An open letter...

[Ashiko Kuroe]

My dear Steelhead,

I wish this correspondence was under a better circumstance, your town and people have been most generous and hospitable to my weary form as I enjoyed a respite. Sadly, as I was conversing with an associate of mine I had invited for tea in one of your lovely houses, the ferocious Babbage dogs abducted me along with their drunken pirate minions of the Armadan Scoundrel Fleet... I sit here now locked in a room at the Babbage hospital, drifting in and out of fever and consciousness, my leg a bloodied bandaged stump, had it not been for the valiant and merciful actions of the staff here, I have little doubt that I would no longer be among us today. My leg is gone, sawed off by Tenk, I can only fear with the feral smile he wore as he left me bloodied and screaming in the Babbage jail what he intends to do with it.

People of Steelhead, I beg of you, I plead with you, will you allow such visitors to be abducted and amputated against their will by foreign nations!? How long until the jack boots of Babbage decend upon your lovely cobblestone streets and dictate their laws unto you, harvesting your friend's and family's limbs on the whim of their maliciously mad mayor? Good people, I am at your mercy, you are at your own mercy, shall you abandon my helpless frail body to the wolves of Babbage, who will in turn leave the vultures Armada to pick my bones, their jowls smacking at the taste eying your shores hungrily. Or shall you stand up against this injustice and deliver me from certain peril! Dear Steelhead I pray you see mercy and kindness in your hearts and steel yourselves for what is to come. I pray that the beauty of your city shall be forever protected from such vile interlopers, and that you shall deliver me from this and vow with vigilance: Never again!

I pray this gets to you kind gentle folk as quick as it can, away from such prying eyes and snatching claws, may we forever stand against such tyranny and injustice united together,

-A Kuroe

[LoPixie Artful]

the urchin revolution shall bring kindness and cake to the masses, rather!

we shall rule as one in solidarity... urchins, scamps and honorary scamps alike... perhaps brownies too, particularly of the cake variety... and no harm shall come to anyone! and there shall certainly be no maiming, nor removal of limbs.

whom shall join us?..

[Gabriell Anatra]

I must admit to finding this concept alien to my experience. An entire race to whom politics, for instance, is a profession punishable by death? I am no fan of the profession, but that's more than a little difficult to comprehend.

Moreover, why is her or the Fae's opinions regarding the value of life vs. the value of honesty relevant? Surely it's the law of Steelhead and New Babbage that is relevant here. No nation that allows it's citizens to effectively write their own laws will remain valid for long.

[Zaida Marie Thibideaux Gearbox]

I never known Mamma Mara to be anyting but kind and helpful. She is only a threat to them what threaten her and us scamps. I been readin' a little bit about de fae, an' dey don't follow de same law we do when dey deal wid eachother. If'n being a liar is worse dan being a killer to de fae den it might not just be Mamma Mara who feel it dere duty to kill Mr. Tenk.

Imma very upset about Mr. Tenk did to Mr. Ashiko, but Ah still don't want Mamma Mara to kill him. Him not de good person I thought him was, but Ah still cares about him because him remind me of mah friend Mr. Brownie.

[Gabriell Anatra]

It's interesting the way these things can bring out the best and the worst in people. It's also a little frightening that, in comparison to Mara's constant howls for blood, Mr. Underby is actually starting to sound relatively reasonable.

[Mara Razor]

I am Fae-kind, Mr. Beck. I do not lie. Tenk is an oath breaker and according to the laws of the fae, that is worse than a kin-killer. It is my duty to kill him.

[LoPixie Artful]

i do hope the coming urchin revolution may see an end to such awfulness, rather

[Fuzzball Ortega]

I was going over the reports of the damaged property he's accused of being responsible for over in Babbage. If they get upset over minor stuff like this, I'd HATE to see what they'd do if they were faced with a Tensai Type Destruction.

Also, it seems that there's a nice little lynch mob in Babbage after all this. I'm the one who turns into a wolf, and it scares me on how savage those who are fully human can be. Not scared for myself, but scared for them and what they could do to themselves and each other.

[Mara Razor]

Good question, Zaida! *Sharpens her boning knife*

[Zaida Marie Thibideaux Gearbox]

If'n it okay for Mr. Tenk to take Mr. Ashiko's foot does dat mean it would be okay for Mamma Mara to take Mr. Tenk's spine?

[Malegatto Alter]

You probably need to come to tea, if anything for pointers such as "How to Not Get Caught!" As for the "bitter almonds", pfft...that is for amateurs.