From Col. Edward Mustard’s Correspondence File
13: Despatch upon the State of London
At Kew Palace
Early Sunday, 26th June 1768
Your Royal Highness,
This is a most difficult Dispatch to write for although your Highness is fully apprised of the Matters on which I currently report, it is very likely to be the Case that when your Highness comes to read this Tomorrow, all Memory of these Events will have fled — not only from Your Highness but from All Others privy to our Discussions today.
As I write, London has fallen to a Series of Catastrophes. Much of it has been lain Waste by the Agency of a Gold-Greedy Beast of Arcane Power and its richest Buildings have been utterly consumed. Its Population is in thrall to an alien Intelligence that robs them of all Agency. Thus the City is full of hostile, unthinking, shuffling Mobs with Green-Glowing Eyes. The Contagion spreads from Victim to Victim via the merest Touch. Those who remain Themselves cower, isolated, in Basements or Churches or in a few protected Enclaves around the City. While the River and the South Bank remain in our Hands, that may not long be the Case.
My Companions and I have been into this Hell under Your Warrant this past two Days to reconnoitre the Situation and seek whatever Remedy we might find. I recommend that you enclose my previous Report with this one so that you may read of what befell when we first ventured into the City and explored the Ruins of East India Company House. On our Second Expedition we decided to venture to Whitechapel to take Counsel with the Jew, Solomon ben Ezra. For a wiser and more learned Authority on the Arcane is not to be found amongst your Highness’s Subjects.
En route from the Tower we had encountered a woman and child surrounded trying to flee the shuffling mob. We were able to rescue them. However, we discovered a new Horror. Yesterday when the Green-eyed Spirit was Banished by Philosophickal Means the Victim would emerge confused but alive. Now they were falling dead at our Feet once their Motive Spirit departed, their Features drawn and Eyes hollow. They had died of Thirst. We deduce from this that the Occupying Force takes no Care for the Physical Health of the Bodies it occupies. This Realisation brought Home to us that even were we to find the Root of this Malaise and destroy or banish it, the Lives of countless of your Subjects in London are already Forfeit.
It is little to be Wondered that the ben Ezra Household is one of the Enclaves holding firm and we were warmly welcomed within by your loyal Jewish Servant and his Folk. We held bleak Counsel with the Eminent Sage who had a Proposal. It seems, according to Solomon, that there is a Great Engine installed in the Monument. This was designed by Newton, Hook, Wren and other Luminaries of the Reconstruction of London after the Great Fire. Its Purpose is to protect London from another such Catastrophe. Ben Ezra believes that he can utilise this Engine to create a Pragmaclastic Event that would in Effect to turn back the Clock on the Events of the last few Days and in Essence make them as if they have never Occurred. This may seem an Extraordinary Claim. However, I do not doubt the old Jew’s Sanity nor his Learning in such Matters. Nor, since he is in this Venture standing upon the Shoulders of Giants, his Ability to execute.
Ben Ezra’s only Requirement of Myself and my Companions was that we should secure the Monument for him that he might complete his Labours undisturbed. This we have done, clearing the Square around the Monument of Shufflers and setting it about with Wards of Solomon’s devising. In this we were Grateful for the Assistance of Lord Wolfenden’s People who remain Loyal and Active in Your Highness’s Service.
Solomon will not effectuate his Plan until this evening, so there would be Time and Opportunity to convey a countermanding Message. However, the Benefits of this Solution are evident. If Successful, it will save London and the wider Realm, restore the City’s Buildings with their lost and looted Wealth and reverse the Deaths of Countless of England’s Subjects. Your Highness and his Council have all agreed that it is the only Course of Action available in desperate Circumstances.
Unfortunately, it is Solomon’s opinion that Memory of Events leading to the Resetting will soon fade from the Minds of all but those most intimately involved in the Event itself. This, he thought, might well apply even to Your Highness. Hence the writing of this Dispatch which I hope your Highness will countersign for authenticity, seal and put in some private Place where you will come upon and read it, though you may retain no Recollection of the Events here-in described.
If successful, Solomon’s Pragmaclasm will reset London to the Peace and Prosperity it enjoyed under your Highness’s benign Rule but three Days ago. However, three Matters of Great Importance will stand, which if not attended, promise to plunge us back into Catastrophe sooner or later.
The First of these Matters are the activities of the Cabal of the East India Company led by Mr Hunter. Although their exact Goal in opening a Portal to the Otherwhere is unclear. It is patently obvious that it was this Action that proved the Catalyst for our current Discomfiture. The Great Reset will undo that Damage but their Engine will still be in Place, and as they will most likely have no Remembrance of the Ill they have Wrought, they will no Doubt attempt the Same once more. They must be stopped. For the Safety of the Realm I and my Companions will take immediate Action to Prevent Hunter and his Cohorts from performing their Great Summoning ever again. Your Highness has furnished me with a Warrant to take Measures against Hunter. However, I understand the sensitivities in Your Highness being seen to move directly against the Company. I will Endeavour to act with as much Discretion as may be achieved.
The Second Matter is the Issue from the Royal Mint of the new Gold Sovereign. The Commercial Benefits of identically perfect Coins that may not be destroyed or modified is Well Understood. However, that same Identicality and Perfection means that a Single Sovereign may be the Philosophickal Avatar of All. This makes our entire Coinage vulnerable to the sort of Arcane Powers that spawned the Golden Bull. I know that Mr Solomon ben Ezra has spoken previously on this Matter with far greater Lucidity and Erudition than I can possibly Muster. I beg of Your Highness to listen to his Counsel on this Subject to avert Future Jeopardy.
Thirdly, we have as yet failed to identify the Source or the Motivation of the Power behind the Green-Eyed Malaise that has reduced the People of London to malign shuffling Mobs. I note that as we travelled here up the Thames, there were Attempts in Progress by them to force the Bridges, which bespeaks an overall Guiding Intelligence that is our Deadly Enemy. I believe that on this occasion the Foolishness of Mr Hunter supplied them with an Opportunity which I hope to Obviate, but whatever the Identity of our Foe they are still out there awaiting Another Chance. I am at the Service of Your Highness in this (as in all other Matters) and will Serve in whatever Capacity Appropriate to Discover the Source of this Malignity and Thwart its Plans.
I realise that having read so far, Your Highness, may be inclined to dismiss my Words as the Ravings of a Madman. For if Solomon ben Ezra has succeeded in his Endeavour then the Sun will Shine upon a new Day and little or no Memory will remain to Your Highness and those around of the Darkness we now endure. However, I beg of you to trust my words on this, however outlandish they may seem.
I remain your most loyal and obedient Servant
Colonel Edward Mustard