The
Bādaw Mechanism is both the name of a class of prominent artifacts unearthed by the explorer
Tāyas āng Harig from the ruined city of
Bādaw in the
Mitlac Realmhusk near the
Rasp, and the name given to the first such artifact that he discovered. Extracted with no small amount of effort from the rusting wagons that litter the streets of the city, they are believed to be the beating heart of the vehicle and the primary means by which it achieves locomotion.
Discovery
The Bādaw Mechanism was discovered by
Tāyas āng Harig, an
Architect explorer and native of the Rasp. He was known for previous discoveries such as the
Bādaw Slate, which remains a subject of fascination for researchers to this day.
Though there are many lingering mysteries about the ruins of Bādaw and the enigmatic civilization that must have flourished there before the realm's death, few are more present in the minds of would-be explorers than the rusting carcasses of the metal wagons that dot the city's streets. Seeking to gain some modicum of insight into the workings of one such vehicle, Tāyas sought out a relatively undamaged specimen and levered open the shaped metal plate in front of the vehicle that protected its guts.
He found exactly what he was expecting: a mass of metal, wires, and tubes of some description. Though the tangle seemed chaotic at first, he soon realized there was a pattern to the madness. Everything led to the large metal hunk that sat in the middle of it all. Using equipment specialized for cutting through steel, he painstakingly extracted the mechanism and used the metal plate on the front of the vehicle as a makeshift sled to drag it back to the Rasp.
Complexity
Once Tāyas was able to secure a second specimen of the Bādaw Mechanism, researchers given access to the first were given permission to take it apart. The process was laborious and ultimately resulted in some damage to the mechanism, but the researchers were successful in revealing the artifact's interior.
The mechanism is incredibly complex, with potentially hundreds of parts involved in its construction. Its most prominent features are the eight cylinders arranged in groups of four on either side of the mechanism, the pistons meticulously fitted to each such that not even air can pass through, and the misshapen shaft to which the pistons are attached. These are believed to be the core parts of the mechanism, but scholars have yet to determine the principles by which the mechanism is supposed to produce locomotion.
Though superficially similar to the
Duality Engine invented in
Sekhar, the Bādaw Mechanism is entirely different. Attempts were made to run one of the specimens on steam but the line of inquiry proved fruitless and was abandoned.
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