Regarding the Werewolf Outbreak..

My fellow Caledonians,

For centuries the Bloodwing Foundation has dedicated itself to finding cures for ailments long thought incurable, especially those of a mystical nature. Lycanthropy, the disease that causes one to turn into a werewolf, is just such a condition.

And in fact, the Foundation has a cure for lycanthropy, though it is very expensive and difficult to formulate. I currently have enough for to cure two people.

Some people, like the esteemed Sheriff Ortega, have learned to live with their condition, and even turn it to their advantage. But for the newly Bitten there is only the animal instinct to hunt.

The Lycans are obviously gorging themselves on the exploding turkey population, since they have not as yet stalked any sentient creatures. Due to the close timing of the two events I theorize the first Lycan may have followed or chased the flock here as part of its hunting behavior.

In the meantime, if you see a werewolf, DO NOT APPROACH. Go indoors. Leave the capture to the experts. Only if your life is in danger should you resort to deadly force with a silver weapon. Judging from the caginess of the first Lycan it is obviously a native Caledonian familiar with the countryside. I don't want anyone to have to live with a guilty conscience when a dying Lycan turns back into a friend or loved one.

If you are bitten or scratched have the wound cleaned by a medical professional immediately, and contact the Foundation as soon as possible.

Look for unexplained sudden hirsuteness and longer teeth in your acquaintances. And if you see a pentagram on someone's hand, calmly seek shelter and contact the authorities. Carrying a sprig of wolvesbane may help ward off the beast.

Mr. Ra of the Foundation will be delivering the two doses of antidote to Caledon. If you suspect you may be either of the infected, go to him and he will administer the cure in complete confidentiality.

~Dr. Mason

Through My Eyes Stare Into Me

The cerebral reattachment was a success! Even though I have to recover strength and coordination, I am whole again! I was even able to make the rounds at the Radio Riel's Bardhaven Bonanza and the Baroness' engagement party.I hope to be back to work again soon.

~Dr. Mason

Answers are Required

My analysis of the fur samples are incontravertible. Koen is a Sumatran Bloodtail..a rare breed of neko, almost never found outside the Indonesian jungle..except for the old Bloodwing estate.

And while there are legacy human genes in the neko species as a whole, he is clearly a direct hybrid..his hands are human while his feet still have a paw configuration. And the human DNA markers match that of my family.

His apparent age tells me he must have been born after Lucian was taken from me. But how did she survive? My memories of the..accident?..are blurry from the same fumes that made her collapse. But somehow, I must have saved her.

I've been replaying the aether broadcast of the attack over and over..out of hearing range of my body. Koen is showing classic symptoms of transferred anger. He believed I left his mother for dead.

I even tried to summon the Demon to get answers from him. But he cannot enter a disembodied brain nor a human form without a cortex. The banishment saved my life. The Demon's activating the Cerebral Recovery Droid saved my life as well. But this is not how I want my relationship with my son to end. I must consider how and when t recover him, and heal his tortured soul.

If Koen is to be rehabilitated I must know more about the trigger event.

I believe a visit to Bardhaven is in order.

-Dr. Mason

Losing Track of My Self

I tried to attend to business in green Tombstone while still in my exoskeletal shell. The residents were a bit..hasty at first.

In the midst of all this back in Steelhead my body, sans brain, decided to slip out of the nutrient tank and take a stroll outside.


First, he helped himself to Miss McAllisters cookies at the bakery, including trying to sample the advertisements. Then he drank from the larger fountain and tried to hold a conversation with statue of Diana on top.


He then ambled over to the Town Hall and took the podium to give a formulaic but nonetheless incoherent speech. The turkey objected on a point of order and it soon became a two way chasing match.



After being ejected from the Hall by said turkey my he frolicked a bit in the Public Garden under the gentle watchful eyes of Miss Lumina.

In imitation of classic monster movies Darien-minus climbed to the top of the lighthouse and bellowed. Local law enforcement seemed reticent to intervene, so I finally wired Qli to gate in from Caledon and rescue him. Te task was successful, and my stray body is now sleeping soundly in his bed after a glass of warm milk.

~Dr. Mason

Meanwhile in the Lab..

*Darien reads Kiralette's journal, The eyes in his cranial jar incapable of displaying emotion. His lumbering exoskeleton turns from his aether transmitter back to the glowing nutrient chamber, where he glances up at his own damaged face in the solution. His current "head" rotates to examine the controls as giant metal claws delicately flip switches and dials. The speaker in his torso captures the music of an escaped memory through wires as he concentrates. Does the Doctor even hear?*

and finding time so hard I pray
that this moment last forever
and will the world stay standing still
at least for me?

*The Doctor's brain does not turn its eyes upwards, only noting a a slight increase in hearbeat in the printouts below. He fails to notice the expression of sadness that passes over his true face.

I ain't got no body / that I can depend on

Am I alright? Let's just stay I'm stabilized. Am I dead? Not at this moment. I had this exoskeleton assembled for just such an emergency. As soon as the danger had passed, it activated, emerging from its hiding place and rescuing my brain in the jar you see on top. Am I in pain? No. Just rather numb. And sometimes I hallucinate a bit. Just bear with me.

One of those cursed Undertakers raided my home to try and pull me back into the grave! Meddlesome pests! They are to the Reanimators and the Created what the Men in Black are to extraterrestrials, or the Hunters are to the Undead. They must have caught on to me when they put my new doctor's office next to the undertaker's parlor in Tombstone. Between Darkling's magicks and my exoskeleton we made short work of that gothic cowboy reject from the wrestling ring!

I've stored what's left of my body in a healing tank in the laboratory. In a week its systems should be stable enough for cranial reimplantation.

Darkling has been so very helpful. She took my shopping in SteamSkyCity to shop and relax. I purchased a new steam generator for the Tesla coil..that way I don't have to wait for a lighting storm to pursue my experiments!



Questions upon Questions

I have not heard form Koen or the Demon since the attack. Qli is furious of course, but I am withholding judgment until I get more information.

Sumatran Bloodtailed Nekos are a rare species. I cannot dismiss out of hand that Koen is somehow related to Lucian, but is he really her son? Did Lucian survive the accident, after inhaling those paint fumes in the locked boathouse? How did I survive my rescue attempt for that matter?

If this is true, then my parents deceived me. They told me she died and they scattered her ashes! They sent me on my way, grieving, to the University and Medical School while poor Lucian was left to fend for herself in the city streets, to raise..my son? Was he living paw-to-mouth while I was putting my life at risk as a medic in the Capper Brigade?

Is Koen really my son as his spirit-form Vortex is the Demon's? Just as B________ needs me as a host body in this century, so would his child need a mortal to inhabit as well. As above, so below. Does this mean Lucian was an avatar of Sekhmet as well? Was my tragic life history planned a millennium in advance?

To Find an Answer

Darkling has offered to cast a memory spell, but I must be rejoined with my body first. Not all memories reside in the brain, it is true.

If any of this is true, I will have to rethink the role I have set myself to play in life, and try to undo the damage done.

~Dr. Mason

PLEASE HELP!!

*feline howling*

This is Dr. Mason..I've been attacked in my home by a neko..multiple lacerations..bleeding heavily..leg tendons ripped..can't stand..

Oh Doooooctoooor!

Sumatran Bloodtail...like Lucian..he claims I'm his..

*ripping of curtains*

Don't you DARE say my Mother's name! You have no RIGHT to!

*crash of metal*

You can't be her son! Lucian died in my arms!

*crash*

Oh it sure LOOKED like that didn't it? But no..she SURVIVED being trapped in that little shack with those PAINT fumes! Take off those stupid GOGGLES when I'm talking to you!

*rrrip* AAAGGGHH!! MY EYES!!

Dropped off in the slums of Caledon to fend for herself! To give birth BY HERSELF!

Entharion Kal'ovenyar..AGGHH LET GO! STOP!!

Now now now! No magic tricks if you can't wave your hands!

They told me she was dead! I LOVED HER! I left that house and never came back!

Until you MOVED YOUR HOUSE HERE! You're so busy building MONSTERS and calling them your KIDS that you never stopped to find out if you had a REAL KID!

If you're really my SON then you WON'T DO THIS!

DON'T YOU TELL ME WHAT TO DO! I'M NOT YOUR SLAVE! I'M NOBODY'S SLAVE!! I CHOOSE WHO I LOVE AND NOBODY FORCES ME TO LOVE ANYONE!

Vortex..please..my sssssss..
*strangling sounds*

You don't even know my birth name! It's the same as your REAL family name! It's KOEN!!

*more clattering*

Alright..alright..take your last breath..let's hear your final words for alllll your stuck-up friends!

*gasp!* BLOODWING!

NO!! YOU CAN'T!

BLOODWING!

*violent rending* SHUT UP!!

Blood..wing..

*hysterical giggling* Too late, Pa! Too late! Too..

*yowling and the roar of magicks and the flapping of wings*

What a traitorous little kitten, trying to murder your own Father..A proud family tradition! Take it from me, Son...it's never works out the way you want it to. Now..What brought this on?

*incoherent yowling*

*malevolent laughter* Oh, by the Styx black waters! You are just like me! *sigh* It's always the one that got away that gets you in trouble isn't it? Come along, child..it's time for a little talk about your two Mommies and two Daddies..secrets not meant for this machine.

*eruption of flame and the aether transmitter turns to static*