Summary

In a world of magic and wonder, one man fights a lonely battle against those who seek profit no matter the number of innocent lives trampled by the march of progress. Cover Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash. A creation of science and arcane arts, a prototype machine is on a long journey to pave a road across the hinterlands within the territory of the Five-Cities. If successful, its inventor will be counted among the great geniuses of history and his patron will hold the controlling interest in an economic dynasty not seen since the first trams laid rails across the land nearly half a century ago. Only a few days into the historic trek and reports of mayhem and destruction at the machine's passing reach the Order of the Justicar in the Five-Cities. Young Konrad Brassington, an ambitious Foot with his eyes set on becoming a Hand within the order, is charged with the investigation. It is his final test to achieve the rank he seeks. Whittmore's Beast has a large head start. With an odd band of friends and hirelings in tow, can Konrad prove the machine is a disaster waiting to happen? Or will this investigation be the albatross that stalls his career before it's even really begun?

Genre: Scifi,Fantasy

Author: William P. Driver

Status: 8yrs ago

Chapters: 14

Rating: n/a

Age Rating: 18+

Prologue: Paving the Way to Progress

“The march of progress never ceases to amaze, good readers. This morning amongst much fan fair, Archibauld Gaetan Whittmore, Master Engineer of the Artifex Guild, along with his patron from the Merchant’s Syndicate, one Lord Anatoly Petrov, finally unveiled the wondrous device that will pave the way of the future. In this case, quite literally! It has the look of a caterpillar; a shiny black metalled one at that. The beast is as long as two city-crawlers end to end and as tall as three stacked atop one another!

“Archibauld has previously claimed his device will create level roads as wide as a boulevard from any terrain it encounters. Further, it will create these roads at a rate of four leagues a day! If such claims are even partially true, the monopoly of the tram rails as the best means of transport may well be at an end. It is an exciting day for Progress fair reader. Let us all wish Whittmore’s Beast good luck as it begins its ten day journey to Brefield on its first trial run!”

--Paving the Way to Progress, The Herald front page, 5th Day of Radiant Light year 193