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A Random Bit of Something I’m Working On

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The following is just a little excerpt of something I’m working on. A little bit of context: the Nor Eastern spy, Pixie Sinclaire, has hired Roderick La Pierre and the crew of the Pernicious Platitude to retrieve a certain something for some certain people. That certain something appears to be more than it seems and Rigel Rinkenbach wants to discuss it with the Captain. Never mind how Rigel Rinkenbach came to be on La Pierre’s ship…that’s all explained in Where, No One Knows. I just thought I’d offer a more up close and personal view of life in the Blackwood Empire that isn’t provided by the Gazette. Enjoy!

***

“Evenin’, Captain.” La Pierre turns from the deck railing to find one of his crewmen leaning against a bulkhead.

“Grimley.”

“The Nor Easterner wants to talk to you below decks.”

La Pierre curls his lip in disdain. Below decks has always been an unpleasant place. It’s where the crew sleeps, and where they keep the cargo. Sometimes that cargo stinks, especially that one time they had to smuggle a herd of Caldebek Plains sheep across the empire. They were attacked, the sheep got spooked, and they all crapped themselves at once. To make matters worse, they had fed the sheep the wrong kind of grain the night before, so the sheep crap was of a less than normal consistency…seeped right through the floor boards, it did. They must have fertilized half of the Crowndonian plains for the next year, that day.

Even worse than that, by far, is the fact that Rinkenbach has set up his lab below decks, and labs freak La Pierre right the hell out. He just doesn’t understand it, all that science stuff. That lab has all manner of strangely shaped glassware that casts eerie reflections upon the wall, and Rinkenbach likes to work by the disconcerting green hues of eldri-gas lanterns. Which La Pierre also doesn’t understand, because the Eldri-gas lanterns are the one piece of equipment in the joint that Rinkenbach doesn’t hold some sort of patent on.

La Pierre once asked Rinkenbach if he thought it a bit uncouth, only buying stuff he owned. Rinkenbach found the question ridiculous. Why shouldn’t he? He developed most of the equipment out of necessity, out of a need to work with something that didn’t exist, so, he invented it. No reason to go anywhere else. (Except in the case of the Eldri-Gas Lantern, which is something he didn’t KNOW he needed, at least not until he had used it.)

“Yes, sir. Below decks.”

“Very well.”

La Pierre nods and walks past Grimley, who just stays at his spot against the bulkhead. Kind of strange, but La Pierre doesn’t really take much notice. He heads below deck, to Rigel’s lair…um, lab.

He stops at the hatch and prepares himself, then opens the hatch. As soon as he does, a flash of light fills the room and a geyser of smoke jumps into the air from behind a table.

La Pierre starts coughing uncontrollably, waving his hands ineffectually in front of his beet red face in a futile attempt at clearing the air around him of the noxious whatever the hell it is that explosion just produced. Rigel pops up from behind the counter with his back to La Pierre.

“RINKENBACH! WHAT IN BLOODY HELL WAS THAT?”

Rinkenbach turns around. He is wearing thick lab goggles. He reaches up and peels the goggles away from his eyes. His hair is blown back and the tip of one tendril of hair is glowing orange and smoking. Thick soot covers his face except for his eyes.

“Ah, captain. You made it. And this…” he gestures to the mess on the table before him. “This is dinner!”

He reaches down and pulls out a crock pot full of a putrid green mush.

“Spinach and artichoke soufflé!” he says proudly. “Lightly glazed in sweet butter and spiced with plains bone salts. I’m told that it is a Crowndonian specialty. A little taste of home, for you. I thought you’d appreciate it!”

“Um…” La Pierre looks at the dish, wincing. The spinach and artichoke soufflé glazed in sweet butter (which isn’t sweet, and isn’t butter, it’s lard) and spiced with plains bone salts (which isn’t salt, it’s finely ground bone powder), is indeed a Crowndonian specialty, but it was something devised at a time in Crowndon’s history that is better left to memory. It is a dish concocted due to necessity rather than desire, by a group of about 10,000 Crowndonian soldiers who were captured during a war three hundred years before. They were kept in a prison camp deep in Monteddor and abandoned by their captors. They subsided purely on what they had on hand…namely spinach, artichokes, and pigs.

The event of their rescue was something celebrated throughout the Crowndon military, a well worn tradition in which every soldier under Crowndon’s banner was made to eat nothing but the soufflé for an entire week. He’d shoveled his share of the muck down his gullet for years and never wanted to do so again.

“That’s very considerate…I think. Tell me this isn’t the sole reason you had me come down here.”

“What? I didn’t ask for you to come down here.”

“Huh?”

“Oh, but I do have something to show you!”

“But…” before La Pierre has time to process the information that Grimley just lied to him, Rinkenbach grabs the sleeve of his coat and pulls him over to a nearby work bench.

“I was a bit curious about what Pixie had hired us to retrieve for her, so I had Klaus get into the safe we pulled from the passenger ship. Inside was this!”

Rigel points at a green jewel, suspended over another work bench by a strange, vice like apparatus. It is unlike anything La Pierre has ever seen before, cut into a strange eight sided shape, none of the sides the same size. It is the size of his fist. Visions of money spread through his mind.

“What is it?” La Pierre asks. His next immediate question is whether or not it’s more valuable than the salary Pixie Sinclaire has offered to pay for the jewel, but he refrains from asking it. Any intention of screwing over Sinclaire would lead to unnecessary trouble with Rigel, who is obviously smitten with the woman. The two have a past that La Pierre only knows a few details about, but he knows enough to know that much.

“I have no idea,” Rigel says. “But look at this.”

Rigel flips a switch and the bench lights up, illuminating the jewel. He taps on the jewel, and something inside, some sort of powder, shifts.

“What…?”

“It isn’t a jewel. There’s something inside of it. It’s a container. I am willing to bet that whatever Pixie or whoever Pixie is working for is after, it isn’t a jewel, but whatever that substance is.”

“Can you find out what it is?”

“Not without opening it, and that would be a horrendous breach of Pixie’s trust on my part, even more egregious than the breach I’ve already committed by opening the safe. I can hide the safe. I can’t hide opening the jewel.”

“Do it, and tell her I ordered it.”

“Very well. That’s what I was intending to tell her about the safe, anyhow. I just hope it’s enough to keep her ire directed toward you.”

A Random Bit of Something I’m Working On

Blackwood Gazette #174- Rebel Aircraft Hit Desantana Blackwood Interests

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By Isairo Palantes, Monteddorian Correspondent

7/8- Alejandro Julianos’ forces suffered another grievous blow this week, as the rebel leader Dougherty unleashed her recently captured fighter planes on Desantana Blackwood distribution operations across Monteddor.

The attack happened in the early morning hours Vurnsday morning, as four five plane squadrons hit major distribution centers in Govanna, Desantana, Ballantine, and Salasan territories. In each case, the main Blackwood storage facilities were hit, sending fires raging throughout the centers and the surrounding countryside.

Due to the unusual alchemical properties of the Blackwood, the fires have proven nearly impossible to extinguish. Analysts estimate that somewhere between one to two hundred tons of Blackwood were set alight in total. The costs from both the damage and the yield of lost Blackwood are said to be astronomical, and the death toll in said to number in the hundreds.

“This could very well lead to a supply crisis that will make the difficulties last winter look like a Nor Eastern midday tea break by comparison,” said a spokesperson for Yolanda Desantana. “Recovering from this will be a struggle, but Miss Desantana has no doubt that it will be possible. Still, Northern Crowndon should prepare for another rough winter.”

Given the recent military alliance between Crowndon and Julianos, and the effects that this attack will have on Crowndon, many speculate that the Crowndon Air Corps may intervene. Neither Monteddor or Crowndon has issued a statement on this possibility, however.

As for the rebel aircraft, all twenty planes managed to hit their targets and escape before Julianos’ forces could intervene, leading to questions about Julianos’ capabilities as the commander of Monteddor’s military forces. These concerns are only exacerbated by the fact that Julianos recently sent a large expeditionary force overseas to the colonies for unknown reasons.

The attack has also led to fears that Dougherty may target the Blackwood Grove itself, which would be a disaster of apocalyptic proportions. As such, the Triumvirate Authority has tripled security around the Grove, both on the ground and in the skies above.

Blackwood Gazette #174- Rebel Aircraft Hit Desantana Blackwood Interests

Blackwood Gazette #173- Release of Rinkenbach R&D’s Newest Clockwork Butler an “Unmitigated Disaster”

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By Ada Herschel, Science and Technology

6/8- Despite the disappearance of its CEO and seizure by the Nor Eastern government after the Industry and Innovation Conference nearly two months ago, Rinkenbach R&D released its next generation Clockwork Butler earlier this week. So far, the reception has been lukewarm, at best.

Where the last generation Butler had the wealthy of Triumvirate society sending out their servants in droves to place orders for a machine that would soon replace many of them, the newest model only garnered the attention of an estimated three hundred buyers, Triumvirate wide. That means, out of three Empires that span nearly thirty percent of the world’s landmass, only three hundred came out to pay.

“It’s an unmitigated disaster,” said Elsa Deveraux, Rinkenbach R&D’s CFO. “Probably the biggest launch failure not just in Rinkenbach’s history, but the history of the Triumvirate.”

Not helping matters are early product reviews from those few customers seeking to replace their last generation butlers.

“I’d hoped for something…more,” said one wealthy businessman who received his butler yesterday afternoon. “Indeed, I’d hoped that the rumors about only scant improvements were false, but this new machine only has a few more features than the old butler, and one of them, the voice synthesizer, has sent my cat hiding in the closet and refusing to come out.”

Even worse, it would seem that the new Butler is experiencing some technical issues.

“I ordered it to pour me some coffee,” said Barbara, in Walsh. “It did so without a problem. But when I told it to scrub the latrine, it told me ‘no’, poured another cup of coffee, and attempted to drink it. Luckily the only damage it did was to its voice box. At least I don’t have to listen to its horrific attempts to hum anymore.”

Rinkenbach R&D claims that it is looking into these matters, and has offered an extended warranty to all early adopters at the discounted price of ten per cent of the unit’s retail value.

Blackwood Gazette #173- Release of Rinkenbach R&D’s Newest Clockwork Butler an “Unmitigated Disaster”

Blackwood Gazette #172- Pirate Bands Emboldened by World Wide Political Instability

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By Isairo Palantes, Monteddorian Correspondent

5/8-According to a new Skyway report by the Imperial Sky Authority, pirate activity is up forty per cent over this time last year. The report cites worldwide political instability as the cause.

“Pirates are anarchic by nature,” said Crowndonian Admiral Winston Johannes. “It’s embedded into their philosophy, such as it is. So when they perceive a weakness on the part of authority, it should be no surprise that they eschew the trappings of our truces with the denizens of Libertine’s Roost and take to full on raiding and pillaging.”

The report cites that many of the ships being spotted raiding civilian and commercial air ships belong to merchant companies registered on Libertine’s Roost.

“We’ve always known that many of the ‘merchants’ based on the Roost engaged in the occasional raid,” Johannes said. “But now they’re doing it openly, and they’re flying the Blue and White banner while doing it.”

In addition to political instability, author Clement Aldridge Keene believes that recent comments by pirate captain Seylene Plamondon about being the last true pirate may have pushed many of the privateers based in the Roost to resume their plundering ways as a way to regain their status, but the report claims the activity began to upswing around the time the pirate hunter Johanna McKilroy was brought down by Captain Roderick La Pierre and his ship, the Pernicious Platitude.

Whatever the cause of this uptick in piracy, the Authority has issued a warning to those traveling along the Imperial borderlines, particularly over the Anadem and Des Anges mountain ranges. They have also increased patrols in these areas, as well as around Libertine’s Roost.

“The golden age of air piracy is long over,” Admiral Johannes said. “But we have not forgotten the methods that led to its ending. It would be in the best interest of these privateers to remember that.”

Blackwood Gazette #172- Pirate Bands Emboldened by World Wide Political Instability

Blackwood Gazette # 171-Lassiter and Deserters Found Dead Along Frontier Border

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By Chester Seaton, News

4/8-The search for former Field Marshal Ameron Lassiter and eleven other rogue officers from the Colonial Marshals and Frontier Rangers has ended this week, and with a frightening portent, to boot.

The bodies of Lassiter, Captain Ian Gorski and ten others were found by a routine patrol on Surnsday afternoon. They had been riddled with gun fire and put on display along the border between the Colonies and the Territories. The corpses were adorned with symbols and ornamentation indicative of the Duv-Ayid tribe. The Duv-Ayid representative on the Territorial Council in New Crowndon denies any knowledge of such actions, claiming that his tribe has long since ceased any communications with him.

The grisly discovery has led to outrage in the colonies, and cries of concern throughout towns along the frontier.

“This monstrous act cannot go unanswered!” one townsman said. “No man, no soldier, deserves to be brutalized and left on display in such a manner! It’s an atrocity, I say! An atrocity!”

First Marshal General Job Stoll is, as always, stressing the importance of maintaining a cool head.

“I know that people are angry,” Stoll said. “This is a given in any situation like this. But we must refrain from escalating the situation further! Lassiter and his men were deserters, who went against orders on a blood fueled quest for revenge. The peoples of the Territories told us several times that entering their land would have serious repercussions: that wasn’t a threat, it was a warning, and according to the Plasten Treaties such repercussions are their right. So far, the Duv-Ayid tribe has not attacked any towns along the frontier, and we have no reason to believe they will.

“The situation is resolved, I believe, barring any more aggressive actions on our part. This situation could have been much worse.”

Stoll’s statement has already made the rounds in the colonies, and petitions are being circulated to remove Stoll from his position, with one proponent claiming that the rank and title of First Marshal General is “not a place for the invertebrate.”

Blackwood Gazette # 171-Lassiter and Deserters Found Dead Along Frontier Border

Blackwood Gazette #170- Racing Fever Overshadows Fear as Thousands Flock to Waystation Bravo for Pandion Event

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By Huxley Pruitt, Sports

3/8- Many people voiced concern over the fledgling Pandion Racing League’s decision to stage its latest event on the newly relaunched Waystation Bravo, given its grim history over the last year. Even more expressed the idea that the government sponsored event was no more than a ploy to get people onto the station to see that everything is running smoothly.

Despite all of this, the event’s turnout proved to be the League’s best yet. This of course brought out concerns that the station was over capacity, with many over nighters forced to either bunk on ships or camp in common areas. The station suffered no failures over the weekend and it seems that the event’s secondary objective, to sway public perception of the station, has succeeded as well.

“This isn’t so bad,” one attendee, standing in line at a job recruitment booth said. “The place is pretty clean, you can still smell the paint, and I haven’t seen a single trace of ghosts nor heard any whispers in the dark since I got here an hour ago. Figure I might as well apply since I lost my job at Klankenvroot last year.”

As for the races themselves, opinions weren’t as warm as they have been in the past. Many cite the fact that the open air of the barrier ocean wasn’t nearly exciting as the wild twists and turns of the Serpent’s Tongue canyon event two weeks ago. Nevertheless, the races brought some stunning upsets, the most notable of which was Horizon League racer Marcy Quail’s victory over both Lakenheath twins in subsequent head to head events, knocking them off the winner’s podium and taking second place overall, after Perys Kerby, reclaiming first place after his defeat at Serpent’s Tongue.

The Legacy League saw no such upsets, with the winner’s podium remaining static over last week. Gargary Dobbs remained in the top slot, followed by “Bonzo” Doosly in second and Hardisty Pender in third.

The next event will return to Walsh once again, where Mathis Galland promises a course reworked to take into consideration feedback from fans and racers alike, as well as data collected during the Serpent’s Tongue race.

“My course designers are committed to delivering a wide range of ever changing events and course layouts,” Galland said. “Things will only get more exciting and complex with time, so stay tuned!”

Blackwood Gazette #170- Racing Fever Overshadows Fear as Thousands Flock to Waystation Bravo for Pandion Event

Blackwood Gazette #169- Incriminating Evidence Found in Home of Former Gazette Writer; Leads to Weapons Cache

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By Maurice Merchant, Editor-in-Chief

31/7-The ongoing investigation to determine the depth of former Gazette reporter Hil Spencer’s involvement with Doctor Argyle Von Grimm’s gang has produced some startling evidence.

Law enforcement officers have finished an intensive search of Mister Spencer’s home, and claim to have found several documents that indicate Spencer was not only in contact with Von Grimm, but at least two other unrelated entities expressing anti-triumvirate sentiments.

One of these groups is the same organization that conspired to assassinate the Governor of Crowndon, Barclay Ancroft, earlier this month. Colonial authorities have not revealed any details of the third party.

The Colonial Marshals have reportedly requested the assistance of a cryptanalyst to help ascertain any hidden message that may be contained within the correspondence. While they did not divulge the specifics of what they are looking for, they intimated that Mister Spencer is nothing more than a middle man for a larger, more nefarious group.

Other evidence uncovered from Mister Spencer’s estate included a large stash of weapons crates containing the same unmarked semi-automatic rifles that have been surfacing in rebel uprisings around the Sarnwainian Empire over the last few weeks. The Marshals and Colonial Heads of State refused to comment on the implications of this.

Blackwood Gazette #169- Incriminating Evidence Found in Home of Former Gazette Writer; Leads to Weapons Cache

Blackwood Gazette # 168- Dismissive Smile Sighted in Sarnwain: McKilroy vs. La Pierre Round 2?

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By Basilio Mura, Nor Easter Correspondent

30/7- Ever since his explosive escape from the ruins of Gerrza in Pharassus two weeks ago, no one has seen or heard from infamous air pirate Captain Roderick Beauchamp La Pierre. Rumors persist that he is somewhere in Sarnwain, likely having taken to ground in the dense jungles along the eastern coast to finish repairs to his ship.

It should come as no surprise then that La Pierre’s arch nemesis and former crew mate, the pirate huntress Captain Johanna McKilory, was recently spotted in the skies of the Sarnwainian Kingdom of Djidan on a course for Pharassus.

There could be other reasons for her arrival in Sarnwain, of course. Captain McKilroy is now almost as wanted in the Triumvirate as her prey to answer for destruction incurred while hunting said prey and escaping from Crowndon authorities several months ago. Some people fear that McKilroy might even be seeking an alliance with La Pierre, though many people investigating the situation agree that this scenario is unlikely.

“There’s simply too much bad blood between them,” said Lt. Vasili Pournaras, lead investigator on McKilroy’s case in Crowndon. “McKilroy’s status as a fugitive in Crowndon won’t push her to make amends with her former comrade. All it has done is take off any illusion of what she’s doing as sanctioned, and dispel the narrative of redemption surrounding her quest to bring down the monster she used to work for. She was always blood thirsty, but now she’s unquenchable. She’s nothing to lose, and I fear that she won’t be above setting all of Sarnwain’s jungles aflame in her hunt for La Pierre.”

Blackwood Gazette # 168- Dismissive Smile Sighted in Sarnwain: McKilroy vs. La Pierre Round 2?

Blackwood Gazette #167- Monteddorian Rebels Take Small Airfield, Gain Twenty Aircraft

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By Isairo Palantes, Monteddor Correspondent

29/7-The forces of Alejandro Julianos suffered a stunning setback earlier this week when a large force of rebels, said to have been led by Dougherty herself, attacked a small airfield in Govanna. However, instead of destroying or sabotaging equipment, as has been the modus operandi of the rebels to this point, Dougherty’s forces instead captured twenty of Julianos’ fighter planes.

“The loss of these planes is a stunning blow to our forces, and an embarrassing one,” said General Octavio Mostandes. “It should serve as a wake-up call to Julianos, that these rebels are no longer just a trivial threat. They are an army, moving freely through our lands and now, our skies.”

Military analysts say that the addition of these aircraft to Dougherty’s forces could give her a chance to devastate a large portion of Julianos’ resources…if she has the talent available to fly them and the strategic reasoning to deploy them wisely.

“It might not seem like much to the layman,” said Enricio Falar, a teacher of military history and wartime strategy at Monteddor’s Aeronautical Warfare Academy. “But twenty fighter planes is a large number. These aircraft are still pretty rare, and twenty of them accounts for nearly ten percent of their number in existence, world-wide (those are the most recent estimates, anyway).

“And if Dougherty really is smart, and her actions up to this point show that she is indeed possessed of a high understanding of tactics and strategy, she won’t deploy her captured craft anytime soon. She will instead study them, reverse engineer, perhaps even figure out a way to build her own or modify non-military planes to bolster her new squadron.”

We reached out to Alejandro Julianos’ camp for statement. They only replied to say, “It’s being taken care of.”

Blackwood Gazette #167- Monteddorian Rebels Take Small Airfield, Gain Twenty Aircraft

Blackwood Gazette #166- Small Uprising in Ganborah Suppressed, Strange Weapons Recovered

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By Basilio Mura, Nor Easter Correspondent

27/7- The Triumvirate Authorities report today that a small uprising occurred in Ganborah late last week. The uprising, which bears striking resemblances to the rebellion in Thankaen earlier this month, managed to overtake the country’s Parliament building before being cornered by the Royal Army and suppressed.

“From what we’ve been able to gather, the uprising was fueled by anti-monarchy sentiment,” said General Tabat Roushani. “Like the rebellion in Thankaen, it took root amongst the people, fueled by a contingent of rogue military personnel. It is my belief that the methodology and time frame of both attacks should be a cause for concern amongst all the kingdoms of the Sarnwainian Empire.”

While some experts analyzing both situations have suggested the possibility of some outside party stoking unrest against the Sarnwainian monarchies, the majority have ruled that this is no more than paranoia. However, in both circumstances unconfirmed reports have claimed that rebels were supplied with cutting edge rifles capable of rapidly firing rounds in quick succession without the aid of a lever.

Similar weapons were reportedly seen in the possession of Territorial scouting parties along the frontier of the colonies last month, suggesting that this occurrence may not be restricted to Sarwainian interests.

The head of the Triumvirate Authority Military Committee, Authority General Thomas Holcombe, stressed keeping our imaginations in check.

“We have found no evidence that any of these things are linked further than one group saw this happen and decided they wanted to try it themselves. History is full of movements that are spurred on the occurrence of another. As for the appearance of these weapons, these rumors are unsubstantiated. Even if they aren’t, it isn’t as though the concept of semi-automatic repeating firearms is an alien one. We’ve had prototypes for years, and isn’t beyond the realm of possibility that some hungry unknown arms maker in Sarnwain has begun churning them out.”

***

I’ve been throwing around the names of a lot of new places recently. At a loss for where everything is? Check out this handy dandy map of the world of the Blackwood Empire.

Blackwood Gazette #166- Small Uprising in Ganborah Suppressed, Strange Weapons Recovered