"The Old Ones didn't emote properly;
they couldn't. Their whiskers fell out as they aged, and their ears
shrank, rounding and settling close against the sides of their heads."
"It chanced that the
town of Gearwyk was troubled by the appearance of a clockwork dragon.
Ever and anon the great worm swooped over the town's houses and
parks, her fiery breath melting the painted tin trees and the mechanical
songbirds that nested in them, blackening the buildings with soot,
scattering the clockwork citizens to cower in their houses. With
a loud 'Crack!' the crystal of the giant clock in the Town Council
tower shattered with the heat of her breath, and the Mayor cried,
'Enough! Gearwyk can bear no more! The clockwork dragon must die!'"
"Neptune Slim was Lantean dark but
with eyes as green as the water out by the breakers on a sunny day.
He wore a ring on every finger and a different crystal in each ring.
This was before all that New Age stuff about Lanteans being mystically
inclined by nature, but Slim seemed to think he had some kind of
special spiritual gift. He'd punch guys, just spontaneously; some
guy's walking past us on the street and-- POW!-- Slim would bust
the guy's lip with a crystal-covered fist. And he'd say, 'Just realigning
your chakras, man, no big thing. You'll feel better tomorrow.'"
