The Legacy of Bobbin Blench

Contributor: Stephen Reid, Creative Director of Threadbare

Summary: This Threadbare Narrative Exemplar is designed to provide support for narrative creation through the medium of the historical account. The narrative example depicts the slow decay of culture, memory, and community caused by The Void, through the lens of Threadbare character - Noria NeedleNest, High KnitWitch of the Clothborne Coven. Noria delivers a historical account. A story held in just one of the many ancient books in the archives of the Lost Library. Contributors can use this form of narrative delivery as a source of lore creation and story setting when creating game assets and making additional narrative contributions.

Theme(s): Memory, decay, community collapse, unseen threats

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The Legacy of Bobbin Blench - The Historical Account of Noria NeedleNest, High KnitWitch of the Clothborne Coven

• Type: Historical
• Date/Location: Loomlit, Lucent Lakes, Threadbare
• Source: ‘The Legacy of Bobbin Blench’ by Noria NeedleNest, High Knitwitch of the Clothborne Coven, Fray’s End

It all began with a Festival of Light. Oh, the irony.

In the shadowy depths of Threadbare, nestled among the Forgotten Forests, lie the puddled remains of the Lucent Lakes. Long ago, before the darkness crept across this land, an island rose gently from the waters of Lake Lucid, the largest and most majestic of these bodies of water. Perched atop it was the intrepid village of Loomlit, its resplendent glow shimmering across the ripples of the lake’s surface and into the sky, like the aurora borealis.

Some say Loomlit was where the first threads trailed from. Threads of light that wove the fabric of the world, the people, the creatures, the landscape, the stories. Threads of connection and care.

Light was the very essence of life in Loomlit for the sun never rose nor set at the bottom of the world, and villagers relied on the light of Wisps - mysterious, glowing creatures made of Hope and Possibility. Carrying a single, potent wish, immortal and present since time immemorial, Wisps move among all beings as companions and guardians. Bestowing their wish is to lay down their whole light in service of another, a rare and profound gesture.

Now, while Wisps can be found throughout Threadbare, they were most numerous and brightest in their ancient home of the Lucent Lakes. Loomlit thrived under their luminescence, allowing the population to navigate the lakes, build their village, and even farm food. In return, the villagers protected the Wisps from the growing threat of The Wisp Trade - a brutish practice involving the capture and draining of Wisps through twisted instruments, wasting ill-gotten wishes on coin and power. For generations, the villagers and the Wisps lived together in harmony. One society caring for the other.

Once a year, the people and creatures of Threadbare journeyed to Loomlit for the LoomLight Festival, a celebration of gratitude and artistry. Luminescent threads wove through the streets, lanterns floated on the lakes, and Wisps danced in the skies. Song circles filled the town’s watchtowers, melodies commissioned from the Song Sanctuaries rang out across the lakes, lyrics sparking from the mouths of singers along electric lines of light while musicians played on reverberant song stones. Campfires hosted storytellers and their handlooms, drawing huddled listeners to hear ancient and wondrous stories, stitched in real-time from glistening threads of Memory, Imagination and Spirit. Comedians wandered among the crowds, scattering laughter that popped like fireworks on the tongue. Children played, sparklers leaving momentary tears in the very fabric of the air with fizzing delight. Shadow puppets performed on courtyard walls, telling tall tales of giants, wizards, and jesters. The luminescent flower petals of Lanternlace, Starweave, and Shimmerstitch were placed on the surface of ponds to create ever-shifting mosaics of light and colour. Even the visiting Hushrooms took part, drinking a concoction of chemicals found in the lake plant life that made their crowns pulse with light. Market stalls sold all manner of goods, like Siren Songs, or temporary luminescent tattoos, eye beams, floating foam, personal portals, or bubbles made only of light that you could hold, and throw, and summon, before they flared and popped. People traded goods from all the kingdoms of Threadbare for a song, a story, a joke, or just a smile.

But…where light dwells, shadows linger…

Bobbin Blench came from a long line of Festival organisers. Quite prestigious in fact. A family full of legends and lore. His great, great-grandmother, Benevola single-handedly held off the Wisp Traders at Clothwall, a hero revered by villagers and Wisp alike. His great grandfather still held the record for most lanterns stitched in one night. His mother, a songstress of both lyrical and melodic prowess, long maintained the ancient tradition of the Song Circles. Some say she channeled the very first Siren - Searise SeamWhisper. Throughout time, Bobbin’s ancestors had been charged with the leadership and operational oversight of Threadbare’s most time-honored event, thereby keeping alive a tradition of light and laughter and love.

But Bobbin Blench was not his great, great grandmother, nor his great grandfather, and certainly not his mother. Bobbin Blench was no hero. Nor a particularly competent stitcher. He cared not for songs, or stories, or poems, or parables. No, Bobbin was lazy. He had no real sense of, nor care for time. He slept late, missed meetups, and dodged good and honest work. Selfish?...perhaps. Neglectful?…for sure. His name became synonymous with a letdown. He spent his time only on the things he found important, which was, in fact, very little. Sleeping in, a spot of fishing, or gossiping on his way to collect his daily thimbletart or buttonberry pie from the local bakery, Thread Crumbs. Behind him a string of broken appointments, missed deliveries, and disappointment.

As was tradition, it was decided that his ageing parents should pass the baton of responsibility onto Bobbin. The official Hand Binding ceremony was arranged. The ancient, luminous string would be unbound from the hands of his parents and rewound on his own. But when the day came, Bobbin didn’t show. No, instead he was found several hours later asleep on the lakeside, a fishing pole resting between his toes. Jostled awake by his frustrated parents, he fumbled and bumbled his way up the bank and made his way to the ceremony, where he hurried through the motions, mumbling something about “the size of those Patchscale Perch.” The ceremonial knot was barely tied before he hastily tore it off, stuffing it into his fishing sack and rushing off to the lakeside once more.

That string was just the beginning. As the LoomLight Festival grew closer, Bobbin, now its sole overseer, dropped many a ball of it. General meetings were missed. Key decisions were never made. The great LightLoom was not maintained. Lanternlace, Starweave, and Shimmerstitch petals were not harvested. Food was not ordered. Merchants were not invited. Songs were not commissioned. Even the Wisps were not consulted. One might find Bobbin doing any number of things on any given day, just not those he was charged with.

When the day arrived for the festival to begin, the village was abuzz with activity. People scrambled to put up their lanterns, weave floating baskets, and pull the light threads through the town from home to home. They had prepared as they always had, so much of it made possible by their efforts. But many things were still amiss. The decor was less in number, and dimmer than years before. There were far fewer lanterns. The children could find no sparklers. Pilgrims arrived at largely empty marketplaces, no itinerary, and no map of that year's festival.

Bobbin himself could not be found on the island at all. Instead, he had taken a boat to a small neighbouring island with bait and his rod. He had never cared for the noise and the lights of the Festival and considered his work to be done. He would instead fish on a quiet pier all evening, watching the festivities from afar, completely unaware of the impending consequences of his carelessness.

But the real damage would come with time. A creeping, malingering decay that no one saw coming. Until it was too late.

You see, the lights and the colours, though the most immediately fantastical part of the festival, were only part of its magic. The real heart of the gathering was in the Song Circles, the storytelling campfires, the comedy, puppet shows, and street art. This is where the Memory, Imagination and Spirit of the world was woven. Remembrance, respect, wonder, pride, love, and all other manner of emotion were held in those practices. And for the first time since all of Threadbare could remember, there were occasional songs left unsung, stories untold, jokes with no punchline, shadows without puppets, and art imagined but not made. Some streets remained entirely empty, some courtyards closed, even the watchtowers stood like dark sentinels, silent witnesses to the fall.

And in the bleak depths of Lake Lucid, far beneath the island, a single stitch, caught on the hook of a certain young fisherman’s rod, pulled and parted.

Of course, it wasn’t all a failure. The townsfolk made a great effort to pull together what they could. Lanterns floated, Wisps danced, and many stories and songs and jokes were still shared. The festival came and went. As the last of the pilgrims sailed off on the lakes, the villagers of LoomLit resumed their daily routines. Life went back to normal. Bobbin, having eventually returned to the island, hailed it a success to the shaking heads of his peers. His parents scolded him, hoping next year would be better, but he brushed off their concerns as an overreaction.

To everyone’s shame, the following year played out in much the same manner. Then again, and again, and again, and with time, the carelessness Bobbin had harboured began to spread. It started with the small stuff at first - people stopped sweeping their stairs in anticipation of the great day. Washing was left out in the courtyards. Gardens were left untended. The usual community painting of signs and railings was pushed back due to cost and time.

Then the festival itself became an effort, people forgot to prepare or made less effort if they did. They opted for the cheapest materials or farmed out the arts and craftwork. Lanterns were produced far away and shipped in. They made excuses - too busy, too tired, too dangerous, too expensive. Some even left the island to avoid it entirely. “An excuse for a vacation,” they said. Increasing year-on-year, Song Circles were slowly reduced to one, held at the back of the island due to ‘noise complaints’. The storytelling campfires were eventually banned entirely due to ‘health and safety.’ The festival was focused in the town square only, with entire streets closed and guarded. The main event was eventually ticketed, queues formed from the square to the pier, the boats to and from which were also ticketed. Food prices rose while quality fell. With time, less pilgrims attended year on year, which suited this new island attitude.

Signs were put up all over the island, ‘Private Property - Keep Out’, ‘No Access’, ‘No Ball Games’, ‘No Sparklers’, ‘No Children…No Wisps’.

All the while, beneath the placid surface of Lake Lucid, a shadow stirred and grew, creeping from that split so long ago. Up the fishing line, along the rod, coiling around the fingers and arms. Blistering the body. Drawn towards an island now fraught with divisiveness. The Void, silent and unyielding, crept into the lives of the people of Loomlit and nested there, until its tendril began to seep outward into the rest of Threadbare.

In the span of just ten years, a collective amnesia had taken hold. No one could put their finger on it, but it was there, in everything. A name held on the tip of a tongue. A fading melody with forgotten lyrics. A ‘not today thanks’ or ‘It’s not my job’ or ‘Someone else can take care of that’. People forgot the names of once famous storytellers. Forgot entire stories they once told. Songs faded from memory, their lyrics and melodies reduced to a hum or whistle on the lips of a pilgrim in a far off land. People stopped reading, and then stopped reading to their children. The library closed down, the books left in boxes in storage. But more than this, they forgot the names of their friends and neighbours, and had no time for even small talk. Everything was measured in monetary value. Once a favour was now an opportunity to earn. Once a barter, was now coin only. The village, once beautifully kept, became an eyesore as neglect and carelessness took the streets. Litter, untended gardens, unpainted walls and fences, broken carts. Even Wisps became something of a suspicion, and so they left. The town descended into an almost eternal darkness.

The lake turned black, the earth turned to ash, and the air turned to poison.