So here we are in the observatory whose height was negotiated in Chapter 7 and which was destroyed in Chapter 14. That might seem like a continuity error until you look more closely at the outer walls of it, which include a memorial to the battle in which it was destroyed. So it’s been rebuilt, and much like the One World Trade Center, it has the history of its predecessor etched into its design. Literally, in its case. The wallmakers have memorialized the mass of gnomes that fought against the Hammertank, and the heroic Peacemakers who fought at their side…with one glaring exception.

So much love for those non-gnomish Peacemakers! And if that’s not enough to curdle the milk in Bandit’s cornflakes, she also has to listen to Dean Reynolds fretting about how something horrible must have happened to Syr’Nj, that dear friend of his whom any right-thinking person would admire and respect. Well, let’s see how she handles this.

Side note: when Reynolds talks about the gnomes being housed “within these walls,” he’s talking about the outer walls of Gnometown, not the building he currently occupies, naturally. Interesting that it’s only been a few (gnomish) generations. Is Reynolds old enough to remember his people’s “inodus”? Some Gnometown traditions, at least, seem to be older, but they were probably just brought in from wherever the gnomes lived before.

Our FB description of this page: “Today we observe a high-ranking political figure consulting with a known felon. Could this be the kind of political scandal that finally gets our news division some ad revenue? GUILDED AGE dares to ask.”