Chess and the Armada: Blind Mew's Clockwork Knight

I want to quickly reflect on Chess and the Armada before I start this post. One year ago tomorrow, Chess and the Armada first hit Destiny's Travels in a post that led to extreme blog growth. From Chess and the Armada came my crazy theories ranging from Cool Ranch to Cadiz, all beginning with a simple game of chess spent one winter's day.

One year ago today, I released my theory supporting the idea of Deacon being both a bishop and knight representative on the board. For an entire year, I used this theory in my Chess and the Armada posts until I got around to commenting on the Messageboards with a question to Blind Mew. I asked him whether or not Deacon's being was a coincidence, and he surprisingly confirmed.

"I'd say that was a coincidence," he stated, "Although a very cool one."

I was a little shocked. So much coincidence, all in one clockwork that seemed to fit the definition perfectly. However, this was backed by much conversation over the chessboard from another player, and the idea of a clockwork knight - A clockwork knight on a clockwork horse? - was born. As I compile thoughts for a 3000-character post, I'll share my full view here.

Here's the chessboard, as of yet (reasoning): 

King: Kane

Queen: Mysterious Female Clockwork

Bishop: Bishop

Bishop/Knight: Deacon

Bishop: Phule

Rook: Rooke

My speculation is that - if anything - Deacon cannot be a bishop. If his evidence as an archbishop is at all weak, Phule's evidence as a bishop is too strong to be re-placed; Bishop just gets a bye, here. Deacon could be a knight, with that in mind, but I doubt that Blind Mew's ideas would support that theory. "Maybe we'd need to put him on a horse," Blind Mew ponders. "[Knight would require] The horse for sure," says Jacob DeathHorn.

With this, the evidence leading towards more main clockworks grows even stronger. Say that Knight actually makes it into the game. This points towards one open spot, free for a rook. Would this be filled at the idea of a chessboard is further thought upon? Or, is it just a collection of coincidences? This opens a spot for Deacon to be a bishop, if at all necessary.

So, what if there were to be a clockwork knight? A popular addition to the clockworks, say many for a knight, would be a clockwork horse. Think about it; Clockwork people and clockwork birds...why not clockwork everything-else? It would only make sense, with the way the plot was going, to have the Armada attempt to expand even further. As of yet, Blind Mew and the messageboards' thread have named this clockwork Knight, for lack of better name. This fills the board:

King: Kane

Queen: Mysterious Female Clockwork

Bishop: Bishop

Bishop: Phule

Knight: Deacon

Knight: "Knight"

Rook: Rooke

Stepping aside from Deacon, the addition of a knight character would add a whole new level of Deacon-y intensity to the storyline. I'd imagine a knight of sorts seeking our characters out more than the map, slipping into the right place to drive us to Cadiz, perhaps, or somewhere equally important and dangerous. (Will our pirates survive it? Of course.)

The mystery around the chess comparisons continues to unfold, and with an expansion much wanted by players in the coming year, more may be uncovered. Stay tuned for more updates to come!

Keep Traveling!
Thanks to Cedric Young and Jacob DeathHorn for input on a knight clockwork.

This post is part 1 of 2.