Codex · World or Place

Havenmere

World · Under evacuation

Charted

A world of four million residents. In Year 903, the Trajectory Office ordered its evacuation ahead of the crossing of the Visitant known as the Slow Choir. Nineteen days were given.

Residents report a sound at night, like many voices holding one note. The Office has advised them not to listen. Some residents have begun humming it back.

Ships of the Ilthari arrived at Havenmere without being asked.

The first evacuation ships have left, and whole districts now stand empty. Wardens report that the night-sound has not faded as residents leave. It is loudest in the empty districts.

By Bulletin 004, half the population had left. Clocks on Havenmere have begun to run slow, by a few minutes a day. Residents keep their departure times by the clocks aboard the evacuation ships.

The liners that once called at Havenmere daily now arrive every hour, and leave full. Wardens have stopped counting people, and started counting ships.

The last ship to leave Havenmere is the liner Faithful Return, due to depart two days before the Slow Choir arrives. No ship will call after it. By Bulletin 006, most residents had gone. About four hundred had not registered for any ship, many of them among those who hum the night-sound. They have given no reason.

By Bulletin 007, the Slow Choir could be seen from Havenmere as a band of sky with no stars, wider each night. The night-sound is heard in daylight, and the clocks lose close to an hour a day.

Most evacuees have been received on Highfold.

By Bulletin 008, the district registers were fading: names had gone from the pages, and street signs in the empty districts were blank. Some residents could no longer name the streets they lived on, and found the faces in their photographs hard to recognise. The Office advised residents to write down the names of those close to them.

The four hundred hum the night-sound together, in districts miles apart, without having met. Some say it is no longer one note, but voices, some of them familiar. The wardens' reports have grown shorter, and no longer give a count of those who remain.

The Faithful Return left Havenmere on time, carrying the last of the wardens and the last residents who registered for a ship. One resident came to the departure field as it boarded, but did not board; she walked back towards the districts. The wardens' final report was a single line: residents remain. It gave no number. No ship will call again before the Slow Choir arrives.

Uncharted

Source of the night-sound: not charted
Why the sound grows louder as the world empties: not charted
Why the clocks run slow: not charted
Destination of the Ilthari passengers: not recorded here
Why the four hundred have not registered: not given
Why the registers are fading: not charted
How many residents remain: not known

Appears in the Dispatch

Bulletin 001 · Year 903 of the Dominion Havenmere Ordered Evacuated

The Trajectory Office has ordered the evacuation of Havenmere. A Visitant called the Slow Choir will pass through in nineteen days. Four million people must leave.

The Slow

Bulletin 002 · Year 903 of the Dominion The Whitepath Reopens

The Brasswright League, the merchant guild that controls most trade between the inner worlds, has reopened the Whitepath. The trade route had been closed for forty years. The

Bulletin 003 · Year 903 of the Dominion Cartographer Sought for the Unmarked Verge

The Trajectory Office is seeking a cartographer for the Unmarked Verge, the edge of the Dominion where the charts end. The post has been vacant for some time.

Bulletin 004 · Year 903 of the Dominion Long Watch Clock Stops for One Minute

The Order of the Long Watch reports that its clock stopped yesterday for one minute, then started again. The Order’s monks have kept that single clock running

Bulletin 005 · Year 903 of the Dominion Freighter Unaccounted For on the Whitepath

The Brasswright freighter Even Keel has not completed its return crossing of the Whitepath. It left the port of Caddis six days ago. The crossing now takes five.

Bulletin 006 · Year 903 of the Dominion Last Ship to Leave Havenmere in Six Days

The Trajectory Office has named the last ship to leave Havenmere. The liner Faithful Return will depart in six days, two days before the Slow Choir arrives. No

Bulletin 007 · Year 903 of the Dominion Instrument Review Finds No Fault

The Trajectory Office has concluded its review of the charting instruments here at Lodestar Station. The instruments are sound. They are charting the Slow Choir now, and it

Bulletin 008 · Year 903 of the Dominion Names Fading from Havenmere Registers

Wardens on Havenmere report that the district registers are fading. Names have gone from the pages. In the empty districts, the street signs are blank.

Some residents waiting

Bulletin 009 · Year 903 of the Dominion Faithful Return Leaves Havenmere

The liner Faithful Return left Havenmere this morning, on time. It carried the last of the wardens, and the last residents who registered for a ship. No ship