The Colburn Journals
The Journals of Penzarik Colburn: Being an account of the mysterious land of Amer and the denizens and custom thereof.
The Coulburn journals are a series of personal journals of one Penzarik Colburn, a human explorer who ventured far past the Atlan sea to find what what on the other side. The Journals which are often taken as fiction, are in fact reproductions of the original Penzarik Colburn's journals which are far less coherent.
Containing many of the original sketches and diagrams laid out in the journals. The reprinting also contains several redactions made by the publishers for one reason or another. Still they detail a wild journey across the Atlan Sea and to a land "Beyond the West". The account, which comprises five years of time follows Colburn along a mysterious coast where he encounters several different and strange civilizations.
It is believed by most that these are individual commentaries on the civilizations of Erryt and are for all intents and purposes allegorical. It is unkown which, if any are accounts of actual civilizations beyond the Atlan, but it's theorized that if they are real that Erryt and it's people would be in great danger should they ever try to make contact by going that far West.
The Voyage
The earliest part of the journals is a brief recounting of the voyage that Colburn had signed on to act as a clerk on. A Merchant's guild ship that was attempting to find a shorter passage north through Nordlands. The ship is caught in a violent storm and flung off course. There it becomes caught in strange and mysterious currents and winds pushing it ever further West, eventually the strange horrors of the sea combined with attempted mutiny leave the ship barely functional. Colburn is one of a handful of members of the crew to survive.
Amer
The bulk of the journal chronicles Colburn's time in the strange land of Amer, a hostile and horribly scarred wasteland. Savage tribes of marauders, cities made of glass and steel, enclaves of constructs, and the Androfi, a species of living machines, different from constructs and much closer to humans. Amer is a land of horror and hope and as he travels it Colburn notes how like other countries and peoples those found in Amer are, as well as the dangers of travelling that foreign shore.
Eventually he is taken in by a group of Nord who have trade ties with the farther northern settlements of Amer and he is able to charter passage back to Nord and then to Hull. His time in Amer having changed him for, he bleives, the better
Homecoming
The final section of the book details his return home and lays out some basic revelations about society and culture which, it is believed, is the whole point of the journals in the first place, as a commentary on the nature of the Geopolitical status of Erryt at the time. The Colburn journals were published shortly after Colburn's death at 150, and since then have become a staple in any serious library.
Comments