The Coal Driven Arms

"Ha ha ha, I would be glad to help you. These arms will be my greatest work," Hans, The Engineer

History of The Coal Driven Arms

To tell you about The Coal Driven Arms, I have to give you some back story. I first found The Lost Place as a child. For a few years, The Lost Place was a location of escape for my younger brother and me. As we got older, me into my young teen years, I didn't visit as often. During these years I made a grave mistake and brought one of my tormentors into The Lost Place. I must confess that The Bear helped me to injure this specific tormentor. We hurt him in our world but brought him with us to The Lost Place so that he could be hidden away, in his final resting spot. I misjudged his will to live and he was found by The Corpse King; as a result, my dear friends, the Lufkuns paid a terrible price. With the aid of his new weapon, The Corpse King took harsh revenge on the Luftkuns by removing their arms.
Without arms, The Lufkun's world fell into disrepair. There was no more gardening. The lavish gardens of The Green Thumbed Gardening Luftkuns were overtaken with weeds and the squash, zucchini, tomatoes, pumpkins, and melons were all choked out. The berry bushes grew wild and unpicked. The Luftkuns were so dismayed and could only watch with sad eyes as the berries plumped and ruined before dropping and rotting. The once expertly manicured lawns grow out of control. There was no more Luftkun art, music, or pottery, as they had no arms or hands to create their masterpieces. Their creative juices ran dry and the creators grew bitter. The once finely built Luktun huts and longhouses fell into disrepair with no way of using tools to complete needed maintenance. Pumpkin Hill became a sad place without song, or growing food, or the visual joy of the arts. In time the grass and vines and jungles overtook the hill. The Luftkuns were forgotten entirely both by the children they had helped so much as well as by the rest of the creatures of The Lost Place. Some Luftkuns were forced into labor for The Corpse King but the remainder were silent as the world moved on.
It is uncertain just when and where Hans The Engineer came from. Perhaps he found a red door and stepped into The Lost Place. Maybe he was forced to walk the plank of a Spanish Gallion; just before hitting the salty brine he arrived here instead. Whatever way he found himself here, he did with his tools and a knowledge that had never been seen before in The Lost Place. Hans traveled The Lost Place as a drifter until he came upon what had once been known as Pumpkin Hill. He would later comment that he felt an immense pull to this place. He cut his way into the heart of the old Luftkun village. He could feel their eyes on him as he cleared the vines away from what had once been a workshop for wagons. Hans worked night and day setting up his new workshop. Finally, some of the saddened Luftkuns approached The Kind Engineer. As it turns out Hans knew about loss and despair too. He worked like a madman. Nights bled into days and still, Hans worked. Hammers clanged, metal bent and gears began to turn. The Coal Driven Arms became a reality.

The Arms

The arms are a mix of rods, gears, belts, and levers. Little doors opened to reveal tiny coal-burning furnaces complete with tiny exhaust chimneys that put-puts little plumes of smoke as the arms move about. Two leather belts criss cross the Luftkuns's backs to hold the mechanical arms in place. Every arm is different as each is handcrafted with love by The Engineer.
Over a period of months, the hard work of The Engineer paid off as every Luftkun far and near had been fitted with new working arms. Gardens were planted, epics written, buildings repaired, and slowly The Lufkuns made their return.

The Arms as Weapons

The Luftkuns knew that The Corpse King would hear of this revival; they had no plans of having their new arms taken away. After much convincing, The Engineer fitted some of the Lufkuns with weaponized arms but only after they had promised to use them only for defense.

by Pretty Sleepy Art

Hans The Engineer

The Coal Driven Arms.

The arms clank and bounce with the grinding of gears as The Luftkuns go about their work. The arms are rather noisy as they work. Streams of black exhaust puff out of the stovepipes on each of the arms. In the evenings Luftkuns hang their arms up by the leather belts and settle in to rest from a hard day's work.

The Arms as Weapons.

The Engineer made each of the weaponized arms as unique as the Luftkun that would yield it.
One arm is handless, it has a cannon in the place of the missing hand. From this cannon, the wearer can fire large potatoes.
One arm has two metal flangs with a thick rubber belt stretched between to form a big slingshot used to fire forks at enemies.
One arm has the head of what we would call a weedeater attached to its end.
There are four arms with different blades such as a pitchfork, an axe, a sword, and a saw blade attached as hacking and slashing weapons.