Tangled Web: A Rislandian Story
Author: Jon Del Arroz Type: Short story (mad-science horror) Length: about 4,000 words
Tangled Web: A Rislandian Story takes place in Loveridge shortly after Baron Theodore von Monocle disappeared at the Second Battle of the Border River. Its protagonist is the Liliana's pilot, Major Edwin Ral.
Synopsis
Grounded
Edwin Ral, aged twenty-two, is the pilot of the "Rislandian Grand Army's only airship". The Baron chose him after they met aboard the naval ship G.R.S. Bronwyn, where Edwin had also taken the helm. The Baron was last seen swinging down a rope ladder into the Wyranth line of soldiers, saving some of the commandos at the cost of his own life. Edwin was busy evading Wyranth anti-airship artillery and saw nothing of the battle below. The crew searched for three weeks. Then Captain von Cravat, described as "the Baron's former lover who had taken command of the ship", grounded the Liliana at the edge of Loveridge "until she could speak with King Malaky".
Walking the moonlit streets with Lieutenant Colwell, Edwin complains about the grounding. Colwell, a married bridge officer, scolds him for his slovenly bearing. Loveridge has no ever-burning gas lamps like Rislandia City's. Colwell plans to catch a coach to Rislandia City. On Harkerpal's recommendation, Edwin goes to the local pub alone.
Thesally
At the pub, Edwin pays for a whiskey with a Malaky mark and boasts to a blonde woman in an old-fashioned red bustle dress that he is "the only airship pilot, perhaps in the whole world". She points out that he admits to having a backup. She is Thesally. She says military men sometimes pass through on their way to the Border River, "but never an airship man". He shows her the grounded airship, lighting a cigar with his geared brass lighter, then follows her to a barn on a secluded estate deep in the forest. She says it belongs to Dr. Metzengerstein from Nyanzi, who lets her use it and "has been helping people upgrade themselves for years".
Edwin wakes the next morning tied to the bed with what he took for lace. It is spider web. Thesally reveals extra limbs and fangs: the doctor merged her with a breed that lays its eggs inside the bellies of its mates, and she means to lay hers in him. While she makes tea, Edwin burns through the webs with his lighter. When she lunges, he drops it, and the highly flammable webs go up in flames. He punches her across the jaw, she falls into the fire, and he escapes as the barn burns.
Escape
Naked on the road, Edwin decides not to search Metzengerstein's main residence for clothes, for fear of the scientist's "other mad experiments". A coach stops: it is Colwell, who couldn't get a ride the night before. Colwell gives him pants. Edwin says he will have to tell the king that "strange things are going on in these woods", and the two ride to Rislandia City.
Characters
- Major Edwin Ral: pilot of the Liliana.
- Lieutenant Colwell: bridge officer.
- Thesally: spider-woman.
- Dr. Metzengerstein: mentioned; owner of the barn.
- Captain Talyen von Cravat: mentioned; acting commander.
- Harkerpal: mentioned; recommended the pub.
- Baron Theodore von Monocle: mentioned; missing.
- King Malaky XVI: mentioned.
- The barmaid: see Minor Characters of the Short Stories.
Settings
- Loveridge and its pub
- Dr. Metzengerstein's barn and estate in the forest outside Loveridge: see Minor Locations of the Short Stories
- The Liliana, parked at the edge of town in front of the forest
Later references
In The Steam Knight, Ral has told James Gentry and Ethan von Lantern about "the strange spider-like woman he saw". James finds a design matching her among Metzengerstein's papers. See Spider-Like Woman. The timeline in The Blood of Giants summarizes the story as "von Cravat can't handle the loss of the Baron and grounds the ship in Loveridge".
Text notes
The story spells the ship "Lilliana" three times. This is treated as a typo for Liliana.