Chapter 2: Baz

Baz Brysden, an Eclipse-born Timespinner and Professor Selandyn’s assistant, is sent to the Vault to retrieve a theological tome on the Tides and the Shadow. At the permissions desk, a Waxing Moon clerk recognizes his Eclipse sigil and requires a magic-dampening cuff, a reminder of prejudice and the danger of Collapsing.

Inside, Baz collects the assigned book but is drawn to Cornus Clover’s Song of the Drowned Gods manuscript. Despite the rules, he removes the cuff and carefully uses his time magic to shift the lock to a moment when it was open, granting access to the case.

He reads the opening line, then notices a torn-out epilogue. A slip of paper falls from the pages: a hurried note in Romie’s handwriting—“The call heard between the stars = DOVERMERE? FIND EPILOGUE.” The discovery contradicts his belief that Romie had outgrown the book and suggests she secretly researched the manuscript.

Baz recalls Romie once describing a song in her dreams, echoing the story’s lore, implying she may have followed such a call to Dovermere. Footsteps warn him his time is up; he replaces the manuscript, pockets the note, and exits with the assigned tome.

Haunted by Romie’s hidden trail and the Vault clerk’s memory of her as a gifted Dreamer, Baz concludes Emory—who knew Romie intimately—may hold crucial answers. He resolves to find Emory and learn what Romie was pursuing.