Loom

Story

Prologue The events of the game are preceded by a 30-minute radio play. It is stated that the age of the great guilds arose when people once again tried to gain dominion over nature. The world of "Loom" is not defined in relation to ours, but many assume that it takes place on Earth in the distant future, since the game is set in the year 8021. People have banded together into city-states to practice a common craft "dedicated to the absolute control of knowledge and held together by strict traditions of pride and fear." The humble guild of weavers established themselves as masters of the fabric, though they eventually transcended the boundaries of the fabric and began to "weave subtle patterns of influence into the very fabric of reality." They were persecuted for this "witchcraft" and acquired an island far off the coast of the mainland, which they named Loom, after the great loom that was the symbol of their guild. Lady Cygna Threadbare is introduced as a grieving mother who implores the elders of the weavers' guild to use the power of the Loom to end the weavers' suffering. Their numbers are declining and their seeds are barren. The elders Atropos, Clothos and Lachesis, named after the three figures of fate in Greek mythology, reprimand Cygna and tell her that it is not her job to play gods. Despite their warnings, Cygna secretly takes control of the loom and puts in a gray thread. She accidentally pulls a (unanticipated) child out of the loom, incurring the wrath of the elders. She hands the child over to Dame Hetchel, the old servant, and accepts her fate. The elders cast the design "Transcendence" on her, which transforms her into a swan and banishes her from the pattern (the name Cygna is the feminine form of swan in Latin). Hetchel names the child Bobbin and raises her as her own. Bobbin grows up ostracized from the rest of the guild. The elders realize that the presence of his gray thread has thrown the pattern into chaos, and the loom foresees the pattern unraveling. For these reasons, the elders forbid him to learn the ways of the guild until a decision can be made on Bobbin's seventeenth birthday ("until he comes of age in seventeen years," as the game's audio play states). Hetchel, however, defies his elders and secretly teaches him some basics of weaving. This is where the game begins. Storyline On his birthday, Bobbin is summoned by the elders to determine his fate. He arrives at the Refuge in time to witness the Elders punish Hetchel for raising Bobbin with the "transcendence" design, but Hetchel turns back into a swan's egg, which confuses and frightens the Elders. As they ponder this turn of events, a swan comes down from the sky and crashes through a window of the sanctuary. She casts the "transcendence" spell on the elders and the rest of the villagers, transforming all the weavers except Bobbin into swans who disappear through a crack in the sky. Bobbin, left all alone, finds the distaff of Elder Atropos and uses it to free Hetchel from her egg. Hetchel, now a fledgling, tells Bobbin that the swan that visits him every year on his birthday has come to save the weavers from the Third Shadow that will cover the world. Bobbin then sets out to find the herd. On his way, he meets other guilds and has some adventures. Eventually he meets a cleric, Bishop Mandible, who is after the glassmakers' scrying orb, the blacksmiths' swords, and the shepherds' products. Mandible claims the Weaver's distaff to rule the world with an army of undead to fulfill the prophecies. Playing the design of the "opening" in a nearby graveyard, he tears apart the fabric of the universe and allows a being called "Chaos" to enter. Chaos kills Mandible and summons an army of undead to destroy Earth. Bobbin retrieves the dead bishop's distaff and heals many of the cracks in the pattern. In the process, he helps many of his former acquaintances who were injured or killed by Chaos' army. Finally, he fights Chaos, who is striving to take control of the great loom on his home island. The battle ends with Chaos killing his stepmother with the design of the Unmaking. However, it is implied that it is still possible to save Hetchel, as "one feather is still intact." Bobbin then destroys the large loom with the same design. He is joined by his mother and the other weavers and learns that one half of the world is ruled by Chaos, while the weavers remain in the other half and in time will gain enough power to challenge Chaos again. Bobbin casts "transcendence" on himself, and with the help of his mother and the other villagers in their swan forms, he flies off and carries the wave across the world. His friends watch as the flock of swans flies away; it remains unclear whether Bobbin left them in the realm of chaos or saved them.