The Engineer

### Affiliation

Dodo Studios, DJ Mooves, Shorts Kid, Larry Samuel, Snalien, Charlie Black, Colin Blanc, Minty, Loccan Targhit, Doc Acne, Higgs, Tobias, March, Lucky Jack, Deltasong Danger, Tatters, Rhode, Bou, Echo, Primrose, Rowan, Bob, Rad, Johan, Aleks, Sammy, Donut

## Physical Attributes

### Species

Warne

A Warne movie director. Lives and breathes films, most especially Western style adventure epics. He is also a skilled mechanic who knows (and loves) everything about trains. This character is, very obviously, a homage to the Conductor from the game *A Hat in Time* made by *Gears for Breakfast*.

## Personality

Fiery, stubborn, and rather conniving. Will do anything to make the best, most excitingly entertaining picture possible- even if it involves putting himself at risk. Quick tempered, argumentative, foul-mouthed (for a toon), and can be violent in the right/wrong circumstances. He is a passionate artist and also a doting father and grandfather, who seems to have developed a habit of mentally adopting almost everyone he meets. Despite his rather terrifying reputation and gruff exterior, he is incredibly loving and highly protective of those dear to him, and is often a little too quick to put himself in the line of fire. If he's on your side he will, quite literally, die for you. Multiple times, if need be.

## Appearance

Despite his steadfast claims to being 'a bird' this short statured toon doesn't particularly look like one, or anything else for that matter. Some people speculate he has some Muppetborn heritage, others think he's plain CGI, but he is unarguably a toon through and through. He is bright orange as a default but varies in hue, temperature and brightness depending on his emotional state; ranging from a glowing, molten-metal yellow to deeply desaturated ash grey. When using magic his feathers turn coal black. He has a bear-trap grin, no eyes, pointed ears, somewhat hefty three-clawed paws and a short spray of feathers for a tail. His clothes vary but he habitually wears some variety of a long Railroad Uniform coat, dark trousers, neat black shoes, a waistcoat, and a dress shirt. He also has a signature engineer-style hat with a long brim and gold trim. At some point he has acquired a pink scarf, though sometimes he seems to be wearing a bowtie instead, or a tie, or a neckscarf... Oh, and you can use his neon turquoise mouth as a nightlight if you want. Handy for the grandkids.

## Backstory

**Early life and career origins:**

The Engineer was born (under the name Oscar Andrew Ward, though very few people know that) into a poor but loving family in the middle of the sweeping Warne Desert; his mother- an owl, and his father- a foxlike spirit from the Elemental Plane of Fire. His father 'left' when he was still very young, and while his mother tried her best to raise him responsibly the child proved to have a highly adventurous spirit, not to mention a dangerous inclination towards risky acrobatics, showy explosives and, most terrifying of all, the visual arts.

He was alive to see the birth of film in Einquell, his mother taking him to the Lumierre Candlestick Brothers' travelling show to see the very first piece of footage- which showed a steam locomotive heading straight towards the audience, which sent all the patrons (but one) scuttling for cover. He was transfixed, and already being a lover of trains in all shapes and sizes this formative experience cemented his career path like a set of iron rails. He studied film at every turn with whatever reading material he could get his paws on, but mostly he learned by chasing any job he could in the field, starting out as a gopher before being employed as a background actor and stuntman. In fact, due to his hardy nature and unique appearance the young Engineer earned fame in the industry. He was able to take falls and do stunts that basically nobody else could survive, let alone be willing to do! Film-goers too started to recognise him, and referred to this ‘extra’ who kept appearing in action movies as “*The Man Who Died a Thousand Times.”*

A keen mechanic, eventually the young actor had enough money and parts scraped together to not only make his own working camera, but enough fellow film workers to have a shot as a self-directing star: unfortunately, he had to share the newly opened Dodo Studios with another highly competitive director, DJ Mooves. This forced coexistence hailed the start of a life-long rivalry, though many speculate that his continuous ferocity in striving to improve with every step may have been a direct result. His first film, a silent two-reeler comic short *The Low Sign* was a big hit and put his name on many marquees- a name which, in a still small pond of film makers, quickly became a household by-word for high octane hijinks. At the tender age of twenty his first six-reel success at the Annual Avian Film Festival marked the beginning of a forty year winning streak, and a sky-rocketing reputation for quality that only increased with the advent of sound and colour... leading to a somewhat bloated ego and a near fanatical desire to continue to produce only the very best pictures.

A loose filmography of the Engineers movies can be found here.

**Family life:**

While the Engineer doesn't tend to talk very openly about his marriage to the press, it is well known that during his early years he would frequently visit the Forest of Tievos for long and lonely walks in the dead of night. It was here that he met his partner, a fire spirit of no known name, who he fell in love with. Together they made a home and had a family (three children; Ash, Ember, and Smoke), but their life together was to be short lived, as fire spirits are strange and ethereal creatures. The Engineer's partner returned to the forest, and left the young director to raise their children single handed- albeit with the help of many extra hands, wings and paws from Dodo Studios. The events of his partner's future have not been disclosed to the public, but the Engineer notably began to speak of them in the past tense after the release of the movie which has frequently been called his magnum opus, *Pyre*.

(Note: these events can be read in the format of a comic in *Nitrate Burn*)

**Present day:**

His obsession with high standards led him into rather tyrannical, self-destructive working methods, and he developed a drinking habit to match. This- paired with his natural cunning, disregard for his own safety, and habit of throwing actors into unexpected situations to extract 'the most realistic performance'- gave him a notoriety for being a very hectic, extreme person to work with, and even now his fervour for film does not always manifest in a healthy way. His attitude and working habits have improved recently, however, though it is something of a puzzle as to the exact cause. Some speculate that the change was caused by the disastrous events of the Taffy Train Saga, while others claim that something must have happened to him in the 48 hours that he went missing after that event.

The Engineer has increasingly moved from a Chaotic Neutral character to Chaotic Good, but if finding the transition rather difficult. Having learned that there is no time to waste on being tsundere, however, he is much better at addressing and communicating his feelings these days... which, with him being fluffy and hot-water-bottle temperature by default, is very good news for those who like hugging. He appears to have developed a knack for attracting many powerful enemies, but he shows no sign of this slowing him down- he is, however, concerned for people he's closely connected to being hurt due to it, and is finding it extremely difficult to protect them.

## Shenanigans

(Some inevitable spoiler material ahead!)

The Engineer's first chronological appearance was, fittingly, as the engineer of the Taffy Train in ***Whose Outline is it Anyway***, also known as *The Taffy Train Saga*.

After particularly spectacular and spoiler-laden events he was catapulted from one locomotive to another, finding himself aboard the ***Never-Ending Train*** on what truly seemed to be a never-ending ride. So far he has featured in *The Flooded Carriage* (wherein he acquired his present signature weapon, a flaming pink longsword), *The Train Carriage*, and *The Staircase Carriage*. He had a solo adventure in *The Recovery Car* which revealed that he has tapped into his fire-spirit heritage somewhat involuntarily after years of repressing it. Having befriended a muppetborn lion, the two escaped the confines of the train and by travelled along the roof in a transportation pod they hacked was finally reunited with Minty in *the Reunion Carriage*. There was a lot of hugging and talking and then they all decided to start a train-wide rebellion. Or, well, Engineer did but the others seem to agree on the whole. They instigate it by first travelling to *the Engine*, where they meet Aleks; an automaton who was made by someone called 'the Father' and left to run the train entirely by himself despite not being created for it. After learning some more information about the train the Engineer then used the broadcasting system to make an announcement to the other passengers on the state of the train, how to escape the carriages, and who was responsible for the damage they'd undergone... in a slightly rough around the edges improv sort of a way. Having effectively called out 'the Father', the Soft Trio decide to travel to the Engineer's tailor made carriage the 'Stage Carriage' to hopefully face him on familiar ground. Before this, however, Minty and the Engineer set out to find Higgs, who is in the 'Origami Carriage'.

Eventually (though only after 48 hours in real world time) he reappears in Einquell to take part in the Taffy Train reunion game, ***Lost and Found***. During this game another game took place! ***PatRole Call*** found him unexpectedly waylaid, and rescued, partway through the production of the film. After this the Engineer and Larry had a small, but significant heart to heart in the first ever Toonkind at 12FPS.

Back in the swing of things the Engineer wasted no time in holding auditions in ***Calling All Stars***, wherein he also reclaimed his beloved train the *Will-o'-the-Wisp 209 Express*, also know as Willow. Following in the vein of this rekindled success he gave Lutin Remi an exclusive interview in ***The Man who Died a Thousand Times***, and made good his promise to Tobias, Lucky Jack and March in a series of 12FPS games centred around **acting lessons**.

Things came a little undone due to this ferocious return to activity, however, as the Engineer overworked himself so badly he literally collapsed from fatigue. Larry and Tobias had to defend him from various very loud disruptions in ***Sleepytime Juction***, and in an act of overeager haste found out how dangerous handling Willow's fuel can be, the consequences of which were... rather unexpectedly revelatory. Sadly, this caused the Engineer to break a promise to Larry in the form of a secret that he had been keeping being very literally brought into the light. This was... uh, *sort of* resolved in ***Subway Robbery***, wherein the Engineer's talent was stolen by Tally. The Engineer (being a character extremely centred around and defined by his directing career) had a literal breakdown, coming arguably as close to actual, cartoon-standard of absolute death as he had ever strayed before. Larry helped to pursue her, endured a rather arduous ear-bending on the train journey, and managed to restore the Engineer to his usual self, although sadly Tally slipped their clutches at the end- under the influence of someone else...

Jack, having sort-of-not-really died in an incident that took place at the same time as this stressful day out, was visited over the next few weeks by a very concerned director, who gave him some extra love and attention in the form of another 12FPS. Back at Dodo Studios production stormed ahead for the Engineer's newest and most ambitious project, **Calamity Dame**: the emotional, political and psychological necessity of a new favourite musical for the world compelling him to breach not only a new genre, but a new partnership. The all star cast featured not only Tobias, Primrose and Rhode, but also his long term rival DJ Mooves, who had a tough job making it past the terms and conditions, never mind scoring the entire film. The entire crew did a spectacular job, however, and the movie was a riotous success, earning the three new fledgling stars immediate continent-wide fame, and DJ Mooves enough kudos to be invited onto the Engineer's next project. During this movie he also came to better understand (and love) Rhode Is-And, the sharpshooting witch who helped to save him alongside her colleagues in **PatRole Call**, who unfortunately suffered some flash-back trauma during an action sequence. He also confessed to her that giving her, a blue toon in the style of UPA, the lead role in the musical that was to directly challenge and replace the movie that Dora Z. Scale had starred in (the Marvellous Magician of Waz), was a very conscious decision, as she reminds him so very strongly of Victor Tim, the toon Dora murdered back on the Taffy Train.

In **The Bodyguards**, Rowan, Johan and Bob unexpectedly take on the role of... well, bodyguards, as several assassination attempts are made on the Engineer while he is running tests on set. The trio thwart the villains, and while the Engineer was unaware for the most part of their heroic efforts he joins them on the rooftop for the finale, and welcomes Bob and Rowan onto the staff of Dodo Studios as a result- he offers the same to Johan, but the white lion passes on the offer.

In **Mal O'Prop-isms** the Engineer allows Shorts Kid to skip on finishing the last of their (very extensive) homework, freeing them to play with Charlie in the labyrinthine props storage of the studios. They are waylaid, however, by a prop from one of the Engineer's old *Andy Adder-Bones* movies; a sphinx by the name of Mal O'Prop. The two have to answer his questions and navigate a maze of crates and oversized objects before the story resolves, and everyone ends up eating cake and sleeping in a giant pile of cushions and gosh Toonkind DnD really is adorable sometimes.

In connection to that observation, the Engineer had three very cute fps sessions in rapid succession: one with Tutu Kid, one with Bob, and one with Shorts Kid. In **Revenge of the Second Sibling**, Tutu Kid, mistakenly believing the Engineer to have stolen Shorts Kid away from them, infiltrated the studio with the intention to fight the Engineer final boss style. The Engineer, however, played along to the extent that he pretended to have been 'killed' by Tutu and quickly came back as a 'ghost' (disguise self is a wonderful thing). The two talk things out, but ultimately Tutu Kid leaves the Engineer's offer of being added to his family on the table, as they run away from the studio at the end without accepting... or rejecting it. In Bob fps's the director started out interviewing the shy pencil-pusher for the position of studio accountant, but it rapidly turned into Engineer doing everything he could to keep Bob from running away from the offer, as Rad caused havoc with a partially damaged animatronic plant monster. Finally, Shorts Kid and Engineer spend a night in a pillow fort together in **Going on a Feelings Hunt**, and have some much needed father/child bonding as well as an unexpected pair of guests who force Engineer to reconsider his own relationship with himself and his inherited magic.

In **Coup de Blues** a lot of stuff happened. Like, a lot. Ultimately though the ghost of Taffy Train was put to rest, as was the spirit of Victor Tim, and their spectral forms now occasionally revisit the living to exact spooky but honorable rescue missions, keeping the soul of Taffy's original purpose alive.

In **Stage Fright** the traditional annual Halloween party at Dodo Studios was interrupted somewhat by a critical phonecall from the prison; the Taffy Train Family abandoned the celebrations to grill and roast Dora, and boy did they ever. Having extracted some entertainment, and information, from the Wicked Lich of the West, the five of them travel by train to an abandoned place known as *the Town with No Name* on the hunch that this is where the Hyukuza have been carrying out some of their dirty dealings. They find an old diner called *Teddy Tazbear's Burgeria*, and set to investigating. They recover a list of names, prices and animals, which they easily deduce is the people to whom the transformed toons from Idyll Island and All Washed Up are being sold. Immediately after recovering this vital evidence, however, they are set upon by three animatronic animals, and have to fight their way through them and the ever-dreadful Furzies before being rewarded by a projection of none other than the elusive boss of the Hyukuza himself... the Jester.

To wind down from that rather stressful encounter the Engineer and Rowan got to know each other a little better (and get a little merrier at the same time) in and fps which started at a local tavern and ended up with the two rather woozily making their way back to Dodo Studios to set up Rowan more comfortable permanent lodgings than the tree he'd been sleeping in until now.

In **Leaning the Hopes** the Engineer finally knitted in with the adventures of the Star Trio- Mersel, Primrose and Tobias- and their extensive adventures involving the weather changing musical, magical machine, Hope. A complicated creation Hope requires four people to operate, and Tobias suggested the Engineer to take the place of her maintainer. After some rather heartache inducing conversation with Hope herself, the Engineer accepts, and forms a strong bond with the machine.

**RE:Snesine** saw Snailien undergoing a very exciting event in a toon's life; that of a design change. Gregory raced to bring her adoptive father to help her through the process and, after rather badly bungling his interaction with Gregory on the way, he was all too happy to oblige and did his best to explain what was happening to both parties as the process took part. A similarly celebratory occasion was the adventure of **the Birthanniversanimas Cake**, where Shorts Kid, Charlie, Pam, and Snailien worked together to create a three tier cake to mark the anniversary of Dodo Studios, the beginning of the Animas holidays, and Larry's birthday. It was... very messy but, ultimately, a huge success.

Seeking to get a better grip on his magic the Engineer sought a similarly impulsive soul in the warlock witch, Rhode. In **Shooting Stars** various madcap schemes resulted in a better understanding on how to use his inherited fire spirit powers to defend himself, and not a second too soon, as this would prove to come in helpful in the Animas game **That's a Wrap!** Taken by surprise in an ambush the director was temporarily dadnapped and half frozen to death by the enigmatic and extremely tall puppet villain, Mr. M. His predicament was swiftly solved by the arrival of Larry, Tobias, Sammy and Donut, who by excellent team play (and a string of very lucky rolls on the Engineer's part) saved not only the Engineer but the entire town of Spookyville.

A brand new cinematic experience hits the screen with the advent of **STAR CAWS**: a three part space comedy-adventure epic. Collaborating once again with DJ Mooves, Tobias, Larry, Primrose, Rhode, Lucky Jack, March and even more familiar faces these three movies span the galaxy and were a great hit with the youth of Einquell. The Engineer's driving force with this set of movies was to bring more laughter back into the world, as sorely needed as it is, but also to raise money for another project- one, for once, not film oriented. He discusses the concept with Bob at the end of **Triple Feature** (a three way fps also including a small but heartfelt interaction between the Engineer and Tally), revealing it to be a successor to the Taffy Train: a sea train that can reach across the waters to other people who might be suffering, and to simultaneously represent toonkind and educate those who maybe have been misinformed about them. He also has decided to push for transcontinental releases of his films for the same reason.

In **Spelling Test** he has some fun (and a taste of humble pie) while sparring with Mersel, while in **A Rooftop Conversation** Charlie and the Engineer discuss somewhat heavier topics- but both come out of it for the better. Meanwhile, merchandise is in ever high demand after Star Caws concludes, and in **Pro-Toy-Type** the Engineer brings two toy representations of Yoba and Rhode for them to give feedback and hopefully their approval for production! Alas, things go more than slightly awry, as all three come to have a very intimate relationship with the tiny totemic versions of themselves. They are transformed into the toys via a badly (or madly) written scroll for the spell 'animate object', but who penned this piece of paper? Are there more of them in existence? Perhaps time will tell. In **An Old Dog can Teach New Tricks** (set during the preliminary work for Star Caws) the Engineer taught Primrose the essentials of stunts, and through various victories and fumbles the two got to know each other much better, growing closer both as a professional team and as friends.

**Firing on All Four Cylinders** saw a quartet of braincells striving to make some progress on the issue of the Jester, and while the collective title came to be the Dumb Ideas Squad everyone was actually pretty damn clever and plans are laid for a trap... while two very different types of trap are exacted in **Beauty and the Beaks!** SK, Charlie and Larry have determined that it is about time the OAP otp got over themselves and together, but a romantic evening at a hijacked restaurant turns out to be more exciting than previously expected. It is, however, a great success overall, as proven by the following and adequately titled game, **the Inevitable Discotrain fps**. It was very fluffy. It's canon now.

A new branch of story opened up with M1-A and Professor Wudlig Don Vrake in **Mend-a-Friend**, where M1-A's friend C0-D3 needs to be mended posthaste, and Wudlig calls in the Engineer to help with the more practical side of fixing a living machine. The Engineer and Wudlig successfully revived the damaged C0-D3, unlcoked some fascinating lore, and also gave the aliens their first lecture on unionization.

The Engineer's default director look.The Engineer's original appearance in the Taffy Train Saga/first NETrain episodes.The Engineer's usual state.Visual depiction of the Engineer's exceptional knowledge of train maps and portability.Art of The Engineer, Larry and Tally by Obby.A demonstration of the Engineer being 'in character' as Glen.A scene from 'Brokebeak Mountain'; a rare instance of Engineer in a romantic movie role.The Engineer kindly allowing someone to know of his presence by vocalisation.The Engineer and his favourite mount, Bonnie the mule.The director of Dodo Studios welcoming some new recruits.A demonstration of the Engineer's colour change in the sense of lightning.The Engineer after rolling a natural 20 to attack.Professional negotiations between DJ Mooves and the Engineer.The cast of Calamity Dame during briefing.The Engineer writing scripts with the assistance of Shorts Kid.The Wil O' The Wisp 209 Express (aka. Willow)An extensive list of connections and affections; art by Staarbs.Various daily incarnations of the Engineer.The Engineer is well known for his Westerns.Several depictions of the Engineer in his movies.The Engineer has a deep, deep love of movies and his employees.A photograph taken during the filming of the Majestic Eleven depicting the Engineer and Deltasong Danger.A diagram depicting the colour/temperature changes of the Engineer depending on his mood.A particular extreme of emotion can result in complete desaturation for the Engineer.(NETrain spoiler) The instant when the Engineer rather involuntarily took a level in sorcery.Depiction of an extreme of magical connection causing the Engineer's feathers to turn black.The Engineer's signature Flame Tongue Longsword (left: usual state, right: green-flame-blade cantrip), was acquired from the Wizard's Tower in the first NETrain carriageThe Engineer's typical run cycle.Engineer using Lightning Lure demonstrating how any use of magic turns relevant parts of him coal black.The Engineer wearing cowboy clothes.The Engineer's business card/signature (top: Dodo Studios logo)The Engineer wearing a very nice scarf knitted by Charlie's nan.The Engineer and his 'biggest fan', Mr. Misery.If he had a gold piece for everytime he'd been held captive by ice chains he'd have two gold. Which isn't a lot but it's weird that it's happened twice.Engineer thanking Larry for being LarryThe Engineer has, as the kids say these days, 'mad ups'.Engineer demonstrating how to inflict blindness.Green flame blade is a very useful cantrip when it comes to large egoistic puppet monsters.Poster image of the Engineer created for the promotion of Under the Wheel (lineart by Leeffi, colour by mod)Poster for Too High to Fall (collaboration between Modmad and Holey)Poster for Too High to Fall (variant) (collaboration between Modmad and Holey)Early promotional image of the Engineer