The Federal Reserve Bank in Washington DC has been robbed! Yvette Cloud looks on in horror as citizens snap up the spare bills swirling in the breeze. Among them: Joshua Mew, ship’s engineer on the Victoriana. Yvette chides Mew for his greed, and reveals the perpetrators of the crime: Victor, the Victoriana’s evil twin ship, possessed by the nefarious Black Cloaks. Yvette and Joshua jetpack back to the ship.

On the Victor, the Black Cloaks’ leader Adelaide McKenna consults with her cohort, Roger Rogér. Former crew members of the Victoriana, they’re successfully effecting mayhem around the entire country—destroying all the potatoes in Idaho, for one. What’s worse, the Victoriana has been mistaken for its evil twin, and is a wanted ship on its own.

In the middle of Central Park, Wilhemina Wyldeheart and Captain Hamwich Leon investigate a mysterious source of power, which seems to exist underneath every major city on Earth, and which the Black Cloaks have been extracting for their own purposes. With a gruesome blood sacrifice, Wilhemina and Hamwich open a great hole in the ground, and leap into the darkness below.

Back on the Victoriana, Yvette hears the Lady Electra Spencer calling to her from within the ship, where she’s been trapped. Yvette enlists Leto, who also has a mysterious magical power, to try contacting Electra. Joining their magical powers together, they extract her from the hull of the ship; she’s returned, though not quite as herself. Much like Leto, the Lady Electra is now partially a machine.

Joshua Mew, meanwhile, shares a healthy portion of liquor with his crewmate Kit. At her insistence, Joshua Mew steers the ship to New York City as well, so they can seek out the long-absent Wilhemina Wyldeheart and Captain Hamwich Leon. As he points the ship northward, Joshua too feels the presence of Lady Electra.

In the White House, President McKinley is flustered by the wave of crime caused by the Victor. Suddenly, an intruder in the Oval Office: Roger Rogér, second in command of the Black Cloaks! Roger easily dispatches the president’s Secret Service agents, but the President calls for a secret weapon: an agent of The Hand, the international organization dedicated to combating the Black Cloaks. With ease, The Hand’s agent sends Captain Rogér to his grave. It’s too late: the President is mortally wounded! With his dying breath, the President gives his Hand agent one final instruction: go to New York City, where the Black Cloaks are obtaining their power.

Benjamin Cumberbatch, the young seer, consults his All-Seeing Orb and for the hundredth time witnesses the same vision: killing Wilhemina Wyldeheart. He now realizes that Wilhemina is a Black Cloak and must be destroyed.

In the depths underneath Manhattan, Wilhemina and Hamwich come to—only to find themselves surrounded by evil, terrifying spirits. Wilhemina quickly sets a magical spell to give them a moment’s respite—not only from the evil around them, but from that within themselves. Briefly relieved, they promise to keep fighting the Black Cloak “infection” inside each of them.

Out of nowhere, Adelaide McKenna appears! She casts a spell to freeze Hamwich Leon, and talks to Wilhemina, her childhood friend. Adelaide implores Wilhemina to come with her to the side of the Black Cloaks, but Wilhemina’s love for Hamwich is too great—and she knows that Hamwich would likely die if she did so.

Wilhemina sees Hamwich’s ring, a token of his love, glistening on Adelaide’s finger. “Why do you want him too?,” Wilhemina asks. Hamwich, stirred by the ring, rumbles to life; but Adelaide has left, more furious than ever.

Joshua Mew returns from an unsuccessful trip into New York City to find Wilhemina and Hamwich. He is stunned to find Lady Electra back among the living! This is nothing, though, compared to what Electra gives him: a kiss, passed through her from Sarah, Joshua’s deceased wife, whose spirit still dwells in the ship.

Colonel Solomon Fitzgerald is also overjoyed to see Electra again, perhaps to the chagrin of Yvette, with whom she’d grown close. Yvette summons the entire Victoriana crew and lowers them into the great hole, landing underneath Manhattan. They find themselves in a ticking blackness, and realize they’re inside a giant machine made entirely of bones! Joshua follows Kit’s voice into the blackness while Yvette strikes out to find Wilhemina.

Wilhemina and Hamwich reach the very heart of the dark realm beneath New York City. Through a doorway, Wilhemina sees a shadowy figure: The Master. Overtaken by her evil power, Wilhemina kneels at his feet.

Just then, Yvette projects her magic onto Wilhemina, giving her a burst of strength to resist. Wilhemina leaps up, draws her knife, and battles the Master! After a struggle she disembowels him, bathing herself in his blood. As he dies, a spark of energy passes into Wilhemina.

Yvette and the crew of the Victoriana arrive just in time to see Wilhemina covered in blood. Benjamin realizes his vision has come true: here is Wilhemina, and now is the time to kill her! Before anyone can react, Benjamin spears Wilhemina through the back!

The crew is aghast at the sudden loss of their friend just as they’ve found her. Yvette rebukes them, though: “Now is not her time!” She summons all that remains of her magic power and transfers her life force to Wilhemina, returning her to life. The crew gathers round to witness the apparent miracle, but just then: a deep, unsettling laugh from Wilhemina.

Joshua Mew, meanwhile, is lost.

What have the crew awakened by reviving Wilhemina?
Will the evil ship Victor return to battle the Victoriana?
Is The Hand poised to destroy it as well?
And what is this evil energy that gives the Black Cloaks their power?

Come to the next episode of Steam, Rose-Colored Goggles, and the Flight of the Victoriana as we all find out together!

Content:  Kevin Miller
Photos:  Roy Moore

The mighty airship Victoriana hovers over the dusty streets of Cairo. In the market bazaar below, ship’s engineer Joshua Mew confronts “Randy,” the drifter who has been living a quiet and lazy life aboard ship for 7 weeks now. Joshua has learned Randy’s true name, Barnaby Jones, and suspects that Barnaby has been an agent for the nefarious Black Cloaks this entire time. Barnaby denies any such involvement, insisting that his only loyalty is to finger sandwiches.

Across the ocean in Richmond, Virginia, Adelaide McKenna—once thought a naive young ingenue—supervises the production of black cloaks at her family’s own factory. She and Roger Rogér, dispatched from the Victoriana to escort her, try on their new cloaks and feel flushed with evil power. Adelaide has seized control of the entire Black Cloaks organization!

Alone in his quarters, Benjamin Cumberbatch consults the All-Seeing Orb for visions of the future. He again sees an elderly Adelaide McKenna, lacking an arm and with a scar on her face; then he sees Barnaby, standing at the wheel of the Victoriana as it burns.

Colonel Solomon Fitzgerald and Yvette Cloud explore the great pyramids of Giza. To their surprise they find a secret passage, and deep inside, an entirely unexpected duo: Leto and Sigma, the Colonel’s own cyborg assassins, waiting for them there. Sigma, who went rogue and founded the Black Cloaks, remains furious that Solomon refused to grant her a soul. The Colonel responds coldly that she was a simple, evil mistake; it’s her sister Leto who is good and deserves to live. Dejected, Sigma agrees to give up Leto’s soul, and she quietly dies—but not before declaring that the Black Cloaks have a new leader now.

While in London, Sigma converted the ship’s captain Hamwich Leon into a Black Cloak. For everyone’s safety, his onetime love Wilhemina Wyldeheart has magically teleported them both far away, to the heart of New York City. She knows he’s a Black Cloak, but hopes he can be saved; however Hamwich realizes that she, too, is now bound to become one. They decide to spend time in New York City together, not knowing what the future may hold.

Joshua Mew, in the belly of the ship, discovers Barnaby’s hidden stash of finger sandwiches—and a curious token: a brass compass. At that moment the Victoriana itself stirs to life and asks Barnaby a curious question: “Have you thought about what we asked you?” Much to Joshua’s disbelief, Victoriana wants Barnaby to pilot the ship. Barnaby snatches the compass from Joshua and refuses the job.

Adelaide reappears on the ship to visit her chum Barnaby, who (to her delight) is as lackadaisical as ever. She and Captain Rogér begin to quietly reroute the ship’s main power, intent on making the Victoriana itself a giant, living Black Cloak. Joshua Mew is too concerned with rescuing Yvette, Colonel Fitzgerald, and Leto from the pyramids below to notice their scheme. Their work complete, they inject their own dark energy into the ship! Though the soul of the Victoriana fights back, it’s no use, and the ship hyper-shifts its way back across the Atlantic to Richmond.

In New York City, Wilhemina and Hamwich enjoy each other’s romantic company, drunkenness and all. We discover that, years ago, Hamwich proposed to Wilhemina. She kept his grandmother’s ring as a token, yet never said yes, and Hamwich is crushed to learn that she pawned it off to save him. (Unbeknownst to Wilhemina, the ring is still among the crew, though it’s now in the hands of Adelaide.)

In the skies over Richmond, the Victoriana is powerless to resist the evil energy infusing it. Again it calls out to Barnaby, begging him to pilot the ship to safety; again he refuses. Finally Barnaby is confronted by Yvette Cloud, whose spiritual powers let her see his potential for saving them all. Barnaby finally admits to being a pilot, but a stubbornly retired one, following a mishap that killed his own sister and many others. Yvette is furious that he won’t put the past behind him. She chides him until he agrees—reluctantly, as always—to try taking over the ship.

Barnaby innocently wanders to the bridge, where Adelaide and Captain Rogér are but minutes away from docking with the Black Cloak factory. He wins the trust of Rogér with his casual attitude, and offers to take the wheel…

Just then the heroes strike! Benjamin Cumberbatch scuffles with Captain Rogér. Yvette attacks Adelaide, who displays a superhuman strength but is finally subdued. And then Barnaby executes “The Move,” steering the ship directly towards the sun. Leto is seen standing on the bow of the ship, soul now intact. The ship bursts into flames, just as in Benjamin’s vision. And in a burst of light, the Victoriana is purged: both of its dark energy, and of Adelaide and Captain Rogér. Again it is safe!

In Central Park, a happy Wilhemina awaits another romantic outing with Hamwich. Behind a tree, though, Hamwich is cruelly strangling a homeless man. His appetite for violence as a Black Cloak is, as of yet, unquenchable. He then gathers himself, resumes his cheery personality, and meets Wilhemina for their date.

On the Victoriana, we discover that Barnaby is a famed former captain. Joshua Mew tells Barnaby that, with both qualified pilots turned into Black Cloaks, the Victoriana needs someone at the wheel. Barnaby sighs and agrees to the task.

Just as the lights fade on this story, however, one dark revelation: the Victoriana was not purged of its evil power as our heroes thought—it now has an identical twin, a second ship just as evil as the Victoriana is good!

Will Adelaide and Rogér seek out the Victoriana again?
Can Hamwich and Wilhemina resist their evil impulses?
Can the Lady Electra, previously absorbed into the ship, be extracted?

Come to the next episode of Steam, Rose-Colored Goggles, and the Flight of the Victoriana as we all find out together!

Content:  Kevin Miller
Photos:  Roy Moore & Steve Rogers

The Parliament building in London lies in rubble. In its midst: the wreckage of the mighty airship Victoriana, brought down by Sigma, the cyborg leader of the nefarious Black Cloaks.

Ship’s engineer Joshua Mew and Lady Electra Spencer stumble out of the wreckage. They both feel not only an emotional loss, but a strangely spiritual one. Joshua insists they must leave the ship to see if it can be repaired, though Electra is curiously reluctant to do so.

Wilhemina Wyldeheart and her partner Kit, who thought they’d left the Victoriana back in Russia, are stunned to have seen it plummet out of the London sky. Wilhemina had sworn off the ship and its Captain, Hamwich Leon, but it seems that fate insists they remain together. And yet the ship is crashed! Wilhemina fears for the fate of the crew.

Wilhemina is happily reunited with Adelaide McKenna, her friend from back in Richmond. Though she survived the wreck, Adelaide reveals some tragic news: her father back in Virginia has passed away, and she must return to tend to her family textile business. Captain Roger Rogér, former captain of the Victoriana, offers to fly her back across the Atlantic. Wilhemina, newly open about her magical abilities, offers a protective spell to shield them on their way.

The mechanical parts of the Victoriana discuss their own fate while the crew is away. With Sigma having taken part of the ship’s soul, “Vicky” realizes she must transfer part of herself to another living creature to stay alive. She realizes that Lady Electra Spencer, who stayed onboard as the ship wrecked, is meant to serve this role.

Back in London, Lady Electra is suddenly overcome with an intense need to return to the ship. Yvette intuitively realizes that Electra has more than one person inside her; she is “pregnant,” not with child, but with the soul of the ship.

Lady Electra then shares her own dark secret with Yvette. As an 11-year-old duchess, she was raped by a family servant, who left her unable to have children and effectively abandoned by her family.

Being spiritually united with the ship is the first time in her life she’s had such a relationship. Before the Lady can return to the ship, however, they’re accosted by the Prime Minister’s guard and ordered to his offices.

Captain Hamwich Leon and the mysterious Randy observe the repairs to the Victoriana. Hamwich reveals that he knows Randy’s true identity: Barnaby Jones, an acquaintance from years past. Barnaby admits his identity and reveals that Hamwich broke his sister’s heart… a sister now dead. “You think that everything you do has no consequence,” says Barnaby, “but one day it’s going to come back.”

Just then, Wilhemina Wyldeheart walks back onto the Victoriana, a ship to which she’d vowed never to return. She slaps Hamwich—twice; she’s furious that he never came to her aid, while he responds that he’s done his best. Finally Wilhemina’s strong front breaks, and she embraces Hamwich passionately. He calls her his “baby girl.”

In London, Lady Electra and Yvette are escorted in to see Prime Minister Fitzpatrick. He’s aware that the crew of the Victoriana is deeply involved in fighting the Black Cloaks, and reveals that the British government has formed its own organization, called The Hand, to battle it. The Prime Minister demands her assistance, holding the crew members of the Victoriana in ransom; but Electra turns the tables, insisting he will only receive her help if he “plays nice.” He grudgingly agrees.

Lady Electra then receives a visitor from the opposing team: a Black Cloak appears and insists that she come alone to their steam-powered factory in the center of London. Electra is yet again adamant not to leave the ship to which she is now bound, but Victoriana tells her she must go.

Across the ocean, Adelaide McKenna and Roger Rogér arrive at her family’s estate and textiles factory. Adelaide is reunited with an old friend, Steph, who shares a surprise. It seems that Adelaide’s late father was manufacturing black cloaks. Then an even bigger surprise: Adelaide says “I know.”

Joshua Mew recalls the first time, five years ago, that he set foot on the Victoriana. As his first ship, Joshua knew that he wanted a true connection to it; and so he threw open the main boiler, and tossed in a small bauble containing the “essence” of his deceased wife, Sarah. With that, the Victoriana whirred to life and became a living thing, unique among airships. We now know why it is that Joshua can communicate with the ship so intimately, why the Black Cloaks have such an interest in it, and why the ship needed Lady Electra to continue living.

Wilhemina and Hamwich arrive separately at the Black Cloaks’ factory, which is what drew Wilhemina to London in the first place. They see Electra approaching the front gate, and Hamwich begins to twitch strangely in response.

Inside, Electra meets a Black Cloak who demands possession of the “baby” inside her—her connection to the Victoriana. Electra won’t go down without a fight, however; she battles the Black Cloak valiantly, and is rescued at the last moment by the sudden appearance of Kit! Glowing, Kit uses her magical powers to disintegrate and absorb the evil Black Cloak into herself. They escape the evil London factory together, only to encounter a shocking new threat: Captain Hamwich Leon!

Kit has pieced the mystery together: before fleeing the Victoriana, Sigma turned Hamwich into a Black Cloak! Only halfway in control of himself, Hamwich stalks toward the Lady Electra. Wilhemina refuses to believe the news. “Not him!” she screams.

Electra races to the controls of the Victoriana, and powered by magic, its various pieces rise into the London sky of their own accord. Hamwich is on board as well, however, and so Wilhemina Wyldeheart makes a sacrifice to rescue them all: she embraces Hamwich and teleports them off the ship, destination unknown.

The crew is safe, but Electra’s union with the ship becomes complete. Her body slowly converts to metal, and she physically disappears into the machinery of the Victoriana as it rises over England. She awakes amongst the parts of the ship, and realizes that she now is one with them.

Yvette Cloud is livid at the apparent loss of her friend. She verbally assaults Joshua Mew, who she insists should have known this would happen. Joshua knew Victoriana had a soul—he’d placed it there himself—but had no idea a person could be pulled into it. Yvette despairs at the loss all around her, though Joshua points out that Electra still lives within the ship. No matter: Yvette swears vengeance against the Black Cloaks.

What is Adelaide McKenna’s relationship with the Black Cloaks?
Why has Barnaby Jones been lurking on the Victoriana?
Will Lady Electra Spencer ever be seen in human form again?

Come to the next episode of Steam, Rose-Colored Goggles, and the Flight of the Victoriana as we all find out together!

Content:  Kevin Miller
Photos:  Roy Moore & Steve Rogers

Colonel Solomon Fitzgerald is having a bad day. His friend Sergei has kidnapped Leto, his cyborg assassin, to murder the czar of Russia. As the airship Victoriana arrives in St. Petersburg, he finds himself too late: the czar lies dead. But Leto, found shooting wildly outside the palace, is not the murderer! The Colonel finds a grisly calling card: the letter “S” carved into the czar’s neck.

Onboard the Victoriana, Captain Hamwich Leon is demonstrating his prowess with the ladies as he romances Yvette Cloud, from the wilds of Canada. She tells Hamwich that she first sought out the Victoriana in search of help for her family from the nefarious Black Cloaks, but that family is now seemingly dead. She then unveils a mysterious bauble: a dream in solid form. She gifts it to Hamwich, though he must discover how to use it.

Wilhemina Wyldeheart and her friend Kit allowed themselves to be left behind when the Victoriana departed Moscow. There, they explore their newfound magical powers—it seems that Kit, like Wilhemina, is from a magical tribe. Wilhemina is insistent that she never return to the Victoriana; she once sought it out for help, then for revenge, but now she feels her path lies elsewhere… and that it leads to London.

Colonel Fitzgerald brings Leto back onboard. Her soul appears to have been drained, leaving her a shell of her former self. Roger reports that eleven more people have been found with the letter “S” carved into their neck. Colonel Fitzgerald is flummoxed; Sergei might have kidnapped Leto, even murdered the czar, but rampant murder such as this isn’t his style. Unbeknownst to the Colonel, however, an unseen figure is hiding in his quarters…

Ship’s engineer Joshua Mew cajoles Randy, laziest and most reluctant of the Victoriana crew, into help with maintenance. Just then a mysterious machine in the corner whirrs to life, and Joshua finds himself in a video conference with Wilhemina Wyldeheart back in Moscow. Wilhemina declares that she has a magical destiny away from the Victoriana; Joshua is highly skeptical. Then Wilhemina says something even more surprising: Randy, typically only interested in finger sandwiches, is the one who can best protect the crew of the ship.

The adventurous ingenue, Adelaide McKenna, enters an abandoned home in the ravaged city of St. Petersburg with Benjamin Cumberbatch. Their plan to pilfer some abandoned loot goes quickly awry, however, as they’re kidnapped by Sergei—though he’s acting far more bloodthirsty and evil than the friend that Colonel Fitzgerald knew.

As Colonel Fitzgerald romances Lady Electra Spencer with his fine collection of cigars, the hidden figure suddenly leaps from its hiding place, kisses Solomon, addresses him as “father,” and disappears. The Colonel is floored: Sigma has returned! He tells Electra that Leto Rho is but one of a series of cyborg assassins he built during the war. Sigma is Leto’s dark twin, whose soul he took, and who later went on to establish the Black Cloaks. It was Sigma who led the Colonel to join the Victoriana in the first place, Sigma who turned Sergei into a Russian killing machine, and now Sigma is onboard herself. The entire ship is now in danger!

Down in St. Petersburg, Sergei is taking great pleasure in tormenting his captives Adelaide and Benjamin. He cruelly carves an “S” into Benjamin’s neck, but then Adelaide breaks free and effortlessly defeats Sergei in single combat. The tables turned, they return to the Victoriana.

It’s discovered that Sigma has wreaked havoc on the bridge, steering the ship back towards Paraguay, where the Black Cloaks have their giant robot factory. Joshua Mew enlists the help of Lady Electra Spencer, who shows a surprising propensity for repairing machines. The Victoriana comes to a stop over London, where it tosses and turns wildly. Then the ship calls to Joshua and reveals that Sigma has bound her soul to the ship’s; only emergency repairs can save it now.

Wilhemina and Kit arrive in London as well, not realizing they are again nearby the Victoriana. Wilhemina is drawn to another strange steam-powered factory. They reach the entryway and sense a powerful magical force within.

Adelaide reveals some tragic news: her father has died back in Richmond, and she’ll have to return to America. She offers her All-Seeing Orb to Benjamin, but for the second time, he has a vision of the future when he touches it: Adelaide, old and gray, surrounded by children but lacking an arm. He reveals his first vision to Adelaide as well: that he himself will kill Wilhemina Wyldeheart.

Colonel Fitzgerald corners Sigma and tells her he has plans to destroy her. She makes a daring escape, however, leaping from the bow of the Victoriana and plunging to the London streets below.

Without Sigma, the Victoriana begins sinking towards the earth, on a collision course with the Parliament building itself! The Colonel tells Joshua that the Victoriana is beyond hope, and sounds the call to abandon ship. Joshua refuses; he will stay with the ship he loves, even to its destruction.

The Parliament building trains its Gatling guns on the Victoriana as it plummets downward. The crew of the Victoriana strap on their jetpacks and leap into their lifeboats.

Is the mighty airship finally doomed?
Can Colonel Fitzgerald stop his creation Sigma from causing further havoc?
And what is Randy’s true identity?

Come to the next episode of Steam, Rose-Colored Goggles, and the Flight of the Victoriana as we all find out together!

Content:  Kevin Miller
Photos:  Roy Moore & Steve Rogers

The mighty airship Victoriana floats over the frozen city of Moscow in the dead of winter. The young adventurer Benjamin Cumberbatch meets with Lady Electra Spencer, who tells him that the ship is freezing up. It has begun to make uncomfortable noises, noises that almost make it sound alive.

Colonel Solomon Fitzgerald meets with Sergei and Elena, two old friends from Russia, who are plotting to murder the Czar. They set up a meeting to discuss the plot, though the Colonel has no interest in killing more heads of state than he already has.

In the city, ship’s engineer Joshua Mew is schnockered on Russian vodka with Adelaide McKenna, who still possesses the mysterious All-Seeing Orb that she acquired in Paris. Mew is strangely insistent to Wilhemina Wyldeheart that Captain Hamwich Leon, kidnapped back in Paraguay, must be in command of the Victoriana.

Benjamin Cumberbatch, curious, takes the All-Seeing Orb from Adelaide and is immediately overcome! He sees visions of Hamwich Leon; and suddenly he too is fervent in his desire for Hamwich to return.

In the evil factory, the ringleader of the nefarious Black Cloaks interrogates Hamwich: “What is the secret of the Victoriana?” Aloof as always, Hamwich denies that it’s anything more than an airship: “It’s made of finger sandwiches!!” The Black Cloaks commence to torment Hamwich with fevered nightmares.

On the Victoriana, acting captain Rogér is aware of Benjamin’s desire to rescue Captain Leon. He reveals a prototype invention: a “jump bracelet” that will allow the wearer to jump through space. With it, Benjamin teleports back to the Paraguayan jungle, to the gates of the Black Cloaks’ lair.

Wilhemina leads her loyal crewwoman Kit through the cold winds of frigid Moscow; Wilhemina says she needs “answers.” They reach a spooky dwelling where they’re granted entrance to see a mysterious shaman. He tells Wilhemina that she will begin to have visions. Meanwhile Kit begins to glow, and they all realize that she, too, has innate magical powers.

The Colonel tells Yvette, the Amazon, that he has no interest in overthrowing the Czar of Russia—even though he owns Leto, the cyborg assassin. He wants to help his friend Sergei nonetheless. Yvette offers up a certain power of her own: she will seduce Sergei to win his favor.

In the engine room, Joshua realizes that he must ply the streets of Moscow to get needed parts for the Victoriana to fly again. Lady Electra, onetime duchess, offers herself as bankroller and negotiator with the notorious gang leader Boris.

Down in Moscow, Yvette holds Sergei effortlessly in her thrall, confident she’ll be able to derail any plot against the Russian Czar.

Just as she is putting her plan into action, though, Colonel Solomon Fitzgerald stumbles into the room with a knife in his back!

Lady Electra and Joshua Mew arrive at Boris’s hideout on the wrong side of the Moscow tracks. Electra quickly proves herself quite the negotiator and seductress, dancing gaily with the corpulent Boris and offering a chest full of gold for the parts needed to repair the Victoriana.

Colonel Fitzgerald recovers from his sudden attack with Yvette. The stowaway Jane reports to them that Elena, Sergei’s Russian accomplice, has been seen prowling through the ship.

In his Paraguayan prison, Hamwich Leon’s torturer continues to press him: “What is the secret of the Victoriana? Is it alive?” Hamwich resists him. The Black Cloaks then plumb Leon’s memories, taking him back to the day nine months prior when Leon won the Victoriana in a fateful hand of poker. Before any mysteries are resolved, however, Leon is forcefully awakened: Benjamin Cumberbatch has come to the rescue! They overpower the villains, and Benjamin quickly teleports them back to Moscow.

In the Victoriana engine room, Joshua, Lady Electra, and Adelaide complete the ship repairs and discuss their missing captain. Adelaide tries to use her All-Knowing Orb to summon him, and just then, Hamwich and Benjamin magically reappear.

Back on the ground, Wilhemina has revealed herself to be a “Blood Breather,” part of a clan rich in magical powers. She begins to have the promised visions: an ocean of blood rising and drowning around her, as a glowing Kit offers help and Joshua Mew insists that Hamwich Leon must command the Victoriana.

Adelaide detains the Russian vixen Elena who has been sneaking about.

However the insurgents will not be denied: Elena’s accomplice, Sergei, has already stolen the cyborg Leto and reprogrammed her to murder the Czar in St. Petersburg. Benjamin Cumberbatch, whose psychic powers are blossoming, has foreseen the plot.

Benjamin reveals to Joshua that Leto has been taken; without question, Joshua steers the Victoriana towards St. Petersburg. Back on the ground, Wilhemina summons a powerful wind that gives strength to the Victoriana’s sails, and to Benjamin’s powers as a seer.

As the ship picks up steam, Benjamin has one final vision of the future: Wilhemina Wyldeheart is going to die very soon… because Benjamin Cumberbatch is going to kill her!

What happened in that fateful poker game?

What is the true secret of the Victoriana?
And why is Benjamin expecting Wilhemina’s death at his own hand?
Come to the next episode of Steam, Rose-Colored Goggles, and the Flight of the Victoriana as we all find out together!

Content:  Kevin Miller
Photos:  Roy Moore

Battle! The mighty airship Victoriana defends itself valiantly from the surprise attack of the Stargazer over the jungles of Paraguay. Wilhemina Wyldeheart, hellbent on revenge, leads the charge and rounds up the crew of the Victoriana.

Upon discovering that the object of her wrath, Captain Hamwich Leon, has been kidnapped, she declares herself Captain and hyperjumps the Victoriana all the way to Paris, France.

Captain Roger Rogér, onetime owner of the Victoriana and rightfully the senior officer on board, fights Wilhemina (verbally and physically) for the right to command.

The ingenue, Adelaide McKenna, ventures onto the streets of Paris in search of adventure. Adelaide finds apparent success at the pub LeFuntimes, where the barkeep tasks her with discovering an All-Knowing Orb for a hefty ransom. With her is Randy, whose primary interest seems to be acquiring a set of nudie playing cards.

In a dark Paris hovel, a group of Black Cloaks discover through magic that Leto—a machine with a soul, built as an assassin—is a part of the Victoriana crew. They realize her value, and determine to snatch her off the streets of Paris.

Meanwhile Colonel Solomon Fitzgerald, who hired the Victoriana to Paraguay in the first place, begins a drunken flirtation with Lady Electra Spencer. She confides in him a dark secret: a sexual attack during her youth left her unmarriageable. The Colonel makes light of the secret, however, earning him the poor lady’s spite.

The owners of LeFuntimes reveal the true purpose behind sending Adelaide on a quest: once collecting the orb, they plan to kidnap her and sell her into the slave trade. They prove themselves inept villains, however, as Adelaide is standing in the room while they plot.

Wilhemina and Kit wander the streets of Paris in search of Adelaide. Wilhemina again reveals a magical power which she’s reluctant to use, but with it they’re pointed towards Notre Dame cathedral, where Adelaide has just discovered the All-Knowing Orb.

Yvette recognizes Leto’s soul as well. Yvette and Lady Electra escort Leto through the Paris streets, only to be accosted by the Black Cloaks, who grab Leto.

Back in the hovel, Leto’s captors declare their plan to extract her soul and become something more human themselves. The plan fails, however: Leto’s soul only grows more brightly, and after interrogating her captors, she calmly kills them all.

Adelaide dispatches her would-be attackers at LeFuntimes with great aplomb. All-Knowing Orb in hand, she sets off with Randy to find his nudie playing cards.

Wilhemina, Kit, Adelaide, and Randy are cornered in a Paris alleyway by dozens of Black Cloaks! Wilhemina instructs her cohorts to defend themselves as best they can, but Leto suddenly appears. With a sudden flash of bright light, every one of the Parisian Black Cloaks falls dead. The crew of the Victoriana is safe!

Back on the ship, the Colonel reveals that he himself is Leto’s creator, and is something more than a drunken army veteran. (He also offers a grudging apology to Lady Electra.)

Wilhemina finally cedes captainship of the Victoriana to Roger Rogér, though many of the crew still yearn to find the kidnapped Hamwich Leon, left back in Paraguay. Roger, however, sets course for Moscow.

Leto climbs to the very bow of the ship, introspective as they depart Paris. The Colonel made her only to destroy; but she suddenly feels a responsibility to protect the ship and those on it. Can she find room in her clockwork heart?

What will happen next?

Come to the next episode of Steam, Rose-Colored Goggles, and the Flight of the Victoriana as we all find out together!

Content:  Kevin Miller
Photos:  Roy Moore and Steve Rogers

The place: deep in the jungles of Paraguay. The prime minister, a member of the notorious Black Cloaks, has been assassinated. A passenger train has suspiciously derailed. And the mighty airship Victoriana is right in the center of it all.

Eighteen hours after Wilhemina Wyldeheart fired off Captain Hamwich Leon’s flare, seeking help from the jungle floor, the Victoriana arrives. However they don’t find Wilhemina or her companion, the Lady Electra Spencer, who have disappeared behind the gates of a mysterious hidden factory.

The Victoriana does pull up three other survivors of the train wreck: the ingenue Adelaide McKenna, the orphan Benjamin Cumberbatch, and the ever-dodgy (and ever-drunk) drifter identifying himself as Randy. The refugees all know of the famous Captain Hamwich Leon: Benjamin has read books about him, Randy has some sort of history with him, and Adelaide is quickly subjected to his “charms.”

Meanwhile in the hidden factory below, Wilhemina and Lady Electra begin to smell the scent of wisteria and to hear disembodied voices, all saying the same chilling word: “Closer.” They meet a local girl who tells them that a man named Contigo owns the factory. Before they can proceed further, though, they’re attacked by factory robots! Wilhemina summons an unexpected magical power and casts a forcefield of purple flames around the duo. Just then they are rescued—not by the Victoriana, but by the Stargazer and her co-captains, Yvette Cloud and Patricia.

Back in the air, storm clouds are gathering as the Victoriana receives a sudden distress call from a third ship, the Champion, which has been set on fire nearby. The engineer, Joshua Mew, dons a jetpack and flies over to offer aid, followed by his tardy captain. Hamwich and Joshua are surprised to recognize the captain of the Champion: Roger Rogér, former owner of the Victoriana, who lost it in a fateful poker game nine months before.

Captain Rogér had come to the area in search of Contigo’s factory, only to be attacked when they drew near. It’s clear that a trip to the jungle floor will be necessary to discover the next thread in the mystery.

Aboard the Stargazer, Yvette and Patricia welcome their new guests, Wilhemina and Lady Electra. We discover that Patricia has been acting increasingly suspicious, at one point whispering “You’re almost mine.” Even Yvette, her would-be lover, is deeply suspicious and tells Lady Electra that Patricia’s heart is black.

Wilhemina, meanwhile, denies all knowledge of the power that let her cast a magic spell. The wealthy Lady Electra realizes she has enough money squirreled away to buy control of the Stargazer for whatever purposes she and Wilhemina desire. The crewmember Kit, frustrated with their lack of purpose, professes loyalty to Wilhemina. At that point Wilhemina reveals her true desire: to raid the Victoriana and kill Captain Hamwich Leon, who failed to respond to her distress call.

Hamwich Leon descends to the forest floor along with the overeager Benjamin Cumberbatch and Colonel Solomon Fitzgerald, the veteran who hired the Victoriana to Paraguay in the first place. Benjamin finds Wilhemina’s spent flare along the path to the factory. The Colonel is eager to return to the ship, though he does reveal a mysterious personal connection to the factory.

Against his admonitions, Hamwich determinedly enters the factory alone. He too encounters the ghosts whispering “Closer,” smells wisteria, and even sees an apparition who takes the form of Wilhemina. Before he can respond, though, he is knocked unconscious and dragged off by the Black Cloaks!
On the Victoriana, Joshua reveals to the ship that he’s thinking of leaving to work for Roger on the Champion. An intruder alert interrupts his thoughts, and he and the Colonel find Jane, a terrified Paraguayan stowaway. She tells them that the Black Cloaks have attacked her village.

Unbeknownst to them all, the Stargazer prepares to attack the Victoriana with the storm as cover. Joshua climbs to the top rigging of the ship and there finds Leto, the cyborg pixie whom the Colonel brought to Paraguay to battle the Black Cloaks.

Joshua tells her that as long as the Victoriana is in peril, he feels duty-bound to stay. He asks Leto what to do; she happily replies, “Jump!”

With a confidence foreign to him, Joshua agrees, and leaps with Leto from the very top of the ship. They plummet through the stormclouds, and light as feathers, alight safely on the deck of the Stargazer. “Leto,” says Joshua, “I think we might be the stowaways now.”

What has become of Captain Hamwich Leon in the evil factory?

Will Wilhemina succeed at commandeering the Victoriana?

How does the Colonel know so much about the Black Cloaks and their plot?

And where will they all find the factory owner, Contigo?

Come to the next episode of Steam, Rose-Colored Goggles, and the Flight of the Victoriana as we all find out together!

Content:  Kevin Miller
Photos:  Roy Moore and Steve Rogers

Adelaide McKenna, the ingenue and textiles heiress, determined that she would break free of the moneyed life she’d always known. She plotted with the Duchess, Lady Electra Spencer, older and wiser but equally soured on a life of privilege. Together they resolved to pool their considerable wealth and head out in search of adventure.

Elsewhere, far to the north, the strong and bold Yvette Cloud set off on her own adventure, in search of justice for her family.

Meanwhile on the great airship Victoriana, Captain Hamwich Leon had gotten himself into yet another spot of trouble. During a routine mission to Paraguay with the grizzled veteran, Colonel Solomon Fitzgerald, Hamwich had found himself on the wrong side of the Paraguayan population.

The ship’s frazzled but competent engineer, Joshua Mew, was first concerned with getting the Victoriana off the ground, but also knew more than he let on about why the Colonel had wanted passage to Paraguay…
Adelaide and Lady Spencer soon found themselves at a rough-and-tumble pub, where the gregarious Wilhemina Wildheart was more than happy to escort the privileged ladies on their next adventure. Two more bar patrons joined the party: Benjamin Cumberbatch, a young and over-eager lad, and a drunk stranger who introduced himself as Randy.

The fivesome set out on a high-speed train towards Paraguay, where they’d been told Captain Leon and the Victoriana could be found.
Aboard the Stargazer, Yvette found herself at odds with some of the crew, whose elderly captain was just preparing to turn over his command to his daughter Patricia. In a stunning turn of events, she discovered her family back in Canada had all been murdered, and she hardly had time to react before the lecherous Michael was upon her…
In Paraguay, things had gone from bad to worse; the prime minister had been assassinated! Hamwich and the Colonel professed innocence of the crime, but Joshua knew it was more than coincidence that the Victoriana was there. His suspicions were confirmed when the Colonel revealed his secret passenger: the pixie, Leto, a human-machine hybrid whom he’d smuggled with him to South America for just that purpose.

The catastrophes continued as the high-speed train bearing Adelaide McKenna, Wilhemina Wildheart, Lady Electra Spencer, Benjamin Cumberbatch, and Randy derailed in the jungles of Paraguay. The groups separated, as Wilhemina and Electra had to fight off a band of mechanical wildcats.

Back aboard the Victoriana, Joshua bought his crew some time to repair the ship and then confronted the stowaway Leto. She cheerfully admitted to assassinating the prime minister, and then the Colonel arrived to reveal why: the prime minister was a member of the Black Cloaks, the same nefarious cabal who’d killed Yvette’s family in the north and who threatened steam production around the world. Like it or not, the Victoriana itself was now on the wrong side of the Black Cloaks.
On the Stargazer Yvette killed Michael in self-defense, even as Patricia murdered her own father to gain control of the airship.
Yvette then befriended Patricia, only to discover that she too was a member of the Black Cloaks! Concealing her rage, Yvette struck a seductive tone, seemingly interested in gaining Patricia’s trust… but to what end?

In the jungle, Adelaide and her odd colleagues, Benjamin and Randy, quelled a group of Paraguayan natives (who just might have only been trying to help)…

Wilhemina and Lady Spencer decided to use Wilhemina’s flare gun, a gift to her from Captain Hamwich, to summon aid. She fired it off, creating a crimson “V” in the sky. Adelaide saw it, and so did Joshua, aboard the Victoriana. As the lights faded, the three groups at last began to move towards each other.

Who are the mysterious Black Cloaks?
What are Yvette’s plans for the Stargazer?
How dangerous is Leto to the crew of the Victoriana?
And what connection does Adelaide McKenna have to the plot?

Come to the next episode of Steam, Rose-Colored Goggles, and the Flight of the Victoriana as we all find out together!

Text: Kevin Miller
Photos: Steve Rogers

January 6–28: Steam, Rose Colored Goggles, and the Flight of The Victoriana, directed by Audrey Sansom

Join the crew of The Victoriana as they engage the most revelatory and exquisite of 19th century alternative universe technology. Delight in their use of the refined art of improvisational acting and mummery as they explore those portions of the world still marked terra incognita. Discover the definition of this neologism “steampunk.”

February 17 and 18: Homecoming Weekend celebrating 4 years of programming at SVT

February 24–March 10: The Cherry Bowl directed by Ben Schave

A commedia-inspired adaptation of Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard by one of Austin’s preeminent physical comedians, Ben Schave. In this near dialogue-free production, Chekhov’s masterpiece is distilled down to its gestural essence.

March 23–April 14: The Professor directed by Justin Davis

This is not Doctor Who. This is The Professor. He may seem incredibly similar to The Doctor, but that’s just a coincidence. Or a hiccup in the space time continuum that created a parallel universe. The Professor and his companion travel through their door-shaped TARDIS to anywhere and anywhen to explore the cosmic classroom. Come see this Doctor Who-inspired show about the Professor and his (or her) companions as they travel the cosmos and timestream in search of new adventures through improv.

May 18–June 9: Public Radio Gaga, directed by Kerri Lendo

Improv, storytelling, community guests, bird sounds, and a little audience participation collide to bring you Live Public Radio. For the thickly populated Venn Diagram intersection of improv audiences and over educated This American Life listeners. Created and broadcast before your eyes weekly.

June 22–July 14: Your Terrific Neighbors

Austin’s finest purveyors of sketch comedy enjoy a month-long run at SVT in the beginnings of the dead of summer! In their own word, “We are friends that write down the strange things that give us joy and amusement and then we perform them in spaces where people are allowed to come and watch us.” You are allowed to come and watch them.

July 27–August 18: Pocketful of Posies, directed by Liz Brammer

A pair of lady friends, unsatisfied with the normal world, go on an adventure, subverting expectations and liberting themselves through the power of being awesome. Don’t just escape the frame of expectations – destroy it, then rebuild it better than ever.

Pocketful of Posies is a psychedelic celebration of the pure happiness of the creative process, joyful bonding, and solidarity.

September 7–September 29: Just Like the Rodeo

Four weeks (8 unique shows!) of improv mashed up with other artistic disciplines. Improv and dance? Sure. Improv and installation art? Why not? Board games, painting, scripted work, what else you got?

October 5–October 20: 44 Plays for 44 Presidents, directed by Shannon McCormick, in the SVT mainstage

44 Plays For 44 Presidents is a chronological, biographical survey of the lives and presidencies of each of the 44 men who have held the office so far. Their mistakes and successes are celebrated by a company of actors who take turns donning a star-spangled coat that symbolizes the presidency. Beginning with George Washington’s almost Eden-like perfection, the scenes shift frequently between the comic and the tragic, from Ben Franklin giving Thomas Jefferson a Borscht Belt-style roast, to the frank portrayal of William Henry Harrison’s life as an “Indian slayer,” and later the grim onset of the Civil War. Act II starts off the twentieth century with the assassination of William McKinley, moves through a Nixon-praising dance number, a George Bush Sr. mini-musical about dirty campaigning and arrives at a polarized America in both the George W. Bush and Barack Obama plays. Audience members consider their role in shaping the history they’ve just witnessed, as they are left to ponder where the presidency has gone since its fall from paradise…and where it will go next.

October 26–November 17: Seance: A meeting of the Secret Society of Blackbower Mediums directed by Clay Towery

Join the Secret Society of Blackbower Mediums, a circle of spiritualists bound together by the touch of hands, as they invoke spectral visions spawned by the suggestions of the audience participants. Through incantation, the mediums will attempt to communicate with the spirits of the dead, hoping to prove continued existence after physical death, and, together with the audience, channeling their ghostly tales to the land of the living!

November 30–December 22: Centaur Claus vs. The Fudge Military written by Shannon McCormick, directed by some sucker to be announced

A crazy kid-inspired holiday show investigating the true genesis of Santa, some evil dudes made out of fudge, and whatever other Adventure Timeish things the children of Gnap! company members tell us to put in the script.

seance photo by Roy Moore
live nude improv (used for Pocketful) photo by Menalaos Prokos
YTN photo by Steve Rogers
homecoming photo by Steve Rogers

For a long time the idea of an improv show based on the cosmic struggle between Good and Evil(tm) has been at the back of my mind – and finally it is becoming reality. A religious topic just offers so many opportunities for strong characters, convictions, dramatic relationships and of course comic relief. This show is not about making fun of religion or spiritual beliefs, but about showing an alternate world, were angels and demons really walk the Earth to do their master’s bidding. They are pawns in a celestial struggle and have their own dreams, problems and weaknesses.

During the rehearsal process I had to get rid of a number of ideas that just did not pan out on stage – but new ones emerged through our work. This is a wonderful experience: the original vision that I had for the show has been altered and improved a lot by the input of the cast. I am also thrilled to have found a group of improvisers of different levels of experience – in regards to stage time as well as to their religious background – that will make this a very interesting show.

And a special thanks goes to Steve Rogers, who took the pictures for the cast. May his lens never crack!

For more information on the show, please visit the Magna Veritas page.