, the moon phase and the stars position above the earth.

The clock was constructed by three sisters, an Engineer, an Artist and a Magician.

The youngest sister, the Magician, studied a specialised branch of time magic called Chromancy, which is solely dedicated to manipulating time. With the appropriate dedication and study, practitioners can control, bend or even rupture the fabric of time itself.

Despite their seeming normal occupations, the two older sisters were also possessed with magical ability, that of future sight. The Engineer saw grand bridges traversing wide rivers and joining countries, she saw intricate building which reach to the clouds. These visions of her future constructions came to her as clearly as you see your pet kitten. The people say she makes the improbable possible.

The middle sister was not so lucky. Her visions were scenes of death and disaster and famine. She tried in vain to warn the people, but she was shunned as a mad woman. So, she learned to exorcise these visions by painting them. Over time she became a great artist, received commissions from the great and good of the day. She carefully encodes her paintings with the warnings. Wilted flowers signify the facility of life, an ink black raven warns as harbinger of doom, and hourglass reminds us that our time is finite. 

The youngest sister begged the Engineer and the Artist to help her build the clock. They didn’t understand her studies, but as the younger sister they always indulged her. Strange then, that the middle sister did not foresee the consequences.

The youngest sister was ambitious and wanted to push her study of Chromancy beyond the limits of what was known. She saw no limits to time. She understood that the convention that time is linear was not correct. Time does not pass in an orderly sequence, no, events come and go as they choose.

The youngest sister believed if she could harness the power of the moon and stars, she could re-order these events or control their flow and spare the world from some of the terrible things she had seen in the middle sister’s paintings.

But the clock they built was too powerful, or perhaps the Engineer made slight miscalculation, for when the cogs began turning a timer loop was created. The same day repeats itself over and over again. Only the youngest sister is aware. And she only has a day to try and fix it before she must begin all over again.

Today is attempt two hundred and twenty-five thousand, five hundred and seventy-one.

Copyright: image believed to be in the public domain and used for creative, non-commercial purposes.