"Iconography… Photography… Here it is!" exclaims Dr. Pike, as she pulls a book from the middle of a pile of bound volumes. She sets the skeletal monster arm down amidst the anatomy books, and says to Zahnrad, "I'll be back in a few moments. I just need to make sure I have the chemicals needed to develop any image plates that may be in that picture box."

"Certainly," Zahnrad replies as he looks around the study curiously. "Mind if I look through some of your anatomy books while you're busy?"

"What?" Pike says, looking up from her book and nearly walking into the doorway. "Oh, go right ahead. I was hoping to find a match for that arm somewhere."

"Thanks," Zahnrad replies and waves slightly. The Kadie's attention quickly turns to the desk with the open books on wings. His tail flicks back and forth excitedly. "I wish I could get book's like this in town," he mutters and lifts the arm out of the way. "But no, I'm stuck in a backwater."

The Eeee leaves, calling for Igor. The book in the middle of the table is open to a page with a diagram of a wing, showing bone and muscle structure. But the wing is like nothing Zahn has seen before, with extra joints and muscles and something like a long ligament with a strange symbol labeling it. Half of the text is make up of strange symbols and formulae.

Zahnrad furrows his brow and tries to decipher the diagram, starting at the point where he assumes it joins to the body. "Great, now I feel backwater too," he says with a sigh. "What exactly is this… ?"

The text, written in Standard with a deliberate blockiness, reads: The structure is clearly not the result of any likely evolutionary process, and allows the wing to deform in several ways to match the type of flight being attempted…

This if followed by a strange list of 'modes' with efficiency formulas next to them, none of which looks familiar to the Kadie.

"Deform… ? What the… " Zahnrad says. He uses his index finger to mark the page, and turns back a few pages, trying to see what comes before it, a creature name, picture, anything.

A few pages back is another drawing depicting a cutaway view of a skull, using unusual colors (blue bone?). An attempt has been made to show the brain, but after a layer of familiar looking tissue is a large black area with a question mark in it. There is also an oddly curved horn that has its root deep in the brain, then curves back along the skull when it exits.

"Is this someone's idea of a joke? No such creature could possibly exist," Zahnrad mutters and flips back to the wing page. From there, he now goes forward a few pages.

Further on, the book seems to focus on specific organs, each with its own set of strange chemical notation and formulas. Zahn can make out a few of the symbols though, such as the ones for sulfur and nitrogen. Beyond the organ descriptions, things begin to take on a more esoteric technobabble flavor, delving into odd magical theorems.

Zahn almost goes cross-eyed. "Ugh, biology is nasty," he mutters. Out of curiosity, he looks at the front of the book for a title. "Though … makes me wish I could have gone to the schools in Justininople."

The title, in large letters, is Meta-Golem Physiology, with A biomagical case study in smaller letters underneath. The authors are listed as 'Markus the Gray – M Life, Yesbeth Fellows – M Chaos, Envoy Lothrhyn – A Earth' and the publication date is 6102 RTR.

"Oh, this is one of those meta-golem things Pike was talking about. Heh, five years ago, too," Zahnrad comments and returns the book to the page it was at. He walks over to one of the bookshelves and looks over it, humming to himself. "I wonder if she has any engineering texts, or anything on materials fabrication."

There are several books on chemistry and alchemy, as well as animal and vegetable biology. One likely title is A Field Guide to First Ones and Expedition Artifacts, and near it is one labeled Titans: an Historical Perspective.

Zahnrad pulls the book on Expedition artifacts. He pauses and glances back at the arm, then looks over the bookshelf again, this time looking for a book on large burrowing creatures.

Alas, there doesn't seem to be anything directly related to burrowing. The closest might be a book called Post-War Sylvanian Natural and Para-Natural Ecosystems.

Zahn pulls that book too, just in case. He then looks around the room for a place to sit; he's not even going to try hanging by his feet.

There is one reading chair that catches the light coming through the narrow window, which is currently holding a pile of notebooks and scrolls.

Zahnrad goes over to that chair and tries to clear it without making a mess. "Bad as my cabin," he mutters. "If only I were an Eeee, this wouldn't be a problem," he adds with a sigh.

While moving the scrolls, one of them unrolls enough to reveal the edge of a circular design, with symbols similar to the ones in the summoning circle found in the deep basement.

Zahn arches his eyebrow. He sets the books aside and picks up the scroll. Carefully, he unrolls it.

Fully unrolled, the design looks very close to the one Zahn saw in the basement, complete with internal pentagram. The paper is clearly local, from the Miller's paper-mill, and doesn't look very old. There are notes scribbled in the margins around the design, with arrows pointing to specific portions, but the script is all but illegible. There are a lot of question marks peppered across the page though.

"I thought she wasn't interested in summoning," Zahnrad comments quietly and rolls the scroll back up. "But, she obviously wrote that." He sets it aside then looks through a few of the other scrolls, just in case they contain any more details.

Some of the scrolls hold drawings of dissected creatures (as opposed to more normal 'animals') and have the same bad handwriting. Occasionally, some bit of anatomy will be circled in red. One page depicting the innards of a three-headed frog even has two circles around an organ and an exclamation point next to it.

"And people consider me strange," Zahnrad comments and shakes his head. He finishes clearing the chair and sits down. He starts looking through the Sylvanian book first, looking for information or legends on large underground dwelling creatures.

The book on Sylvanian ecosystems doesn't touch on legends at all. Instead, the focus is on new or altered species that have taken the places of animals or plants that were decimated during the Necromancer Wars. There is brief mention of subterranean ecosystems, but little detail other than a note by the author that 'It is difficult to find qualified people willing to explore these regions.'

Zahnrad pfffts. "More like you're too lazy to go look, yourself," Zahnrad mutters. He sets the book aside, irritated. His attention shifts to the book on expedition artifacts. He starts looking for references on high strength materials, such as the metallic glass.

The Kadie's search is more rewarding this time. One of the first chapters is on Esoteric Materials, and mentions metallic glass. "In theory, this material can be made with various rare-earths and non-ferric metals. In practice, however, the process results in brittle or exceptionally thin mixes without the mediation of Chaos or Metal magic to control the cooling process. The inability to use iron in the process makes the material too expensive for general use, despite its superior strength to all known metal alloys, chitin, resin polymers or ceramics."

"Hm. Well, maybe I can get iron. This would work well for a ceramic engine as a coating, but … " Zahnrad says and scratches at his ear. "I'm not wealthy. Well, unless we can trace the source that coated those claws. Maybe there's some natural source here, somewhere." He pauses, then hmmms quietly and starts flipping. Namely, he's looking for pictures or descriptions of large solar collection devices, much like the one in Amelia's secret place.

The chapter on Lost Technologies has a reference to a translucent material with optical properties. "This very durable resin is often associated with ancient ruins in Kroz and Olympia. Long thought to be of Expedition origin, it was recently (6090 RTR) shown to be of magical origins, responding to Earth Magic. Tentatively attributed to the Underground Kingdom of Moltpaa due to the location of found fragments."

"Moltpaa, eh?" Zahnrad comments. He searches the same book for references to that. "You know, I ought to just stop by one of the Chalk's places and talk to them about underground creatures. They ought to know, if anyone."

The Glossary in the back of the tome says of Moltpaa: "Vast, little explored underground cavern region underlying Southern Nordika, including the regions of Olympia, Kroz and Bosch. Local legend tells of an ancient kingdom controlling the area, possessed of advanced magic and technology comparable to modern Chronotopia in its intricacy and power. Only a handful of above-ground ruins exist to support this legend." In the margin, however, someone has written, "Subterranean railway used by Trans-Nordikan trains."

"That sounds a lot like … " Zahnrad comments, then stops himself in case others are listening. He sets the book aside and gets up. He retrieves the skeletal arm and examines what is left of the upper arm and shoulder. "So, did you chew your own arm off, or was it cut, hmm?"

If the upper bone was cut, it was by an extremely crude instrument. The thick bone is fragmented at the end, and the marks around it do suggest chewing. But it also resembles the sort of break a deadwood branch would have after being snapped off of a tree.

From elsewhere in the castle, the ratcheting laugh of Igor echoes down the hall, followed by a burst of squeaky profanity.

"Well, sounds like they're having fun," Zahnrad comments and grins, looking away from the arm. He listens, trying to make out what they're going on about.

Someone can be heard coming down the hall, and they don't shuffle along like Igor. A moment later Dr. Pike enters the room, mumbling to herself and carrying the picture-box. A bright blush can be seen fading from her ears.

"What happened, Doctor? I heard some commotion. And … why are your ears red?" Zahnrad asks.

"What?" Pike snaps, noticing Zahn for the first time. "Oh… uh… reaction to the chemicals probably," she says, looking embarrassed. "The bloody useless chemicals that I wasted my time gathering! Plus all the time wasted putting red filters on the lanterns and… oh, never mind!" she says in exasperation. She sets the tripod legs to let the box stand on its own, and starts to light up a regular lantern.

Zahnrad takes a step back. "Ah … er, so the plate or whatever it was, was no good?" he inquires quietly, still clutching the arm.

"That's what I'm going to find out, in proper light," she says, bringing the lantern over to the box. Then she looks at Zahn, and asks, "Would you like to open it up?"

"Won't that damage it?" Zahnrad asks as he sets the arm down. He heads over to the box to examine it.

"I doubt it," Pike says. "It's safe to open, since I've done it already in a darkened room," she adds, and shakes her head, muttering, "Old Orifice was too clever by half… "

"Ah. So, what it trapped, then?" Zahn asks, eyebrow raised. Slowly, Zahnrad starts on the box, trying to open it.

There's just a simple latch on the back holding the lid closed, which itself is hinged in the front. It doesn't look like a tight enough fit to keep out stray light, on close inspection.

Zahnrad releases the latch and opens the box carefully.

The interior is painted black, but things resolve once Pike brings the lantern closer. There is a tiny chair in the middle of the box, with a lever next to it to adjust the focus of the lens. In front of the chair is a holder for a glass plate, and next to it are a dozen thimbles full of long-dried paint. There are also clumps of clay-like dirt scattered around the box, and some sort of image is indeed on the glass plate.

Zahnrad snorts. "He kept one of his golem things in the box. That's hysterical," Zahnrad comments and starts laughing, unable to get the picture of a little thing running around in there out of his mind. After gathering himself, he tries to get the plate out to see it better.

There's a white blob, but it's hard to see the image face on while it's in the box. "Go ahead and take it out, Zahn," Pike says. "What use are tiny golems? Tiny and very fast golems, probably."

"Like I said, I wouldn't want them in my shorts," Zahnrad quips and takes it out. He then blinks and says, "That's the first time you've called me that."

"Well, this is something of an intimate moment," Pike says, moving the lantern to shine behind the glass plate. "So I figured you'd forgive the… oh my!" she says as she gets a look at the plate. The lower half is a silver blur, but above that is a magnified view of part of a face. There is a glowing, bulging red orb of an eye set in white fur, and the edge of a toothy mouth. More telling though, is the bit of ear and whiskers that show.

"Doesn't it look like… like a Skeek?" Pike asks in a whisper. "Not a friendly one, but… very Skeekish."

Zahnrad peers at the picture. He turns it this way and that. "Sort of, but Skeeks don't have claws and arms the size of the one on your desk," Zahnrad comments. "I wonder if this is a descendant of the Moltpaa, or somesuch."

"There are plenty of monsters in Moltpaa," Pike says, then shakes her head. "But this far north? It could be a local mutation of a Skeek or Skreek. Maybe a vampire?"

"Vampire? I highly doubt that. There aren't any vampires around here," Zahn says, sounding doubtful.

"Its eyes could be glowing from magical mutation then," the Eeee speculates. "Although… that really wouldn't explain the coating on the claws. I wonder if there are more of these still around. I'd love to dissect one… " Pike muses.

"You realize it might be an intelligent creature," Zahnrad points out. "And may not take kindly to being dissected." He shrugs and says, "Its eyes may be adapted for living underground; natural luminescence."

"If it was intelligent, why would it have to be chained up?" Pike asks, but then in a more worrying tone says, "It might not be a good idea to tell anyone about this. Not until we know more."

"Because your relative might've been invading its home and it was defending itself?" Zahnrad offers. He taps his chin, then says, "Hey, maybe it's really Igor… before he re-patched himself together."

"I doubt that," Pike says, shuddering. "Surely that creature couldn't have survived for long after having its arm torn off. Unless it isn't really a living creature at all."

"If it was smart, it would have cauterized its wound with a torch," Zahnrad says. "We didn't find any other bones and if it died shortly thereafter, we should have found other remains. Well, unless it fell into the canal."

"There wasn't anything left of Uncle Orifice either," Pike notes. "Both bodies could have been carried off by scavengers."

"And they didn't take the arm? If there were scavengers, we should have seen some signs of them," Zahnrad points out. "Maybe whatever it was just ate your Uncle, bones and all."

"That isn't a very nice image," Pike says, and finally lowers the lantern onto a desk. "Still… if these creatures are around, they must not venture out of their territory or up to the surface. Otherwise, everyone would know about them, right? I'm sure the Chalks would mention running into monster Skeeks if they encountered any underground."

"Well, they might. They're pretty secretive about their underground home," Zahnrad says as he scratches his ear. "My guess is its eyes are very sensitive to light. That red could just be a reflection of the back of their eyes from some sort of a flash of light… Kind of like how Khatta eyes shine at night. If the eyes are sensitive, it probably would stay in the darkness of the underground. Hmm."

"I should have seen that myself!" Pike says, pinching one of her ears. "The studio was pretty well lit with those crystals, so it seems reasonable."

"How do these plates work?" Zahnrad asks.

"It looks like you stick a blank one in the frame, close the lid, and tell the homunculus to paint what it sees," Pike guesses.

"Huh, strange. Not very efficient, either. Wouldn't it work better if you could somehow get the light to burn an image into the plate? Kind of like how you can use a magnifying glass to burn objects by focusing light," Zahnrad comments absently as he examines the plate. "And you know … there are rumors the Chalks keep a monster in their warren."

"Well, that sort of iconography requires expensive metal salts, and doesn't create color images," Pike says. "And usually won't work at all in regions of high background magic. But a tiny golem… well, I think it could move very fast. Fast enough to paint an image of a moving object, it seems."

"Faster it moved the quicker it probably burned out," Zahnrad comments and shrugs. "This is far outside my area of expertise, though. I deal with mechanical things, gears, motors, drive systems, adjustable transmissions, and mill controls."

"And really, you shouldn't believe in silly rumors like that," the doctor says. "Everyone with a basement is said to have a monster in it. It's probably just that the Chalks are the only people in the community that live underground, so that makes them seem suspicious and secretive."

"Didn't say I believed it, only that I heard it," Zahnrad comments absently.

"And, that reminds me … I was hoping to ask your advice on some things," Zahnrad says and looks over at the doctor.

"Oh, that's right, you're a mechanic," Pike says, having apparently forgotten. "What did you want to ask my advice on?" she asks, suddenly trying to look more upright and confident.

"Yeah, I know, we're a town of uneducated backwater riverfolk," Zahnrad grouses. "I wanted to ask how knowledgeable you are on explosive liquids. Plus, on chemical reagents for triggering detonations … or alternatives to such. I have a basic design for a compact engine, partially modeled after a steam drive. However, I'm stuck on an effective and durable ignition system for its fuel."

"Oh," Pike says, deflating a little. "Well, I know of plenty of explosive liquids… I am a bio-alchemist, after all. But what do you mean by a durable ignition system?"

"Well, consider this: It has to be within the ignition chamber, obviously, to trigger detonation. Therefore, it has to be able to withstand the detonation. Plus, it has to last, as the detonations have to be timed properly to drive the engine. If it fails quickly, it's useless. So, I need something simple and durable," Zahnrad comments. "Now, if I could generate a static spark on command, that would probably work."

"Oh, a spark is what you need?" Pike asks, her grin returning. She goes to one of the overflowing cabinets and starts to rummage through the shelves and drawers. "I know I have it here somewhere," she mutters as she searches.

"Well, it's one of the possible options, yes. I'm still stuck on how to build a durable engine housing, too. I'm figuring it'll have to be iron, or a strong ceramic," Zahnrad comments, watching the strange doctor.

"Aha!" Pike declares, and produces a dusty box. Looking about, she notes the cleared off chair and dumps out the contents of the box onto it. When she's done, there is a small pile of various crystals on the seat.

"You have rocks," Zahnrad comments flatly.

"I got these from a Vartan desperate for cash," Pike explains, as she sorts through the crystals, occasionally picking two and pressing them together before setting them into a discard pile. Finally, she finds the two she wants. "Here they are!" she says, and holds the two small crystals out to Zahn.

Zahnrad takes the crystals. He peers at them closely, then taps them together as he saw Pike doing.

There's a tiny snapping sound and a brief flash of light as the crystals are tapped and separated from each other.

"Huh! Well, something like this might just work," Zahnrad says. "What are they?"

"Spark crystals," Pike explains. "A sort of quartz. When you apply pressure to them, they release the energy as a spark."

"Really," Zahnrad says, sounding a bit distant. He closes his eyes and thinks for a moment, before saying, "This would probably work, but I'd need to transmit the spark to the chamber. I think metal would do that, and I don't need a lot of metal to do that." He cracks an eye open and asks, "What would you trade for them?"

"For those little ones?" Pike asks, rubbing her chin. "Well, if you could fix my big sparker, I could let you have those."

"Big sparker? What's broken on it?" Zahnrad asks. "And what is it?"

"Well, it's for making bigger sparks," Pike says, resorting to hand waving. "You turn this wheel, and it moves this arm thingy that pushes a piston that squeezes a lot of the crystals together to make a big spark along a wire… but I turned it too fast or something and the arm broke off."

"Oh, it's just a broken arm?" Zahnrad asks, sounding disappointed. "I thought you'd want me to fix something difficult, such as stress problems along the main axles. I do have an auto-switching gearing mechanism for such problems, you know. But anyway, show me the device and I'll take notes on what I'll need to do to fix it."

"Do you mean that you could improve it?" Pike asks. "Make it work faster or more consistently, so no matter how fast I turn it, the spark will always have the same timing and strength?"

"Yes, that shouldn't be that difficult. What you have to do is adjust the gear ratios as speed on the wheel increases or decreases such that the output rotation remains constant. You can do that using a weighted mechanism that pops the gears to the next one as it gets faster, or drops to the smaller gears as it gets slower," Zahnrad rattles off. "Or! You can do it with an inclined belt mechanism, but I've not gotten that to work quite as well yet. Mainly because it's hard to get the angle right, and a good belt."

The Eeee's eyes glaze over slightly at the explanation, but she finally snaps out of it and says, "Oh, good! Just follow me to the lab… and be careful not to get close to any of the plants that are in cages."

"All right. I'll take notes on the device and work up some options you can go with," Zahnrad replies and nods. He brushes his hair back and then blinks. "Plants in cages? Why do you have plants in cage… On second thought, I probably don't want to know," he says and idly scratches the back of his neck. "You know, for all the comments people make in town about you, you're all right Dr. Pike. Please, call me Zahnrad, or Zahn."

"Why, thank you, Zahn," Pike says cheerfully. "And if you like, you can use my nickname; Bunny. Or Dr. Bunny, if you like. It's much easier to say than Floribunda, after all."

Zahnrad manages not to snicker at hearing the doctor's nickname. "Bunny it is," Zahnrad replies cheerily. He clasps his hands behind his back as the walk, then flicks his tail up and back too, remembering about the cages. "So, can you tell me what you're researching all the way out here in the middle of nowhere?"

"Oh, the practical applications of monster mutation, actually," Pike (aka Bunny) says offhandedly.

"Really? Sounds fascinating! I'd like to hear about it someday… " Zahnrad replies.