The Black Crystals

Log Info

• Title: The Black Crystals
• Emitter: Jay
• Characters: Jay, Slixvah, Alaryn, Schara, Lauriel, Toha, Zalara
• Place: A14: Artificer's Hall
• Time: Tuesday, October 11, 2022, 7:28 PM
• Summary: Jay and Slixvah go to the Artificer's Hall to play the skull recordings and seek the opinion of artificers. They encounter Alaryn, Schara, Lauriel, Toha and eventually Zala. The Black Crystal recordings cover several topics, the Torment Engine, a demi-plane dimensional portal, and the Artificer's attempt and success at creating an alternate life-forge. His arrogance is astounding, prompting strong reactions from all present. The pieces are put together, and it's possible he was Heady's creator-father, and if not, his devices are still the reason behind the wargolem's failure.

-=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--<* A14: Artificer's Hall *>=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=-

The Artificer's Hall rests slightly off the ground, supported on all sides by eight strong, if nonfunctional legs. The entire Hall is carved from an ancient automation of a giant arachnid. While at one time--many eons past--it may have been functional, today it is a hollowed-out shell of its former self, with rooms made for professors' offices and class rooms. The Hall itself may be accessed by a stairway that leads up, and up...and up through one of its many legs.

Once inside, its appearance is anything but a mechanical spider's guts. With ceilings of polished stone and artifice-metal, the Hall possesses the same, ominous acoustics as any grand cathedral. Twisting, jointed arches of metal reflect its true form--as a great, massive structure hosted within an arachnid's mechanical belly. Everything is dark and metallic, with seams barely visible where pieces have been welded together. The whole building pulses every so often with a hum of energy, powered by a kind of arcane force scarcely comprehended by the outside world. Yet, the energy seems almost gobber-chaotic.

The centre of the building is a great octagon, with eight, great halls leading away from its core. Decorating its core are stained glass windows. They add to the almost holy ambiance. Instead of leading to the outside world, each shadowbox displays life-sized figures enact scenes from Alexandria's past from the Artificer's perspective. They display feats of Building, Achievement, and Experimentation. Towards the north is one depicting the Forge of the World. It depicts what is thought to be a snapshot of the tower at the center of the World Engine, the god's planar home.

The whole of the complex includes dormitories and construction rooms, where artificers compare notes, ideas, and puzzle over the grand works of history. These buildings spawn from the Central Hall in an almost arachnid fashion, connected by walkways of dark steel and overseen by golem guardians.

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-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-  Appearing, in Order  =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Jay          5'9"     145 Lb     Eaglefolk         Male      A perky male Blue Jay with a discerning eye.
Slixvah      5'8"     130 Lb     Eaglefolk         Female    A rust red/white Egalrin covered in veils, ribbons, and shawls.
Alaryn       5'4"     112 Lb     Human             Female    Dark haired slender girl in breastplate and skirt.
Schara       5'7"     120 Lb     Unknown           Unknown   A Tall figure of burnished metal with a fur lined cloak.
Lauriel      4'11"    114 Lb     Dawn Elf          Female    Stout elf wearing a tree.
Toha         6'2"     282 Lb     War Golem         Female    A woman shaped contrivance of leather and steel, with oruch weaponry.
Zalara       5'5"     125 Lb     Human             Female    Red Haired Human Female with Goggles.
-=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=

"They're very helpful here! It's where I met Aehrick." A white, black and blue egalrin hops up the main steps to the artificer's hall. One of corvid heritage, by his beak, and a bluejay, by his colouration. The chill wind outside ruffles his feathers.

"We just don't have anything to bargain this time." He tells the other egalrin accompanying him.

"Except Knowledge!" He stands dramatically in the entrance, wide stance, hands on hips and elbows out, wings dramatically unfurled. He shouts into the void. "Helllooo!"

"Integrity C Truefeather, here to engage the greatest artificic minds in scientific discovery! The 'C' is fur 'Curiousity'." He opens his beak wide, "Anyone else curious?"

Slixvah is plodding alongside the bluejay, wings fluttering closed behind her. "I see, I see!" she chirps to him. "That seems pretty interesting! That guy was a good lad!"

She looks around,rolling her shoulders. "Yeah! I'm curious! Well, it ain't my middle name, but ya get tha biz!" she chirps out alongside him.

She turns slightly to spy a vehicle approaching, her lightly reaching into a robe as she seems a bit unsettled from the machine. But recognized the rider. She gives a wave, diplomatic about it.

I mean, Alaryn hasn't really been to this place. Her definition of artifice seems to be unpopular among other artificers. To her, it's not about having big clunky gears, or anything that could be considered oversized and steampunk style stuff. For her, it's just a way of drawing on and channeling the energy of magic via external means.

For example. She is no wizard and has no potential to use magic from within herself, but she is able to harness the mana of the world through the use of resonance crystals and with those, she produces magical effects without being able to cast spells herself.

But what she -does- have, is a smooth-riding and yet almost purposefully noise-augmented vehicle. Her merchant cart has no mules to pull it, but instead has forty eight individually suspension-enabled foot long tank treads that are propelled by expanding and contracting pockets of mana that are provided via the powdered mana-infused quarts that runs the thing for a week at a time. That cart pulls up out front of the Hall building, and with all the noise it makes while moving... the cessation of that noise is almost deafening.

Once it is stopped, she reaches up to lift her goggle from over her eyes, and rests them on her forehead. That done, she smiles and nods to herself before climbing down the retractable ladder rungs on the side of the cart. She drops the last couple feet and stretches out her back with fists pressed to the small of said back before turning and approaching the Artificer's Hall. She is hoping that the completion of this cart-traption might be at least acknowledged by the traditionalist Artificers in town.

From one of the many, many side halls in the giant hollow spider of a guildhall came the large brass clad figure of Schara, who the legal-rin met the other day, minus one cloak. They grill on the mouthpiece was open, as they sipped from a large bottle of something with a straw.

They turn to the door, and wave to the egalrin, before closing up the bottle and the mouthpiece of their helmet.

"Heya, how goes it? Hopefully good, good night's rest usually helps with things. Though, if someone talked, it wasn't me, alright?" They greet, their voice a deep reverb from some synthesized device near the mouth of the of the helmet, which glows slightly with each word. They looked to the other egalrin, and the metal helmet tilts to one side. "That's, that's a lot of ribbons. Normally you're supposed to wear one, maybe two in your hair tops, but, that's a lot. But now that I think about it, egalrin don't have hair, do they? So all bets are off, then."

They shrug, and peer out the door, at the bizarre vehicle out there. "You come here in this thing? Certainly an interesting choice of transportation."

A tree follows behind the vehicle that arrives. Not traveling with but in following distance. Well.. perhaps more dead bush then tree? Humaniod form at least. Perhaps topiary enchanted. But no, as the vegative form stops near the forming group it reaches up and takes off it's helmet to reviel a elven woman inside a suit of armor.

She inspects all the wonderful automata and creations that seem to have met in one spot. A small smile and nods as she takes note of details.

Grinning, Alaryn gestures back at her motorized tank tread card. "Eustice here is my best creation of late. Well, that and I am working on a self-heating skillet using the effect of the Heat Metal spell harnessed through the right type of crystal." She shakes her head and shrugs, "That, and I have a thought on making something like an automated pooper scooper to sell to wagon operators in the city."

Yes, Alaryn's train of thought seems to run on random rails all at once. She shrugs her shoulders and gestures to the Hall, "I brought'er by to see if I could get a stamp of approval from those in residence here."

And of course, Alaryn -does- offer a smile and a wave to the Eagalrin she met before. Nope, totally didn't forget that!

"Oh, that's not ours, we didn't arrive in that." Integrity stares at the vehicle, looks at Slix, then back at the vehicle. "Could be useful though. Propulsion. Power source. Do you think the operator knows how to make power sources?"

"Hey!" He squawks at Alaryn, "Do you know power supplies? Oh, you do know power supplies!"

"She knows power supplies." He whispers to Slix. Integrity, the master of the obvious.

"Think we'll get more help or less help if we say it's about Black Tech?"

Slixvah giggles to the helmeted and tall figure. "Who says two is too many?"

She nods to Jay, snickering, but she has a bit of a quiet hum that she mentions to him and him alone, "I don't trust Alaryn with Black Tech, Blue."

The lingering tree gets a wave of a ribboned wing.

The elf who wears the tree hears this term and her head jerks up and looks more keenly at Jay. And then she realizes she's seen this person before. She comments quietly to the machine rider as she steps closer, "I like the treads. Handy." but then is giving Jay an intense look. "Black tech? What do you know of black tech, ..Integrity wasn't it?"

Inclining her head, Alaryn nods. "Yes, she knows power systems." A pause and she adds, "At least in how they work with my own artifice. Mostly, I infuse mana into crystal, and then grind those down too a powder to use as a power source. Though sometimes I don't need to powder it. My offensive weapon is basically just a copper infused rod with an insulated grip and a sapphire that resonates with electrical elemental energy to produce a charged blast."

Then words register in her ears. "Black? What does a color have to do with a type of tech? I mean seriously, colors are just colors." she adds as she starts working her way up the stairs.

Likewise travelling the world on foot, a feminine figure emerges from one of the secondary halls, sliping a courier's style satchel over a shoulder like a handbag, as she calls back to the room a cheery, "Thanks again, Ogelve! Tell Mattock he can pick up his face, day after tomorrow, ok?"

Valedictions shared, she turns and starts to make her way along the plaza, catching sight of the familiar wagon, and, well, the gathering passle of folks around it. Feeling like being neighborly, Toha starts to make we way over in that direction, lifting her off hand in a wave to go with her folksy, "Hey!" toward Alaryn and her presumed new friends, though as she gets closer, more words are caught, and her pace hastens.

Up closer, her expression is unchanged, though her tone has dipped into more concern, bordering on firm, "Wha's this about Black Tech?"

"Huh, walking trees now too, or, wooden war golem? Most are made of metal, but it makes sense to use wood if you don't have access to a ton of metal, easy to replace wooden plating." Schara muses out loud to themself. "Or, no, that's a person. Hey, nice to meet ya, lots of people coming by today. You need something?"

"Something like how I don't need, but would like my cloak back. I'm not waiting around for you to wake up so I could get it back after all." They continue to Jay. "Crystals, huh? interesting choice, but if you can make it work, it makes sense. Too many variables for me, it's hard to guarantee the structural composition of any given crystalline structure, even between multiple samples from the same mine or quarry."

The bluejay is busy listening to the red ribboned egalrin, head cocked, attentive stare at nothing. He nods several times.

"Allegedly. Allegedly!" He answers the elf, his tail-feathers going this way, that way. "Integrity. Yes..."

Another glance at Alaryn, "Ah, the colours aren't important."

He spreads his wings and points at the other Eglarin, "WE have a talking skull! Slix does." In a sudden flurry of motion he converts his briefcase to a small, standing height table or podium and pats the top of it while glancing meaningfully at his partner in 'crime'.

"I should start at the beginning. A friend of a friend, well I guess he's a friend of mine too. Or it. It's a golem. Heady is a golem. Heady had some kind of accident with an allegedly kulthian design inspired device, and we're trying to undo the accident, and found some stuff."

"Which DO involve Crystals!"

"So, you are trying to get a new body for Heady then?" asks Alaryn. She inclines her head and shrugs, "I'd need a really flaw free crystal of a large size... something that could store and almost -generate- mana for itself. Absorbing it from the universe more like, to provide power for the golem it is the heart of." she theorizes.

"But we'd need the body to work like a body... something involving musculature and the like." she says, her voice trailing off as she looks back to her cart-traption. Then she grins, "Something like the expanding and contracting mana modules I use to run the treads there?" she asks.

Slixvah shifts a bit as the bird is out of the bag. "Uhh, well, ya see-"

Then it's REALLY out of the bag. She jolts upright. "U-uh, yeah, a skull!" She rifles around in her many robes and pulls free a skull with a hole on the side and a gold plate upon it. She also pulls out a case. "Trustin' you, hon." <Auran>

She stares at Alaryn for a beat. Then shakes her head with a sigh. The skull is plopped on the table.

Lauriel, the tree..sort of.. stays focused in on Jay. "Allegedly..inspired. These words do not mean that it's Black Tech. If it was true Kulthian and old I would say for certianty that it was black. Yet even inspired could be more dangerous." She pauses as the skull comes out and is set down.

Toha's head lists slightly at the turns this conversation has taken just since she closed the distance, "That's going longform.... We'd still need a creation forge." she says, looking to her friend, then the table's owner, "Is that... Heady's?"

The dreadlocked figure leans closer to the morbid object, absently noting, "Black tech uses life energy, souls'r blood fer power or motive medium. Some of it'll happily settle fer a corpse if that's what it has ta work with."

Her chin lifts to bring the line of her eyeslit in alignment to the red elgarin, "The Mourners got magic that can bring yer friend back."

There's a slight shift in her posture, "I know."

She straightens to her full, then, as her head cants, and her tone lightens in some sympathy, "Ritual's expensive, though, but since ya got a piece of him, ya should be all set."

"Everyone has a talking skull, unless their mute." Schara shrugs. "Hey, nice to meet you, could probably use your expertise, probably, ma'am." She adds to the war golem.

"You can't, you can't just 'make a new body', though. Cool as that would be, it's not that simple. Only way you're going to do that is if someone was actually running, and had a creation forge running, and good luck convincing someone to fire up one of those, you know, if you enjoy starting wars."

Schara shrugs again, and stretches. "Unless you got all the important bits, which, that's hard to say for certain, maybe you could work something out?"

"It was... yes... it was all that." The bluejay hunches a little, resembling a crow up to no good and reaches for the case, then the skull. Opening the case reveals six crystals, some are flawed, chips missing, or having a crack.

"We have Heady's armour, what he used before. And... a gem. Not with us." His fingers touch each of the crystals, they reflect on his eyes, "I think this is the one we tested."

He picks it up, shifts the gold panel on the skull and holds the crystal near. It is sucked in under the ear with a quiet 'clik'. "The problem is getting them back together. Trying to work out what we need to work out. This... kind of explains the problem."

The skull is a skull. For a moment, nothing happens. Then a voice spills out although it shows no signs of life.

"To shy away from such a discovery because of the morality of it. Morality. We choose to shackle ourselves to filth-- in the cold and dark-- because we fear the myriad possibilities presented us! A fear based on lies fed us by the so-called gods' messengers...

... this mortal realm knew its highest peak in the age of Kulthus only to be struck back down into the starving shadows by the forces of "divine" orthodoxy. To be afforded this chance by Saluven... become Khroel and wear such a mantle... see Merkabah fly and join along to elevate us to our rightful place..."

Integrity stares, "That wasn't yesterday's."

Lauriel takes a small step back. "That.. sounds like someon or something that desires the return of Kulthian values. A call to return to life stealing and draining." She looks between those gathered. "And you want to bring this back to life in full? I fear that would be folly."

"I mean, a new body is more of a turn of phrase. I wasn't thinking of something permanent so much as just something to give a bit of mobility and such. It wouldn't be anything like a golem.. or a human in ability. Just like... think of it as a small vehicle to get around with." suggests Alaryn.

She shrugs, "Then again, oh... oh!" She turns back to her cart and opens a panel. Then she shakes her head and opens another one. "Aha!" she exclaims as she pulls out a wooden case. Then she turns to regard the others, "My mana infused powdered crystal is also useful for dyes and colorings that glow with the ambient mana within them. So if you want some sort of lit up design on armor... or whatever." she shrugs.

And then the skull speaks. She snorts and shakes her head, "Maybe best to leave it as a head."

Slixvah frowns heavily at hearing the voice spill out. "Yeah. Bad stuff. I just wanna blow it up."

She looks to the living tree, and she shakes her head. "No. Not this voice, a different lad. This voice can stay dead."

She points to one of the rocks Jay has. "Did that one last time," she indicates.

Toha's dark eye levels upon the skull as the jay slips the gem into the slot and it's words issue forth. Her posture shifts slightly, and her right hand closes slightly in the wake of a command conflict betwixt a impulse to reach for the source of the intonation.... and a directive to draw Piriona.

Her chin dips slightly, and she speaks anew, "Merkabahn's were bloody sweethearts, ya can tell." her head turns slightly to regard the tree for the first time...

But she's been kicked by a hut, and seems content to accept more peacable things on their face.

"So, ya found this guy." a fingertip rings against the skull's forehead, "Lookin fer yer friend, then?"

She looks toward Jay, then, remembering to actually turn her head, "Just armor? Anything structural? Frame, cognizance engine, dynamos?" A smooth shrug granted by marvelous engineering, "A finger?"

Schara turns their helmet to the skull, and they appear to be listening for some time. Then, the artificer burst into laughter, which sounded low and ominous filtered through the helmet as it was.

"Ah, fuckin' kulthians. Even when they're dead and their empires are crumbled from their own hubris and mistakes, they still think they're the hot shit of the planes. If I'll hand one thing to them, they're not lacking for confidence, and I suppose that's worth something. Something." Schara chuckles. "Yeah, leave that thing a skull, better yet, smash it so no one goes getting any funny ideas. Because there are some clowns out there who might agree with what that thing has to say."

"The war golem is right. Depending on what you have for your friend, that'll determine what you need to do to help them."

"If you want, I'll break that thing down to its component mana and infuse it into fuel for my cart." offers Alaryn with a shrug. "I can just imagine the indignity of it, and that amuses me."

Then she shakes her head and gets back to her original train of thought. "So, does anyone want some glowing dye powder to etch runs into armor, shield... boots, trim on a cloak... or even into the steel of a sword?" she asks, shaking her box just a little bit while she offers a hopeful smile.

"Right, not this voice. This voice is... I don't know what he is or what he was. A 'captain' I guess. He can stay dead." Jay's head bobs several times. His fingers are swift, deft, one crystal is removed and the one Slix points out is clicked into place.

There's a moment of silence; the skull speaks.

"A child. The answer was so obvious and I feel such a fool. Creativity, plasticity, and moldability; not a blank slate to be commanded through tedious and at-length proclamation. Not rote automa...

The soul... harvested, captured, and planted... To be father and master-absolute...

... seek to capture or replicate the 'Forges? Why waste the genius of artifice to enhance animate corpses? The orchard is vast and the fruit ripe on the vine... it needs only be harvested.

This will be my mark!".

"I... don't know. I never got a look inside Heady's armour." Jay admits, "When he was moving. He made a lot of noise, a lot more than you, not as much as her machine. The armour was rusted, dented, had a patina. It was heavy to move after, when he wasn't. And yes, we found the skull when we explored where Heady was sucked in."

He closes his eyes briefly, exhales, "We'll destroy things after we've saved Heady. I don't need glowing dye powder right now, but I might later."

Thinks about what's she's heard and the words of Toha though she doesn't know the Forged. Alaryn gets her attention briefly and gains a shake of the head. "Glowing things stand out too much out in the woods. Thank you though. Would be lovely if done on certain objects."

Slixvah chuckles with the artificer. "Yeah, they're dead. Their hubris supersedes them hella. Though, I think it might be best ta know what its doin' and plannin' instead of just destroying it."

She holds a hand up to Alaryn to ward her off. "Yeah, let's not destroy it," she says a smidge cooly. "And no thank you, I don't use any of that shtuff."

More frowning at the skull, then a chuff like a makari. "Thankfully, like Blue said, Heady's got a body, just gotta shove the life back inta them."

Shrugging her shoulders, Alaryn smiles. "Girl's gotta try to make a sale. After all, I wouldn't be much of a traveling merchant if I didn't. Would I?" she asks without letting the refusal deter her attitude.

"Well, you think the pole-up-their-arses inside might approve of Eustice here?" she asks, gesturing at her cart as she moves on and starts ignoring the talking skull.

Toha turns her awareness toward the other gems, cracked and chipped as they are, though outwardly, her head doesn't change bearing.

"I'll gladly take a look at'im for ya, if only ta figger out what pieces would work fer the Mourner's spells."

Her chin dips a smidge, her volume a smidge and a quarter, "The spell'll make repairs enough fer Heady to come back around. Might still need further fixin up fer full function."

A pause, then, "Spell works, he's gonna start off outta sorts fer a moment, best ya be expectin that, anyway."

As for the rest.... the construct shrugs again, "I have some gadgets that might fix some of the physical damage of those gems, but I'd have ta study them a li'l bit to see if there's any risk of information loss." Her head turns toward the beribboned Elgarin, "If ya wanna pick through fer plans an the like. Otherwise, I like scrubbing this guy outta existence."

The skull rings under another tap of her finger.

"This is why people hate kulthians." Schara sighs. "I know, you can figure out a lot from something like that if you can parse the drivel, but, artificer's, a lot of people learn the study for various reasons, and there's a genuine reason why they're distrusted. Because you have some nutjobs out in there that hide it well who think the kulthians actually had a valid point, and maybe harvesting the souls of children for their work isn't such a bad idea if it gets results."

"Best not to go showing it to too many people in that case. And, yeah, no crystal powder for me either. Doubt I've got the cash to spare anyways, and it might be a bit to obvious. As for the cart, why wouldn't they? Approval doesn't matter too much, but, I see little to complain about, aside from the excessive noise." They shrug, before nodding to Toha. "You're helping out a lot, if you're offering. So if you need any help looking over their parts or scrounging for replacements that might be necessary, I can help with that."

"We're trying to figure out what we found, what it does." Jay explains, removing the crystal and flipping it through his fingers before putting it back in the box. He stares at them. "He made these recordings for some reason. Hubris and to show off his genius. He made... there were a bunch of things with mechanical parts in them. Like a drill for a hand."

The bluejay shakes his wings as if they're covered in water. "I think what we found was part of the Merkabah attack. Some kind of Airship. It had controls, for something like an airship."

He pulls another gem, slots it into the skull.

The Skull Speaks.

It's silent for a lot longer. This crystal had a crack in. When the voice starts up, there's a slight distortion to it, an almost echo.

"... nephew: a clever boy but twisted by the disease of his childhood. I see the way he envies his peers. That resentment and rage should be an easy harvest. His mother will miss him, no doubt, but would offer endless, tearful thanks were she to know this second chance I afford him.

To be the first of many; my first son."

Jay stares at the skull. He makes a scraping noise with his beak, a little like grinding teeth. He nods to Toha, "Well... we might need that restoring, if we find some recording worth restoring."

Nodding her head, Alaryn smiles at the mention of the cart and the noise. "Well, the noise is something difficult to remove. Trust me, this is as quiet as I have been able to make it. But I needed steel plates for the bel around the wheels... and when you roll linked steel plates over wheels and over the ground.. it makes noise." A pause and she rolls her eyes, "Especially on cobbled streets. Dirt roads are quieter. But the harder the road, the louder the cart."

"Huh. As for the dye, seems weird. Had lots of folks request I come up with this, and now nobody seems to want it."

Slixvah, the rainbow ribboned egalrin woman, shifts a bit and crosses her arms. "Prolly might be a good idea, thenw hen them they get back they can give a diagnostic report."

The red egalrin nods to Schara. "Yeah, thing we found had somethin' messed up like that goin' on. Some people do things without thinking if they should do it in the first place," she says a bit on the beak.

"Don't plan on showin' it ta too many-" Her words trail off as she looks to the skull again, focused on it. Her fingers curl slightly into a fist, and the feathers on her wings extend a foot or so. She too, grinds her beak. "Yeah. Might need some restoring. Just in case the nutjob says something useful ta keep someone safe."

A look goes to the the walking tree, the bass boosted artificer, and the war golem. "I'm Slixvah, by the by!" she chirps warmly in greeting, sloughing off the weight of the topic, but still interested in what the other gems have recorded on them.

"I used that jar ya gave me on another shell, Ally." Toha replies, "I'll slap it on next I know yer around." her tone somewhat closer to the one she had at the beginning.

With a nod, she looks between the others, "Artifice sometimes gets dabbled in by folks who've got no business messing with it."

The skull rings again.

"Ran into a lotta nasty stuff in Merkabah, proper, a year or so back. Stuff'd twist bodies, an tear livin folks down ta reengineer inta more 'useful' forms, so, this guy here messin with drill hands kinda fits."

With the introduction offered, she straightens and offers a hand the red Elgarin's way first, "I'm Toha, nice ta meet ya!"

"Lauriel." She replys to Slix. "Nice to meet you."

She gives the skull another long look and shakes her head. "Perhaps I'll come try to find you all later. I suspect that this will not be the last time I'll see this being or hear it." she says meaning the skull. "But I must see a man about new tools to file iron wood. Another time." She nods to all in passing and puts her helmet back on as she walks away.

"Nice excuse, not that they care." Schara snorts. "So just abducting children on top of everything else. I know, I heard of some of the crap that went on their, but I promised to not bring it up. Non disclosure agreement rendered or not." She adds to the blue egalrin.

"Well, what else does this guy have to share? Going to talk about how he skinned animals as a child because his parents didn't love him enough, and that's how he realized that life has no inherent value?" The artificer asks.

"I would like glowing things." Jay says, his hands on the small podium table, staring at the floor. He shudders, his feathers ruffing up, his breathing growing quicker. One hand drops to the hilt of his rapier and his eyes glaze for a moment as he stares in a different way.

A quick breath, and he's replacing the crystal. "I just want to get through this. So we don't need the Gray Lady's prayers for Heady. There were horrible things. I can still smell it."

The skull speaks.

"It was an affectation, surely. An indulgence. To remove the carving from the pratart and place it in the ship was entirely unnecessary; my access to the demi-plane is unlimited. The Last High Artificer gifted it to me when I swore my oath and it will be mine until my death-- an event perhaps centuries away. (Though I sometimes wonder-- hope, even-- if we will see that human weakness vanquished in my lifetime.)

But the pratart is through the gate and the High Artificer's works keep me on the ship more often than not. I enjoy the sight of it. The Justness of it.

I work tirelessly in the service of our cause.

Do I not deserve this simple reward?"

"Oh. So that's what that was." Jay straightens, looks at Schara then back to Slix, "the broken tube is some kind of dimensional gate."

Slixvah's eyes crease in a smile as she steps forward and clasps both hands around Toha's. "What a pleasure ta meet ya, sweetie! I love tha color palette ya got goin' on!" she croons. "And nice ta meet ya too Lauriel! Stay well!"

She turns back to Schara, tilting her head to the side before tutting. "Probably! But who are you? I like that voice mod ya got goin'."

The bird woman slinks back to the bluejay, an arm wrapping around his shoulders as he locks up. "Shhh, Blue, we almost through all of 'em," she coos warmly to him, staying resolute. <Auran>

She listens. And frowns. "Ugh. Yeah. Probably a personal lab. Way more screwed up stuff in there. Probably best if its lost forever until the demi-plane unweaves itself to entropy. Good riddance."

"Thanks" The bluejay breathes again, more strongly with the other egalrin's touch. His tailfeathers remain low and tight. "Almost through. Yes. Yes." <auran>

"We... might need to check it. If he left things... part way done."

He removes the crystal, replaces it in the case, picks up another. It also has chipped edges. Briefly Jay pokes around, in-case the lost fragment is trapped against a seam. A cursory inspection doesn't reveal it. "Two left."

It is placed in the skull. The skull makes a static noise, then speaks.

"... recreating the Torment Engine was an unmitigated success. The ancient tomes provided by our secret patron were worn, faded and incomplete but our own studies meshed perfectly with the principles presented by the High Artificers. 'Black Artifice' indeed. They would have us beg and scrape, mewl and prostrate for their scraps... to deny us the product of our brilliance.

... only regret is that it was not an agent of the Open-Eye. To shackle an angel in service to Animus so, as we seek out this knowledge he would deny us...

It wept and lamented in its every-tongue as we secured it, butchered and docile, into place. I would tell it that we do not do these things to be monsters-- to make it suffer-- but my breath would be wasted. It is a slave to the thing it serves and thus our enemy. Given the chance it would make all efforts to thwart out plans...

...and as we quieted it with our harvesting and control mechanisms I allowed myself a moment of weakness and promised that it would one day live to see the toppling of misplaced divinity...

Our ship will fly."

Jay's beak is grinding again.

"Ah, yeah, sorry, it's just, this is a real frustrating thing to be hearing is all, and I can only imagine how it feels after what you saw. Again, sorry." Schara self corrects when she sees how it was bothering the others. "Check the crystals, see how they're made. If there's any form of ordering to them, by color or shape or anything that might tell you when they were made relative to the others. if you can that is, it'd help to have an order off events." They suggest, beffore realizing they were addressed. They turn to Slixvah slightly, and nod. "Thank you, I made it myself. Completely noise cancelling helmet, and it does make me sound different. My name is Schara, I met Integrity C Truefeather here the other day when he was looking for help."

Toha gives a gentle squeeze as her hand is clasped and she nods emphatically, "Thanks! Ya both got some real pretty feathers!"

She considers the Bluejay a moment, then looks to the skull as it starts issuing forth again and she goes silent for some moments after it's finished.

She straightens a bit, then looks to the other armoured figure, "Oh, yeah, that'd be great, thank you! I can probably make compatible parts, but scavenging some would probly be a lot faster."

"May you wallow in the Hells you've built in your ambitions." she growls, her impressively natural sounding voice bubbling with contempt as she regards the lipless golden mouthpiece of hubris and folly. <Kulthian>

Slixvah gives a slow nod to Schara, her perking up as she finally gets a name out of them. "Nice ta meet ya! Blue's a good noodle!" she assuages, grinning with her eyes. "And ya welcome! I'll keep all that in mind when we get ta sortin' them."

The bird woman gives Tegri another squeeze before pulling back and crossing her arms, but not leaving his side. She holds her opinion until after hearing the recording.

... she growls quietly. "... that poor angel went back ta nothin'. Shit, that was so long ago. Hopefully they went ta Eluna to figure out what's goin' on... ya'll endin' that poor side was the best thing ya'll could have done. Ship be dammed."

A little sigh leaves her, and she looks up to Toha with a quiet hum. "Appreciated. And whatever ya said, I totes agree." She makes a spitting sound at the skull.

"It was horrible." Integrity says, his voice flat. The crystal removed from the skull, squeezed between his fingers as if he might crush it; not squeezed hard enough that he will. It still might be useful, although the danger to inspire another to attempt the same feat, seems a greater risk.

And Aehrick is seeking a lighter, less evil replacement, as is the egalrin.

"The angel thanked us, and went home, and it was a Torment Engine. There was no allegedly. Last recording." He slots in the last crystal and waits on the skull.

"Success. Again. My star is in ascent and my favor grows. Surely, there will be even greater rewards for this accomplishment. The perfect marriage of man and artifice. The perfect soldier and...

... a minor hiccough. A brief acclimation period should not be outside the realm of reason.

He cries? All children cry. Given time the crying will stop and he will see this gift for what it was.

Failing that, there are other, less pathetic children to take his place."

Jay glares into the empty eyesockets, the dead voice from the dead lingering.

"Sounds about right, it's what they deserve." Schara nods solemnly to the war-golem. "Noodle? Is that some term for Egalrin I haven't heard of before? because some of you have noodly necks or something, or are you comparing them to... pasta?" They ask of Slixvah.

"If you aren't going to destroy them, at least not yet, keep them separate. I don't know of many kulthian skull crystal memory journals, so if no one knows how to use them, it's a bit safer. Security through obfuscation is better than nothing." They suggest.

Zalara comes in from the outside with her black helmet under her arm and she's muttering to herself. She hears the end of the recording and looks around for a bit, seeing the others gathered around a skull. Unable to help herself she wanders over. "Hello there, that's an interesting piece of artifice you've got there." She smiles at Integrity, "Feel better?" She asks him.

The construct's chin lowers, canting her stern expression into a relative scowl as her regard holds to the gilded blasphemy, a ruby glint winking from the darkness of her eyeslit.

'The perfect marriage of man and machine'

Toha's fingers flutter faintly, and then snap into fists by her side as she straightens.

A soft, almost... breathless, "... no..." <yrch-speak>

Her head shakes, vigorously enough to set her braids to lash against Piriona and Reason where they hang from their dorsal moorings, and a rekindled fire is stoked within her voice, "You miserable bastard! They should have fed *you* to the damned Torment Engine, you scurrilous puke!" <Kulthian>

Ignore the faintly glowing mist wisping from between some of her seams as she brings up a tight, quaking fist over the offensive contrivance.

It holds atremble, there, for another second or two, then, all at once, the display is over as the War Golem takes a step back and allows her hand to fall open to her side, shaking her head anew.

Destroying it is a moment's indulgence, and the fate of one of her brethren may depend on what's still within that wretched bastard's skull and his gems.

She can't.

She wants to.

Has to.

Can't.

"I-I...." she starts, a half octave off, then, as she turns from the group, "I need ta think.... think on this."

She takes her first opening step, with a look over her shoulder, voice back to something like what's probably normal for her, "I'll be around the Stringfellow foundry the next couple days. Keep safe!"

Slixvah glares as well at the skull with a gold plate on it. There's visible tension in her body before she clasps her hands together. Takes a deep breath. Exhales. Then collects the glowing rocks to put them in a felt case. And scoops the skull up to shove it into a pocket in one of her many robes. "Fuck you and your ship, may the winds crash you into the hells to burn for this," she curses in an angry, quiet twitter. <Auran>

Another breath. "It's over. This terror isn't happening anymore. Good point Schara."

She looks over to them, her tilting her head to the side with a weak chuckle. "Naw. It just sounds silly is all. I'm just sayin' Tegri's good folk."

The new person coming in just gets a shake of the head. "Nope. Not interesting. Actually kind of hellish."

She only just barely catches a 'no' in a different tongue, looking over to Toha. And gets a front row seat to all of that. "... honey. It's okay. Now we know what sorta shit they did, so now we can get it sorted out and the people we givin' it to can blow it up maybes. Give yaself time," she croons soft, waggling her fingers goodbye. "Take care, hon."

"Is it okay to be pissed off at them again? Good." Schara shrugs. "No, they should not have. Their horrible machinations have no place in society in the slightest, and throwing them to it would only prove something about their work, however little. And that's more than they deserve." <kulthian>

The artificer corrects. "I promised I'd help where I can, this changes nothing save to harden any resolve to do so. "I have no clue where that foundry is, but maybe I can find a city map somewhere for cheap and find my way there, if you need help."

The sudden fury sparks the bluejay into motion. He has a wing curled over the skull, his hands ready to snatch it away. His eyes are locked on the wargolem's face, Toha's face. The silent message, her same thought.

We can't. We have to save him. We. Can't.

He knows, he can see it in her eyes, as she does also. The birds have seen things they shouldn't have.

Integrity forces himself to breathe. "We'll keep them separate, and safe. And not feeling better, not really Zalara."

"The skull, we found it in the airship I told you about earlier. The one I'm sharing with Aehrick. It's 'Captain', that one you heard speaking. He took a boy and turned him into a war golem. He made a Life Forge, in a pocket dimension, allegedly, and a warship to fly around in."

"I think Heady was that boy, and he remembered the ship and its location, and it did something to him." Jay deflates, he is not the blue bird of happiness, "and we have to go deeper into this to rescue him."

He shakes his head, "We know where it is, Schara, we're keeping the location secret until we can finish the task."

Zalara ahs a little bit as she watches others reaction to the skull and crystals as they get put away. "One of those pieces of artifice. Hopefully we can learn from the mistakes of the past and use artifice to do good in the world." She listens to Integrity, "I'm sorry to hear that. If there is anything that I can do to help let me know. I'm a bit busy with family matter at the moment, so I might not be able to go out and directly help as much as I'd like to, but I'll help any way that I can. I can craft magical armor and weapons if you need some of those."

Slix gathers up the offending items of interest under Jay's wing, stuffing them away like before. Her eyes close, and another breath leaves her. But she stops short. Heady was... part of this whole shit show?

She stares at Tegri. Then rubs the sides of her head with both hands. "... what do you mean we have to go deeper." Statement. Not a question. "Hon. The Gate is ta get ta this Soul Forge thing. We got Heady's soul in tha gem. And they body. Don't haveta go back into that hell hole of a ship. We let tha nice lad deal wit' it."

She lulls her head back, brain already churning. "... but they probably have some bull shit back there still plugging away..." The eccentric bird groans, shaking her head and waving to the other two with them. "I'll leave that up ta Tegri here if he needs a hand. I trust his judgement. I'm... gonna snoop around and research just in case my feathered ass /has/ to go back in there.

She steps towards Tegri and gives him a supportive, wing wrapped hug before pulling away. "Catch ya'll on the flip flop. I gotta figure out what makes the tick-tocks go stop block."

With that, she slips into the Artificer's Hall to schmooze.

"I thought, well, this is more complicated than I expected it to be. But I don't like leaving the work off psychopaths like that captain just sitting around." Schara groans, resting their forehead in their one normal hand. "I thought we were ready to bring them back too, kind of. So we're going to have to go in and deal with that?"

"Thanks Zalara, I might think of something. I can't think of anything right now." Jay says, then calls after Slixvah as she leaves, "Okay Red, stay tip-top and pock-pock-pock."

"She might be right. We might have everything we need." The bluejay speculates, "or there might be more to it. It's like a puzzle but that doesn't mean we have to solve everything. Aehrick should be more than happy with what we've uncovered for him."

His beak clacks a couple times, "Although... he seemed like he wasn't going to tell us there was more to it. Might not be a good idea to leave the rest of the exploring up to him."

"It's buried Schara, it's not going anywhere, not for a while." He shrugs his wings, "it's a partially functioning airship of Kulthian Design, out in the open, not deep in Merkabah or completely destroyed. It's valuable to Artificers, just sitting there."

"I can't imagine it not needing to be dealt with more in some form."

Zalara inclines her head, "You're welcome. Yah an airship of Kulthian Design is valuable even if it doesn't work. I'm sure that not only are the Artificers here in the Hall looking to get their hands on it, but the city as well and probably groups and other individuals outside of the city. I hope it's being well guarded."

"It's valuable, even if it's not in working order, that's true. Which is exactly why, the moment we're sure Heady is safe, it gets destroyed." Schara nods. "Anything that requires, whatever the hell those bastards did to get running has no place in the modern day, and I don't want any idiots getting ideas. Or worse, smart people getting ideas." The artificer stops, and a pair of pliers pop out of their left arm, which they use to adjust something until their hand is no longer fist shaped. "So, I don't know. Maybe it needs to go quickly, maybe not. The question is what chances you want to take?"

"It's well guarded. The location secret. Only... eighteen people know where. All of them refused to sign NDAs. I'm sure it will be fine. Fine." Jay says, staring off into the Artificer's Hall, looking into the legs of the giant spider. "Maybe it could be gutted and brought here, give the spider a hat."

He's lost in his thoughts, and when his focus returns it isn't with any worm of additional knowledge. Jay picks up his briefcase and collapses the legs. "Thanks, for your thoughts. I'm not really a risk taker. More of a clerk."

"I'm going to see if I can find that war golem that was here earlier. She seemed to know a thing or two, might have an idea of how to put Teddy Heady together again." Without all the king's horses even.

Zalara sighs, "Well as disappointed that I am that I probably won't get a chance to see and study it, something like that is probably for the best. Artifice that is powered by hurting or causing others to suffer or messing around with souls has no place in the world. It's best left in the past." She nods to Integrity, "I've found with secrets the less that know the better. Still I'd love to take a look at it. Hopefully any useful knowledge can be obtained from it and anything else is destroyed."

"They did seem to know a lot, which is only natural, given they're a war golem too." Schara agrees, looking over to the exit. "I should probably scour the junkyard, myself. See if there are any useful parts for war golem maintenance, and, as happy as I am to be angry and have a fist when thinking about those old kulthian bastards, I think this gauntlet needs a new actuator for one of the flexor joints."

"It's best left in the past though madam. Anything they worked on there, I can't trust the theory of people that would think like that. If their mind is so warped, who knows what else they might get wrong that isn't noticed until it's too late?" She adds to Zalara.

"It's... yeah." Jay says, brushing his crest down. "There's ways to make it cleaner, but they're harder, and bigger."

The bird glances at Schara, "Oh, I thought you were a war golem too."

He hops, bows, spreads his wings and pops back up, "I'll keep in touch! Gotta find the golem. See you! And You!"

The bird escapes the spider.

Zalara nods, "Good luck with that, if you can't find one in the junkyard I know some smaller shops that sell them. You could be right about that, perhaps studying the past too closely we are limiting ourselves to the possibility of what we can do. I just don't want to see the past forgotten so that the same mistakes are made again." She waves to Integrity, "Have ao good day I hope you can help your friend."

"Me? A war golem? Nah, but I'm flattered, that's a real compliment, you know?" Schara laughs again. "Nothing matches the craftsmenship on the outer plating of those guys, with how well made it is. I'm just flesh and blood, that's all."

"Yeah? Always happy to find new places to shop around. But I don't think I can afford anything more than the going rates at the junkyard for now, so, something to keep in mind."

"It's a tricky balance to strike you know. Good people can convince themselves they can do something better, it's always a risk. I just think it's better to leave Kulthos in the past, and everything they stood for. We can make airships plenty fine without them." She replies to Zalara, before heading for the door. "You both take care of yourselves please, and I'd really like my cloak back next time I see you Jay, just didn't seem like the time to bring it up again."

Zalara nods, "If you are still having trouble with it even after finding the parts I'd be happy to help you with it. I agree with you on leaving what they stood for in the past. Artifice should be used for the betterment of everyone and not cause suffering. You take care as well. I'm off to go work on my engine design. I think I'm getting close to a breakthrough."

"Well, I gotta know how to fix it myself, don't I? That's how it goes." The artificer muses with another low laugh. "If I can't fix it after making it myself, I've got a lot bigger problems than it not working. That being said, it never hurts to have an outside opinion, does it? We can compare notes anytime, and I'd be happy to see the results of your breakthrough when you get there. So uh, take care!"

The metal clad figure is quick to leave the building, and once reasonably far enough away, stops to open their helmet and take a long sip of water from their bottle. By the gods, that was a lot of people, and an incredibly disturbing topic to try to deal with. And she really didn't know anything about how to talk to bird people. Still, it could have gone a lot worse?

"Of course and nothing wrong with doing it yourself. Sure I'd be happy to compare notes another time and show you what I've been working on. Take care." Zalara gives a wave before she heads off down towards one of the sunken labs.