The letter is written on cream-colored high quality hand-made paper in natural ink. The hand is formal, but slightly shaky. The letter was sealed with a red wax seal showing eight towers radiating out from the center to form a compass rose.

George Mandlebrot
Secretary of the Council of Castilians
The World of Castlemas
Time and Date unknown

Your Excellencies of the Temple,

I am writing to you on behalf of the World of Castlemas to ask your aid in resolving the unprecedented and unfortunate situation we have found ourselves in. To wit, the mainspring of the Heart-Clock is missing, and in consequence, time has all but stopped for our world.

To explain more fully, Castlemas is a world consisting entirely of an enormous, spherical castle. We, the inhabitants live mostly in the surface rooms, tending our gardens and flocks. However, this does not mean the interior of the castle is not important! For at the very center of the castle is the great Heart-Clock, whose very tick is the heartbeat of our world. Without the Heart-Clock, our world would not turn, water would not flow, and time does not pass. Let me repeat this last statement, for I believe it is a matter that distinguishes our world from all others: without the Heart-Clock, time does not pass.

What do I mean by such a statement? Just this: since the disappearance of the mainspring and the subsequent silence of the Heart-Clock, no one awake has been able to sleep, and no one asleep was awoken. No one has eaten, no one has drunk, no one has been born, and no one has died. Even those in the midst of pain and lethal illness can not pass on. All remains as it was at the time of the clock's stopping, a time we can not measure without the clock's beat.

We have, of course, attempted to repair the Heart-Clock. But even the skills of our Master Clocksmith are unable to duplicate the singular components that make up the Heart-Clock! Mainsprings of gold, silver, steel, brass and copper have all proved useless. The repair is clearly beyond our skills.

As for what has happened to the original mainspring, we do not know. None of the seven clocksmiths on duty at the time claim to have seen anything. Whether the mainspring was stolen by man or demon, or simply disintegrated after centuries of use, no one among us can say. But unless we can find or replace the mainspring, or some other means of restarting the Heart-Clock is found, we will have no choice but to leave our home world or all go completely mad. Man was not meant to live outside of time.

Following the ancient tradition, I shall place this letter under the alter of the clocksmith's chapel, which is right by the Heart-Clock.

Your Obedient Servant,

George Mandlebrot
Secretary of the Council of Castilians

Oh, quick question, how is Mandlebrot going to place his letter on the altar at midnight if he can't tell what time it is?

There should definitely be someone who wants to keep things "out of time." For example, someone whose loved one was sick and dying, someone who doesn't want to have to sleep anymore, etc.

There should definitely be someone who wants to keep things "out of time." For example, someone whose loved one was sick and dying, someone who doesn't want to have to sleep anymore, etc.

That's definately something I had in mind when I wrote it, but I was only trying to imply it, as I did not think it was something that Mandlebrot would point out. This is a sort of interesting issue with this whole letter writting business: the writer is an unreliable reporter with their own biases, and they are not going to tell you everything. At best, they will imply stuff, and important information might be missing entirely. How is that best handled?

How about (new text in bold):

"... No one has eaten, no one has drunk, no one has been born, and no one has died. All remains as it was at the time of the clock's stopping, a time we can not measure without the clock's beat. Those who profit from such a situation are already spreading discontent and threatening to smash the finely wrought structure of Castlemas."

Re-reading the original letter, I think the Seven Clocksmiths are probably the primary suspects in the case, so it may not be necessary to be obvious about who would benefit from the situation.

Still, adding a line that is something to the effect of: "No one has eaten, no one has drunk, and no one has been born. Still more disturbing, those in the midst of lethal illness can not pass on."

Just to get a dash of the spine-chilling in there, y'know? :)

Yep, that works for me.