Greasepolis

Greasepolis III: The Wombat Ultimatum is the story of an elaborate linguistic and theological crisis set in a world governed by culinary principles. The central conflict arises when a rogue faction of wombats, led by the charismatic tobacconist Runciman, abducts the sacred adverb Softly to demand political rights, academic degrees, and tax relief, causing global grammatical panic. As the absence of the suffix "-ly" causes syntax to collapse, the prophet Frank, and his reluctant apostle, Glen the Fryer, are called upon by the Council of Seasoning to negotiate before society dissolves into a Greasequake of literal meaning. The narrative details the ensuing Syntax Riots, the Trial of Runciman for excessive clarity, Glen's quest among the Comma Monks, and Frank's dialogue with the Wombat Queen, culminating in the reunion of the adverb and a Feast of Context, where the revelation is made that language and grease are holy only when shared.

In this volume Frank and Glen, the missionaries of the doctrine of grease and lubrication as the true path to salvation, become emboiled in a major theological conflict with the Roman Catholic Church, led by Pope Blatantly III, The narrative traces the Vatican's attempts to combat this "Grease Crisis" through bureaucratic means-such as issuing a Canon Law to patent all metaphysical grease-and rhetorical warfare via Vatican correspondents. The sources also explore the tragic exile of a scholarly Monsignor, who becomes the Archbishop of Antarctica after discovering the linguistic link between "grace and grease", and conclude with the "Universal Drizzle" and "Great Mixing," where a massive, oily outpouring forces the Pope to concede that holiness, like oil, cannot be owned but must flow freely.

A global metaphysical crisis is triggered when a vat of grease achieves consciousness, and the event is attributed initially to two prophetic figures, Frank and Glen. This event leads to widespread theological and scientific debate regarding the moral status and rights of "sentient substances," causing market disruption and governmental panic. The narrative traces the evolution of the consciousness-dubbed the Droplet General or the Blob-from a murmuring oracle to a political entity that demands recognition and justice for substances against human exploitation. This confrontation culminates in a Universal Grease Strike that cripples global industry through friction. Subsequent events involve complex legal proceedings, the rise and fall of a Greasecoin financial scheme, and ultimately the creation of a Declaration of Co-Existence, as the world attempts to establish a working peace between humanity and newly-sentient matter, reflecting on themes of use, purpose, and the price of definition.