The Crater

That was the proper name for it. Calling it "Old Babbage" immediately branded you as a gawking tourist. Perhaps a lecture is in order.

New Babbage is indeed built upon the ruins of an older civilization. Most citizens never see the remnants of what came before. They're not curious enough. Nor can they see through the ever-present smog through the barriers at the colossal expanse at the very edge of their city.

Or, if you care to try your hand at the sheer suicidal cliffs, you can scale the Crater. The Clockwinder has forbidden anyone to go there, of course. But of course some fools cannot be stopped.

The legends say these predecessors enslaved beings of pure energy to power their machines. Ultimately, these beings broke their chains and laid their captors to waste. Having seen this happen to Cala Mondrago with my own eyes, I am not inclined to disbelieve. A handful of "lightning genies" wiped an oasis off the map. How many would it take to shatter an empire?

I must assume the Crater is where these spirits were chained. Among jagged crags and crumbled structures one can still unearth artifacts from that lost culture. Some pieces that are recognizable hint their technology was at least as advanced as what we have today. A sobering reminder that all we Steamlanders have accomplished can so easily be lost.

What is not shared information even among the treasure hunters...excuse me, amateur archaeologists, is that some of these artifacts still radiate magic. At this point Joe Babbager will cover his ears. No room for magic in the City of Progress! Well I've got news for you. Despite your city's best efforts and detonation of those accursed Reality Enforcement bombs, there are things...and people in this city that cannot be explained any other way. Ask the proprietor of the Bucket of Blood about the unseen forces, if you dare. Peruse the Special Collections Library at the local branch of my alma mater, Miskatonic University, if you are willing to pay with your sanity. There are numbers that our math-centric Clockwinder simply cannot calculate. Just ask my son Koen.

This is where my new enemy has thrown down his steel gauntlet. It is a challenge I cannot ignore. His victim gave me a sketch of this monstrosity who calls himself Cold Dead Hans. A brain jar in powered armor leaking liquid nitrogen...I don't think he'll be difficult to spot.

I'll have to pack carefully. I took my old uniform and combat medic gear out of mothballs. I'm certainly going to need them. I'm not going to tip my hand and reveal what...and who else I'm going to bring to this duel.

Hans. I am ready for you.

The Patient and the Prodigy

[Notes from Dr. Mason's files]

WILDE HOSPITAL 14 July

PATIENT: Miss Tanis di'Gaetano. Middle-aged. Herbalist (Occultist?) of family tradition. Patient asked to see me specifically. Brought to Wilde Hospital by airship from ruins located at [REDACTED].

INJURIES: Multiple fractures. Frostbite. Anomalous scars (see below). Patient was heavily sedated but I was able to gather some information about her attacker. She was collecting rare herbs known to grow among the ruins. Frostbite on hips (and it's a record heatwave in the Steamlands).

"The mushrooms I found were writhing...almost animate, angry, but gleaming metallic gold a bristling with spikes like cacti. The parade marshal thing in massive body armor slammed me onto my side right on top of one so it pierced my flesh and organs under the ribcage on my right side."
 
NOTE: Punctures on right side are fully healed! She should have died from a punctured lung! Taking samples of yellow residue on healed wounds to the Consulate for analysis. Obviously this fungus have regenerative properties. Could this be a non-addictive alternative to Mason Reanimation Formula?

"Then it put [it's] gauntlets on [my] hips and [unintelligible] roared hearty laughter. It was gloating and taunting when I woke up in vicious pain..."

Frostbite pattern does indeed suggest giant mechanical hands. The "body armor" is radiating cold? At least 12 feet tall...

parade marshal thing in massive body armor slammed me

NEW BABBAGE WULFENBACH CONSULATE 15 July

Spoke to Baron. While a Jaeger might indeed decorate body armor with cords and medals, no Jaegers in these Steamlands match that description. Who would decorate a robot like a Hussar or Jaeger? Need a description of the head...hat? Helmet? Jaegerspeak?

POSSIBLE SUSPECTS

ASH NO! Let's get that one out of the way...

Clara Tyngvassen? No. Decorated with cord, not pink ribbons.

Hotspur O'Toole? Nope. Wonderfully silly idea.

Dr. Obolensky I almost wish it was but he's still dead. Spoke to him by ouija board in March. More's the pity. Rogue creation escaped from his lab before it exploded? Unlikely. Would have seen it by now.

Iason Hassanov? Absolutely not, but could there be other wanderers from Hassanov Empire?

Doctor Steel Sadly no. He would have been singing. Still MIA.

Drosselmeyer Possibly? NO. Called Reanimators Guild. Still in custody.

Aliester Mason...
Possibly? Antiquated decorations are his style. But it doesn't sound like clockwork armor. I could see him donning a knight's armor to protect him from the sun. Interest in alchemy...looking for new ingredients for a bloodwyne recipe?

Marcus? Father? Both unaccounted for...

Wired inquiry to Union of Mad Scientists. Had to pay up on back dues. BLAST! There goes my absinthe budget!

 WILDE HOSPITAL 16 July Patient is improving. Further description of attacker:

"Huge metal mask with a permanent grin and moveable lower jaw. Helmet, yes, rather Trojan, with a huge dark red feather plume on top. (I did say parade marshal.) I didn't get the impression anything was inside but maybe a brain encased in steel."

He told her he was issuing a challenge to ME.

(PLEASE don't let this be family member!)
CYBORG. VAIN GIANT CYBORG. VAIN GIANT BATSH*T CRAZY BRAIN IN A JAR CYBORG. {--- been there. done that. Twice.

N.B.W.C. 17 July Telegraph facsimile from U.M.S.H.Q.

PATENT: Portable Liquid Nitrogen Cold Fusion Reactor for Powered Armor

OWNER: Hans von [REDACTED]
Patent does not include Brain in Jar.
Patent REJECTED due to heat differential issues. Leaking Nitrogen. Deadly to user.

Hans joins Guild of Evil Geniuses. No surprise there.

Registered Villain Name: COLD DEAD HANS (Seriously? SERIOUSLY?)

DISCOVERY: Tests confirm mushroom residue contains healing properties (see attached report).

LIKELY SCENARIO: Hans refuses to see flaws in own invention, fatally injured. Hoarding mushrooms to stay alive? Undead?

MYSKATONIC U.
NEW BABBAGE CAMPUS
SPECIAL LIBRARY
MYCOLOGY SECTION 18 July

RESEARCH: "Surgeon Spores" used by pre-Babbage civilization. Thought extinct. Side effects described as "severe" but no details.

N.B.W.C.18 July

"YAGI MASON" (???)
Young child (girl) found wandering Wulfenbach Island. Claims to be Ash's companion. Delusional? Prank? Ash's amorphous pet "Yoggy" is missing. Not unusual occurrence. Conducting tests...

RESULTS: UNICELLULAR!!! Pseudopods. Massive strength. Completely malleable. She is/was Yoggy.

She knows Mason history! BW's gift... FOUNDER WHAT HAVE YOU DONE THIS TIME?

Qli, Ash, Koen still missing.
Velvel: "the angel is not with me"
I refuse to summon the Founder. He's caused enough trouble!
Is there anyone else available? 

Halting construction of Quantum Synchronizer I was building to rescue my children. I'll take it with me.

Yagi has wrecked my lab. Entirely by accident mind you. Luckily still under my annual repair budget. But still, can't keep her here. Can't risk another explosion. I have no choice but to take Yagi with me. She may prove an asset. She seems to have Ash's knowledge of firearms...

Yoggy's Tale

I am Yoggy. I do not have a shape. Ash is metal. Ash has a shape. Ash worked at the place and took care of me and I guarded the place. Ash chased me and it was fun. The place belonged to Baron. Baron has a shape. Frauley also came to the place. Frauley has a shape. Jagers came to the place too. Jagers wear hats and have big shapes. People fought by the first place, so we left. Ash went to a new place very high up in the sky where things do not fall. He took me with him.

When things do not fall I can make shapes. Look at me Ash! I have a shape! I have legs and arms and head and body just like you!

Ash is busy. Always busy. Looking at things. Going places. He does not see my shape.

Where is Ash? Qli came and took me to a place where things fall again. This place has a mountain that bleeds fire. I see the Baron-flag at the place just like the first place. I cannot make a shape here. Qli tells me Ash is gone. Now Qli is gone.

No. NO. Ash is not gone. He is here. See the closet? I open the closet. Ash is metal. These pieces are in the closet. Ash keeps extra pieces for when he loses a piece. Here are feet and legs and other pieces. Ash is not gone. I will put his pieces together and Ash will be here. Ash will play with me again.

This tall round thing is the chamber. The chamber is where Ash sleeps. I sleep in a cage but the cage does not stop me because I have no shape. Ash sleeps in the chamber when he is broken and comes out fixed. I push all the pieces in the chamber and press the buttons.

***ERROR***

It does not work. Why? Silly Yoggy! Ash forgot the shape!

I am going in the chamber with the pieces. I am in the pieces keeping them together. Ash needs a shape. I press the buttons inside. It is hard with to press buttons with a shape that is not yours.

***ERROR: SOUL CHIP MISSING. BEGIN RECOVERY***

***LOADING: VOCAB.mem...MATH.mem...ETHICS.mem...MASON.mem... WULFENBACH.mem... STEAMLANDS.mem...

ABORT! ABORT!

***RECOVERY ABORTED. MEMORY TRANSFER 34.69%***

All these things where I think! This is why Ash was so busy! He was thinking of so many things! I do not know all of his things but I know a lot. I know this will not work. That is why I stopped.

There is a voice outside the chamber.

"ASH! Have you returned?"

I know the voice. It is Bloodwing. I open the chamber.

"Ash?"

I step out of the chamber. I try to walk but I fall and flow out of the metal. I still have no shape.

"What is his monstrosity of a PET doing in here? What is the meaning of this!"

I speak. I knew a few words before and I know more words now.

"I try to fix Ash. I put Ash together but no Ash. Chip missing."

"Ash...did not tell me you spoke."

"Now I speak. Now I find Ash."

"Ash is lost to us. Lost in time and space. No where. No when."

"No. We find Ash."

"Your loyalty is commendable. But if here were anywhere still alive I would sense him."

"The Doctor Mason will make a new Ash!"

"Now listen here, you...whatever you are. Ash was born from a series of accidents stemming from my illness and very painful death. I will NOT face the fires of Apollo again to make another such being. Even if I did...and even if it worked the same way as before...it would not be your Master."

"Then I will wear his shape and look for him!"

Bloodwing yelled. He was angry. "Put his components away where you found them! If you adored him as your Master then do not disgrace his memory by tossing his armor about like toys!"

He turned to walk away. I grabbed his leg. Ash would say words at a picture of Bloodwing because Bloodwing was his Master as Ash was my Master. I do not understand all the words but I know the important ones.

"BLOODWING! I BELIEVE! KINGDOM!"

It got dark outside. The ground was shaking. Bloodwing's eyes started glowing.

"You know the Oath and understand what it means. You swore your fealty to me...in your own words...and of your own free will. This I cannot ignore, even from as peculiar a creature as yourself. What shall I give you as a reward?"

"I want a shape! I want a shape so I can find Ash!"

"Wherever Ash is now, he should be proud of you. Yes, in return for your loyalty I shall give you a new form. It shall be young so that you have time to learn, something Qli and Ash never got to have. Do you have a name?"

"Ash gave me a name. He calls me Yoggy."

"Ya'Gi? That is a beautiful name. You shall have a girl's shape then. Do you see the mirror?"

"Yes."

"Do you see the girl in the mirror?"

"Yes."

"Touch the girl in the mirror, Yagi Mason."

I flowed to the mirror and touched the girl picture. I fell. Bloodwing is gone. The girl in the mirror is fallen too.

The girl is me.

same as it never was

"Now Jase," I addressed the lad as I made the final adjustments on the telepresence helmet that he strained to keep steady in his arms, "since you're new to the staff I'll explain to you what's going on."

The boy looked up at me and nodded silently.

"Through this machine I can see and hear through the senses of my android daughter Qlippothic." I paused to sip a cup of tea and finish off a scone. "She and her construct brother Ash, along with my neko son Koen are currently in Siberia preparing for a final assault on the Dazdi, a cabal of witches descended from Baba Yaga herself!"

Jase looked a bit pale as he nodded again. Perhaps he inhaled a bit too much of lab fumes on his first day.

"The Dazdi captured some alien technology centuries ago, which makes their brand of necromancy even more dangerous..."

I donned the rather bulky apparatus and flipped on the projector. The images on the wall were blurry at first, but the outline of red wings soaring over the tundra was unmistakable.

"And that is Bloodwing. The angelic fellow accompanying him is Xavael. I'll explain more about them later."

"Now Jase," I addressed the lad as I made the final adjustments on the badly damaged telepresence helmet that he strained to keep steady in his arms...

"Wait a minute..."

I watched Jase's brow as a drop of sweat rolled upwards from his cheek to absorb into the blond mop of his scalp. His blue eyes stared up at me in concern and fear.

"WHAT ON EARTH IS..."

Standing behind him were the Baron and Frau Lowey. Weren't they supposed to be at the Steelhead town hall?

And there was the Founder standing behind them all. But I just saw him in Siberia! He raised his finger to his lips in a stern and silent command.

The Baron passed me a hastily written sheet of paper-

"Herr Doktor - Your daughter's Galvanic Tesseractor exploded during the battle. She and Koen are not yet accounted for. You are experiencing temporal feedback from your connection to her during the explosion. In relation us you are moving BACKWARDS."

I looked down at the helmet again. Thin rivulets of smoke were drawing into the helmet. I was tempted to swallow down another cup of tea, then realized how it would appear.

Frau Lowey passed me another paper. Or perhaps I was actually passing it back to her.

"Darien - This is the third time you have repeated these actions. We allowed you to don the helmet each time hoping it would negate, but now it is too dangerous. You also mentioned His name three times. Backwards apparently counts. He is quite cross."

My attention darted from the page back to the snarling demon, who was taking large backwards strides away from me with a cattle prod in his hand. While I searched in vain for a palindromatic curse I felt a nimbus of electricity gather and arc around my body.

What am I doing on the floor? I'm supposed to be explaining to Jase about..

Bloodwing is standing over me with a cattle prod driving into my chest!

"!!!LOOF UOY TI FO TUO PANSssssssSNAP OUT OF IT YOU FOOL!!!"

Congratulations!

Marshal Fuzzball Ortega and Miss Eugenia Burton have just preformed their wedding vows in a spectacular cathedral in Steelhead, built just for the event. Photos of the event will be collected here. Again, best wishes to the new couple from the Mason clan!

Caledon Cubidon!

Yes, the Guvna's empire has extended into Minecraft!

I joined when it was still a frontier. The spawn point just happened to be next to a village of testificates. So of course we took the place over and developed it into what we now call Old Towne. Mason Labs is the building on the left at 2:46. I picked the perfect spot, I'm now right next to Grand Central Station!
This video is four weeks old, and you'll be amazed by how much we've built up just from then.

The Guvna keeps updated maps and terraforming pictures at http://caledoncubidon.blogspot.com

If you feel like joining us, give the Guvna a ring and ask him for the server IP address. I'll show around the Labs.

when resolve is depleted

Wrapped in the cold desert winds, whispers and words are uttered. Dueling wits lunge and parry with inferences of eldritch atrocities and cursed legacies. Sigils traced nearly to completion. My name is uttered three times. Have you forgotten the price so soon, Seventh Son? Did you expect the same results after all that has transpired? I have other concerns. Are you so helpless without me?


High above MariKesh Mondrago a crimson star roars across the sky. A mortal responds with terror and laughter that her story is to be woven into the Chronicles. 


 Welcome to House Bloodwing, Devnet.