Welcome to Themis
Where everything is not quite what it seems.
Put yourself in my shoes. Your name is Rintoul, and you are a prophet of some standing. You live on Inisbigun, a remote island in a vast ocean on a little blue planet called Themis. The world you know is quaint and low-tech, but it was once the home of the Old Ones, an advanced but long-lost race. They left behind some mighty strange artefacts and structures, some of which have been quite useful - roads, libraries, temples and picnic spots.
Folks look up to you because you are a seeker of truths. Your remit is to interpret signs for clues about the long-range meteorological outlook. And why not? It's a good earner for your brotherhood. No one could blame you for the odd mistake because who can equate storm intensity with average climate? Then something goes wrong. While consulting the oracle in an airy place of antiquity, you glimpse the impending destruction of your home and everything you treasure. Your vision is incomprehensible and a terrifying glimpse of a future you can't bear to contemplate.
Luckily, you've married above yourself. Elaine is everything you are not: resourceful, calm, confident, and ever so clever. She and her enigmatic uncle, Percival, must surely be able to help interpret the signs. They aren't from around here, as the saying goes, but why should that matter?
Should you fess up? What if you're wrong? The uncertainty of the situation is a torment. Worse still, what if you're right and mysterious forces beyond your understanding are converging to play a game where the stakes are cosmic in scale?
It's never occurred to you that people could live among the stars and that your home hides so many secrets. Can you, should you, will you choose your doom? Or is your usual approach, going with the flow, the easiest thing to do?g to do?
