“Feed the coals.”
The boiler purred as I worked. Boy but she was a beauty. Able to pull two dozen carts fully loaded at nearly 90 MPH, the Memphis Class Y 2-8-0 was the most powerful engine I have had the pleasure of engineering for. I wiped the sweat from my brow and proceeded to feed her more coal, taking joy in the simple, strenuous work.
Suddenly, a man stepped on the tracks a mere 100 yards away from my speeding locomotive. I blared on my whistle as he slowly turned and looked up, blearily as 5,000 tons of steel barreled towards him. Now, a train can’t just stop on a dime. Conservation of momentum means that the faster and heavier the train is traveling at the longer it will take to stop. Well, the Memphis was fully loaded and firing down the tracks as fast as I could take her. Trying to brake too fast could cause a rollover and it would take a sustained, hard, brake over a mile to bring this beast to a halt.
My foreman has always said if a deer gets in the way of the train, “You can’t stop the train, you just take the critter out.” and well, I figured the same applies to people. That man never stood a chance.
Horrified at what I had just done, I brought the train to an agonizingly slow halt. I jumped out of the cab to stare at the man I just murdered. Or had I? Good Heavens he was still breathing! I pulled him from the plow and laid him out on the dirt, surveying what I had wrought. One arm mauled completely beyond recognition. A foot missing beneath the ankle. Massive gashes on his forehead. Cuts covering his torso. So much blood.
This man needed medical attention or he would not survive the hour. We were miles from the nearest town in remote Appalachia. Where had this poor devil even come from?
Now, I have no medical training. Have never operated on a person. Hell, I have trouble applying a simple bandage. But machines? I can fix damn near anything with gears and axles. If only he was a malfunctioning engine…
I ran back to the engine and grabbed my toolkit. I always keep it well stocked for emergencies. A small engine originally intended for a harvester would be the centerpiece. Crankshafts, steel, oil. I worked furiously into the wee hours of the night. This would be my greatest invention.
Finally I collapsed, exhausted from my ordeal and slept. I awoke to see my creation staring down at me. He was magnificent.
“Blgghhh blgghh wofffer” he said.
“Shhh shhh it’s okay friend… I am Tarlin, you may call me… Master.”
“Whhaat amm whoo shhzz?”
“Hmm but we will need a name for you too, I suppose. I dub you Wolfgang after my favorite composer.”
“BLLGGGGHH chug chug BLLRGG!”
STEAM – +1 armor to all adjacent allies
Steam also gives Wolfgang +1 armor. This lasts throughout the opponents turn and ends on your next turn. Steam effects all allies on tiles adjacent to Wolfgang. Wolfgang’s tile can be “flipped” to indicate he is steaming.