Wednesday, March 7, 2012

A Faint Hole In The Steamlands


The world of Steampunk is vast, and the inspirations are many. But as I walk through the Steamlands, I feel something is not quite right; an absence, souvenirs of something that never were...

A ghostly voice resounds, that I recognize of the Seneschelf Serra Anansi. She says: "No matter how patient and understanding I strive to be with others, The Baron and Frau Lowey remind me that there is so much more I could do to be a better leader, and for that I am grateful that GG as brought us all these two wonderful people into my Second Life."
Who is this “Frau Lowey” she is talking about? And certainly Mr. Baron Black is a very well groomed dog, but I would not describe him as a leader role-model. And GG? GG? Those sounds like I should know what it means, but it keeps escaping my mind.
I keep wandering, from sim to sim... Why don’t I stop for a fencing game in Inverbr... Hmmm. What was that again? My memory keeps failing me; and I keep searching. Searching for buildings with some blue and gold flags - In Kittisickshire? By Steelhead’s City Hall? There are building, but they aren’t quite right, yet I know they have been there for a while; what am I searching for again?
More voices echo in the distance... The amazing Storm Engineer: “Actually GG's effect on me is not only greatly inspirational, but it triggered alternative mindstates and now acts as a kind of mental catalyst on my creativity.” The bumbling Zaida Gearbox: “SL wouldn't be as much fun widout de jaegers.” The swift Aevalle Galicia: “It took me 3 years to earn a nosepinch from that man! I'm not givin' it back!”
Images of a Tiny Regatta in New Babbage; Jaeger pageant in Mondrago; throwing stuff at poets in Winterfell... They disappear as fast as they come... What was I thinking, again?
I look around, and all seems normal, yet all seems wrong... Perhaps it’s me? I look at my hand, and lo! I can see right through it! What is happening? I am disappearing!
As the last of me dissolves in thin air, I remember: I have never seen the Steamlands in this universe where The Professors Foglios never wrote Girl Genius...
Captain Nacht, Unfaded