Overview
The Threadbare are mentioned exactly twice in Thornwood's restricted archives. Once in a fragment of text dated to before the academy's founding: *"There are those who walk between the pages."* Once in a margin note in Aatos Ilmari's handwriting, which reads simply: *"Yes."*
No faculty member at Thornwood can explain who the Threadbare are. The name does not appear in any tradition's formal teaching. It does not correspond to any known magical practice, any historical faction, or any religious movement.
And yet.
What Is Known
Almost nothing. The name surfaces in ancient texts across multiple cultures, always at the margins. The Pandos have a prayer that references "the worn ones who pass between." The Hours monks keep a vigil for "those whose cloth has thinned." Sailors in Kingsreach swear they've met people who knew things about ports they'd never visited.
The connections between these references are tenuous. The pattern they form, if there is a pattern, is visible only to someone looking for it.
What Is Suspected
Nothing concrete. Speculation ranges from "a defunct religious order" to "a storytelling metaphor" to "an ancient conspiracy that never existed." Professor Ward, when asked, said: "Some names survive because they refer to real things. Some survive because the human mind enjoys a mystery. I find both possibilities equally interesting."
He then changed the subject with what Alice later described as "unnecessary thoroughness."
Notable
- Referenced in texts predating Thornwood's founding
- Annotated by Aatos Ilmari (one word: "Yes")
- The term appears in at least four unrelated cultural traditions
- Further information is either nonexistent or very well hidden