Booker DeWitt

Drawing Dead

July the 6th, 1912

Location: The Graveyard Shift

"Bring us the girl and wipe away the debt." As plans go, I'd seen worse -- except this girl was already gone. Monument Island's a damn ghost town. Seems like they evacuated her when they heard I was here. An old friend told me Comstock spirited her off to that fortress of his. As a one-man job, this just went from bettin' on the river to ... drawing dead.

All Debts Paid

July the 7th, 1912

Location: The Great Chen-Lin, Gunsmith and Machinist

Looks like I got a friend in town after all ... Slate. He's fell in with these "Vox Populi." And for irregulars, I will say -- they are loaded for bear. Problem is, I got to help them with their damn revolution first ... then we take Comstock House by storm. I do that, I get the girl.

Apology

July the 14th, 1912

Location: Office of Jeremiah Fink

[Coughs] Fitzroy ... you win this fool war, you send this to New York. [Bloody Coughs] They ain't gettin' the girl. Whoever they are -- [Winces] Maybe I did right by you and the Vox, but in the end ... that don't square anything. Anna ... Anna ... I'm sorry ...

Byron Costwold

Otis' Nimble Fingers

June the 23rd, 1912

Location: Lansdowne Residence

Otis works up at the lodge part-time. He took this box from one of their secret ceremonies, and I know for sure there is something dear inside. Problem is, Otis is more fool than not. He didn't bother to also secure a key from the feathered brothers to open the damn thing.

Capt. Cornelius Slate

Never Seen The Face

May the 30th, 1912

Location: Soldier's Field

I served two-score years of soldiering. And every heathen land I've known is less peopled for my passing. I hated no special enemy. Until now. Comstock. He's made a vaudeville travesty of my battles, and cast himself as the white knight. I called him out over it, and he stripped me of my rank. That man has never seen the savage face of war -- but he will.

Seed Of A Lie

June the 17th, 1912

Location: Worker Induction Center

I hold in my hand the private journal of Comstock's wife. It puts the lie to this "Miracle Child" nonsense. She loved the child not. It seems the sainted lady would have preferred to let the "seed of the Prophet" just ... dry out on the bedsheets ...

A Final Stand

July the 6th, 1912

Location: Hall of Heroes Plaza

Veterans! You shed your hearts' blood for Columbia; lost limb and viscera in the godless Orient! Comstock did nothing! And yet -- look up! Whose image squats above you, even now? At every angle, an insult! If the Prophet would make a painted whore of our past, what fresh rape does our future hold? Let us now make our stand, and fill yonder hall with true heroes!

Comrades of Necessity

July the 6th, 1912

Location: Hall of Heroes

They'll call us assassins, when our work is done. "Cornelius Slate, the swift left hook of the Vox Populi." Hm. We'll be trading Comstock's lie for a new one. So be it. The Fitzroy woman and I are comrades of necessity. I doubt all the men who reddened Caesar's toga would still be seen breaking bread together in peacetime. With Comstock gone, my men's past deeds will be sacred -- and they will claim the spoils due them. I need not live to see it.

A Soldier's Death

July the 6th, 1912

Location: The Courtyard

My men and I are doomed, doomed as noble Custer was at Little Big Horn. But we shall not yield to Comstock and his tin soldiers. But my scout has seen him -- Booker DeWitt is coming here, to the hall! DeWitt ... We called him the "White Injun of Wounded Knee," for all the grisly trophies he claimed. A man such as he ... might just grant us the peace we seek.

Constance Field

Pen Pal

July the 20th, 1902

Location: Z.H. Comstock Victory Square

This is for the Miracle Child. Hello! I'm sorry your mother, Lady Comstock, is dead. (I think she is altogether better than mine.) Since you live there, can you tell me why the tower has been closed? People say it's poor weather, then the pox, then a haunting. If it's a secret, I promise not to tell a soul. -- Your pen friend, Constance

For I Am Lonely, Too

August the 1st, 1902

Location: Path of the Scroll

Madame Lutece - I have read all your books on the sciences. Mama says, "it's not a fit occupation for a lady." but I think she's jealous of our cleverness. Is it true that only you are allowed to visit the girl in the tower? If the Lamb is lonely too, I should like to meet her, as we would have much in common -- Warmest regards, Constance

Daisy Fitzroy

Heaven

February the 12th, 1912

Location: The Arcade

When I first seen Columbia, that sky was the brightest, bluest sky that ever was. Seemed like ... heaven. Then your eyes adjusted to the light, and you saw that sea a' white faces lookin' hard back at you ...

A Place In The World

February the 12th, 1912

Location: Soldier's Field Greeting Pavilion

Days at Comstock House was simple. Hard work, sure -- but simple. Wringin' the linens, scrubbin' the floors ... Lady Comstock, she even had a kind word, now and then. Almost enough to make me think I had a place in their world. God made foolish girls so he could have something to play with.

The Invisible Color

February the 12th, 1912

Location: Plaza of Zeal

One day, ain't nobody notice me. Then they think I done for Lady Comstock, and, well -- everybody noticed me. I head to Finkton, and I hide. I hide deep. The more they look, deeper I go. Only thing a colored child can count on is the fact they invisible.

Fanning A Flame

February the 12th, 1912

Location: The Graveyard Shift

When you forced deep underground, well -- you see things from the bottom up. And down at the bottom of the city, I saw a fire burning. A fire's got heat aplenty, but it ain't got no mouth. Daisy ... now, she got herself a mouth big enough for all the fires in Columbia.

Terminated

February the 12th, 1912

Location: The Bull House

They argued somethin' fierce at night -- Lady Comstock and the Prophet. Could never make out what it was about from my bunk, though. After the worst, I seen she ain't left for morning prayer ... so I crept upstairs to check in on her. And like a fool ... I lingered. "Scullery maid" was what they called me when I walked into Comstock House. "Murderer" was what they shouted when I ran out.

Their Sun Is Setting

May the 1st, 1912

Location: Soldier's Field

The one thing people need to learn is that fear is the antidote to fear. I don't want to be a part of their world. I don't want to be a part of their culture, their politics, their people. The sun is setting on their world, and soon enough, all they gon' see ... is the dark.

We've Need Of A Shepherd

July the 6th, 1912

Location: The Great Chen-Lin, Gunsmith and Machinist

I have a pressing need to speak to this so-called "False Shepherd" stirring up so much trouble. We got enough problems without this damn fool shooting up the city and blamin' it all on the Vox. Though, if he's amiable ... yeah ... yeah, he might be just the fella we need for our ... immediate concerns.

Kindling

July the 13th, 1912

Location: The Impound

You ever see a forest at the beginning of a fire? Before the first flame, you see them possums and squirrels, running through the trees. They know what's coming. But the fat bears with their bellies full a' honey, well -- you can't hardly wake them up from their comfortable hibernation. We're going to Emporia. And then, we gon' see what it takes to rouse them from their slumber.

Dr. Harrison Powell

Pavlov's Bell

December the 23rd, 1912

Location: The Operating Theater

The procedure should help immensely with the ... issues we've had with the girl. Once the device is implanted, any effort on her part to ... alter the state of things will emit a most painful electric shock. Pavlov made a dog salivate. We'll make this one weep.

Ed Gaines

Half A Jew

March the 1st, 1912

Location: The Blue Ribbon Restaurant

Father Comstock called on me today to write his biograph. Me! The man pays for exactly 100 pages, in advance. Now, I'm half a Jew when I smell silver, so I say: "Father, your flock would pay for a thousand, you know. Why settle for less?" And then, the Prophet looks to me and says, "One hundred will suffice, as I know how it ends."

Born In The River

March the 6th, 1912

Location: Battleship Bay

The Prophet may know how his own biography's going to end, but ... I can scarcely fathom how I'm going to start it. I mean, other than the kid's stuff you get at the Hall of Heroes, anything prior to his baptism was -- and here I quote, hang on -- "left on the riverside." They'll call me a plagiarist, but I'm gonna spend the first 30 pages regurgitating Scripture.

Elizabeth

A Leash

Location: Her Loving Embrace

I suppose the Siphon is a kind of leash. Yes, my father put it on me, but when the time came, neither did I remove it myself. What would happen if I took off the leash, and I found I was ... as obedient as ever?

The Value Of Choice

Location: Where We Weep

Our minds are born festering with sin. Some are so blighted, they will never find redemption. The mind must be pulled up from the roots. My children are without blame, without fault -- and without choice. For what is the value of will when the spirit is found wanting?

Debts

Location: Where We Work

"Bring us the girl and wipe away the debt." But in the end, he is the one who'll have to pay down all of our accounts, won't he? Where does his gult start ... and mine end?

A Last Chance

Location: Warden's Office

As the days pass, I believe less in God and more in Lutece. My powers shrivel as my regrets blossom. All of this because my father failed me. By the time I realized how far I'd gone, it was too late to stop it. But there is still one last chance at redemption -- for both of us.

Smothered In The Crib

Location: Warden's Office

What I've done cannot be undone. I cannot stop what I have put in motion. But perhaps I can keep it from ever starting. He was my first hope, and now ... he is my last.

Ending It

Location: The Atrium

Tomorrow, the leash comes off -- because all of this ... has to end. But even if I destroy the Siphon, will I be strong enough to see all the doors, and open whichever I choose? And if I bring him here, who is to say that he would be any match for the monsters I have created?

Esther Mailer

Take Her Alive

July the 6th, 1912

Location: Park Ticketing

This is the moment we trained for. The False Shepherd is here. The day was not exact, but ... the Prophet's sight proves out again. The specimen must be taken alive. If she dies, I suspect they will give us to the bird. And whatever pieces it leaves behind will bear no names ... That was cigarette number six. This waiting is insufferable.

First Zealot

Symbols Of Our Lady

January the 6th, 1912

Location: The Fraternal Order of the Ravens

Sweet mother of Columbia, why do we worship three symbols in your memory? We worship the sword, so that we might avenge you. We worship the raven, so that we might cover the city with eyes. We worship the coffin, because it symbolizes the weight of our failure.

Hattie Gerst

God's Blueprint

April the 19th, 1908

Location: Beggar's Wharf

Samuel always thought that the pew on Sunday went hand in hand with the desk on Monday. "Science is the slow revelation of God's blueprint." After two years in the Lamb's tower on Monument Island, he took ill with cancer of the stomach. I prayed to the Prophet, and the Prophet delivered unto us a miracle through his servant, Fink. I do not know if I will ever get used to a husband bound in a skeleton of metal, but ... better a Handyman than a dead one.

That Eternal Shore

July the 25th, 1908

Location: Shantytown

Samuel, when the spells of anger come, I want you to play this recording and remember that I am the proudest woman in Columbia, to have been your wife. They said your soul was choked by the fumes in that metal box, but this I do not believe. And we shall meet again, on that eternal shore -- both of us whole and smiling. I love you. I love you. I love you.

Jeremiah Fink

A Product Like Any Other

March the 27th, 1893

Location: Worker Induction Center

The truth is, I don't have a lot of time for all that prophecy nonsense. I tell you, belief is ... is just a commodity. And old Comstock, well, he does produce. But, like any tradesman, he's obliged to barter his product for the earthly ores. You see, one does not raise a barn on song alone. No sir! Why, that's Fink timber, a Fink hammer, and Fink's hand to swing it. He needs me -- lest he soil his own.

Solution To Your Problem

September the 16th, 1893

Location: Raffle Square

I told you, Comstock -- you sell 'em paradise, and the customers expect cherubs for every chore! No menials in God's kingdom! Well, I've a man in Georgia who'll lease us as many Negro convicts as you can board! Why, you can say they're simple souls, in penance for rising above their station. Whatever eases your conscience, I suppose.

Changing My Tune

August the 12th, 1894

Location: The Good Time Club

I had thought you a fool, dear brother. When you told me that you heard wonderful music trumpeting from holes in the thin air, I began to doubt your mental integrity. But not only have you made your fortune from these doodads, you have lit the path for me as well.

Out Of The Thin Air

November the 14th, 1894

Location: Market District

My dear brother, these holes in the thin air continue to pay dividends. I know not which musician you borrow your notes from, but if he has half the genius of the biologist I now observe, well ... then you are to be the Mozart of Columbia.

A Child Needs A Protector

October the 4th, 1895

Location: Office of Jeremiah Fink

These holes have shown me yet another wonder, though I've yet to see the application for it. They illuminate a merger of machine and man that is somehow the lesser, yet the greater, of both parties. The process seems to be irreversible. Perhaps, though, Comstock will have some need of this kind of thing to keep watch in that tower he is building.

Lady Comstock

Love The Sinner

April the 1st, 1893

Location: Welcome Center

Love the Prophet, because he loves the sinner. Love the sinner, because he is you. Without the sinner, what need is there for a redeemer? Without sin, what grace has forgiveness?

Unconditional

April the 1st, 1893

Location: The Murder of Our Lady

To those who loved me, I was the most ... generous of souls: there was no pain I would deny them, no betrayal I would not gladly give. And when I had scorched the hearts of all who loved me, the Prophet said, "There is nothing you can do for which I will not forgive you. For God has granted me sight, and through his eyes even you are loved."

Beyond Redemption

December the 28th, 1894

Location: Harmony Lane

Tonight, the Prophet moved against his political enemies. He preaches mercy, but 40 souls lie tonight dead, in unmarked graves. If a man was ever unworthy of grace, it would be my husband. But when I was beyond redemption, he offered it anyway. How can I deny forgiveness to one who, with love, granted it to me?

The Imagination Of God

January the 4th, 1895

Location: Financial District

I know the Prophet is a liar, but he cannot be. I know the Prophet is a murderer, but he cannot be. For if the future lies only in the imagination of God, why would he reveal it to such a ... monster?

No Longer

January the 5th, 1895

Location: The Vault

Lutece says the bastard is a creation not of her womb, but of some unholy science. I do not know which is true. The child is no more divine than I. What says that for my husband's prophecy? He begs my silence, but I can only offer him forgiveness. But with repentance need come truth. I can suffer his lies no longer.

Lance Cpl. Vivian Monroe

A True Soldier

April the 10th, 1911

Location: Patriot's Pavilion

God makes all kinds of soldiers, but he only made one Cornelius Slate. My father followed him up San Juan Hill, through the legations in Peking, and -- as he put it -- "through hell, the order was given." At today's muster, Slate asked me if I was Sergeant Monroe's daughter. I said, "Yes, sir, I am." Slate said, "Your father always wanted a son. I hope the fool has wisdom enough to recognize his good fortune."

Shame Of My Service

July the 7th, 1912

Location: Fort Franklin

They called Slate a monster and a traitor. I know the men who died in the Hall of Heroes with Captain Slate. There is no shame to be counted in their number. The shame lies to we who assembled outside the hall. Though we were not the ones who fell, I feel only envy for those who perished under his banner.

A Truer Allegiance

July the 7th, 1912

Location: Plaza of Zeal

I came to Columbia because I believed in God and because I believed in honor. But Slate has shown me this: there is no God in shutting our brothers out from the family of man; and there is no honor in defending those who are strangers to its meaning. Perhaps in Finkton there is one more deserving of my service ...

Preston E. Downs

A New Hunt

June the 29th, 1912

Location: Comstock Center Rooftops

Comstock came by the wagon at dawn. Man was just ... he just transfixed by my trophy scalps. Asked about the white ones, there. I said, "Well, sir -- if your quarry dwells in the jungle, and beds down with the local color, why split hairs?" [Laughs] Not a chuckle out of him. Either he ain't seen a man go native, or maybe ... maybe too many. Anyhow, now he's got me huntin' down this "Daisy Fitzroy." Hope he doesn't expect me to stuff and mount her.

Calling You Out

July the 5th, 1912

Location: Soldier's Field

Ol' Preston is a sportin' man, Miss Fitzroy. I won't steal up on ya while you slumber like these Vox boys here, with their pigstickers ... [Pleading] [Gunshot] That's ... one scalp to me. [Screaming] [Gunshot] That's two. Now, when you hear this, I want you to square your affairs, and come die in the sight of the poets. You'll need a white man's weapon -- give this a try.

Trapped

July the 5th, 1912

Location: The Bull Yard

Well, Fitzroy -- you ... you got a little cunning in ya, if nothing else. Dropped a couple grizzly traps 'round the lines up here. Idea was to ... to bleed one of your couriers till he gave you up. 'Cept, of course, you're using kids now. Now I got this ... tiny Injun boy, eyeballing me. Had to take his leg off. Damn thing's just lying here between us. I sure wish he'd cry or something.

Coming For Comstock

July the 7th, 1912

Location: Port Prosperity

Mr. Comstock, when we next meet, it won't be to parley. See, I went out to that Hall a' Heroes to scalp your "False Shepherd" for you. Turns out, though -- DeWitt speaks Sioux. He helped me to swap words with this crippled child I've been, uh ... looking after. Now, after hearing how the kid has fared in your city -- I'm thinking, when we take your pelt, I'll let him hold the knife.

Pvt. Wilbur Sykes

That Goddamn Key

July the 5th, 1912

Location: The Bull House

There's the job, and there's life. They pay me to hate the goddamn Vox, and I take their money, but ... what's the harm in having a drink with Fitzroy's people? Face to face at the Graveyard Shift, why, they're ... they're just folk. Hell, I guess I fell into the goddamn bottle, because I stumbled back without the evidence locker key. If Schmidt finds out ... well, there'll be hell to pay.

Ronald Frank

Sally

July the 16th, 1912

Location: Founder's Books

Sally! The bastard snuck in while the Vox was shootin' up the place and took my girl! Got her locked up in the Salty Oyster -- his hidden closer he keeps all his "treasures." Just need to hit the button under the register to open it, but ...

Rosalind Lutece

Viewing The Infinite

August the 10th, 1890

Location: Soldier's Field

When I was a girl, I dreamt of standing in a room looking at a girl who was and was not myself, who stood looking at another girl, who also was and was not myself. My mother took this for a nightmare. I saw it as the beginning of a career in physics.

A City, Suspended

August the 10th, 1890

Location: Financial District

I had trapped the atom in mid-air. Colleagues called my Lutece Field quantum levitation, but in fact, it was nothing of the sort. Magicians levitate -- my atom simply failed to fall. If an atom could be suspended indefinitely, well -- why not an apple? If an apple, why not a city?

On The Entropy Of Genes

July the 3rd, 1893

Location: Market District

Comstock seems to have been made sterile by simple exposure to our contraption. A theory: just as sexual reproduction can de-emphasize the traits of each parent, so goes the effect of multiple realities on our own. Your traits dissipate, until they become unrecognizable, or cease to exist.

Whispers Through The Wall

October the 15th, 1893

Location: Grand Central Depot

The Lutece Field entangled my quantum atom with waves of light, allowing for safe measurement. Sound familiar, brother? That's because you were measuring precisely the same atom from a neighboring world. We used the universe as a telegraph. Switching the field on or off became dots and dashes. Dreadfully slow -- but now, you and I could whisper through the wall ...

A Window

October the 15th, 1893

Location: Founder's Books

Brother, what Comstock failed to understand is that our contraption is a window not into prophecy, but probability. But his money means the Lutece Field could become the Lutece Tear - a window between worlds. A window through which you and I might finally be together.

One And The Same

October the 15th, 1893

Location: Salty Oyster Bar

You have been transfused, brother, into a new reality, but your body rejects the cognitive dissonance through confusion and hemorrhage. But we are together, and I will mend you. For what separates us now, but a single chromosome?

Child Of Science

January the 4th, 1895

Location: Market District

Lady Comstock seems to believe the child is a result of some errant act of carnality between myself and her beloved Prophet. I told the poor woman the truth: that the child was a product of our little contraption. But I think she found that less believable than her delusion.

The Prophet Is Dying

December the 4th, 1907

Location: The Hand of the Prophet

The Prophet is dying. The metastasis has aged him so quickly. Why does this Comstock decay, while a Comstock in another world remains fit? If genetics are destiny, what accounts for the difference? Perhaps exposure to the contraption? Hm. It merits further study.

What's Done Is Done

September the 3rd, 1909

Location: The Hand of the Prophet

Our contraption shows us the girl is the flame that shall ignite the world. My brother says we must undo what we have done. But time is more an ocean than a river. Why try to bring in a tide that will only again go out?

The Source Of Her Power

September the 5th, 1909

Location: Specimen Observation

What makes the girl different? I suspect it has less to do with what she is, and rather more with what she is not. A small part of her remains where she came. It would seem the universe does not like its peas mixed with its porridge.

An Ultimatum

October the 18th, 1909

Location: Comstock House Roof

My brother has presented me with an ultimatum...If we do not send the girl back from where we brought her, he and I must part. Where he sees an empty page, I see King Lear. But he is my brother, so I shall play my part, knowing it shall all end in tears.

A Theory On Our "Death"

November the 1st, 1909

Location: Market District

Comstock has sabotaged our contraption. Yet, we are not dead. A theory: we are scattered amongst the possibility space. But my brother and I are together, and so, I am content. He is not. The business with the girl lies unresolved. But perhaps there is one who can finish it in our stead.

Rupert Cunningham

The Customer Is Late

November the 6th, 1909

Location: Downtown Emporia

Estelle: "That's insanity. What proof would you have that Mr. Fink would hurt the Luteces?" Rupert: "The Luteces told me." Estelle: "The Luteces? When?" Rupert: "Yesterday. Yesterday morning." Estelle: "Rupert ... they've been dead these seven days ..."

Sgt. Leander Manley

Vox Contraband Inventory

July the 6th, 1912

Location: Soldier's Field

Manley: "Got a tip there were contraband guns hidden in the Fellow Traveller. Didn't find 'em, but -- funny thing -- we found some old uniforms under the floorboards from the war. Took guesses as to why they were there but -- [Door Opens] Who's there? You're Slate, right? Sir? Put the guns down! [Gunfire] [Screams]" Slate: "Did you hear that, Comstock? That is the sound you have never heard -- the sound of a soldier's end. Come to your 'Hall of Heroes.' Prove me a liar."

Ty Bradley

Tiger By The Tail

April the 8th, 1912

Location: Monument Island

I guess even in a restricted area, these crackers need someone to clean the floors, hm? Hmph. Those politicians and scientists don't bother 'bout what they say 'round me, because I'm some half-lettered colored boy. But I can tell they scared out of their wits by that thing they got locked upstairs, yessir. They got a tiger by the tail and they don't know whether to hang on ... or run.

To: R. Thompson Re: Fuses

July the 3rd, 1912

Location: Monument Island

Uh, Mr. Thompson, sir. I replaced the entire fuse bank as asked, and the lights were all in working order last night -- last night ... There they go again. We got through boxes of fuses every day as of late, just in the Siphon alone. I don't ... Oh! Oh, Lord, something's happening! What -- [Screams]

Zachary Hale Comstock

The Mirror Of Sin

June the 21st, 1893

Location: The Hand of the Prophet

When a soul is born again, what happens to the one left behind in the baptismal water? Is he simply ... gone? Or does he exist in some other world, alive, with sin intact?

Undeserving

September the 9th, 1893

Location: New Eden Square

And then, the archangel showed a vision: a city, lighter than air. I asked her, "Why do you show this to me, archangel? I'm not a strong man. I'm not a righteous man. I'm not a holy man." And she told me the most remarkable thing: "You're right, Prophet. But if grace is within the grasp of one such as you, how can anyone else not see it in themselves?"

The Golden Path To Heaven

September the 9th, 1893

Location: Park Ticketing

As the months and years turned to memories, so did the men of Congress turn to righteousness. And through the technology of men, the dollars of Washington, the Lord worked his will upon Columbia and raised her high above the Sodom below.

Another Ark for Another Time

September the 9th, 1893

Location: Gondola to Monument Island

"And the Lord saw the wickedness of man was great. And he repented he had made man on the Earth." Rain! Forty days and 40 nights of the stuff. And he left not a thing that walked alive. You see, my friends, even God is entitled to a do-over. And what is Columbia if not another Ark, for another time?

I Am His Mirror

September the 9th, 1893

Location: Soldier's Field

And when I came to Washington, there were few in Congress who saw my vision for Columbia. But it is the burden of the Prophet to bring the wicked to righteousness. For what am I, if not a mirror to reflect the face of God?

A Broken Circle

September the 10th, 1893

Location: The Financial District

The archangel tells me that Columbia will only survive so long as my line sits the throne. Yet Lady Comstock produces no child. I have done what a man can do, yet there is no child! I have asked Lutece about the matter, but even she refuses to help.

A Dog's Loyalty

December the 18th, 1899

Location: The Arcade

As a boy, I had a dog named Bill. And like all dogs, Bill was a loyal friend. If we had not fed him, Bill would have been loyal. If we had struck him, Bill would have been loyal. Only when the colored man can make that claim will he take his place in society.

His Design For Cruelty

December the 18th, 1899

Location: The Good Time Club

To tax the black more than the white, is that not cruel? To forbid the mixing of the races, is that not cruel? To give the vote to the white man, and deny it to the yellow, the black, the red -- is that not cruel? Hm. But is it not cruel to banish your children from a perfect garden? Or drown your flock under an ocean of water? Cruelty can be instructive, and what is Columbia, if not the schoolhouse of the Lord?

The Gift Of The Emancipator

April the 14th, 1905

Location: The Fraternal Order of the Raven

And when the angel Columbia gave unto the Founders the tools to build the new Eden, they did so without hesitation. For 85 years, they prepared the way of the Lord. But when the Great Apostate came, he brought war with him, and the fields of Eden were soaked with the blood of brothers. The only emancipation he had to offer was death.

The Lie Of The Emancipator

April the 14th, 1905

Location: The Fraternal Order of the Raven

What exactly was the "Great Emancipator" emancipating the Negro from? From his daily bread. From the nobility of honest work. From wealthy patrons who sponsored them from cradle to grave. From clothing and shelter. And what have they done with their freedom? Why, go to Finkton, and you shall find out. No animal is born free, except the white man. And it is our burden to care for the rest of creation.

The True Color Of My Skin

December the 29th, 1908

Location: Downtown Emporia

In front of all the men, the sergeant looked at me and said, "Your family tree shelters a teepee or two, doesn't it, son?" This lie, this calumny, has followed me all my life. From that day, no man truly called me comrade. It was only when I burnt the teepees with the squaws inside, did they take me as one of their own. Only blood can redeem blood.

Everyman, All At Once

March the 29th, 1911

Location: Parade Crossing

One man goes into the waters of baptism. A different man comes out, born again. But who is that man who was submerged? Perhaps that swimmer is both sinner and saint, until he is revealed unto the eyes of man.

A Reward, Deferred

July the 5th, 1912

Location: Monument Island