It was a stormy night in Haram port city. The old Golden Tooth inn was crowded with its few regulars of half a dozen of noisy fishermen and two blabbering drunkards. The inn, like the Haram port itself, was in quite a sorry state. Its walls were dotted with holes and one of its windows was broken. Nearly one-third of the wooden floor was soaked wet by the rain swept in. On the Outside, the thunderstorm rumbled across the pointy tops of the Gothic cathedral, the wind was howling and the heavy rain bombarded the cobblestone streets with waves upon waves of bubbling sky water.
The chittering little crowd lowered their voice a bit when the heavy front door creaked slightly ajar to reveal a tall, lean, hooded figure with a large rattling wooden trunk.
Soaked from head to toe, the lad appeared to be in his late thirties and judging by his unkempt navy uniform and powdered wig, must be a low-ranked officer. The crowd's gaze slowly turned elsewhere and they resumed their usual murmur. Being a port town, it was a rather common sight to see a no-name navy officer from some ships here at this late of night, looking for either strong drinks or the welcoming arm of a tavern wench. Around 6 feet 5 tall, he must have Haram's heritage, and people from here were known to be treated with discrimination within the empire. An officer like him was quite an unusual sight.
Some couldn't help but notice the new customer's set of wheellocks, his sword, his dagger bandolier, and an intricate blunderbuss hung over his shoulder. Some made vague boasts about having seen costlier weapons in the war five years ago.
" Long live Her Majesty. What brings you here, sir?" Old Fred, the innkeeper, asked with a hint of mockery when he mentioned the Empress whilst bringing a tray of rum, smoking pea soup, and mackerel to his table while the new guess was busy drying his clothes beside the brazier.
" I'm no 'sir'. I am here for the church business. I need a room with a clean mattress for a fortnight and breakfast in the morning. Here's for a second helping of this delicious pea soup and this, to repair that window of yours" The man said in a low, tired voice and show father Gahalad's introduction letter, which would grant him free housing and meals throughout Haram, at the same time, the officer pressed two silver shillings in old Fred's shivering hand while hungrily devour the soup and the smoked mackerel.
" God bless you, good sir. I guarantee thee tis' the best soup you can find in old Haram port" Old Fred's eyes light up at the sight of the money, though he furtively squeezed the silver coins to check their legitimacy. They were not counterfeit, smiled old Freddie, and waved his wife to bring another dish to the guarded but generous guess. The locals were apparently not friendly towards the Imperial army. Following the disastrous loss of the Southern Coalition army to the Empire's army, Haram and its surroundings were integrated into the Eastern part of the Empire only three years ago, as a part of the 1789 peace treaty, which the majority of the Haramites considered a big shame.
" You sure that seadog ain't an Imperial hound? Many won't be happy if he comes sniffing and spoiling all the business here" Stated Mc. Kernel the butcher, a regular of the Golden Tooth.
" As sure as grain. I saw his papers. Father Gahalad's guess." old Fred replied with a victory smile on his face, he was just well paid, after all.
" Oh, I see. Guess the old father couldn't convince any local hunter this time so he hired some scurvy-ridden ex-cannoneer from some of the passing ships" Mc. Kernel's face eased up. Integrated into the Empire not long ago, Haram was a safe haven for all sorts of men of dubious origins and shady businesses. The locals, thus, were not friendly towards the Empire's army. To them, the Imperial army was the symbol of oppression and many agents from the state had been sent to root out Haramites renegades and smugglers. Railroads had not been able to penetrate the mountain ranges and the steep valleys of the surrounding area so the only way to reach the port was either by airship or ship.
" The lad is ain't no seamen, I saw his defaced Iron Eagle cress. Must be an ex-knight from the Zeppelin-borne assault brigade. Hiring a lad like him ain't cheap, though" Old Fred smirked, fidgeting the silver shillings again, to which Mc. Kernel simply replied with an even bigger smirk and threw a glance toward the old heavy trunk the ex-knight brought along "Yeah, I can tell by his fancy wheellocks. Well, hope he worth the coins the old preacher paid and can find a wolf or two. And I would like to see his Imperial tin can in operation up close".
What tin can Mc Kernel referred to, was the Imperial Clockwork Armor and power-limb, nicknamed "tin can" by the Southern army and the Haramites renegades? Thanks to the advanced clockwork-powered gears for their knights, mass-produced steel plates and paper cartridges for their foot soldiers, and their much-dreaded bombard zeppelins, the Empire had easily crushed the ill-equipped Southern Coalition armies in the Great war five years ago. Many Haramites still resented the unfair advantage of Imperial soldiers in the war. And even up to now, the standard gears of many kingdoms and countries surrounded the Empire still mostly consists of grandfather matchlocks and cheap brass cuirasses, though there were words of the Southern Armies are bidding their time and secretly building their own trump cards.
Judging by his appearance, the Imperial ex-knight was in his late thirties. "An unusual folk", old Fred thought to himself, walked back to the bar while fidgeting the coins, and brought out a book to write down the man's name from the introduction letter, which appeared to be "Sir Lupus". And from the way he hastily gulped down the soup, he must have been mightily hungry and tired.
Old Fred's pea soup was something he's proud of, indeed, he learned the recipe from an Indian trader and managed to recreate the flavor with local herbs and lots of sausages. And Lupus couldn't disagree with the soup. After the second dish, feeling quite full, he followed the old innkeeper to his room.
Walking through a small passage of ancient wooden doors and tightly shut windows, they stopped at the last room at the very end of that corridor. The room was dark, dimly lit by a small fire-box and there were no windows. Dusty cloaks hung from the hooks and dirty boots were tucked in a far corner. Old Fred climbed up a dusty chair to light a gas lamp on the ceiling, and soon the whole room was lit up. There was little furniture to speak of, save for a hay-filled bed with a white, brand new mattress on top and what appeared to be a broken wardrobe, or what left of it. The air was filled with a curious, moldy stench similar to wet socks. Probably there were leaks in here and there, and when the water sipped in, molds and pests of all sort were at full bloom.
But this one was the best room by far Lupus had had in his journey in the Easternmost reach of the empire. Ever since he left the Empire's inner territories, Lupus had had a far worse experience in other towns ravaged by war. The Great War was over, but there were still minor conflicts and rebellions thus the reconstruction of the Eastern cities was mostly delayed due to lack of sufficient funding.
When the old innkeeper left to summon the tavern girl, Lupus put another log into the fire-box, removed his wet boots, and hit the hay-filled bed. Exhausted by a long journey and the heavy storm, it didn't take long for him to doze off and fall into a long nap if not for a high-toned voice of a young girl.
" You are sir Lupus, I assume? I'm Rebecca, at your service" the young girl sitting at his bedside said.
Lupus was mightily tired from the rough sea and was not in the mood for women so he didn't ask for tavern wench earlier. And this was quite a surprise for him. Sit next to him was a short young girl in a dirty, tattered dress, much younger and far more skinner than a usual courtesan. Her eyes were deep blue and as sad as a frozen lake in late December.
" I can help with your... clothes, I guess," said the girl, her voice was trembling and she was so shy her was red.
Lupus, reluctantly let the girl take off his clothes. Rebecca ripped several buttons off while undressing him, much to his angriness.
" You are quite clumsy for ...this" He sullied, still quite awkward from the situation.
" And you are quite sullen for an old man" She bit back with a loathing glance and a long pause.
And according to Rebecca's story, she wasn't a courtesan. Originally, she was a war orphan and she had been with old Fred's family for four years and they settled down here at the end of the war. She did all odd jobs from doing the dishes to tending the horses in the stable. Old Fred was kind enough to let her off to the church's library in her free time. She had just come of age lately and the old innkeeper sought to wed her off as mistress to some minor officers to reduce the mouths to feed and to get some protection for his inn and tavern from the local gangs. And Lupus here was quite the man so old Fred sent her here to keep him company.
" You see, the lawless environment here attracts all sorts of men from every corner of the empires. And the gangs have been terrorizing the honest business. Well, last month, he intended to wed me to a Westminster second mate if the guy had not been hung for cheating at dice later..." Rebecca added, with some contempt in her voice "Well, he reasoned at least the guy was rich and had some connections, though"
" The old Fred wasn't too bad. I can tell." Lupus told her and silently walked out to called the innkeeper for two helpings of pea soup.
The late-night supper opened her up further. The young girl gulped down the soup at an even faster rate than he did before and that touched something in him.
" Excuse me, I haven't eaten anything since the afternoon. Well, old Fred's family doesn't exactly let me starve. But they aren't too generous either. There were happier times, though. And there was too much work tonight in the stable with a storm raging like that. The flashes of lightning and thunder drove the horse nuts and there were leaks here and there..."
Lupus can find an educated and proper manner in her conversation, which, obviously, doesn't even exist in a place like this. And after a while, Lupus opened up as well. He told her of his time serving as a battle-hardened knight in the Third Zeppelin-borne Assault Brigade. Since he had Haram blood running in him, it was hard for Lupus to get a promotion. He also told her how he later lost some of his friends, became battle-weary, and tired of all the killing and fighting. In the end, he was thrown out for hitting a group of Imperial foot soldiers for looting civilians in newly conquered territories. The soldiers were punished for their crimes as well, but the higher command wasn't too fond of Lupus either so that was the last straw.
Outside, the storm was still raging. The air was chill and stagnant, with the only source of heat coming from the small firebox in the corner and each other's body, some witty remarks, and heated hugs were all it took to light up something between the two. Long smooching turned into a heated hour, followed by a late-night pillow talk.
"And, what brings you here in this weather? Sir Wolf? I bet that wasn't really your name" She asked while scooping yet another spoonful of soup.
" Oh, you notice?" Quite curious, he glanced back at the young girl who recognized Lupus was just a nickname.
" Yeah, my pa was a preacher so I know some Latin"
" The local church summoned me here to take down some wolves with a promise of fat reward. And they insisted that I should bring the big guns. I found his words quite puzzled, though" Lupus smirked.
" So you are a hunter" Rebecca darted her eyes towards Lupus's wheel lock.
" something like that. You wouldn't believe it if I tell you what I hunt for a living recently, though" Lupus stretched his arms and smiled.
" I do. I believe in your words" Rebecca replied almost automatically, much to Lupus's surprise. " So, the army let you keep the clockwork armor? I heard that the technology behind the armors was zealously guarded"
" It was my special privilege granted long ago by the Duke of York, when I was a knight, that is. And a special clockwork piece, invented by the chief war-engineer, was inserted into every armor, to make sure they will self-destruct in case someone wants to reverse-engineer the armor or in case the armors fall into wrong hands. And now, get some sleep, gal. It will be a long day tomorrow."
When Lupus woke up, the room was dark so it was hard to tell the time. Checking his pocket watch, it was past mid-day. What a good night's sleep, he thought to himself, the heated hours of yesternight must have taken a hold on him. Glancing over the snoring girl next to him, he unconsciously imagined a peaceful life of growing turnips and strawberries in the plains of Batavia. A quiet cough brought him back to reality. He wasn't that old to retire. Throwing his glance around to look for his weapons and his trunk Lupus relieved to find them untouched.
" Wake up so soon?" Rebecca cooed under the burlap and continued to snore away.
He didn't answer her and simply continued fastening his leather belts and reloading his wheellocks. The air in the room was still damp and moldy as it was the yesternight, but Lupus find it more tolerable than the air filled with a gray, clingy vapor coming from a multitude of coal and oil engines in other more developed Imperial cities. Leaving the stable girl in his bed, he tipped the innkeeper's wife handsomely for a meal for two in his room.
" So the good sir is about to see father Gahalad, I assume?" Old Fred asked, much to Lupus's surprise.
" I have seen men like you. Hunters from all over the Haram. Armed to the teeth and answered to the old father's call to arm"
He was quite correct. But Lupus was no normal hunter. He was a big game hunter. He had accompanied many famous explorers and rich nobles on their bear hunts. " And why do you think the father calls us hunters here?" Lupus asked curiously.
" To hunt the Haram's beasts. What else could it be? You see those hills over there? Yeah, the ones with dense tall trees and dark ravines. It appeared there was some sort of wretched wolves on those hills. And they were harassing the sheep and cows of local folks for months. The hunters found naught, though. On some occasions, the had been reported of the wolves snatching women folks, and children... Now that the town folks had been alarmed, no one dares to go outside the city wall at night... The army was too occupied with the renegade subjugation missions to care for the elusive beasts." He paused a bit then quizzically look into Lupus' eyes." And when you are done with your business, would you take little Rebecca with you away from this town? Couldn't tell if you were married or not. But take her as your mistress or maid, will you? I see you are an educated man with a military upbringing. It's not common to see a man of Haram's heritage climb to the rank of officer, but you did and I think Rebecca can depend on you. The folks here were mostly rowdy fishermen and illiterate herdsmen. The educated folks were too caught up in their smuggling and crazed inventions to speak of and would probably meet their end in the jail or on the gallow. I don't want to wed her to the likes of them. She's smart and could be very helpful at times, especially when it comes to figures and maths. If it wasn't for the war, she could have well been a scholar, a banker, or a tinkerer. And don't look at me like that. It's not like I entrust her to you out of my kindness. Of course, I will charge you some silver pounds, but consider that the money for taking care of the young gal."
That was quite a queer talk. But seeing no malice or deception in his voice, Lupus smiled back.
" Thanks for the news, old man. And I will considering the latter."
The father did mention that the earlier hunts and investigations proved fruitless. For what they hunted at that time was very cunning. It knew very well to avoid the hunters and the hounds were often too frightened by what smell left behind to be of any use. The black and white photographs he provided of the gory sceneries alone would have been enough to unnerve most men. Evidently, the horribly mangled and gnawed bodies couldn't be the work of men, and the serrated, punctured, V-shaped wounds on the bodies suggested large carnivorous teeth of canines. And by the description of the locals, the beasts of Haram could well be a pair of Arkham black dire wolves. Still, Lupus needed more evidence since the great dire wolves had long died out in Haram. In this case, the culprit could be a grizzly bear as well. And in the letter, father Gahalad claimed that the beasts of Haram were bigger than men when standing upright and could tear a cow in half. Only a bear could stand upright like that and they were known to be quite intelligent. Lupus had hunted some black bears in the Eastern mountain ranges before and was used to the creature's wit and strength.
However, bears were not known to live in packs and would subsist on the plentiful trouts and pikes in this rainy season rather than risking limbs and lives to raid human settlements and steal livestock. But whatever fiendish creatures lurking out there, judging by their slippery nature, were, no doubt, sly and devious. And with the rate of attacks increased over the weeks, their number must have been increased over the past few months. The western hillsides were said to be far ancient than the Haram port itself and were feared by the indigenous fishing population, even before the appearance of the Haram beasts. They said the hill's black soil brought ill omen and there were archaic & sadistic savages, far older than the civilized men lurking the dark canopies of evil-looking trees of the hill. The trees were, indeed, very dense and one could hardly see anything from a flyby airship. Few woodsmen dare to cut down the trees there and even fewer hunters dared to tread its isolated slopes and woods.
Lupus was lost in his thought when walking down the main street. It was past mid-day and the street was bursting with people. Despite its half-destructed state and lack of proper funding, the port city was teeming with life and business. Lupus could see all sorts of people from around Haram and other ports here. Westminster's sailors in their deep blue hemp uniforms, Southern folks in their banana-silk fancy cloth, local farmers with thick Strauss jeans and large hats, some even carry a pointy pitchfork. Ordinary town folks & foreign traders of all shapes and sizes strode along the pavements and omnibuses driven by two or four horses dotted the main streets of Haram. Very few steam or clockwork-powered vehicles were seen here, and those around were of the military, and he could count only three of them so far. Haramites were known for their robust height and keen sense and they despised the smog from the engines. Even the wealthy class here would prefer the old horse carts. Lined up on the bomb-ravaged streets were shops and vendors with all sorts of goods one could only imagine - mountains of coffee and bitter cacao beans from the new world, rows upon rows of your run-of-the-mill Imperial stew pea cans, barrels of dread ship biskets, stacks of boxes of Northerner's blue tea, and loads Chinese earthenwares.
And so too was the city's darker corners for shady business. With a loose policy, Haram is the haven for smuggling and unauthorized clockwork tech. While the rest of the city and its ports seemed to be locked in an ancient time of horse and hand-powered carts and antique buildings, its black market seemed to have caught up with the technological advancement at the very heart of the Empire. Lupus could find eleven shops that sell bootleg second-handed military-graded clockwork parts, worn and used gears and mechanisms, or oddly-shaped experimental contraptions that prone to backfire on users in less than half an hour in the town's shady alleys. He also found some Imperial foot soldiers here to have their light Exo tuned and upgraded with illicit parts. The Imperial Army Inquisitors and Tinkerers probably wouldn't like this, he thought, but he wasn't here for any investigation today so he just joined the bustling crowd in their shopping spree. When passing through an odd shop of an even queerer inventor, his eyes were locked on a hand-cranked clockwork repeater crossbow of ingenuity design, which was obviously illegal and over-priced. The inventor, by the name of Thomas, was sharp enough to recognized Lupus was a former knight.
" You see, with this switch, you can direct the power of your right-hand actuating gears into this marvelous weapon, no more hand-cranking. And over here, with this switch, you can turn it into a sniper crossbow rivaled even the latest model of the rifle out there. These patented power limb, kinetic coils, and cams can store three times more energy than your average arbalest. And last but not least, these finely-designed magnetic rails will add enough kinetic energy to pierce even your knight armor" Thomas smiled tacitly. " Fifteen pounds and it's yours. It is perfect as a ranged weapon or an attachment to your worn-over, in case you are secretly building one yourself"
Worn-over is the slang the soldiers used to describe the knight-class Imperial Heavy Assault armor. A heavy-duty clockwork armor to be worn over the personal Imperial clockwork Plate. An epitome of clockwork tech built solely for war purposes. Apparently, an ex-knight couldn't hope to keep them.
" Consume too much suit power. Quite impractical. Ten pounds, I say" Lupus tried to haggle for a lower price. Twenty pounds was an outrageous price. A knight-class Imperial Clockwork plate would only go for that much.
" Impractical you say! Why! I'm willing to throw in this hand-crank power gear. Just crank it good and your suit battery will run well as new" Thomas detested and brought out a small device. Attaching the power gear into the repeater crossbow clockwork engine, Thomas, with some difficulty, managed to shoot a barrage of bolts in a short span of time. And the power shot wasn't a fluke either. That short demonstration showed that this young lad's words were of value.
" Very well. Fifteen pounds, but I will also take the music box over there" Lupus said and pointed at an antique cog-powered music box on the shelf behind Thomas. This was meant to be a gift to Rebecca.
" Very well, then. It's a deal. Come here any day if you need it repaired." Thomas said and they shook hands.
Just right after that, some folks in the farther corner somehow intelligently set off some illegal rockets and they went out with great hissing and loud bangs. Probably the officers couldn't let this incident slide off so easily. "It's time to take my leave", Lupus thought to himself.
Two loudly chatting Imperial halberdiers lightly tilted their head when they walked past him in the main street, the gears and pneumatic apparatuses on their light steam Exosuits jiggled and cranked with each of their steps. Lupus also returned the gesture. Their accents and short frame suggested an origin further western and the crests on their Exo told Lupus of their rank - both are squaddies - the lowest rank in the Imperial Army. Perhaps the two were recruited very recently for the subjugation force. Lupus lightly shook his head. Whatever the Imperial Amry was doing was no longer his concern. He should concentrate on his quest of exterminating the beasts lurking on the hillside of Haram. He might need to drop in the Imperial Galleon for a repair on his Clockwork Actuator & Bolt Thrower gauntlets later. Or maybe he should make use of his old connections in the army to call for a great cleansing should the number of beasts was too many to deal with by conventional methods.
Walking past a crowd of noisy ladies busy picking and buying exotic Southern tropical fruits, Lupus intentionally picked the high route to avoid the streets where they hold the wet market. For him, nothing as off as the smell of seafood in the mid-day, and Haram, despite being a secluded and isolated port, was long known to be a prominent trading and fishing city with its own brand of canned tuna and smoked mackerel.
It didn't take too long to get to the church. Father Gahalad, a tall, dark man of his late sixties, gave him a warm welcome with British tea and some butter cookies. The father summoned two farmers who appeared to have their cattle devoured by hungry beasts and a local hunter. Here, Lupus heard of the most incredible stories ever.