The fourth fragment is the story of Brandon Lachmann. Brandon was a thoughtful, insightful ten year old growing up in 1980’s New York. He spent his days reading and creating rich stories and games for him and his friends to play through. Wise and insightful beyond his years, Brandon never quite felt like he belonged here, like something was wrong or missing with the world. Inspired by a passage he found in an old book that read, 'Imagination is nothing more than memory, transposed", he set forth to find the truth.
The Mountaineers followed his journey, from the television shows and novels that fired his imagination, to the historical landmarks and statues that inspired him to build entire worlds. Over time, the connections he made between seemingly unconnected events and places brought magic into his world, and ours. He had learned that magic hid in the spaces between seemingly unrelated things and could be revealed by connecting them with story. As we traced his steps we were shadowed by a mysterious organization called the Devoted. A group that had been tracking Brandon since his apparent disappearance and death thirty years prior. At times we trailed behind the devoted, but with the help of a member of their organization named Reader, we began to catch up and even surpass their discoveries.
On October 29th, 2016 the thirtieth anniversary of Brandon’s disappearance we traced his journey to his final steps in our world through the New York City Public Library. From there he boarded a train that you won’t find on any timetable or schedule. A train that took him from the derelict City Hall subway station to the lands of imagination that he believed so fervently were real.
This was not, however, the end of Brandon’s story. As King Rabbit had told us, Brandon had not died that day. Neither had he given up his compassion and concern for others. In his new world Brandon learned many things, and went on many adventures. In the end, however, he worked to warn those of us he had left behind of a dark storm on the horizon he saw coming. Tapping into whatever strength he could muster he relayed messages to those who could hear him. He reached out to Cole Sumner and Deidre green through his adopted title as the Last Traveler, and he reached out to us in the end, in the hopes we’d take up his warning and be prepared for what was to come.
Perhaps saddest of all this was the final revelation of the role the Devoted had played in all this. Their leader, Sacha was a childhood friend of Brandon. She was the one person he trusted to tell of his journey, and the one person he invited to come with him. For whatever reason she did not go with him, but given the fact she spent the next thirty years trying to find him again, we can only assume it was a decision she had come to regret.
As for the fragment, Brandon left us one final gift. The story of the Forest of Darkening Glass. By following it’s tale of adventure we came upon the final fragment of the first key. The plant known as Siren’s Lace.
Meanwhile… Deirdre was presented with new information on Ackerly Green Publishing. Everything from purchase orders, and original memos to logos and word mark sketches. In an effort to processs everything that had happened, Deirdre took a vacation to a small town upstate called Hudson where she came up with an idea. An idea could potentially keep her in New York for the foreseeable future, maybe even permanently. Deirdre decided she was going to re-open Ackerly Green Publishing. Deirdre asked Mr. Wallace to track down all of the copyright information on the previous books published by Acklery Green to start this project off. This was going to take a lot of work, a lot of time, but it could be huge if she pulled it off.