#Does this even count as a ttte oc anymore??

[siderods]

OC Post 8 - The Traveller

Another possible Doozy, The Traveller is an episodic anthology universe where every "Episode" centers around its own self-contained story, with the linking factor being a mysterious steam engine known only as Mutt. Because of the nature of this universe, i'll jot down a description of each "Episode" and then describe the characters. So let's begin!

"Chomping At The Bit" - The introductory episode. A Sharknose diesel has somehow found his way to the Rio Grande, and he desperately wants a promotion from his current lowly position. Mutt decides to help the poor engine by mentoring him on some basics for a few days, but also not letting the shark grow attatched to him. The episode contains a few vauge hints to Mutt's mysterious past and why he's a drifter.

"The Amazing Technicolor Paint Job" is a very loose adaptation of the musical of a similar name. Joseph gets a new coat of paint with some interesting properties, but it leads to him being exiled by the others out of jealousy until it saves them all big time by providing a temporary tourist draw when the freight work dries out. In the story, Mutt consoles the exiled switcher and helps him take pride in himself once more, before leaving with a mysterious warning about the upcoming crisis.

"Brotherly Love" - A PRR M1 named Maxwell is being followed by one of his deceased siblings for no apparent reason. Maxwell unravels the mystery behind his deceased sibling, and confronts him on the bridge. Mutt shows up as cameos throughout the episode but most notably appears near the end when he pushes a line of cars into the posessed M1, stunning it and saving the MC, who was about to get cronched. After that, the Entity is banished and the dead M1 is properly put to rest.

"High Class Pooch" - When Mutt comes across a particularly rough-riding P30CH, he takes it upon himself to help the poor engine out, while also accidentally revealing some interesting truths about his own past.

"Hound Dog" - A 50's story of a bitter rivalry between two Union Pacific giants - a Big Boy and a first generation GTEL. The two engines are very competitive over the concept of modernization, with Mutt initially helping the Big Boy as the two try to prove the other as a fraud. However, when the Big Boy tries to get Mutt to directly sabotage the GTEL, it reminds him of some of the reasons he gave up his old life, and Mutt, seeing the writing on the wall for both of them, leaves to two to quarrel on their own.

Some of the characters appearing in these stories are as follows:

Mutt - This engine is like a weird stray that keeps turning up in random places, a mysterious drifter who usually does a valiant act before disappearing somewhere else before he can be fully identified or rewarded. Some say that he has a secret hideout or a home base to fall back on, but nobody has found it yet.

Reese - An enthusiastic but troubled diesel that Mutt comes to the assistance of, this Sharknose becomes a fish out of water upon inexplicably ending up on the Denver & Rio Grande Western. While eager to prove his worth, he has issues applying himself to his work, which he ultimately overcomes.

Joseph - A small diesel switcher graced with a unique paint scheme that has interesting properties around cameras. Despite being humble and agreeable, his coworkers eject him from their shed until he proves his worth when a decline in goods traffic makes his unique draw become the only thing to keep their railroad afloat.

Rueben & Simeon - A 45 tonner and a Model 40 respectively, these two were rather jealous and stand-offish when Joseph received his new paint, going so far as to kick him out of the roundhouse they lived in.

Maxwell - A rather regular M1 still reeling from the sudden loss of his brother, Maxwell soon finds himself entangled in a plot of posessons, ghosts, and demonic entities. He soldiers his way through and is ultimately able to find peace for himself and his brother.

Marley - Formerly Maxwell’s closest brother, Marley unfortunately suffered a catastrophic internal mechanical defect and passed away suddenly. After becoming a restless spirit when his dead body was taken over by a strange entity to stalk his brother, he is eventually able to pass on in peace when the entity is banished and his brother is able to come to terms with his passing.

The Entity - An entity taking on Marley’s body, preventing his soul from being properly put to rest. His motivations for stalking Maxwell are unknown, but he is swiftly vanquished regardless.

Papillion - Another troubled diesel that we see Mutt assist, this P30CH is very eager to work but struggles with getting excited and distracted, leading to derailments.

With all the charactes out of the way, have a super duper secret lore moment!

"..."

"Y'know, I was a high-class pooch once."

"Wasn't the life for me. Too many.. fake people."

"I don't mind my current lot one bit."

"Because what I do now is real work."

To end off, have a Cronchy photo of Mutt.

I hope you enjoy these guys. I have so many ideas with this concept.

P.S: Very ironic that the character who canonically does funny things to cameras is also messing with tumblr's formatting lol