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Question Game: The Mayors

We know that the first post-imperial mayor of New Babbage was chosen from a group of business man who came together to address the crisis of the Imperial collapse, but we only know the names of two mayors. Who else was a mayor besides Sprocket and Tenk, and what else do you know about them?

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  1. Maku Ibn-Selat Maku Ibn-Selat October 22, 2012

    Evastus Artorius Muckberry served as Mayor of New Babbage for precisely one and one-quarter terms, immediately prior to his sentencing and trial for pernicious corruption, in that order.

    The career of Muckberry can be rather nicely described as ‘nepotistic’, his rise through the ranks of Crint & Handleton coming via the judicious application of sycophancy towards superiors and corporate sabotage of rivals. From his initial position as a clerk in the Inward Goods department, within four years he was that department’s Senior Manager. Barely two years later he had ‘discovered’ incontrovertible evidence that then chairman George Proxby had been engaged in long-term embezzlement of funds. Despite protesting his innocence, the Proxby family was ruined and the money was restituted to the company in time for Muckberry to re-embezzle it for himself.

    Having been so publicly displayed as a paragon of honesty, and the rewards of diligent labour, Muckberry set his sights upon greater things. One such thing (to use his preferred term in his private journals) was marriage to Wendy Louise Handleton, subsequently followed by the birth of his son, Charlus.

    The other thing was the position of Town Mayor, for which he campaigned upon the platform of Virtuous Government, a platform whose foundations rested on the demonisation of not only the hapless Proxby name, but anyone else who was or aspired to be mayoralty. Given the average person’s desire to believe the worst of their superiors, it is not surprising that within sixteen years of slow social climbing and council appointments, his persistent work finally saw him swept into the mayoralty in a landslide victory.

    Twenty years of amoral social climbing meant that Muckberry now had a council composed of various cronies, and his first term was a steady descent into what could be nicely described as decline. Under the guise of ‘auditing’, a steady haemmorhage of town funds bled into the pockets of Muckberry and his allies, while the town began to ail as various departments began to starve.

    Not helping was the behaviour of Charlus Muckberry, who despite being educated at one of the more prestigious academies, was more interested in revelling with loose women and plentiful substances. Given such lavish tastes, and Muckberry Sr.’s tendency to spoil his heir rotten, questions began to be raised as to how such a rake could be supported on a humble mayor’s salary.

    The subsequent elections were a master-stroke of vote-buying and intimidation. Subsequent examination of Muckberry’s personal journals show that he had cultivated an increasingly irrational hatred for ‘those below’ matching that he had for ‘them above’, suggesting a highly paranoid mental state with megalomaniacal tendencies.

    Shortly after the elections, Charlus Muckberry was seen staggering out of a house of ill repute, fighting off the soiled dove trying to bring him back inside; he proceeded down the street to the harbour, raving insanely and clawing at himself and anyone or anything within reach, before simply falling into the waters. Despite his best efforts rescuers managed to finally bring him onto dry land, but despite attempting to resuscitate him, the younger Muckberry was pronounced dead from drowning at the scene.

    The subsequent excitement was fuelled by leaked information regarding the exotic substances found in the young man’s system, along with symptoms of various venereal diseases. Scandal scented, the eyes of the town began to seek further signs of weakness.

    It could be said that Charlus’ fall foretold the fall of Muckberry’s little empire. Sensing that their master was ailing, Muckberry’s co-conspirators began to feud among themselves as well as sue Muckberry for additional favours in exchange for continued loyalty. Fulsome details can be found in Gerald Cronk’s meticulously researched if flaccid volume The Fall of the Muckberry Empire.

    That year was the worst of Muckberry’s life. His wife, seeing the true face of her supposedly honourable husband, returned to the Handleton family seat and sued for divorce. Despite the best efforts of Muckberry’s paid thugs, public protests became increasingly common and vociferous. By August, Muckberry was barricaded in his house and attempting to run New Babbage from there.

    In mid-August Muckberry House was overrun by a mob waving the traditional torches of broken pallet boards soaked in wiggyfish oil, despite the best efforts of those hoodlums who didn’t run away; Muckberry himself did not survive being accosted by the mob. Some believe that the ex-mayor was boiled alive in a vat of wiggyfish oil, others that he was drawn and quartered through sheer mob power. Yet others speculate that he had already died by his own hand before the mob found him.

    What is known is that his hidden journals were found, along with damning evidence of his wickedness and corruption; a posthumous trial found Evastus Muckberry guilty of systemic corruption, aiding and abetting ‘immorality’, embezzlement, and sundry other convictions that, if he had been alive, would have brought about his demise in one of the abovementioned fashions anyway.

    In common memory, the name of Muckberry has become a derogatory term for a degenerate, untrustworthy fellow. “That lad? Don’t have nowt t’ do with ‘im! A proper muckberry, ‘e is!”

  2. Garnet Psaltery Garnet Psaltery October 22, 2012

    How glad we may be that the era of wickedness has long since passed.

    • Junie Ginsburg Junie Ginsburg October 22, 2012

      Our mayor’s current assistant is not exactly upstanding.

  3. Avariel Falcon Avariel Falcon October 22, 2012

    The old AP&E records list one Theo Westbridge as a past Mayor of New-Babbage.

    Theo Westbridge, also known as Unit #1, ran the Aquila #013 power station after the last 
    Imperial station keeper left his post. He is described in the records as a hulking bronze 
    minotaur and is to date the only known clockwork to have held the office of Mayor of 
    New-Babbage.

    He entered office after the assasination of the previous Mayor by a mysterious master 
    villain known only as Doctor Twilight. Apparently the old Mayors death was rather 
    horrible due to the incurable poison used and after that no one else wanted the job.

    The events of the months that followed amounted to a covert war between the City and 
    Doctor Twilight. This ended some eight months later when Theo Westbridge and Doctor 
    Twilight had a final confrontation at his undersea submarine lair. During the battle 
    Doctor Twilight’s aetheric bomb was destroyed before it could split the world in two, but 
    in the process both Doctor Twilight and Theo Westbridge disappeared, never to be seen 
    again.

    As a byproduct of this event the Aquila #013 power station ran into a period of decline 
    that led to the end of the era of aetheric power and left things in much the same state as Doctor Falcon and I found them when we took over the plant in more recent times. 

  4. Deyni Taverstone Deyni Taverstone October 22, 2012

    My great great grandmother on my mom’s side was the first female mayor of New Babbage without ever being elected. It happened after her husband Colonel Jackson, who was mayor at the time, was killed in a ballooning accident over the Vernian with the deputy mayor of the time.

    My great great grandfather was very popular so nobody kicked up a fuss when my great great grandma Regina took over and served out his term. Since my great great gampie’s name was Reginold and my great great gram’s was Regina, they both shortened their names to Reggie. As a result, historians often mistakenly assume they were the same person.

     

  5. Jimmy Branagh Jimmy Branagh October 22, 2012

    The Mayor of shortest duration in New Babbage was likely Arbile J. Knickenwicker, though records of the period prior to the coming of The Third Prim are quite spotty.  It is known however that he was elected on a platform of solid pine, with little to say and a fine cigar and mug of brandy, one in each hand.  Unfortunately, at some point in the festivities he became thoroughly confused and inhaled the entire pint of brandy, causing him to sneeze violently and spray himself with the volatile liquid.  The thrust was so powerful it threw him from the platform, and a spark from the cigar he so tightly gripped for dear life ignited the brandy that had soaked his clothing.  A helpful woman doused him from the platform with the contents of a large nearby pitcher, but to her dismay it was the very pitcher of brandy from which Knickenwicker had earlier filled the aforementioned mug, and he was immolated on the spot.

    • Avariel Falcon Avariel Falcon October 22, 2012

      Theo Westbridge was positively long serving by comparison. *nods*

  6. Victor1st Mornington Victor1st Mornington October 24, 2012

    After the collapse of The Great Empire, the business men in and around the new City State of New Babbage held regular meetings every quarter at various pubs in the cty to discuss business ventures and to catch up with news from other merchants who was visiting Port Babbage at the time.

    It was no secret that just after the collapse, and for about a century after it, the city relied heavilly upon the coal mining towns around the city proper.  Falun, Bump, Topperwick and surrounds supplied vast amounts of coal at just under normal trade costs for the citizens of New Babbage, and New Babbage in turn supplied militia and small garrisons of what was the New Babbage State Army.

    It was roughly 70 years after the collapse of The Great Empire.  A time of turmoil in the City State when businresses was fialing and more and more people was moving out of the city and into the suburbs that something strange happened.  A mayor from outside of the city walls was voted in by the businesses as the new Mayor.

    His name was Edmund A. Knickleburg, and he was from the mining town of Bump.

    Edmund has approached the businessmen of New Babbage with a way to end the slow decline of the city which was atarting to appear all too apparent to the citizens of the city and to the city officials.  Edmund in his first term went on to close off the south easrtern part of the city, what was known as the old villiage of Clockhaven and kicked out the den’s of scum and villiany which was squatting in that part of the old villiage.  With Clockhaven now basically walled off, he turned his attention to the city proper.  Edmund spent the last remaining coffers of the city treasury in overhauling the now almost derelict piers and wharfes of Port Babbage, the silted up mud bars along the port entrance was dregdged down by a further 20metres to give the Port a new water depth at Bar of almost 30 metres, making it the deepest port of the entire area and aloowing under water submersibles to be piloted right up to the docks, something which was unheard of in those days.

    At the end of Edmunds first term he had started work on the overhaul and deepening of the seaward side of the old canal network.  In roder to pay for the massive costs of landworks needed to dredge up the old canal system he instituted a 20% tax rate tarrif on the highest earners of the city.  A policy which won him many fans of the lower working orders of society, but made him a lot of enemies in the business classes.

    Edmund managed to make it to a second term in office.  In the second terms the area which would later become Wheatstone was included in the new canal network.  In just under 6 years Edmund has turned around the failing stagnant city and made it one of the new Industrial hearts of the post Great Empire world.

    In what would later become famous as “The Black Guard Revolt”, the city’s now overworked and undermanned Army, together with the now failing militia sent their captain to Edmunds offices to ask for more funds.  The City State Guard’s, The Militia and the Army was still using equipment which was over 30 years old.  Edmund refused, stating that the people came first, and business and armys can wait.

    The Black Guard of New Babbage, the elite core of what was left of the Army, joined forces with the now heavilly taxed business classes and led a revolt against Edmund.  The coup lasted for only 1 day, and see Edmund and the vast majority of citizens from the township of Bump thrown out of the city.

    As a parting last word, Edmund famously said to the captain of the Black Guard…

    “…never, for as long as there is people in my town that remember this day…get off the train at Bump”

    Since then, the township of Bump, and the City State of New Babbage have had a very uneasy relationship.  The Black Guard Revolt seen a law pass into effect with the citys replacement mayor which seen the abolishment of a city Army, and the re-emergence of a City Militia.

  7. Cadmus Lupindo Cadmus Lupindo October 24, 2012

    Aleksandar Veselin

    The Veselin family operated several successful iron foundries.

    The youngest of three sons, Aleksandar had a desire to work in government and had political ambitions. Veselin worked in City Hall first working as a clerk and later becoming the Under Secretary of Weights and Measures. He took his work very seriously.

    His tireless efforts were paid off and he won the election of Mayor on a platform of protective tariffs. The primary purpose of the tariffs was to allow Babbage manufacturing to develop by giving it a price advantage in the domestic market over foreign competitors.

    New Babbage became a prosperous center for the manufacture of industrial equipment. Whether the tariff helped achieve this is up for debate.

    During his run for a second term a long standing issue had escalated. The value of the old imperial currency was questionable at best and the City-State Currency brought about controversy. The currency standard had been established by the market, but had not yet been set by law.

    There were three factions for currency standard.

    The first faction, known as the Industrialists, wanted to ratify the metal standard that was already in use.

    The second group who called themselves “The Old Guard “, was comprised of Gentry who could not accept the collapse of the Empire wanted a Tea standard.

    The third group was an assortment of anarchists and radicals who wanted a Coffee standard.

    The vast majority of tea was imported from Caledon so they were in support of the Old Guard and exerted influence when possible on the matter.

    Prior to the election, Veselin had been a “straddle bug” on the currency question. He managed to be re-elected, by a slim margin, without ever committing to any of the standards. It was assumed by many voters that he would vote for the Metal standard because of the business the family owned.

    Soon after his second inauguration Veselin endorsed the metal standard and it was ratified.

    This was a bitter pill for some of the opposition. Several months latter a Coffee supporter named Renard LaBelle shot Veselin at a ground breaking ceremony for a new factory.

    Veselin recovered from the wound and stepped down from office to run the family Iron Works.

  8. Avariel Falcon Avariel Falcon October 24, 2012

    It appears life as a Mayor of New-Babbage is somewhat dangerous…

  9. Stargirl Macbain Stargirl Macbain October 24, 2012

    Mr. Thomas C. Tripsa was elected in the year (coughity-cough-cough) which, as every school boy or girl knows was the year the empire began its rather dramatic collapse. As was to be expected, the office of Mayor was frozen during the darkest years, because it was generally believed that a change of power at that time would be disasterous, and Mr. Tripsa, who was generally considered to be one of the least capable men ever elected to office up to that point, found himself in the unhappy position of power. Due to a lack of strong leadership, the city was briefly threatened with the possibility of being pulled to pieces by it’s own overly-amibitous politicians.

    Fortunately for the city his wife, a Mrs. Amelia T. Tripsa was a very clever, and exceedingly charming, woman, and, as her husband withdrew (evidently the victim of a mysterious illness), stepped forward to act as his mouthpiece. She forged tight bonds with the now-famous Father Daniel Rutherford, whose monument stands in the Academy of Industry to this day. As a result of Rutherford’s practical and logical thinking, and Mrs. Amelia Tripsa’s ability to convince the various politicians of the rightness of his ideas, the City State re-gained its footing a good deal sooner than any of its sister cities.

    Unfortunately, due to her sex, the credit for the city’s recovery was given mostly to her husband and to Father Rutherford. Thanks to numerous and meticulous records kept by the Church and the city, and to the donation of various journals from politicians of the time, much of this misconception has been cleared up.

    It was rumored for a time that one of Mrs. Tripsa’s five children was actually sired by Rutherford, but this is generally believed to be a romantic notion dreamed up by later politicians to shame the woman for daring to exert such power over the city.

  10. Garnet Psaltery Garnet Psaltery October 29, 2012

    Emmelina Twitt was a woman of ambition in a time when things were coasting along nicely, no-one wanted to rock the boat, and her family were heavily invested in nautical metaphors.

    Bored with knitting ropes in the Port, she turned her eye to the Mayor’s office.  “I can do better than that charlatan” she said, and set off to have a word with him about retirement.  On reaching City Hall, however, she was met by a stream of hurrying figures, evidently keen to be elsewhere.  “The Mayor’s dead!” gasped one as he left Miss Twitt by the door.  “Time to join them” she thought, and executed a swift turnabout.

    Seven weeks later, after a funeral, accusations, exhumation, examination, temporary exhibition with the body displayed in a humorous pose, reinternment, and a ceremony of eulogies (including ritual consumption of a six-course meal and fist fights) nominations began for the next Mayor.

    Emmelina, mindful of the frowning that would occur should she volunteer herself for service, donned a moustache and trousers, and posed as a long-lost cousin.  (There was actually a long-lost cousin, but since he longed to be lost shortly after running up a large bar tab he was unlikely to return).

    Emmelinus (as she pretended to be) did extremely well at the first round, having caught the attention of several influential gentlemen who found this young man strangely attractive.  At a celebratory round of drinks in the evening at Ruby’s, one of them took Emmelinus aside for a ‘private chat’ – aside being round the back and out of sight.  Expressing an urgent need to assess the feel of Emmelinus’ suit material, the gentleman got carried away and proceeded to examine the young man’s face, upon which he obtained quite a surprise when the moustache attached itself to the admirer’s upper lip.

    Naturally this marked the end of Emmelina’s attempt at Mayorship, but did not prevent success entirely.  Last reports of her adventures tell of her relocation to an upmarket address in Palisades, where she lives with the gentleman and goes by the name of Bob.

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