Dr. Torque prefers to labor over his fantastic inventions in seclusion in his sprawling laboratory complex. Though his isolation frees his mighty intellect from social constraints, he is but one man and is often in need of additional strength in order to assemble his larger constructs. To this end, Dr. Torque has devised the Heavy Ambulatory Rider Operated Load Dispatching Equipment, or H.A.R.O.L.D.E. as he is affectionately referred to by his Creator. This ìiron manî amplifies a normal fellowís strength fiftyfold and is easily and surely controlled by a series of pulleys and gears as well as the Torque Laboratories patented Emeraldic Energy Extrapolators™ concealed within this behemoth.
The miracle of near-instantaneous messaging notwithstanding, recording and decoding telegraph messages is, at least, massively time consuming and, at worst, is the type of barbaric labor that a gentleman should avoid. Dr. Torque happens to be such a gentleman and has devised an elegant solution to this conundrum. Torque Laboratories is proud to present the Automated Torque Telegrapher, or A.T.T. for brevity’s sake. This ingenious contraption converts the crude dots and dashes of a wired transmission into a finely penned manuscript fit for the civilized eye. Its operation is a closely-guarded secret, and any specious mention of “orphan’s souls” will be met with the fiercest of lawsuits.
Scrappington Hauley (“Scrappy”) functions as the pack mule for the team during missions and adventures by carrying equipment and supplies. Scrappy is also often sent ahead of the team into uncertain situations for reconnaissance and remote surveillance. Guidance is achieved by using the Mallardian Steerage Apparatus™ which employs organic global positioning and a radio-telegraph wireless linkage between the operator and the infernal contraption. Primary power comes from a large Emeraldic Energy Extrapolator™ mounted on the rear of the chassis. Scrappy is able to function autonomously when navigating through Dr. Torqueís secret underground laboratory thanks to the recent facility-wide installation of multiple wireless directional devices of the doctorís own design.
In the mid 1870′s,TORQUE Laboratories was well on its way to being the world’s most in-demand company to do business with. Everything that TORQUE put on the market was gold in the eyes of the investors. He had patents ranging from top-secret military contraptions all the way down to delicious meat pie recipes. All was going well for Dr. Torque, until the Great Disaster of ’77.
A very close colleague and long time friend of the family stole one of his patents and sold the underdeveloped product to a rival company. Things went horribly wrong and the rival company blamed Torque for the catastrophe that followed. Dr. Torque still feels responsible for what happened to all of those innocent people. He felt so betrayed that he terminated the employment of all of his technicians at TORQUE Laboratories and moved all future research into a secret limestone mine.
Alone in the mine, he began building a mechanically driven workforce to staff his laboratory.
One member of this mechanical workforce is the Heavy Ambulatory Rider Operated Load Dispatching Equipment, or H.A.R.O.L.D.E. for short. H.A.R.O.L.D.E. was initially designed to help Torque with lifting heavy materials and reaching certain areas with greater ease. After a few upgrades, Torque found that H.A.R.O.L.D.E. proved helpful elsewhere than the lab, like on the front lines of war… against the supernatural.
We will be seeing more of H.A.R.O.L.D.E. in the near future. In the meantime enjoy these rough thumbnails and concepts that became H.A.R.O.L.D.E.
This fun little extra tidbit of the Apparition Abolishers universe was written by none other than our very own Christopher Harvey (aka Sir Quincy Peck.) Be sure to click the image to enjoy it’s full capacity. It’s a nice big size perfect for a screen saver or wallpaper. Also, for all you “hardcore geeks” out there, there are some fun pop culture references hidden in the piece as well, enjoy!
Taking great advantage of the discoveries, techniques, and achievements of the great minds of Morse and Marconi, the Mallardian Steerage Apparatus allows a person to control Scrappington Hauley while remaining concealed or from a great distance.
When in Dr. Torque’s laboratories, Scrappy functions in a semi-autonomous mode.
Adam and Christopher carry one of the Torque Labs equipment crates with a couple of power packs riding on top. We had to make several trips with several carts to get everything up to our rooms at the Marriott.
We’ve constructed two crates to transport some of our equipment to conventions and appearances. We’re going to need a few more, but these two are a start. The long one holds Rusty Koontz and Brown Bess, and the taller one holds the Sonic Blunderbuss, both Plasma Pistols, and Torque’s new (as yet un-named) device. Plus there’s room inside for lots of smaller bits and tools, accessories, etc.
