The very existence of The Unit of Sky and Earth depended not only on the patronage of the Magi, but on the whims of the exchequers of the great collective of Empires, known as The Union. Along with awards of gold from The Union came great responsibility, and a need to create great rafts of paper describing the outputs. The Union gold controlled by the Magi was handed down coin by coin to Sadim The Bully in order that he could pay his serfs and collect many shiny things. The Magi had expectations of outputs, the like of which the Empire had never known before. Sadim was merely a figurehead as the power over the gold all lay with the Magi, but he went to great pains to portray himself as the great provider and Lord of all he surveyed.

The challenge for Sadim and his hench person was to organise The Unit in such a way that all power belonged to Sadim; all recognition and honour was bestowed upon Sadim; and yet all toil and labour was the lot of the serfs of The Unit. In past times Sadim had lost the wonder and awe of The Empire, to be overshadowed by Goldbird and the Guru. This was not to happen again at any cost. Goldbird was no longer a threat, having left the Unit and moved on to a local commune. The power of the Guru was growing steadily every day and Sadim was greatly troubled. The Bully needed to buy the allegiance of his serfs (in particular the Wizard, who had great influence) and he needed to do this very soon.

It came to pass that a great machine was needed to help create the outputs required by the Magi, to sate The Union tax collectors. The Guru and his advisor in such things, the Wizard, could handle the selection and use of this mechanism without fear of breaking sweat. To The Bully Sadim, to have the Wizard and the Guru control this machine and it's selection was to hand far too much power to them, and to risk unsettling the other serfs. Being skilled in the black art of politik, Sadim arranged for his former nemesis Goldbird and some other members of his new commune, to advise The Unit of Sky and Earth in this matter. This was on the face of it a master stroke, as having these skilled technicians onboard greatly pleased the Magi, and yet greatly snubbed the Wizard and the Guru. This was of course merely the latest step in a grand plan to undermine the Guru and take away his power and influence. That it greatly discomfitted the Wizard was of no consequence, as Sadim The Bully had little regard for the art of wizardry and only saw the Wizard in the same light as the admin and those who cleaned out the castle during the dark of night.

Many providers of mechanical wizardry answered the call and made extravagent boasts about their machines, hoping to make claim on some of the gold of The Unit. A group of technicians convened with The Bully and his henchperson, the Guru and the Wizard, to select and reject in order to reduce the number of contenders. At this time The Bully made certain that the Wizard was put in his true place (by his estimation) by denying his skill and negating his influence. The visiting technicians were told in no uncertain terms that the Wizard was but a lowly serf and that the power of the Unit in this and all other matters lay solely with Sadim The Bully. Goldbird the Techie was not present at this convention, having had many other calls on his time. The number of potential providers of the great machine was reduced to a handful, ready for the sorcerers to attend the court of Sadim to demonstrate their wares and cast their magic spells.

On the day of the presentation Goldbird did attend along with others of his commune. Goldbird was naive and still lacked the experience of the politik. He was unaware of the underlying tensions remaining in The Unit and was in expectation of the Wizard and the Guru taking command of the proceedings. The handful of small groups of travelling sorcerers came to The Unit to sell their wares. Many were unprepared for the non-technical nature of the questioning, as The Bully and his henchperson had no use for knowledge of the inner workings of the great machine and felt more inclined to wax lyrical about grand notions and lofty ideals. The Wizard, although well prepared and capable of challenging the words of the sorcerers, was prevented from doing so as Sadim sent him on errand after errand to distract and disrupt his thinking and his efforts. The visitors from Goldbird's commune, and Goldbird himself, were able to support the Guru in some detailed exploration of the inner magic of the machines. However, the Guru himself was not allowed to take any control of the meetings and the direction was lost. Opportunities were missed, but all in all when the decision was made most of those present were content with the outcome. The Sorcerers appointed to The Unit to install their magic machine were fine and respected, and showed great understanding of their magic and how their machine could be applied by the Unit of Sky and Earth. Their magic machine was known as The Coat of Many Colours, so versatile and powerful was it.

On leaving to return to their commune Goldbird and his fellow technicians gave Sadim and his henchperson a stern but well intentioned warning. "This magical machine that you are buying is The Coat of Many Colours, but heed this warning". "If ill used without thought and without the skill of the Wizard and the Guru it could readily become a coat of but one colour". "And that one colour could very easily be very dull and without splendour". With that warning Goldbird left The Unit, never to return.