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The Traveler's Companion

by EJGRgunner

"Traveler's Companion - An Excursionist's Guide to the City of Nexus, The: There is no book in the history of the written word more thorough, more scrutinized, more read, more beloved or more exactingly crafted than the Traveler's Companion. Currently in its 39th edition (revised), it is the definitive authority on all things Nexus, containing the collective knowledge and wisdom of generations of authors, dating back past the days of ancient Hollow, all the way to the halcyon era of the Imperial Shogunate. In a city where fortunes are won and lost on wits and cunning alone, there is no item more essential to understanding, nay, we dare say to surviving, the intricacies and nuances of Creation's greatest metropolis than the book you now hold in your hands. Thank the Dragons, the Gods, and all manner of spirits for your good fortune!"

- From The Traveler's Companion: An Excursionist's Guide to the City of Nexus, entry concerning The Traveler's Companion.

"Nah, I've never read it... it ain't got no pictures."
- the simpleton Lokara.

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During the wondrous years of the First Age of creation, when essence-powered technology performed seemingly impossible feats, enchanted printing presses would churn out thousands of copies of literary works, philosophical treatises, geomantic theorems, etc. Especially popular works could be found in every corner of creation, from the Imperial Manse to each of the Elemental Poles.

Today, however, in the wake of the Great Contagion and the downfall of the Shogunate, many technologies once taken for granted during their heyday are simply lost to the world, including the magical printing presses of yore. Today, most bound written works are tediously copied by hand from an original source, while a few books are produced using block lettering. Such labor-intensive methods of printing naturally curtail the dissemination of written material, and while copies of a few extraordinarily important writings can number in the hundreds, most texts, by and large, exist in only a few dozen copies scattered throughout Creation.

The Traveler's Companion, however, is a notable exception. At any given time, there may be as many as a thousand copies of assorted editions of the Companion circulating in Nexus, and dozens, if not hundreds, of other copies can be found along trade routes and in other cities. Copies of nearly every edition can be found in the Kshaha Library, and a more or less current edition can be found in nearly every hotel, inn, hostel, lodge, hospice, boardinghouse, dormitory, and caravansary in Nexus. Numerous upscale, service-oriented businesses keep copies handy for use by their clients, and certain taverns keep a copy of the Companion behind the bar to resolve drunken arguments before they become too heated.

Regardless of whether or not The Traveler's Companion - An Excursionist's Guide to the City of Nexus is worthy of such wide distribution, it generally considered to be the authority on all manner of things in or about Nexus. Laid out like an encyclopedia, the Companion contains thousands upon thousands of alphabetically organized entries which detail everything from the tidal patterns of the Yellow River to the cultural and architectural significance of The Bridge Of Ebullient Maidens to the proper etiquette for ordering and eating Toppled Susan.

The length, depth, and neutrality of the entries can vary greatly. The entry on Sorrow's Rhyme, for instance, simply presents a transcription of the song without comment, while the entry on Malfeas is an excoriating, invective-laced tirade against the club over 1,000 words long.

Generally, though, entries are informative and succinct, as in the case of the entry for the Rainbow Spire:

Rainbow Spire, the

Nex Dist. E. of Crookneck's Row. A building currently housing a dye works establishment,
prominent feature is the unused bell tower. Noteworthy multicolor and sometimes cloth-covered
roof. Useful landmark visible from over mile away. Dye works within is highly regarded and
highly expensive. See Also: Saker Family, Crookneck's Row, Nexus Dye Trade,
Yeskanero Merchanting Family, Famous Buildings, Navigational Landmarks

Despite the wealth of knowledge contained within the Companion, certain information is conspicuously absent. The book is released under rather mysterious circumstances. Firstly, it credits no authors, editors, or printing companies. The only identifying information about the book is a date of publication imprinted on the inside cover. Secondly, the book is updated and released very sporadically, with months, years, and sometimes even decades separating new editions.

Rumors

• The fact of the matter is that the Brothers of Belzarius write, publish, and distribute the book to hotels in order to lure tourists to their territory, where such easy marks are quickly liberated from their change purses.
• The Traveler's Companion is rife with hidden messages, deviously enciphered into the text by cryptographic genius. Powerful knowledge awaits the man or woman who can crack the Companion's Code.
• Much to the chagrin of Madame Marthesine, several things which should be forgotten, forsaken, and in all other ways totally and completely lost for all of time are, in fact, listed in the Companion.

Secret

• Originally published under the name Encyclopedia Nexusuca, the Traveler's Companion does not in fact date back to the days of the Shogunate, or even the days of Hollow. The Companion was originally created by a clever treasure hunter and forger who wanted to "bulk up" the collections he sold at auction. The illegitimacy of the text was soon discovered, and the "originals" were soon deemed worthless.
  
  Some enterprising young scholar or merchant realized that such an encyclopedia had potential. The treasure hunter's descriptions of major landmarks, tourist traps, etc. were not without insight, and a book detailing the many wonders of Nexus could be invaluable to the tourist trade, reaching an untapped market for authoritative and practical information on the city. Using the Encyclopedia as a model and a foundation, the entrepreneur penned The Traveler's Companion to the City of Nexus (2nd Edition), printed the book en masse using cheap paper and cheaper bindings and made a tidy profit off the sales to hotels and tourists before retiring to a villa in the Hundred Kingdoms. All subsequent editions of the Companion were created in a similar fashion: some dedicated or enterprising young Nexican discovers the current edition, identifies the flaws in the current version, revises it, and publishes a new edition.