Shattered City Shattered City[Main Event]

[Selene Avar]

The Golden City - South Courtyard
Close - Szesh | Harrier | TTamark, Far - Kaahl

The small band of adventurers had now come together and formed a sizeable party, slowly marching their way through the tunnel that Selene was forging.

She did not speak as they moved, the magic requiring her concentration so that she did not accidentally kill them all with a wave of magma. Eventually the tunnel she carved began to rise again, and with a twist of her hand rock and earth shattered outward within the golden city.

The ground exploded, and mere moments later a pack of undead mixed with Anirian Soldiers rushed into an empty Courtyard.

Selene emerged a moment later.

Massive structures of old and brass rose from the ground all around them. Odd lines of metal bisected and cut between everything, steam rose, and she could hear the soft turning of gears in the distance. Her eyes fixed on one of the metallic rails as a...box of some sort went rolling beneath it.

The box swung beneath the rail, turning and heading off into the distance. As it passed she could see windows carved into the side of the box, each one clear as the sky itself.

She gaped, along with every other soldier besides her. "What is this place?"

Selene did not realize that she had spoken her thoughts out loud, only realizing as she snapped her mouth shut.

Then from the left she heard the sound of marching. Metallic footsteps crashing against ornately carved stone. Her head turned, and she spotted a clutch of golems unlike anything she had seen before. Their skin was metal, their features far more intricate than those who had been scourging the countryside.

 

[Ukrir]

The Clock Tower
Aifrin | Fynauria

"No no no." His head shook, the slight clinking of metal ringing out as he took a step backwards and glared at the machination that had been put together in front of him. "This won't do."

A metallic hand came away, clacking against metal as he gripped the piece of the golem and suddenly ripped it away. A loud shriek of ripping metal echoed through the building, followed by the loud clatter of the pieces being thrown onto the floor.

Another metal clack as he turned away. "IT WON'T DO!"

His voice boomed through the tower, thundering through empty space.

A small golem slowly turned it's head, watching the Forge as he paced back and forth within his workshop. Fingers clacked against metal, patience trying as he turned back towards the contraption he had just torn into and stared.

It should work.

But it didn't work.

There was something wrong. Something wrong with the components. Something wrong with this new cro-

His attention was dragged away from his work as a chirp echoed through the workshop. He looked up, spotting a small bird like automaton that perched itself on one of the higher pipes. His head cocked. "Always interruptions."

Fingers dragged over broken metal.

"Always." A hand waved. "Deal with it."

The bird let out a chirp, and then suddenly went flapping away. Only a few seconds later the sound of clashing gears and spinning wheels echoed through the clock tower. The tallest structure in the Golden City seemed to change, it's bright exterior folding open as panels opened.

Strange creatures flew forth from the tower itself. Four of them soaring into the sky with rigid wings as they sought out the intruders high above the Golden City.

 

[Quoril]

“I’m an alchemist by trade,” Quoril said as he plopped down onto the ground and looked up towards James. “I am able to use some basic elemental magic, but I don't think it’ll be of much help.” Scratching his head, the elf leaned back against the wall and tried to think of some way to destroy the metal creatures.

Quoril’s eyes lit up with excitement when James jokingly suggest blowing them up. “That’s a great idea!” he exclaimed as he jolted upright. Shrugging off his large pack, the elf placed it on the ground in front of himself. Reaching into a side pocket, he carefully pulled out a thin wooden box. Opening the box revealed two small glass vials filled with a dull silver liquid nested in padding. “This is Starfire,” Quoril said, gently removing one of vials and holding it up for his companions to see. “I know it may not look like much, but even this much would leave a sizable crater in the ground. The mixture will explode violently the instant that it is exposed to air. We should be able to blow enough of those things out of the way to get through.”

“Just throwing the starfire at them could be dangerous though as the explosion might be too close to us. And even then we would have to worry about pieces of metal flying through the air.”

“Any suggestions?” Quoril asked James and Dearien, placing the bottle back into the box.


Dearien Verook
James Lanvarok

 

[Fife]

They ran a fair distance away from it, but Fife didn't let go of Belduhr's sleeve. They were basically the same stature, but she had longer legs than he did and was naturally much more lithe. Having his fear drawn away must have lightened his mood if he was telling jokes, or perhaps they were all just crazy, considering they were in this city.

There was a shrill scream and Fife looked back over her shoulder to see the Magnificent Zarko booking it after them, the ground shaking as the golem stepped forward. Her eyes panned upward as it shook loose its ice constraints and crossbow bolts peppered it ineffectually. She and the crossbow at her hip were going to be useless, then.

When they finally stopped, a woman was yelling out for a control rod. Fife frowned between the men. Something was controlling it?

She had a strange mental leap. She thought of the gold bands in the floor of the underground city and the arcs of static between her fingers when she touched it, then sparking to life before the thing appeared in the mirror. She thought of the rod the madman was holding, arcs of static flickering when he'd held it aloft.

Fife grabbed Raigryn's arm and sharply whistled his name over the sounds of chaos around them, her eyes bright and wide as she looked up at him. Gods, how did she describe the damn scepter? She pointed to the pub, then held both her hands up as if holding the staff, the same as the man had been not too long ago. Please understand, she thought to herself, pointing to the ruins of the pub again more insistently.

But then she saw the golem turning its head to look at them and begin raising its hammer over its head. Had it heard her? Fife gasped and stepped back, bumping into Belduhr.

// Raigryn Vayd // Belduhr Brighthand // Zarko //​

 

[Szesh]

Szesh could feel the impact of the ballista in his bones. After the dust settled, he could not say he was surprised to see that the scout had fallen. Selene Avar appeared unphased, however, and simply suggested another route. Szesh looked down at her through untraceable eyes. Had she merely been testing Szesh’s story? She knew the scout would die, but had to see it for herself. He had met a few commanders just as ruthless, but few so cold.

It was all he could do to not step back as the ground melted before them. The heat was intense, and it turned his silver scales scarlet in the molten glow. Magic. Szesh did not like magic. He did not understand it, and therefore he did not trust it. Magic broke the rules, and unnecessarily complicated the world.

He made a note to be very wary of the commander. She had sacrificed a solider without hesitation, and had single-handedly carved an invasion-sized tunnel in moments. He hoped his apprehension was not obvious as he stepped below the earth with the company.

The man who smelled of stew had caught up to them. Szesh did not greet him. Between the city of gold and the sorceress who lead them he did not have the time to decipher this... person. Was his cart pulled by cows? He turned his gaze forwards. Focus.

It was hot in the tunnel. The walls had barely cooled as they walked by and the magma in front of them was held back only by Selene Avar’s will. Claustrophobia was starting to set in. Szesh, understandably, did not enjoy confined spaces, but he especially disliked being entombed in the earth alongside someone who could decide to leave him there forever, if they chose.

It was with great relief that Szesh stepped back into the daylight and squinted up to the towers. They shone with a brilliance equal to the sun, but his attention was brought back to the earth almost immediately. A group of metal soldiers.

Surely these were the ones Lisshan had spoken of. The ones that had destroyed his home and stolen his people. He felt the anger rise in him again, as fresh and hot as the liquid fire that had forged their way beneath the walls. He snorted loudly, and raised his spear. His wings relaxed and hung ever so slightly open, ready to propel him forwards and into the fray.

He was about to charge blindly, when he remembered the ballista on the walls. He grit his teeth in painful restraint. Surely there would be other tricks... it couldn’t be so easy. Glancing up, he could see great metallic creatures soaring above them.

He looked back at the red haired woman. He knew he could not trust her to hold his life sacred, that she would likely throw him to the wolves if she thought it would benefit her. But right now he didn’t care. Right now, she had the more tactical mind. If she gave so much as a whisper of assent, he would attack.

TTamark , Kaahl , Ukrir

 

[Kara Orin]

ALOK-THERAK​

As the colossal golem was peppered with dwarven arrows, the few that struck the golem’s blue jewel caused sparks. The construct gave a slight twitch yet was not disturbed much as the arrows bounced off it.

After Belduhr, Fife, and Raigryn ran away, the giant golem slammed its hammer into the ground. A ripple formed in the ground as if it had become a liquid. Everything nearby shook as if a quake began. The shockwave went far enough to toss debris from the Wet Rope Pub into the air. More dirt and dust was kicked into the air.

Kara fell backwards from the shockwave and landed on her back. As she looked up into the sky, she saw a hint of gold as the crazed man’s scepter flew into the sky.

Pointing at it, Kara screamed, “Someone get that!”

The golden rod was on an unfortunate course to land in a nearby town well and already beyond what Kara could immediately do.

The golem’s sight and path shifted. It turned toward the well.

Quickly, Kara got back on her feet and drew a runic sword. She saw that the gem in the golem’s chest was block by the massive hammer in the ground and its arms. She raised her sword and the runes on them began to slowly illuminate…

Quoril Raigryn Vayd Fife Focraig'Diin Zarko James Lanvarok Dearien Verook Belduhr Brighthand Abomination

 

[Focraig'Diin]

He breathed once. Twice.

The ground quakes knocked him to his knees, the raw shockwave disorienting his senses. With a quick barrier, what projectiles that flew towards him were blocked or deflected, keeping him from harm, and its transparency kept a clear sight of the metal behemoth. He had yet to really unleash anything even with his state of quiet rage, but the glow of his eyes were like floodlights, blue gems of cold fury. All he had to do was wait, and watch.

He heard the woman cry for the scepter, watching the gold staff fly a few ways off, and into the well. Of note was the giant's immediate reaction, the head jerking in the item's direction, and the giant following suit towards it. A connection between the foe and the item. Noted. He also eyed the weapon, a mechanism that belted out steam and scalding hot air with every hiss and crank. Heat. Noted.

'Transfer from hot to cold. Extreme temperature decrease, achieve destabilization due to sudden molecular rearrangement. Weapon disabled."

He had an idea. Insane, but doable. But first, to prove his eyes were not still disoriented, he turned to the female mage, herself readying for battle.

"Just to be clear, that hammer is emitting steam, isn't it? Super-hot, evaporated water and air forced through stuff to make it function?"

He let loose a second wave of spikes, more than the last, but much shorter. Traveling quickly in a path of rime, the ice embedded themselves in the already chipped metal boot, making up in numbers to slow the lumbering thing down.

"I may have a way to render its weapon unusable!"

As if on cue, the weapon roared and hissed.

Ah, he wasn't hallucinating.

Quoril Raigryn Vayd Fife Focraig'Diin Zarko James Lanvarok Dearien Verook Belduhr Brighthand Abomination

 

[Abomination]

Having traveled far, The Abomination, in the form of a human adventurer, explored the surroundings. He's observed quite some strange things, such as those... golems?

The Abomination had to hide, disguising himself as rocks or nearby bushes whenever those giants showed up. Those golems the Abomination dosn't try to fight, but avoid. It was prehaps, a force stronger then the Abomination is radiating from within them.

Hearing a commotion from far ahead, he looked down to only see a warzone, with what seems to be a golem, fighting several fighters. It was all too much for the Abomination to comprehend.

Deciding to inflitrain in the fight, The Abomination, in the form of a human, ran down the hill of Alok-Therak. He raised his crossbow obtained from his victim, and loaded an arrow into the crossbow. Pointing it infront of him, he headed downwards, aiming his crossbow somewhere between the golem and the group of people... seemly going after a scepter?

 

[Harrier]

INSIDE THE CITY
Selene Avar Szesh TTamark Ava Gilleth

The golem left immediately. It would gather others - the same types of golems that had been pouring from the Golden City and abducting people. They would then go forth and attempt to usher, willingly or otherwise, the intruders in the tunnels to THE GOLDEN LIBRARY.

The ground exploded, and mere moments later a pack of undead mixed with Anirian Soldiers rushed into an empty Courtyard.

Selene emerged a moment later.

Massive structures of old and brass rose from the ground all around them. Odd lines of metal bisected and cut between everything, steam rose, and she could hear the soft turning of gears in the distance. Her eyes fixed on one of the metallic rails as a...box of some sort went rolling beneath it.

The box swung beneath the rail, turning and heading off into the distance. As it passed she could see windows carved into the side of the box, each one clear as the sky itself.

She gaped, along with every other soldier besides her. "What is this place?"

Selene did not realize that she had spoken her thoughts out loud, only realizing as she snapped her mouth shut.

Then from the left she heard the sound of marching. Metallic footsteps crashing against ornately carved stone. Her head turned, and she spotted a clutch of golems unlike anything she had seen before. Their skin was metal, their features far more intricate than those who had been scourging the countryside.

Surely these were the ones Lisshan had spoken of. The ones that had destroyed his home and stolen his people. He felt the anger rise in him again, as fresh and hot as the liquid fire that had forged their way beneath the walls. He snorted loudly, and raised his spear. His wings relaxed and hung ever so slightly open, ready to propel him forwards and into the fray.

The undead had their orders: they made a loose perimeter, and would attack only if attacked. Right now, though, the complex metal golems weren't especially aggressive. They seemed to be ushering the disparate group through the city's baffling wonders toward a grand, golden building.

So she went along. The others could decide for themselves whether to fight. Her mind was almost literally elsewhere.

She'd come to this city in hopes of raising and binding some ancient ghost, an eyewitness to unspeakably ancient times - the Age of Wonders, at a guess, or maybe older still. It would take a juggernaut of a spirit to persist in any capacity since then. She'd done work like this at the Forbidden City with some success, at least until an orthodox Elbion Maester interfered. Now, as she walked along with the golems and the dead, a few of the latter began to fall as clattering, inert bones - sacrifices for additional strength and resources. She probed the aether in her mind's eye, looking for a soul to steal.

 

[Arbeiter]

The Golden City

They began to stir. Whirring sounds heralded their arrival from recesses and crevices, some coming from the ceilings, others the floor. Small intricate constructions, shaped like spiders, ants, and other similar creatures. The largest came close to cat or dog in size, the smallest could have sat in a human's palm.

They set about their business, ignoring the interlopers for now. They appeared to follow predetermined paths, scuttling along in nimble movements, along the floor and up the walls. They ignored the marching golems too, taking care to avoid their march. A contingent focused on clearing debris, removing any erratic blocks or pebbles littering the ground.

What was most chilling was the silence. The skitter of their legs and the soft whirring of their inner workings was the only sound the creatures gave. They moved with single minded purpose, treating the adventurers only as a momentary distraction.

Selene Avar Harrier Szesh TTamark Kaahl Ava Gilleth

 

[Fynaurie]

Ukrir Aifrin

Vaxor gave a warning chirp. Circling and descending slowly Fynaurie was able to lean to one side and get a view past Vaxor's wings as he banked.

"Get Aifrin's attention for me Vaxor."

The rohk cried out. Fynaurie signed to her fellow rider.

Danger. Look where I point.

"Stop descending, gain some height."

Whilst she waited for Aifrin to respond it was the only maneuver that made sense. The Avelion knew aerial combat and altitude was power. The bird closest to the ground was the loser. Right now they were outnumbered.

 

[Aifrin]

Birin looked ahead, keeping himself well clear of the other pair as Vaxor called to them. Aifrin snapped her gaze to the other rider, catching the hands signs and having Birin bank to follow the imaginary line drawn for her.

Something was coming to greet them. She signed back an affirmative to Fynauria while she spoke to Birin. "Get above them and get some height."

First meetings had gone well in the past, but given what numbers were coming at them, she doubted thus would go so well.

She nervously patted the aether glaive, reassuring herself it was still there as she mentally prepared for a fight.

 

[Ukrir]

The Clock Tower
Aifrin | Fynauria

The odd metallic drones seemed to move in ways that defied all laws of flight.

Their wings did not flap, nor did their bodies shift to meet the currents of the winds. Instead they rose higher and higher, chasing those who would touch the Golden City without the permission of it's masters.

Quickly they moved towards the Elves.

An odd glow seemed to surround the spine of the drones, a hazy blue that flickered and flashed as the clouds began to sweep over them. Then suddenly, the golems suddenly burst into an extravagant amount of speed, climbing to a height that was nearly even with Aifrin and Fynaruai.

They swept to the side, and then shot directly towards the Riders.

 

[TTamark]

Inside City

Steve's golems had taken on more of a smell of baked potatoes from the travel in the tunnel. While Steve meant to inspect them to make sure they were ok they did not actually have a soul of their own so he let himself quickly get distracted with the city and particularly the residence of it. Steve dropped himself onto the ground to come face to face with the small metallic critters,

"Why hello there little guys, who are you? What are you fellows up to? Do ya need a hand?..."

Steve communicated magically to the creatures as though he were talking to critters, or any other creature of flesh.

"Oh please excuse me, it seems some of your larger cousins want to lead us somewhere, or at least I think they do..."

Steve stood up and took in all the metal beings. Raising his voice to a shout,

"Hey, are there any undead here, any old souls either? I'm a, uh friend and would love to talk."

Steve waited a moment, before following where the metal tings seemed to want him to go, before he hesitated a second next to one of the man sized ones,

"Or are you guys soul powered, slash do you have your own souls?"

Selene Avar Harrier Arbeiter Szesh Ava Gilleth Kaahl

 

[Fynaurie]

Above Clock Tower
Aifrin Ukrir

Even seeing them swarming upwards aggressively, Fynaurie couldn't help but wonder at the grandeur of the city. At the way the light caught the metallic wings of the being sweeping upwards.

She cried out in surprise as the glowed with an unnatural light and leapt upwards. They could climb faster than the big eagles. The other Sky Elves wouldn't descend immediately. Fynaurie and Aifrin had come down as scouts, they knew the risks. The others wouldn't throw themselves into the fray if it looked hopeless.

That was the point of scouts.

Vaxor twisted and turned, bringing up his talons defensively. He could lift an entire bull from the ground and spear it all the way through with his claws. He caught one of the insectoid creatures. The other glittered over his body, the edge of a wing catching Fynaurie's shoulder.

She cried out in pain. Feeling the sting run through her whole arm. It had barely glanced her, but had scythed through thick layers designed to shield her from the cold and the occasional 'friendly' nip from a giant Eagle.

Vaxor responded by trying to finish his kill 'on the wing', staying in flight. There was a loud clack as his beak struck hard metal. Vaxor cawwed in frustration at not being able to damage the creation.

"Throw it up!" Fynaurie shouted. She braced herself with the straps of her saddle, lifting her ether-glaive. The butterfly-like thing came into view. Despite its startling beauty Fynaurie felt her fear well deep in her gut. She kept her hands as steady as possible.

The tip of her spear glowed a fierce white. A lance of bright light flashed outwards, cutting right through the golem's spine.

That worked, but an ether-glaive could only be used so many times before it became nothing more than a spear. A few giant eagles diving hard, elves lashing a line of troops with a lance of pure light and eagles lifting cavalry from the ground could destroy the moral of an entire flank of an army.

There were murals depicting as much back at Kearth, not that the sky elves had been involved with the outside world for hundreds of years.

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

Focraig'Diin Zarko Fife Belduhr Brighthand

Raigryn frowned at Fife as he gesticulated so wildly back towards the pub. Everyone was shouting about a control rod. Did someone know that the sceptre could control the giant golem?

He wasn't afforded much time to think about it. Another shock wave dropped him to the floor and he was engulfed in another cloud of dust.

He saw the golden rod flying through the air and the way the golem's empty eyes followed it.

He threw his hand out, a green flash of Malice catching the rod. It embedded the rode against the side of the well, a green solid substance holding it there.

"Fife, run and get it!" he shouted.

"And you!" he called at Focraig. "What does steam have to do with anything!?"

Raigryn cast a sideways glance towards his dwarven companion. Steam had nothing to do with making anything work, but the dwarven scholar seemed best place to interpret anything that was happening.

 

[Aifrin]

She hadn't had her hand on the weapon for long when she peered over at the machines. They raced up to meet them with an unexpected speed that made Aifrin alarmed. Birin rolled in an effort to evade a slash of the wings, opening Aifrin up for a slash as it went past.

Her back took the slicing cut, armor doing nothing for her as she cried in surprise and pain at the wound. She hugged Birin's harness as tightly as she could, the thin air making her back tingle with a stinging burn.

She wanted to curl up, try to alleviate the pain from the wound but knew she would open them up for another attack if she ignored the machine's for any longer. A sharp inhale had her pushing back off the saddle and looking around.

Birin cried out, his concern coming across as Aifrin gave him a soft pat.

"Keep flying, you can get another rider." She scolded with a hissing breath. Sky elves didn't have long lives for one reason or another. It was expected. Rokh's weren't so ready to come across however. Her hand crept over the aether-glaive, undoing the strap as another came in and she had Birin climb to meet it.

They managed to get over it as she stuck the glaive into it's back and pulled the glaive towards the ground, flinging the remains that way as Birin dove to help the throw. They leveled out, twisting to avoid another that came close.

 

[Belduhr Brighthand]

The shockwave knocked the lass into him, and while he wasn't afraid of her, he had been curious to know if she had admitted to her master what she was yet. If not, he was in for a rude surprise.

"Oy lass, get off 'o me." He bristled, the cloud of dust choking him as Fife was removed from his person. The rod flung itself into the well, and she seemed intent on fetching it as she motioned to the well with Raigryn's call. It took him a moment, but when she cut the bucket from the end of the rope, he got the idea.

"Ol'right, here. I'll tie it. No sense you drowning in a well." He grumbled, tying her off and making sure she could only be cut free. "You get back up 'ere, cut yerself free. Don't try to untie it. Just-"

The talk about steam had his attention falling away however, spying the golem's weapon producing the mist as icy spikes stuck into it's feet once more.

"He is an ice mage Master Vayd. Long and short of it is if that thing is producing steam, it mean's there is water somewhere in it. When water freezes, it expands and can break whatever is containing it. I figure he is attempting to break that weapon with ice from the inside." He explained quickly, his attention returning to Fife as he held onto the winch to lower Fife down.

It was easy to lower her down given this was a dwarf town, not nearly as comical a sight to behold compared to being in a human town.

 

[Fife]

The shockwave knocked Fife off of her feet, falling back into Belduhr. She flailed and tried to roll off of him, wheezing and hacking as much as her mute throat could, but was generally tossed aside. Blinking the grit and dust out of her eyes, she saw the flash of gold in the air and felt the use of Empathy toward it as it clanged down into the well.

Into the well.

But she didn't dare question a job when she was given it. Fife nodded, gestured to the well to Belduhr, and ran to its edge, tossing her pack and crossbow aside. The knife she squirreled away in her boot was in her hand in a flash and she sawed through the rope to free it from the bucket.

Belduhr tied it around her waist for her, and Fife peered down into the dim well. But one look back at the golem and she wasn't keen on wasting much of her time being afraid. It was very clearly after the scepter in the well, or this was all an awful coincidence encouraging her to do something incredibly stupid.

Sitting on the lip of the well, Fife nodded to Belduhr and hung onto the rope, letting herself down to the loose length before he began to crank the winch and lowered her deeper.

Looking down into the dark shaft below, she could see where it had been caught by the green construct made by Avarice, affixing the staff to the wall. A chill went up her spine as she saw it, but she was lowered toward it steadily whether she was ready or not.

Fife whistled for Belduhr to stop when she was at the rod, and reached out to grab it with both hands, yanking it free of the green construct. She shoved it into the rope loop around her waist, hoping and praying it wasn't going to zap her the way it had the fool who'd come carrying it in. It was probably going to; her luck wasn't that good.

Lifting her face to the light above, Fife whistled sharply again, the sound filling the well around her.

// Raigryn Vayd // Belduhr Brighthand // Kara Orin //​

 

[Selene Avar]

The Golden City - South Courtyard
Close - Szesh | Harrier | TTamark | Arbeiter , Far - Kaahl

Selene didn't quite know what to do.

It was a rare instance that the Dreadlord found herself in such a state, but with the strangeness all around them she quickly found that she was out of her depth. Harrier and her ilk began to move forward, the undead shuffling behind her as Ava and the other man slowly stalked after her figure.

Anirian Soldiers looked to Selene, most of them with an eye of curiosity as the small army of golems waited almost expectantly for the group to follow. Fingers tightened for a second, and then Selene simply nodded and stepped after Harrier. "We follow."

She declared.

What the hell was this city?

All around them signs of a different world were on display. Things that she did not understand, things that she could never have imagined.

Almost as if triggered by the thought itself loud skittering could be heard. The clank of metal on metal as odd mechanical spiders slowly skittered around them. She felt a small bit of bile crawling in her throat, not because of arachnaphobia, but because it was another thing she did not understand.

Lips thinned, and as they made their way with Golem Escort to the Library Selene couldn't help but draw on a thin sliver of her magic.

 

[Dearien Verook]

They mentioned heading towards the constructs mettle city and Dearien shuttered. Go towards the danger? why would anyone want to go towards the danger? Why not run away. he could run away but he knew he had no chance of survival on his own. But towards the danger? He was snapped out of his thoughts when the other two started asking him questions.

"Oh, I-" The ground gave a massive shake and even with his enchanted leg he was thrown off balance and sat down hard on the stones. He blinked for a moment before looking back at the other two. Quoril was already sitting down, he didn't bother to get back up.

"Um- well, if the little ones are like the big one I would say the runes and the stone are what's powering it. If those are broken I doubt it would continue to function." He looked at the silver bottles that Quoril showed them. Explosions? Interesting?

"Here I have something that might help with the backlash from the explosion," He said reaching into his bag and pulling out drawstring bag. He pulled out a simple cloudy white crystal about an inch tall and held it up. "This is enchanted to create a momentary-" he paused dropping it back in the bag, " Sheild when it is held and the word shield is spoken." He peered into the bag mentally counting as he shifted through the crystals. "It only lasts a couple of seconds but is pretty strong. I should have enough for five for each of us... These were easy enough to make and being stuck in this city for a week one get's kind of bord." He shrugged counting out five in each of his hands then holding them out to each of his new companions. "Here, take these. they must be touching the skin when the command word is spoken and don't use more than one at once, the effect's don't stack, it would just waste one of them." He explained.

He did not like the idea of going towards the city. However, if any of them were to survive they all had to stick together. It was becoming clear to him that even if just one of them abandoned the group their chances of survival dropped significantly.

 

[Szesh]

Szesh did not like this one bit. The golems had not shown signs of hostility, and it seemed his party was content to follow their beckoning. Typical curiosity of scholars and wizards, he surmised, but he was somewhat surprised that Selene Avar had chosen to follow as well.

Glancing up in the sky, he could see the metal birds clashing with… actual birds? But they were immense. Flashes of light glinted whenever they came close to one another. He did not know who was fighting them, but he felt an immense urge to leap into the skies and join them. Perhaps the ballista were unable to fire directly above the city? If he had approached from higher up perhaps he could have made it… but the flying metal things were likely to be just as dangerous.

With more restraint than he had exercised in decades, Szesh straightened up and lowered his spear. He stepped in line with the rest of the group, and followed the golems into the city. It grew steadily as they approached. He could smell steam in the air, but it was oddly sterile, carrying no other odors with it. No impurities.

The spider drones skittered around them, growing in number by the minute. He curled his lip involuntarily at the vermin. They moved around the travellers in eerie silence, and the metal clinking beat on Szesh’s nerves. A small spider, no larger than a rat, scuttled near the group. In an act of catharsis, Szesh stepped just out of line and crushed it beneath his claws. Besides the crunch and snap of delicate metal parts, it gave no sound.

Moving on, he felt just a little bit better.


Selene Avar | TTamark | Harrier | Ava Gilleth | Arbeiter | Aifrin | Fynauria | Kaahl

 

[Arbeiter]

The smaller golems seemed to ignore the interlopers entirely, not bothering them or swarming them. Some paused for a moment as Steve addressed them but they quickly resumed moving. They wove around the footsteps, taking care not to be trodden underfoot.

Until one scaled foot came down atop one of the drones. The clockwork marvel was crushed in an instant, its whirring cut off by the weight of the dragonman. Nothing happened at first. The group moved on but the pattern of the little spider golems had changed. They seemed to be gathering, focusing on the group, keeping track with them.

One darted forward and jabbed a sharp edged leg at the draconian's foot. A second scurried forward a moment later to mimic it. Four more were advancing behind them, more moving to support them.

Szesh TTamark Selene Avar Ava Gilleth Kaahl Harrier

 

[Harrier]

At one level, Harrier walked through the strange city among metal golems and skeletons, in the shadow of moving things with no name.

At another level, she continued to comb the aether for ancient spirits. But this city was too old, its ghosts too quiescent: faded and asleep, shreds that might not be of use even if she could raise them. She'd prepared quite a bit of power for today's journey, grappled with possibilities, but the opportunity was not arising. And though she began to sense many ghosts, they were pale little things, the shades of the recently-stolen villagers. By the time the golems ushered the party into the Golden Library, Harrier was in a necromantically bad mood.

That mood reversed utterly the moment she realized what kind of place they'd reached. Books. Old books, but in fantastic condition. Her breath quickened. Visible indices eluded interpretation, so she had her doubts about the efficacy of what she was about to do. A quartet of skeletons clattered on the floor, inert, their use and bindings sacrificed. The undead villagers fell too. Expertly, Harrier translated the recycled strength into classic Elbionese college magic, a cantrip that any Maester had used to one extent or another.

The power to Know That Which Is Written.

Comprehension would require introspection, of course: reflection, even synthesis, of a large corpus. You hardly ever saw a Maester assimilating a shelf of books: too much noise, not enough clarity. There were real risks, in the long term, no matter how much of a sacrifice you put into a spell of this kind. Language was only one of those risks.

She'd given up quite a few of her undead escort now, and the bulk of the reclaimed power fuelled her spell to a scale that other Maesters would call unwise.

To start, she'd picked a bank of shelves at random. Maybe it comprised the world's greatest collection of knowledge about basket weaving. Maybe not. Regardless, as she walked, she began to Know That Which Was Written. Diagrams, words in all manner of ancient tongues - it wove itself into her memory, to be reflected on and interpreted at relative leisure. Because like feth could she understand the bulk of it now.

The power she expended was immense, courtesy of quite a few sacrifices of useful magical servants, both now and earlier. Any nearby mage would know she was doing something nonviolent but stupidly ambitious.


Szesh Selene Avar TTamark Ava Gilleth Kaahl

 

[Ukrir]

The Golden Clocktower
Aifrin | Fynauria

"My Lord."

The voice stopped him, fingers twitching as he held the golden tool just an inch away from an eye. Fear filled the gaze of that eye, staring at him as though it could not comprehend what was about to occur to it. Quiet whimpers filled the silence between whirring gears.

Ukrir turned slow, his fingers delicately placing down the tool onto a small stable besides the operating room. The Metallic Golem he had earlier ripped to shreds stood off to the side, a crystal of pure blue sitting in it's chest. "What?"

"Your Selerek are not fairing well against the intruders in the sky."

For a moment he stopped, his gaze falling on the golem that he had spoken to before he waved his hand.

A loud shifting of gears could be heard, the ground to his right shifting as the ClockTower reorganized itself. A metal plate moved, and a large mirror appeared. Ukrir waved his hand, and an image of the skies appeared.

There he watched for a moment as the Selerek chased those upon the eagles, the Elves fighting back and cutting into the Golems with brilliant blades.

"Fascinating." Ukrir said, slowly glancing back at the Golem, and then the subject on the table. "Get rid of that. I have an idea."

Perhaps the people of this age would not be so useless after all.

Ukrir quickly moved through the Tower, the building beginning to rearrange itself as a platform was born at it's very top.