The Curious Questers Road Trip
Welcome! Welcome! One and all!
You’ve navigated to the micro fiction section for Of Mappery. I invite you to dive into this fictional, fantasy road trip with me, centred around a world known as The Drifting Expanse.
This fun, fictional ride in our uncrewed airborne people carrier (UAPC) affectionately known as Drewp, offers top of the range comfort whilst it silently cruises the pink skies above our fantasy world, giving us front row seats to the continuing, unfolding story.
Update: 13th June 2024
We are now into the second series of Curious Questers. You can find all of the first series below (under the teal banner), in reading order. Series two episodes will be added as they are published, every two weeks. ALL stories and maps are free to all subscribers to read / view.
You should also find navigational buttons and links on the individual stories.
Taking a break until end October 2024
World building index
The stories behind the stories for paid subscribers.
Juicy details about the fantasy world of The Curious Questers Road Trip
Series Two Stories (newest first)
The core essence of guardianship: Balance
Crox enters the Capturing Chamber and the memory map building begins!
The 'memory' map will build itself
In this episode, Crox goes to Sneureon to start building an important map of memories and knowledge, combining intuition and technology and enlisting the skills of the super charged, technologically advanced beings who live there.
Think about what we did, that’s all it takes
Zhael has an otherworldly experience in her attempt to escape from the underground cavern she finds herself in
Zhael's story: when magic becomes a liability
Zhael takes her first steps away from the safety and protection of To’Boam and discovers if her “magic” still works.
Caretakers of enlightenment: the Bamku of Fluvillk
Kriliah journeys to Fluvillk to deliver their first message to the remote Bamku beings. Events take an unexpectedly personal turn for Kriliah.
Guidance from The Wayfinding Capsule
The trio of newly appointed Ambassadors receive guidance from a surprising source.
An in-between series episode
Hazel's 13th birthday gift
In this episode between Series 1 and 2, Kriliah and Jalisse learn that the Hexton Widgets are items that Hazel added to The Drifting Expanse when she was “stocking” it with beings. But why?
Series One Stories (in reading order)
The Company (initially consisting of Kriliah, Jalisse and The Trekkers) set out on a quest to find a key. They did not know where to find the key or what the key was for. Read all ten episodes to follow along with their journey and adventures.
A commotion at Tenich Outpost - story one
Our road trip starts at the isolated, impenetrable outpost of Tenich, overlooking the Bay and Cliffs of Tenich to Leftward and guarding a mysterious landform to the Highward.
Jalisse - Story Two
Welcome onboard. Get settled in your preferred seat on Drewp. On our road trip today, we join Kriliah as they search for their Chimarii, Jalisse.
Hexton City - story three
This episode of our road trip takes us to the city of Hexton, to collect 8 miniscule widgets.
Crox - story four
What mishaps and adventures do the Company encounter in the Vortexes of Volute as they try to activate one of the widgets? A fantasy fiction story in 527 words
Kriliah's conflict - story five
With everything going on in their head, Kriliah finds it's not so easy to remember and utilise the skills they discovered at the Vortexes.
Angle-Sea offers gifts in many forms - story six
Kriliah and Crox are part of a crowd that receive a gift which makes Kriliah wonder if maybe the key they are looking for is not an actual, physical key but a symbolic one.
A news headline is the link to the next part of the quest - story seven
And a curious connection between one of the Hexton widgets and an artefact on L'Abre de Vie.
Piecing it together - story eight
On L'Abre de Vie the team connect all the items together and learn more about the key.
Is this the key they've been searching for - story nine
Kriliah and Jalisse locate and speak with The Benevolent Spirit of the Drifting Expanse. Is this the key they’ve been searching for?
High sun broadcast from To’ Boam - story ten
In the final episode of this series, Zhael shares how The Drifting Expanse came into being and her role in it.
Of alchemy and journeys (part two)
In this letter, I’m going to dive into all the details so that you can get your bearings.
The details about this journey:
ALL stories and maps are free to all subscribers to read / view
Download a blank map of this fictional world without names, features or borders to map our road trip as we go along. You can download the map here.
The first series was limited to 10 maps, for 10 weeks. Who knows how Series Two will pan out, but I think ten stories is good. I have plenty of maps! 🤣
Some of those stories may be written by guest writers (if you want to write with me, drop me a line!)
Paid subscribers have access to the World Building Index. They will also receive a digital PDF copy of the first set of stories when the series ends.