The Ballad of Adler Young, Canto 2.5

Duchess, do have an extra automaton. But be a very maintenance intensive model, with many of it's functions not functional due to overuse and a complete lack of any recent maintenance. In fact, be barely functional in it's current state. Do not be subject to the ban, since it's made to resemble some sort of a gryphon.
Duchess > Bring out a very old automata, Crude but functional

"Sure thang, sugar," the Duchess said, snapping her fingers. An Ixie flew up, and Catherine turned to instruct it: "Fly double quick and tell Bodb an' Matholwch to fetch Griff from the P.I. plant."

"Why do you use those treacherous little monsters as messengers?" Alice gekkered as the Ixie flew away.

"Well shucks, missy, they's family," the Duchess said, blinking. "Oh wait, you mean them Ixies? Well, they's quick and reliable, so long as you pay 'em good and don't rely on 'em for anythang super important."

"They are evil," the vixen growled. "Not merely Unseelie, but actually evil."

The soldiers decide to find the perpetrator themselves, which involves aimlessly accusing each other of being spies.

Meanwhile my so-called "army" was growing restless.

"Who sicced the Ixies on the Scutis?" one of them asked another. "Was it you?"

"Fuma's Rump, no! I didn't even know Scutis were real until just now!"

"I've never seen an Ixie before today!"

"What's next? Dragons?" another one piped up.

"Just admit that you ordered the Ixies to attack!"

"Since when have I been able to command Ixies?"

"I don't know! But you're probably in cahoots with them!"

"Obviously the Duchess of Daisies has them at her beck and call."

"Wait a minute!! That's THE Duchess of Daisies? I can't serve a militia with the Fuma-damned Duchess of Daisies at the head of it!"

"No way! It can't be her. The Duchess is a hideous monster. That mephitess is way too hot to ever flay our flesh from our bones and make gumbo out of it and feed it to our next of kin."

"Well who else would be Unseelie enough to command Ixies to blow up a wagon full of Scuti?"

"Scuti are monsters too, you moron. I don't think it's Unseelie to blow them up."

"How do we know you're not being controlled by a Scuti right now? They could be ANY of us!"

>Someone/everyone accuse Adler
Also notice the verbal slip. Could Scuti Preston really be Scuti Prime, the severed tail of Irenaeus himself?
if Scuti Preston is Irenaeus's tail, and that his tail had not been disproportionately small, he could not possibly have been much taller than Burnside!
>Offer the scutis protection, and Burnside's backside.

I tuned out the Volunteer Army's moronic squabbling and stared thoughtfully at the white Scuti in Alice's arms. Her slight verbal slip had not eluded my attention. Could this creature in fact be Scuti Prime, the severed tail of Mighty Irenaeus himself? If so, he was significantly smaller than I had expected.

"Are you going to stare or are you going to do something?" Alice asked sullenly. "Come to think of it, I recall that you seemed to have a strange rapport with Ixies in the past..."

"I did not order them to attack you," I stated emphatically. "And I cannot at the moment think of a reason why anybody here would. Elves do not lie."

"Well unless they decided to do it on their own .. which is unlikely .. somebody ordered them to do it."

"I am just as surprised as you are," I reiterated. "Consider yourself under my protection. Whoever did this will have a lot to answer for. In the meatime, could I offer Scuti Preston the use of the Antglade attache? She's just about the right size for him, and frankly I'd be glad of the attitude adjustment."

"Scuti Preston has already had to ride too long on an unworthy rump," Alice sniffed. "Thank you for your dubious offer, but we will wait for the Duchess's automaton."

Adler, think. Just how much are Scutis subjected to Thorwald's edict? Could Alice be lying about the ixie ambush?
Or, could the ambush have been real, but Alice mistaken about the deaths?
Could it really be a kidnapping instead?

"I'm not sure about any of this," I thought at Ms. Thomson with Elfmind. "It's unlike the Ominous Orse Ixies to resort to violence - such extreme violence, anyway."

"They are not bound by Thorwald's Edict, and cannot be trusted," Thomson replied. "Nor can Scutis, for that matter. It might be prudent to examine the scene of the catastrophe, just to confirm the vixen's story."

"I'm going to go look at the explosion site," I explained loudly for anyone who might care. "To see if I can see some clues."



We picked our way through a tangle of charred and broken trees to the small clearing where the wagon had once stood. There was one wheel and part of an axle on the ground, lots of broken crockery, a mangled camp stove, and some chairs. The battered carcasses of two ants lay among the splintered remains of the front axle and the hitch. The rat convict was strewn around in chunks just large enough to identify, and Mara Supial's body was lying in a horrible tangle several feet away, with a singed and lacerated white Scuti dangling from a nearby bush.

"Fuma's Mercy!" I choked, trying not to vomit.

"It seems the creature was telling the truth about the fatalities," Thomson observed. "You had best get used to the sight of death, Highness. There will undoubtedly be much more before all of this is over."

"You didn't order this, did you?" I asked her. "Does the Sisterhood want the Scutis eliminated?"

"Now why would we want that?" Thomson asked coolly.

"I don't see any Ixie bodies," I muttered, glancing over the scene again.

"They are so small, if they were caught in the blast they were probably pulverized beyond recognition. Come now; there's nothing more we can do here, and you have an army to take command of."

Salmonella and her child, come to the edge of the swamp to witness this historic event. Child, be told a lot about Adler by your father. Be very excited to see such a grand individual.
Then actually get to see him. Disappointment, result.
Duchess's son-nephews, return with the war-chest. Gear inside, appear to be child sized, too small for Adler to wear comfortably.
Duchess, tell Adler a shocking fact about his magnificent ancestor

When we returned to the Station, Duchess Catherine was digging inside another chest. Several pieces of ancient-looking armor lay on the ground next to her.

"Is that -" I started to ask.

"Some of Irenaeus's battle gear, yep," the Duchess answered without looking up. "But that ain't what I was lookin' for, and don't you mess with it neither. It ain't fittin' for you to wear."

"I am an heir of Irenaeus," I insisted, picking up the helmet and placing it on my head.



"Take that off, boy. You look ridiculous," the Duchess snorted impatiently. "I done told you it weren't fittin' and elves don't lie, so what in the Netherhells are you thinkin?"

"Why is it so small?" I asked, crestfallen. "Is this the Juvenile Training Armor of Irenaeus?"

"No, silly. Elves in the Long Ago just weren't as big," Catherine explained. "I reckon, prob'ly like Burnside, they didn't eat right growin' up. Now where in tarnation is that thang? I coulda sworn it was right on top, last time I seen it."

"I ain't as impressed as I oughta be," a small voice quipped behind me.