UMBRA SUMUS

It was with no little Regret that the Man, whom many knew simply as The Baron, climbed into his unique transportation Device and prepared to bid farewell to Chelsea and indeed London. He had spent many a good Year in his Workshop within his grand House there, a safe Distance from the City in which he had made a Name for himself. A Distance which each Year dwindled until the Name he had given it, The World’s End, seemed more a Prophesy of Doom rather than a true Reflection of its original remoteness. Over the River, Battersea Common Field was already being eaten away and even his view down River was now sullied by a newly erected Excuse for a Bridge. The Thing didn’t even move to accommodate the larger Ships as his own rejected Design would have done.

He remembered fondly where the first Meckanicat was painstakingly crafted and imbued with rudimentary Powers. With insightful input from his wiley old Friend ben Ezra, that was quickly followed by the first of the Mechanised Dogs which now bore his Name the World over. The Stosshunds had proven the Spirit and the Mechanic could be fused, albeit precariously, into a useful Tool. A Tool which became much in demand with Pope Benedict’s Decrees against enslavement. A Tool which needed little feeding, would travel well, and would follow Instructions perfectly Time after Time with minimal Oversight. Exports to the Plantations and especially to the Catholic Lands were just the Start of a fruitful Story.

Of course it was only natural that these Tools were seen as perfect for War. The handling of dangerous Substances such as Gunpowder could now be left to reliable Clockworks rather than Men. Albrecht’s Autocannon, perfected during the early Wars in India, won Lord Clive Fame and Fortune, and the Baron’s own Contacts and Coffers swelled as a Result. With the Battle of Plassey, the then Colonel Clive’s vastly inferior Numbers could not have achieved their decisive Victory without the Array of, in many cases, prototype Mechanic and Decanic devices Albrecht provided him. The augmented Garments, Armour and even Gloves that Clive’s patronage allowed the Firm of Stossenkopf & Co. to develop led to it being known by most as “StossBros”. But it was always the mechanical clockwork Devices that he enjoyed the most and perhaps that was what kept him from befalling the Fate of many Others who dabbled in the Sephirothic Arts.

Miniturization and Robustness were the two Words he drummed into Leopold and Augustus, once his faithful Servants and now key company Officials. People wanted Things to work for Years not a few Months, and they wanted them smaller, quiter, more portable. Having said that, one of his earliest Gifts to Lord Clive was a large Beast, a one-of-a-kind Mechancal Tortoise. Minature it was not, but Albrecht had incorprated every Trick and ingenious Device, not to mention no small Number of Enochian Artifices, to ensure that this particular Beast would be operational for 200 years or more. Clive called it Adwaita and last he heard, it was still roaming about as it had done for the past Decade or Two.

But now, new Horizons beckoned; no Time to dwell on past Sucesses but a Time to spread his Knowledge and write a few Books. Perhaps start some other Company or Adventure in his Fatherland where he was headed this very Night. The Chair of Schickard Professor of Biomechanics at his old University in Tübingen was an extraordinary Honour, and one in which hoped would do Credit to its Founder who was one of his early Heros in the Field of calculating Engines.

With that Thought, The Baron spoke his Destination into the Amphibiwagon’s small Console. The Canopy clicked into Place, his Seat reclined slightly, and the interior Glow reduced as the Gears meshed, Wheels turned, Surfaces altered and his slender Craft trundled down the Lane and turned on to the Slipway in to the Thames.

As the Craft decended below the Surface he mused that it was only his English Friends who called him The Baron. He was sure that he would cross Paths with the fine Lord Foppingham on one of his return Trips to London, and that old Jew never seemed to be too far from the more interesting goings-on in Life. He resolved that when his Craft next surfaced, probably a long way up the Rhine for the last Leg across Country, he’d do away with “The Baron” and just return to being plain old

— Frieherr Doktorphilophischundmechanisch Albrecht von Stossenkopf