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The Port of Possibility

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Stephen Reid edited this page Oct 5, 2026 · 1 revision

Type: Harbour
Region: The Imagine Isles
Location: Adrift among the Isles, in the Sea of Sagas, far to the West of Frays End
Known for: The Ferries of Fable, the Islanders' ships, and the ink barrels of the Ink Well
Status: Fallen to InkDrinkers (see In the Threadbare Plot)

"Every voyage to the Isles ends at the Port. Where you go from there is entirely up to you."
-- Saying of the Imagine Islanders

Overview

The Port of Possibility is the great harbour of the Imagine Isles, and the one place on the drift where every ship bound for the Isles makes landfall. The Ferries of Fable dock here at the end of their crossing from the Hem Harbour of Frays End. The Islanders' own ships set out from here to trade with the mainland. And the barrels of ink from The Ink Well, which every writer and dreamer on the Isles depends on to set down new stories, are unloaded on its quays.

Like the Isles themselves, the Port does not keep still. It is moored to no island in particular, and drifts with whichever islands need it most, so that a ship which sails in at dawn may find a different island beside the quay by evening. Learners bound for the Dev Archipelago are the one exception: their ferries land at the Selvedge Strand instead.

The Harbour

The Port is built the way everything on the Isles is built: from whatever someone imagined, and then improved. Its quays are stitched from driftwood and old sail, its warehouses are patched with the covers of books, and its cranes swing barrels ashore on lines of spun story. No two visitors agree on how many piers it has, because there is usually one more than there was the last time anyone counted.

Ships of every shape tie up along its quays: the Tideteller Ferries of Fable, the Islanders' trading ships, and the occasional vessel that someone imagined only that morning and has not yet decided what it is for. Wishes from Wishwalk are sometimes found stowed away in the cargo holds, hoping to see the mainland.

The Ink Trade

The Imagine Isles make new things, and new things are written in ink. The Isles have no ink of their own, so it comes by sea from the InkKeepers of the Ink Well, barrel by barrel, and the Port is where it arrives. While the barrels keep coming, the Isles keep growing. When they stop, nothing new can be written, and the islands begin to fade.

In the Threadbare Plot

The Port of Possibility opens the arc for the Not Loom in Act Two of the Threadbare Plot. When the StoryWeaver's Ferry of Fable reaches the Isles, it cannot dock: the Port has fallen to swarms of InkDrinkers, and its quays are blocked. The StoryWeaver swims ashore, and the Tideteller ferryman turns back for Frays End. With the Port blocked, no ship can sail in or out of the Isles, and creatures of every kind are camped on the beaches, waiting for passage to the mainland.

In Port in a Storm, Venture asks the StoryWeaver to sneak into the Port, clear a ship of InkDrinkers, take charge of it, and ferry the refugees to safety. The last barrels of ink arrived at the Port months ago, and the trail leads on to the Ink Well and The BlotWorks. When the Not Loom is destroyed, the refugees prepare to sail home to the Isles, their ships filled with barrels of fresh ink.

For Contributors

  • A harbour of possibilities. The Port should feel busy, inventive and slightly improbable, a place where anything might be unloaded next.
  • The Port drifts. It is never in quite the same place twice, which makes it a natural starting point for quests across the Isles.
  • Ink is the lifeline. The Port is where the link between the Isles and the Ink Well can be seen and felt. When the ink stops, everything on the Isles is affected.
  • No one is harmed. The InkDrinkers who take the Port are driven off, never harmed. See Content Guidelines.

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