News Turn 12

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Rescue attempts are under way today as people being to deal with the aftermath of the collapse of the Upper Pantheon District. Emergency repair attempts were underway overseen by Roland Jovic and Miranda Hawkins however before these could be completed the structural integrity of the tower failed and its collapse was unavoidable. As part of their repairs, Jovic and Hawkins had anchored the upper district to Mr. Jovic's new large airship (arguably the greatest and most elegant to ever grace our skies) to support the excess weight while the pillar was worked on. It was as this was being set up that the pillar failed and, thanks to the efforts of those present, the upper district was successfully attached to the air-ship from where it was taken to the southern plain outside the city and a controlled descent saw it deposited safely with no casualties. The pillar unfortunately fell towards the City Quarter damaging many of the building of the Glorious equation as it landed. Most notably of all the tower belonging to Captain Worthington suffered immense damage - all that remains is a strange ball of floating debris at the place where the giant portal once used to stand, held aloft by a glowing beam from his weird airship. Captain Worthington has yet to make a statement regarding the destruction of his tower.

From The City Times

The Upper pantheon district is no more - the pillar has collapsed causing a narrow path of destruction and the district itself is now sitting to the southwest of the City.

Shock today as Niobe Riette crumbled to dust in front of the assembled council members at a committee meeting. Witnesses say that she stopped mid-sentence, screamed and began to change, her face shifting grotesquely. As she staggered from the room her face revealed one more recognisable as the Devourer however it wasn't long before this form disintegrated into nothing. How long has Ms Riette been the Devourer? Where is the real Niobe? Is she dead? Is she alive somewhere? What did the Devourer do to her? Was Niobe every real at all? Speculation is rife but facts are thin.

From the Green Street Times

Rumors are many and varied as to what has happened to Niobe but it is known that she hasn't been seen for the past few days and currently there are no strong leads as to her whereabouts.

The popularity of Anathema's Maze continues to delight audiences with a thirst for the dangerous. Despite, or perhaps some would say even because of, the recent events of the city the bloodsports offered by Anathema Device are drawing in more crowds than even Samovar Thett's hero pits used to. With the inventive array of traps and puzzles, and the unique viewing perspective on those running the maze, Device has managed to keep the attention of the audience in a way that Samovar couldn't. Who knows how high Device will reach in his bid for dominance of the extreme sports field but we for one are keen to watch his ascent!

From the sports pages of the Green Street Times

The next generation of Engineers, trained at the new Jovic/Vogontia technical school were today faced with a new challenge as their founder, Roland Jovic, tasked them to detach their school from its foundations. A challenging project, the students took to it with gusto by all accounts and after two weeks of work their project was complete. Mr Jovic brought his new airship over the building and, lowering it carefully, lifted it clear off the ground and incorporated it into the enormous gondola. The exercise went off without a hitch - a testament to the skill of Jovic and his pupils.

From the pages of Factor - a publication of the Glorious Equation

“Think positive! That's the new message sweeping the city today. Sure, things have been bad in the past but things are getting better. You just need to look at the city to see it - rebuilding is going faster than ever before; law and order has for the first time in its history been formerly established in the city; its safer to walk the streets; jobs are being made for those who need them; The sun has returned and the stars can be seen and for the first time in centuries there is a proper day and a proper night; the boundaries of the world no longer hold us and we have a whole new world to explore; hope is on the horizon for perhaps even one day leaving this place! The citizens of the city have never been healthier - I mean you've noticed the tower's Dr. Howe has put up right? I've heard the closer you are to one of his facilities, the better you feel and the quicker you get better if you're ill! It's true, I swear. For the first time in a long while we are not the dustbin of civilisation, so why shouldn't we rejoice? Things are better than they've been for centuries and they're only getting better.”

Overheard in a tavern in the Contrite district, pronouncements like this can be heard across the city and there is a general wave of positive feeling amongst many

From the pages of a society pamphlet

Much alarm and consternation was caused this week as visionary entrepreneur and city councillor Sylvios Brant was violently assaulted by an unidentified gunman during an auction of artworks from the vaults of the city bank. As Brant was conducting the affair (designed to allow those with substantial currency reserves to obtain items of cultural worth, the assailant took a shot at him from the balcony. Further alarm was caused when a second assassin made a play for Dr. Raphael, who had emerged from the audience to attempt to treat Brant.

Messages of sympathy for both have been pouring in, and outrage growing among the city’s populace that two such civic minded individuals would find themselves the target of violent assault.

Explorers out into the new world report that, in contrast to the barren plains previously seen around the city, it is in fact a lush and verdant land. Although initially barren of plant life something has happened that has caused a massive explosion of plant growth that appears to have originated somewhere within the city. Experts are not clear what has caused this massive burst of growth however the plant life initially seen appears to be of species not observed before on other worlds and some experts have mooted that it might even be native to the newly revealed land. A number of a 'new race' have already taken up residence a few hours out of the city boundaries in this verdant land and reports suggest they are thriving. These settlers are thought to be relatively recently arrived to the City, each with six arms and most different to many of the other citizens of the place - however they appear to be under the protection of Aki, Akal, Lao Jin and others who have helped them settle in the new land. It can only be a matter of time before others follow suit.

From The City Times

The Red Cross have unveiled their latest project, the doors to a new hospital have been thrown open in the Renaissant district and have begun accepting patients after a month of solid work. Unlike its sister facility in the union district, this hospital rises high into the sky, a testament to the productivity of the workers who have toiled over it. The hospital shows the same degree of forethought as its Union counterpart with incoming patients already commenting on the efficient and good treatment received there. Many members of the Renaissant have contributed towards the building - its interior decor owing much to its artistic patrons. However the driving force for this building was the head of the Red Cross, Councillor Raphael, who has been pushing for its development and provided the funding for it as part of his ongoing efforts to ensure that everyone in the city has access to good, free, medical care.

Extract from The City Times

From the journal of a Red Cross worker:

“As I went this morning to our salvage centre in the Glittering Quarter, a terrible scent assailed my nostrils and I feared another mass grave had been unearthed. Nothing so mundane was the case, however; on turning the corner, I saw corpses in their scores, shambling around lifting up masonry and reassembling it at the behest of a skeletal figure in a robe. From my sources among the people, I'd say that the skeletal figure must have been the unearthed necromancer Lord Verte, but also present was the… medical entrepreneur Jim Williamson, dousing all the throng with his noxious Rotaway.

“All of us in the salvage camp are fearful of the horde; surely such dread magic can have no noble goal? Even so, we have found them a great aid in our reconstruction efforts, and they have shown fortitude and dedication far beyond that we could muster. So long as Verte and Williamson keep building rather than destroying, we will work with them, but I am puzzled and dismayed that the City has fallen to such a state that a horde of undead monsters can be an improvement.”

Posters put up around the City:

Denizens of the City!
Your homes are ripped apart by magic.
Your temples are crushed by Gods.
Your family are incinerated by Technology.
Your businesses are made bankrupt by the bankers of the Canopy.

The time has come to free yourself from the chains of this world.
Seek unity and home in the Purpose. We can teach you to channel the will of the Universe, and work together with the rest of the movement to make this world whole.

Visit the Circle District to see what we can achieve when we work together.

Mages from the Purpose have been engaging in large reconstruction efforts this fortnight, working together in strange arcane arrangements to mend buildings and remove the warping caused two weeks ago. The Circle district is now whole and free of destruction.

A strange set of symptoms seems to have swept the City during the past weeks affecting a wide range of individuals. The only linking factor in our patients seems to be the presence of chains across their bodies; anyone who previously was affected by the chains seems to have had a major coughing fit before throwing up what appears to be a mound of non-living flesh, followed by all their chains sloughing off them painlessly.

Doctors who have examined these people have found that the symptoms have all been found as side effects in those dosed with Jim Williamson's Chain-b-Gone. How this drug has been introduced into the systems of all these people is a mystery, and we worry that widespread exposure to this treatment could have effects across the City.

article in the medical times

The latest creation from the workshops of Miranda Hawkins is set to delight many as they hit shops this week. Her new range of 'mechanical plants' can be bought in a variety of sizes and come in their own pot from which they appear to 'grow' once activated. The pot contains all the mechanisms required to produce the final plant but the almost organic growth of the machines is a beauty to watch. The range contains a variety of styles and species and also has the option of light sensitivity to allow the plants to bloom either at night or during the day or to follow the sun as it makes its way across the sky. These plants require no watering and only the odd drop of oil now and then and are perfect for those who want to enjoy the beauty of nature (and these creations live up to the beauty of Ms Hawkins previous works) but do not feel they have the skills to look after an actual plant quite yet or who want to spare themselves the mess of dropped leaves and wilting blooms with these permanent and stunning displays.

A review from Factor - a publication of the Glorious Equation.

After a Council proclamation last week regarding a 'cordon' set about the City to prevent exit from the dimension, no further news has been released regarding this barrier to our escape! We the people demand that the truth be revealed and that the council reveal what news they have of the Cordon and what measures are being taken to ensure our safe exit once it is possible to do so!

From a pamphlet thought to be published by a faction within the Liberators.

From a pamphlet by the newly formed “Citizen's Alliance Against the Empire”

“As concerned citizens, we say hurrah for those making such a visible attempt to show the Empire that we won't be easily pushed around. The new battleships from the Dastolt shipyards give a strong showing of numerical force, and surely the craft recently launched by the college of transport is the most impressive such ship ever seen in our skies. Never before have our skies bristled with such quantities of aerial superiority, and we applaud Roland Jovic and Astraim Dastolt for really putting their backs into it when we're all up against a wall”.

• “I heard a rumor that something's up with the way people get hurt in the city. My mate Rosie said that she saw a man walking around with a fencepost lodged right through his stomach. Said he'd tripped and fallen on it, but rather than being a gonner like he'd expected, the wound closed right up around it, and he felt right as rain ten minutes later. Course he ran into problems when he next tried to sit in an armchair, let me tell you.”
• The purpose untwisted the world! I saw it! Walking down the street, all in a line and magic pouring from their hands and everywhere they went the ground unwarped under their feet, buildings untwisted and streets were set to right again. Where they tread, it's as if the damage had never happened.
• “I heard some of the council eat people!” “Me too! I'll be keeping an eye on Lo.” “What? It's clearly Brant who's the cannibal.”
• “Bloody explosions again. I was sure everyone in the contrite district was dead this time.
• “Who wants to live forever?”
• “It's true! I heard it with my own two ears! Madison really is a God!”
• “Can't you hear it? That rumbling all around? The city is going to collapse I'm sure!”
• “There are traitors in the city - even those you know and love could be agents working for the Triumvirate.”