BUILDING BLOCKS
As I said, I can't speak to the veracity of this account. And you gotta remember that the heading for these chapters about the Toddler Godling is "The Legends of Astiph". LEGENDS. So, while many references found herein are for locations which most people would think were fictional - even by the authors who wrote about them! - it must be kept in mind that, like all the Artisans of the Universe to be found in the Auroreod, Astiph could manipulate memory on a global scale with his mind-swiping powers.
Bear that in mind as you (IF you!) continue reading....
TRUE BARSOOM
As for other terrain whisked away from our universe to Astiph's Flatlands dimension, at least one region may have come from a neighbor closer to home. Beyond the Grand Speewah, that huge chunk of the whisked-away Outback Down Under taking up most of the Southerlands, lies Back O' Beyond. Nobody lives in that desert of rusty dust, at least as far as established civilizations, or even just small nomadic communities go. Back O' Beyond is believed to have been purloined from the surface of Mars, and to see pictures of its harsh landscape, it is conceivable that it once was part of the Red Planet.
But if so, that landmass could not have disappeared from Mars until after December 02, 1971.
That's when the Soviets' Mars 3 Lander touched down on the Martian surface.
It landed successfully, but it failed a mere 110 seconds later. It is believed by the historians who research the Flatlands that it happened just as Astiph was whisking away that territory to become Back O' Beyond. And that it was Teenage Astiph, still living outside the constraints of Time, who knew of the impending Mars 3 Lander's arrival and was lying in wait. There is also conjecture that Teen Astiph not only brought the Prop-M rover back into working order, he granted it independent sentience. And perhaps even immortality as well, for it has been spotted in surveillance of Back O' Beyond, still chugging along... and in the company of a wizened old crone. Nobody seems to know who she is.
The Rover has established its own identity. It knows it is under surveillance and doesn't seem bothered by that. In fact, on several occasions, it has used its ski treads to write its name out in the reddish soil - "PROPPIM." It's an easy assumption that name was chosen because it was a PrOP-M rover.
I'm told (Never mind by who!) that in the Monitaurs' headquarters, the old hag has been given the code name of "Baba Yaga". No one in authority believes that she actually is that Russian witch, but imagine the excitement if it was discovered that she had a house which walked on chicken legs! (As for me, being a televisiologist emeritus, I have my own name for her - "Dirty Sally".)
