Resigned to his failure as an artist and a human being, Pibsterbule takes employment as a filing clerk at the Department of Forward Thinking. Little does he know that his superiors are all members of The Fellowship of Chartered Prophets, with influence in high places. Pibsterbule gets frustrated with his lowly status and the way he's treated, so eventually he takes a drastic measure which miraculously transforms the filing system. As a result of this he gets promoted to a vague ceremonial post, and starts to have premonitions. It soon becomes evident to him that the end of the World is nigh, and in his capacity as Custodian of the Clues, he deems it to be his duty to prevent it. He travels to distant lands in his attempt to do this, and only succeeds by virtue of ... a string of unlikelihoods.