The Dark Of The Cadre's Bombs

[*S.I.G.I.S.]

It's been nearly four days since the Harmonium recovered that device from out in front of the City Courts. That's more than enough time for them to have figured something out about the cursed thing, even if it's only how to set it off. But still the Hardheads ain't giving any chant. So, in the interest of preventing any premature conclusions, I am forced to share part of the dark they're holding back.

How do I know anything about the device? Well, I'm the cutter the Harmonium talked to shortly after they recovered the device. Specifically, they wanted to know what the case was made of and where it came from. Why me? I'm something of an expert on metals. Any dwarf worth his ore can tell one grade of steel from the next, but I've spent a few decades in the Dwarven Mountain learning from the best of the petitioners there. However, the piece of the device the Hardheads brought me has got me stumped. And for 'security reasons', they wouldn't let me take it to my friends in the Mountain.

Even though I've only seen a small part of the shell of the device, that was enough of a look to let me know what that bomb is NOT. It's most definitely not normal, that's for starters. The easiest way to make a device that could do what was done at the Courts would be to surround a timed release fireball with a shell of spikes. It's a simple matter to loosely connect the spikes in such a manner that they are thrown outward along with the fire, shreddin' the target just before it gets burned. However, given the number of blasts, and the close coordination in timing, it seems unlikely to me that a single spellslinger, or even a team of 'em, could coordinate their spells so closely - especially given the trouble it would take to get 'em in place. And even if the wizards were skilled enough, such capable arch-mages surely have better things to do with their time and power than to kill people unfairly from some hidey hole.

I suppose it might be possible that a fire elemental could have been contained within such a shell as I mention. This would allow for both a long delay prior to the release of the fire, as well as a bit of intelligence as to the timing of multiple blasts. But the fact that the Harmonium was able to recover one of the devices leads me to believe that this more elegant option was not used; either that or else the elemental within the bomb was quite stupid. Personally, the recovery is only one reason why I do think these bombs were not anything conventional. The metal fragment I was shown leads me to other, more unusual conclusions.

See, the piece of metal I was given wasn't really metal - at least, not completely. The outside surface certainly resembled highly refined iron - same colour, feel, taste, and the like. But the interior was naturally warm and rubbery. While the colour of iron was there, the other properties were not. And even though the sample was quite thin, the interior contained a number of voids and fissures - far more than there should be in pure metal. Overall, the whole gave me the impression of bein' a bit of skin rather than a sliver of steel. There's only one race that I know of that has metallic skin - the Modrons.

But how does a piece of Modron flesh come to be a sample of a bomb? The possibilities do not give me reassurance. The first idea that came to mind is that the bombs themselves are somehow Modrons. Unless Primus has suddenly changed his game plan, these objects would have to most certainly be Rogue units.

The Guvners have catalogued the existence of every single type of modron in existence, so I doubt very much that that the bomb is a previously unknown variety of modron. But if the objects are not suicidal rogues, how did the device come to use modron flesh as its case?

A more disturbing thought is that the Cadre controlled a Modron that was not only insane by modron standards, but by humanoid ones as well. Could this rogue somehow be capturing the base modrons of its former kind and transforming 'em into deadly devices? Or is it merely acting as some barmy necromancer, using the dead bodies of its fellows as shells for the incendiary devices?

But, the multiverse is a vast place and the darks it holds are infinite. Surely it is not impossible to think that there is another race with the same mechanical flesh as the Modrons? After all, the bladelings of Acheron can be taken as proof of the possibility. The trials they have faced in Life have reforged 'em into their present form: flesh and bone which grows daggers as easily as others grow hair.

The Rule of Threes would hint that a third race of some form must live somewhere out there - maybe in the vastness of the Hinterlands. Just hear me out before you call me barmy for believing in living, explosive, metal creatures. It could be that this race has tumbled to the Truth of the multiverse much as we Godsman have. This race knows that their present existence is merely a test, a chance to prove themselves and move on to a higher state, forging closer to the Source of All.

Where we are forced to live out our years, independent of when - if ever - we reach our full potential in this life, this proposed race of mine has no such limitation. Instead, this race continues to live until they have reached their potential. Then, instead of hanging around to muck up perfection, they reforge themselves into a new form and continue their Ascension. The heat and shrapnel are merely unintentional byproducts. Granted, it seems very much past Hercules' Pillar to think that the Cadre could have timed the Ascension of such creatures to fit their needs. Maybe some form of magical compulsion was to forced them to reforge before they were ready, or else to hold off on the reforging until a certain time. Either way, I'm sure that if such creatures exist, they are being duped by the Anarchists.

However, even I was forced to admit that my previous two guesses could be so much barkle. There is a third, and much more plausible, possibility. Unfortunately, while this idea is the most likely, it also has the most disturbing implications. I have heard rumours of a new weapon seeing use in the Blood War - objects of great destructive power used by the fiendish armies to clear away the opposition's cannon fodder, allowing more immediate access to the true combat forces. But these devices are usually acid-based, as most of the fiends are immune to fire in fashion or another.

Regardless of the effects, these rumours and the bombs seen in the Courts sound remarkably alike - far too alike to dismiss the idea out of hand. If these bombs are indeed modified Blood War weapons, the Cadre could be more dangerous than a mere heavily armed group of Anarchists. This could indicate that one side or the other of the War is about to come to Sigil, and the notes sent to the Harmonium are so much smoke designed to distract Sigil's protectors until it is too late. Even if the Cadre are not fiends, they could be backed or manipulated by 'em. Either of these options still make for grave consequences should they prove true.

However, the Blood War does not seem to provide an adequate explanation for the organic nature of the metal I was given. Unless, of course, that the shell of the device was an evil petitioner. I have heard rumours that the fiends often use the souls of the dead that have not yet reforged themselves as raw material for weapons and other material objects, rather than waiting for them to become new members of their races. It could be that the shell of the bomb was such an unfortunate sod. I know that this is possible, for I personally (on an ill-considered trip into Avernus of Baator) have seen a vast road whose cobblestones were brick-like petitioners.

Overall, I ain't got any answers, only insights and guesses. Unless the Hardheads let me look at the original device, I can't say what's right. All I do know is that the device had no ordinary origins and, at some point in its existence, it was alive.


Callamez
Smith of Clan Domage
Godsmen