ThePudding

Engines of Obsession: Chapter 10

Chapter 10: Pupprietress

The fading days of summer, coming so soon after a violent thunderstorm, had settled into a dry and dusty misery. Lord Byron had delivered on his promises, but having some new clothes and equipment for the just-purchased mule to haul didn't make the world more comfortable. Even the water tumbling into Turner's mouth from his waterskin somehow tasted dry and leathery.

"This town is bigger than I expected," Milo commented. He'd been more talkative the last da...

Engines of Obsession: Chapter 9

Chapter 9: What Was Left of Him

Finding the client wasn't that hard, once Turner tried. That surprised him, considering the client's obvious wealth. Not that finding the name -- one Lord Byron -- was difficult, but with minor nobility of this stature the challenge was in landing an appointment. Usually, if they were home at all, such aristocrats wouldn't deign to appear personally before the rabble.

That's him. Turner's the rabble.

Instead, the guard at the gate to the manor...

Engines of Obsession: Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Cautionary Tale

Saying "We'll leave tomorrow morning." with so much determination sounded really great, Turner reflected. Unfortunately, in practice it was a lot harder to get moving that early.

First, the salvage from the machine had to be sectioned off and divided up. Turner was surprised at how much there was, even if they ended up with less than half the total weight of it. That much bronze and brass was worth a lot of money, even if it were just melted down for scr...

Engines of Obsession: Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Mysterious Remnant

Turner was glad to see that Captain Tarnlow had survived. The soldier - like Turner himself - was covered in scrapes and bruises, but otherwise his only real injury was a bad sprain that kept his arm in a sling. Surprisingly, Grana Thess had been completely uninjured aside from a bump on her knee. Likely this was because she stayed well away from the battle, but this didn't stop her from complaining about it loudly.

The battle had been far more deadly...

Engines of Obsession: Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Battle in the Rain

At first, Turner wasn't certain what he was seeing. 

It looked - and even sounded - like some kind of steam-powered contraption, but he knew he'd heard it start up. That wasn't right. Who triggered the start? And why had it glowed beforehand? Did it have some kind of electrical component? Some hidden mechanism that activated when they drew close?

The questions raced through his mind as the bronze-plated machine rose on six spindly legs. Eve...

Engines of Obsession: Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Interlude - Before the Road Turned

Milo watched in silence as the Branton family trudged around the bend, leaving his sight.  The swaying tail of their donkey was the last he saw of them. The last he'd likely ever see of them.  "One more family gone. Too few left," he muttered to himself, breath fogging before him.

"Can you blame them?" Martin asked from Milo's side. Like Milo, the shorter sibling had his hands buried in the pockets of a rough, threadbare jack...

Engines of Obsession: Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Sage Warning

For a frontier town, Hodgeworth proved to have a surprisingly competent Town Watch. Turner and company had to stay and answer questions until nightfall, but no charges were pressed. The victim's wounds didn't match any of their weapons; they'd been in the market all day with witnesses to confirm it, and they still carried the wine and letter for delivery. Despite Turner's worries, they were released reasonably quickly.

The pub in Hodgeworth was large enough...

Engines of Obsession: Chapter 2

Chapter 2: The Quiet Before

Despite planning on a quick departure, it was almost noon before Turner and the others were on the road. It had taken well over an hour to get supplies together, double check them, and plan the route. The pickup of the delivery itself didn't take much time, but confirmed some of Turner's suspicions. The client had sent their butler to hand over the package, and it had been all too near to the upper end of town. The butler alone very likely made more money in ...

Engines of Obsession: Chapter 3

Chapter 3: The Beard That Burned

Nobody was in a hurry to talk after the discovery. Each had their own thoughts and theories, but none of them were clear enough to speak. Most of them had implications that were unsettling, at best. A few questions passed amongst the four, clarifications and the like, but no conjectures. Turner had his own thoughts, so he was fine with this. Once in a while, Martin or Milo looked backward, pondering the scene they had left behind. Neither spoke aloud, bu...

Engines of Obsession: Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Delivery Work

16 years later...

Sunlight shone through threadbare curtains, making soft, dusty stripes on the floor. The morning light wasn't bright, but it was still surprising. Turner usually woke up well before dawn, but now he found himself blinking and rubbing his eyes. His thoughts were still foggy, his joints aching, in spite of the rare, full night’s sleep. More than that, he hadn't dreamed about that day in a long while.

The bed wasn’...

Engines of Obsession: Prologue

Prologue: Laughter in the Dark

The boy never forgot the sound of laughter in the dark.

He didn't know what was happening. The young boy was just... confused. Too much going on, all outside and all so LOUD!  At first he'd thought it was a fire, with the sound of running feet and the voices all panicked, but no. He'd seen fire before, when the Paddleton's house burned down. The smoke had drifted far enough that even in his own home, he could smell it, and this was different. 2025-08-03 20:20:02 +0000 UTC View Post

The First Step

Hello everyone, and welcome to my Patreon!

My plans for this are to support my web serial writing, but I may expand it into other things, if it’s successful! Right now, the only serial it’s supporting is Engines of Obsession, a dark steampunk mystery fantasy.

The planned idea for this is to have advance chapters that subscribers can read ahead of time.

For those who have found this, what other content would you like to see here?