Whimsical Graffiti

Whimsical Graffiti

The Beginnings of Koperdam IV

In-universe date: Era Nova, March--April, Year 2

Real-world date: 14 August 2026

Author: Henry Westcroft

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Henry steps out from his home into the cool morning air of Clockhaven. The familiar sounds of the city are already beginning to stir around him: the distant clatter of machinery, the faint hiss of steam, and the steady rhythm of another day beginning in the capital.

For a moment, he simply takes it all in.

This is his city. The product of years of work, planning, construction, and ambition. Clockhaven may still be young, but to Henry, there is something deeply satisfying about watching it grow into the heart of Koperdam.

Yet something feels different this morning.

As he makes his way towards Founders Street, the city's oldest and busiest thoroughfare, Henry notices that the usual crowds are strangely absent. The street is normally alive with workers, merchants, engineers and travellers making their way through the capital.

Today, it is unusually quiet.

Henry slows his pace.

Then he hears it.

Faint voices drift towards him from the direction of the railway station.

Murmurs.

Then gasps.

A small crowd appears to be gathering outside Clockhaven Eastern Station.

Henry raises an eyebrow.

What on earth is going on?

Curiosity gets the better of him.

He makes his way towards the station, weaving through the handful of people lingering along the street. As he approaches, the murmurs become louder.

"What is that?"

"Who painted this?"

"Is this even allowed?"

Henry finally reaches the edge of the crowd.

He stops.

For a moment, he simply stares.

The walls of Clockhaven Eastern Station have been covered in graffiti.

Not the sort of crude markings he might have expected to find on the side of a building, either. The walls are covered in strange drawings, peculiar symbols, colourful patterns and messages written in an unmistakably playful style.

It is...

Whimsical.

Henry cannot help but smile.

He knows exactly who did this.

The Sulehood.

He had encountered their peculiar sense of humour before. Their work has a certain character to it, a kind of chaotic creativity that is difficult to mistake for anything else.

He steps closer, examining the messages one by one.

Some are nonsense.

Some are jokes.

Some are simply strange.

And then he notices one particular message.

BAN ALL RAILWAYS.

Henry pauses.

He looks at the railway.

Then back at the message.

Then at the railway again.

"Well, that's rather contradictory."

He lets out a quiet laugh.

Perhaps they really do not like railways.

Or perhaps there is some deeper reason behind it.

Henry finds himself wondering whether the Sulehood had deliberately chosen the station for that very reason. After all, there were plenty of other walls in Clockhaven.

Whatever their intentions, they had certainly succeeded in attracting attention.

He looks around at the crowd, many of whom are still staring at the graffiti with expressions ranging from confusion to amusement.

For all the effort that had gone into building Koperdam's newest railway, Henry had never expected its first major act of public criticism to be written in colourful, whimsical letters across the walls of its own station.

He smiles again.

Perhaps this is what progress looks like.

Not everyone is going to agree with it.

And perhaps that is not such a bad thing.