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
