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Post by redcoat on Mar 27, 2022 12:47:48 GMT -5
Practitions and CraftsUsername: Opiii
Crosp's office was dimly lit and cool, the sun long settled while the ocean breeze chased away what was left of the jungle's overwhelming humidity. In relative silence, Rorr worked upon his craft while Crosp carried on his business. At first the kindly wizard was content to watch- studying the warforged as he built, as well as studying the warforged himself.
Rorr's peculiar build at first appeared to be a disability to Crosp. But seeing Rorr with his tools, he put that sympathy to rest. Little by little he'd learned, teaching himself not to judge people on their appearance- or based on his own frame of mind. He'd made that mistake with Bones before, Crowley as well. Rorr must have adapted, clearly, and perhaps it was best to give him space to work.
To that end, Crosp returned to his work about ten minutes into Rorr's sculpting. At about fifteen minutes, Rorr would notice Crosp collecting papers. After about twenty, the wizard was organizing spell components and spent Aetherstone shards. Several piles of… Stuff had gathered on Crosp's side of the table, and it was clear he wasn't turning in any time soon.
He allowed Rorr the space to work, and access to materials, should he need them.
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Username: Taliesin
:: Rorr noticed the attention, but not the intent. Not at first. He simply toiled with the clay and other components he had. As Crosp moved to his own work Rorr spoke slowly. "Nnnndo you have questiionss?"
His hands stopped, posing the initial rough shape. This creation was vaguely bi-pedal so far. There were rudimentary limbs and the start of a head. His head rose to look at what Crosp was doing and gave a buzzing whistle calling forth his clockwork familiar which clacked about on the table beside him.Though he lacked lids the strange orbs of light for his eyes showed his attention jumping between the pages, the reagents, the books, and Crosp. ::
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Username: Opiii
He was honestly surprised to see the warforged break focus for pleasantries. In his surprise he stammered. "Oh, no, I… Mostly enjoying observing your method. Though I considered it might be a little.. intrusive, and performance anxiety being what it is, maybe it was better to study at a comfortable distance." He smiled briefly, falteringly.
On his own side of the desk he had needle and thread, and was carefully sewing pages into a leather bound black book. From the cursory glance, Rorr could spot arcane sigils and spellcraft. Every so often, Crosp would take a piece from the pile of components- a feather here, a dried scale there, and immolate it in a flash of green magical fire. He appeared to be testing what was in the book, a page at a time.
"Though, uh.. questions. I've got a few actually. You're from the Lyceum right?"
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Username: Taliesin
:: Rorr pondered in regards to 'performance anxiety' such a strange concept. He reached back as Cerberus moved closer and pet his head with his right hand. "MMmm I'm not familiar with that - performance anxiety."
He made a wheezing sound as he drew breath consciously - was it a sigh, an attempt at simulating life? "Nnyesss, masterwork project of Maester Price." He lifted his left arm and looked to it. He repeated with his right and turned his head forward again. "Nnhhe wanted to prove that combining differing warforged could work." His arms rested down, his left hand turning palm up and receiving the clockwork raven. "Nn'at least that was my initiallll under-stannnding."::
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Username: Opiii
"An amalgamation…" He listened, placing the components down as he nodded. "Price, Price… It's been a long time since I studied at the Lyceum. I think…" He scratched his chin some, thinking hard for several long moments until clarity came. "… Historical Arcana, yes, he had a thing for Old Magic, the things from the Age of Wonders. I met him briefly, he had some fascinating takes on why we haven't cracked the Aetherstone code."
He smiled, looking Rorr over again. "I wouldn't have guessed that he was the one to revive one of you. And to blend disparate units together like you are, I'm surprised it didn't make more waves among the community. It's grant-worthy at the very least."
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Username: Taliesin
:: Rorr's mouth moved back and opened in a way that gave a hint of a smile. It was nice to see someone who recognized the Maester who was effectively his father. He shifted in his seat. "Nn-I was displayed to others at the Lyceum. He taught me most of what I kknnow."
He gestured to the constructs and then to the vague 2 foot tall humanoid shape. "Nn-Im looking for some things from his nnnotes. Thinngs to complete me and trannsform." ::
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Username: Opiii
Crosp turned his head, frowning slightly in thought. He rubbed his chin, stiff stubble audibly scratching. "Huh…"
Incomplete? Rorr looked… More or less what he expected of a warforged. He hadn't seen one awake, but anatomically all of the pieces were in place. He shrugged slightly.
" You might have come to the right place. I ended up joining the Commission myself for similar reasons. There's evidence that there was a race living here during the age of Wonders. Occasionally an artifact pops up during an expedition, or gets dug up in the mines. It's fueled my research up until now." He folded his arms.
"This island is massive, and the Commission's only just scratched the surface. I think the next big breakthrough will be found under the soil of Te'Kaal. It's just a matter of reaching out into the wilds."
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Username: Taliesin
:: Rorr mimed an orb. "NnIm looking for a spheeere. It was sssaaid that it melds with a warforged." He lifted his tools once more and started to sculpt the figure further.
"NnnI want to find one, but NnI thiiink NnI'vvve come acrosss sssomethinng I waannt more." He pulled out the Jaggi frills and started into perforating portions of the clay figure to prep for the addition of the frills. "NnnnIf mmy nnnature cann shift my … ssskinn acrosss multiple statesss of rigid matter - theenn why not ffflleesssh? Peerrhaps an ansswer to that Nnis here as well."
He looked across at the table of items in front of Crosp. The spent aetherstones shards caught his eyes. "Nnwhat do you ussse the spent Aetherstone shards for?"::
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Username: Opiii
Crosp tilted his head. Rorr certainly was a peculiarity, even among his kind. "A sphere that melds with a warforged…" He considered the idea, envisioning what it could be. "I don't think I've heard of anything like that. But…" He took a quill and began sketching into some loose paper, taking notes for later consideration. "If the Guardians the lizardfolk are talking about really are similar to warforged, then it might be best to pump them for information. There could be something on this island that ties to the ancient warforged- or some similarly designed creature."
He tilted his head at the mention of skin, furrowing his brow. But as Rorr explained, it did make measure of sense. Transmutation wasn't his forte, but who knew what was possible here?
At the direct question, his brows went a little high. "Oh, shards. Pieces left over from cuttings and polishings, cuts that lost their charge from overuse." He plucked one thumb-sized dark green stone from the table. With a flick of his fingers on his other hand it briefly pulsed with a pale light.
"I know you Artifice majors do it a little differently, but these stones can be used as foci for most arcanists. They're useful long after they're spent. I've experimented with using them as components as well, but it's… A little cost-prohibitive to just casually substitute one component for aetherstone. Results vary, and unpredictability is frowned upon when it comes to magic."
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Username: Taliesin
((Dropping the 'lisp' to speed up the replies. ))
:: Rorr nodded some. "Karn is very interested in pushing in that direction before our job here is done. I am intrigued by that as well. But, I'm pulled in too many directions." He continued to work on the figure in front of him. "I want to repair Karn - he seems hampered by deterioration and locked shift points. I want to complete myself and then work to normalize my own form. I want to shift more biologic … "
He disassembled what he had done so far pulling out the broken bolts and other materials. He removed the tips from the 4 bolts and set them aside. He pulled out the chunk of crocodilian hide and set it beside the lesser jaggi frills. He reached into his bag and pulled out a parchment, quill, and ink.
"It seems that there are guards left in the city, and dwarves eager to build. Come light myself and Karn at the least will be clearing the dam and moving the support materials to the lesser portage first. Jimmy-Johnny? Whomever the tiefling was at the bar - he made it seem like if we could provide the materials we could pull the city into a closer to functioning order." With his right hand he took the quill, dipped it in the ink, and then began scrawling out a rudimentary skeletal structure with circles place at areas of rotation. At points along the arms and sides there were v's marked in differing orientations.
"So, the shards - they substitute some material components to allow casting of certain spells and rituals when you are missing the proper component? Or are they a sort of enhancement that augments the spell to be more effective?" He asked as he marked stars in specific locations, lesser than the v's prior, but the vague shape seemed to imply an arcane orientation. Quick shorthand was dashed in spots with no clear connection to where or what they implied. 'Aerial delivery' was the cleanest written notation that Crosp would be able to read if he moved over. ::
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Post by opius on Jul 2, 2024 17:00:21 GMT -5
Username: Opiii
He tilted his head, watching on. He'd seen Rorr's attempt at mending flesh, a complex transmutation with… Varying results. He folded his arms as he turned his attention to the sketch, following vaguely the details and notes. Could the Artificer be using some incomprehensible magic to graft once living material onto the clay doll?
Fascinating.
"So far I've only managed to use it as a compensation tool. It's worked in place of gem dust… But it takes more than the original component. I haven't experienced thoroughly, so mileage may vary." He continued to watch, thoughts turning to a Karn.
"It might benefit you to convince Karn to wait until the commission returns. There's an exploration initiative that will pay for adventurers and researchers like you to chart further south. I don't know what the lizard woman's fate is."
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Username: Taliesin
Rorr nodded and grabbed another paper and did a rough sketch of an impish head with crocodilian hide rising from the brows. There were only 4 teeth which seemed to match the 4 tips he freed from the broken bolts.
"I can try to convince him to wait longer - but he is driven." He moved to another portion of the second sheet and drew hands that seemed to match a small critter. Thumbs were effectively opposable. "He does not care for money - only to understand - at least that seems to be it."
He paused looking at what was on the paper. "How would -" He stopped mid-stream and moved back to his other sheet of paper, tapping in the air over it. "Would you be able to spare any of those cuttings?"
He tilted his head and returned to the second sheet drawing up what appeared to be shoulders with a bar coming across them? "I think that perhaps using cuttings centered in runes might distribute my normal mending ability to more readily repair this creature - possibly also allow the biologic tissue to turn stable instead of continue to rot." His rough sketch showed a fully cut jaggi frill lined up over the back and arms. Notation beside read - will not fly, but gliding is viable.
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Username: Opiii
The kindly wizard looked down at his side of the table, then back to Rorr. He frowned slightly, considering… But he caved quickly enough. "Well, uh… You guys did kind of save my life. I think the goons would have let that zombie tear me up before they unbound my hands. So.." He nodded and looked over the small pile. All in all there were five stones roughly the size used in common arcane focus builds. There were others, smaller, asymmetrical pieces, even some tiny bits like coarse ground coffee.
He rolled his shoulders at the mention of the rot. "Huh…" He pursed his lips. "…Well, I don't mean to step on the creative method- But if you want to prevent rot, there might be a simpler answer. How much do you know about Necromancy?"
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Username: Taliesin
Rorr didn't want to push and guilt him for the materials. "I could make do with the smaller fragments - use them for ink or an enchanted mix to fill the carved runes."
He had paused his arcane and structural planning when Crosp noted Necromancy. "N-no I have never considered it." He looked at the two papers and then back up. "It is a morally gray area, but I do not feel that the others would - trust me …" He began sketching the legs and based them off of his prior experience with designing Cerberus. He knew that it would allow it decent movement for being smaller than a gnome.
"I have a functional understanding of the school of Necromancy, but I have never taken the time to learn any spells. I've heard that there are such things that would halt decay for a time which would be a good stop gap." He grabbed a scrap of parchment and began to design some modified clothing specific for the creature. "I was more hoping to focus a stream of magic that would sustain the flesh with other means. To be a test for how it might work on a larger scale."
He moved the pages to positions on the table for ease of viewing and reference. "If this maintains on a smaller scale I might figure out a way to graft similar changes to a larger construct. And then from there to myself."
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Username: Opiii
He… nodded slowly, considering the warforged's explanation, and felt a little tickle of amusement. Grafting skin, preserving it with magic- that was the essence of Necromancy. As was the magic needed to heal wounds, or cause them. He continued to nod, a genuine smile touching his face. "There's a bit of a stigma around the N-Word. Some of the spells come in handy, though. The one you described, that sounds like Gentle Repose, which isn't a terribly hard one to learn. Given a couple days, you could probably tattoo or carve a runic script into something you want to never rot." He pursed his lips some.
"Won't make it alive though. More like… a stasis thing. But I'm getting ahead of myself- that's theoretical arcana, and I think you know how theories turn out in practice."
He then shrugged his shoulders. "If you can get dead material to take to a magical array, you might be able to bolster its durability to the point that it can't rot. Magical things don't break easy. But that'd take some doing. Still, I'm interested to see if you can now. It's interesting stuff."
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Username: Taliesin
Rorr took the broken bolt shafts and cut the edges to make them clean and uniform. He then started by putting spheres of clay on specigic ends before setting them aside. "I find fulfillment in attempting other means. I want what I make to not register as undead and I also would like to have it behave like living tissue."
He grabbed a chunk of clay and began to form out the torso. "Each time I did this before the living material didn't decay. But at the same time the magic was still very fresh when the effect wore off and caused it to crumble into its separate constituent parts."
He paused his work to look at Crosp. "Do you know what this is … what it means?" He lifted his right hand and pointed to the odd symbol over the left breastplate. "I was considering adding it because I like how it looks - but I'm not sure whether it is a rune I'm not familiar with or if it has some meaning that was best left off a construct."
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Username: Opiii
"Hmn. Fair enough. Feeling your way through magic is certainly one way toward arcane enlightenment. From what I hear, your school is particularly geared toward it."
At Rorr's request, Crosp looked toward the chest of the Warforged, frowning some as he revealed the symbol. The kindly wizard tilted his head slowly, very slowly as he began to squint. There was a solid thirty so seconds of him looking the symbol over before he nodded, though it was slow, hesitant, and uncertain.
"Mnuh… It looks like.. Antee… Anti… Antimony. Yeah. But it's very, very stylized Runic. I don't see this symbol very much- and not in this form." He leaned back, straightening himself. As he did so, he reached and scrounged the aetherstone shards, passing a handful over as he continued.
"Looks like Alchemy. Theological Alchemy, if I were to guess. Old style runic. Crowley would know more, he's into all sorts of weird stuff like this."
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Username: Taliesin
Rorr kept focused on Crosp for the moment. "Antimony … I do not believe I am familiar with that." He took the handful of shards when offered and moved them onto one of the larger parchments.
He looked back down and shaped the torso some more. His hands were giving gentle details in contrast to what some might expect. There was no attempt at muscle tone per say, instead opting for form that would not hamper motion. "I know you said that Crowley would be better to ask, but do you know anything about antimony?"
He flipped the torso over and built in the strange handle that formed a semi-circle from his close to the collar bone area on a humanoid and around the back. He paused and coaxed his clockwork raven over in order to test the hold. He frowned as the back was gouged. He moved the raven back to Cerberus and then worked to extend the handle portion out further.
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Username: Opiii
Crosp scratched behind his head, watching the sculpting process as it continued on. Lips tight, brow furrowed, he racked his brain. Eventually the scratch turned into a rough massage. "Mnuh… I'm not particularly well versed in Alchemy outside of some rudimentary potion brewing. If I'm not mistaken, Antimony is an elemental metal, so it's pure… it comes from Stibinite ore. It's, uhn… Oh, hold on."
Crosp turned away from the warforged and toward a bookcase across the room. There he picked up a heavy, brown tome lightly coated in a fine layer of dust. He placed the book down, licked his fingers and began flipping through pages. After several moments he stopped on one page, drawing a finger across the text.
"It's a soft metal, uh… Often mistaken for lead. Commonly alloyed with lead- and tin to make various… Conductive material. Some Smith's prefer making tools and bearings with it."
He pursed his lips some. "Powdered, it's used in certain cosmetics and flame-retardants. There's also a handful of medicines it looks like."
He turned the book around after that to face Rorr. It appeared to be a simple reference guide to various elementalmetals, featuring some diagrams and sparse information "There's some basics here, though I'm not sure it'll help too much. Theological alchemy is more of a spiritual thing, symbolism and such. I don't know where Antimony falls in terms of it's meaning to old school alchemists- but as an element it's likely a part of their fundamentals."
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Username: Ancelas
There was a clatter from the upstairs hall as Karn emerged, humming faintly to himself as he made his way down the stairs. He seemed… please. Self-satisfied. He pulled out his book as he reached the ground level and went over to a table to start scribbling in it.
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Post by opius on Jul 2, 2024 17:00:31 GMT -5
Username: Taliesin
Rorr nodded along where it made sense. Thinking merely as an artificer the description he was given certainly sounded like it had applications. If that portion of his body matched the description of the metal, then perhaps the design of the assault portion was meant to channel lightning. He let that thought slip as he listened to more of the explanation.
An alchemical symbol having more meaning than the base interpretation. Yes, he would definitely need to stop by Crowley's. He looked at the book and scanned over the specific element multiple times. "Intriguing. Concepts of language hidden in elemental notation."
He nodded and gave a gesture affirming he was good for now. His hands went back to the torso and its forming. From shoulder blade to the small of the back and back up to the other shoulder blade a small channel was carved in a vague rounded v formation. He moved to the shoulders and sculpt the form up to the neck. It was at that point that the torso was set aside.
His attention was drawn to Karn's entry and given the nature of his movement he wondered what put him in a better mood. "Karn, would you like to join us? Crosp had some ideas for us and I think you would appreciate a chance to discuss - well, discuss in writing.
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Username: Ancelas
"I am Karn," Karn dutifully responded in Common before holding up the message he had written:
"I NEED MEAT"
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Username: Taliesin
Rorr pondered for a moment. "Jimmy - or Johnny - whatever the strange tieflings name was. He noted that the entire town was short on real food. That was why our rations had such meaning to him."
He reached out and grabbed some of the cut shafts with clay spheres and added slowly to them to make the arms. "If this is for our lizard friend, then I would ask if she minds eating the softer armored allies of hers. We killed a fair few and that would be the only fresh meat without trying to hunt."
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Username: Opiii
Crosp paused and went to speak, "Well yeah, the theological aspects of old alchemy all about second meanings and ciphers, the old societies-" clatter, clatter, and other Karn noises caused him to trail off.
Once settled downstairs, he looked Karn over. Rorr, nonplussed, drove the conversation, to which he was pleased.
Because gradually he became plussed. And plussed more. He arched his brows- meat? Why would a warforged need meat? Was Karn on this skin bandwagon too, or- "Oh! The lizard woman, the lizard…"
… Her former allies. He'd seen a great deal of things in his time here, the dead rose for crying out loud. So why was the idea of her devouring the corpses of her allies making him squeamish…?
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Username: Ancelas
Karn looked crestfallen for a moment, then thoughtful. He closed his book and put his writing implements away and then clattered up the stairs and back down the hall.
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Username: Opiii
Crosp, with lips tight, looked toward Rorr, uneasy. Definitely, fully, completely plussed now.
"Is he… Is he always like this, or…"
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Username: Taliesin
Rorr wanted to reply to Crosp but waited and watched Karn for a reaction first. He got much what he hoped to see. He looked back down and continued shaping the right arm. "He is quite animated. When he gets an idea he tends to get excited. I assume he got an idea on a solution based on what I suggested, can't say it matches to what I said though."
His head lolled side to side in a quite specific rhythm as he methodically tended to the arms. Along he back he dug out a channel similar to the channel found in the torso. Following that he carved runic symbols along the arm. If Crosp attempted to investigate the rune work he would possibly recognize the structure as that of a mage hand spell.
"Maybe Crowley has a book that I could look at." He continued the intricate carving. "Knowing this symbol is only the beginning." He remarked. "If there is alchemy and other magic contained within the old symbols, it may help me improve my constructs - possibly even myself." He set the arm and tools down as he looked at the shards on the paper.
"Do you have a mortar and pestle I could use?" He asked as he measured out a smaller chunk of clay near to the dust.
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Username: Ancelas
Karn returned moments later, clattering down the stairs in haste. Upon reaching the first floor, he let out a huff and growl of annoyance as he pulled out his book and quill again, scribbling down another note before holding up the book to Crosp and Rorr.
"NEED TO HARVEST MEAT FROM DEAD LIZARDFOLK. RUKO WILL EAT. WANT TO HELP?"
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Username: Opiii
Crosp blinked and watched the stairs as Rorr spoke, nodding… Slowly. His lips still tight, he almost missed the question. "Oh, uh, certainly I do." He crouched below the table, rustling and knocking around glass bottles and metal canisters.
"Crowley is… An odd ball. He's lizardfolk, and they tend not to do the whole book thing. But he seems to collect them. When he came to the commission, he couldn't read or write. The learned community kind of took turns teaching him things. But he…"
He hefted a stone mortar onto the table, a granite pestle following. "He acted like it was the most normal thing in the world. Like it was our job to fill him in on literacy, and it was his right to it. He's uh… Well, he's pushy. Weird, but in a way I can kind of understand. He'll share what he knows if you have something to trade.." he trailed off on seeing Karn.
Before he could greet the Druid again, Karn had the book out and had a message written. Crosp looked the message over, nodding and nodding as he began to understand the situation. Seconds later he focused on Karn, and politely responded.
"Nnnoope."
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Username: Taliesin
Rorr gave a few acknowledging nods as Crosp described Crowley. The short meeting that they had with him had given some of the eccentricities, but this put it in a whole new scope. The more he heard the more he was interested. The dynamics of the alchemists and spell shapers in the area reminded him of The Lyceum and gave him pangs of - home sickness? Whatever it was he reveled in the discussion and conjecture.
He looked up as Karn came back down the stairs and wrote in his book. "Sorry, Karn. I need to finish this -" He gestured to the vague pile of parts. "And -" He paused and thought for a short moment. When his head rose again he resumed with a new thought. "If you and your lizard friend could wait a while longer, then I can come along to assist and leave behind things to protect Crosp and keep him company."
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Post by opius on Jul 2, 2024 17:00:45 GMT -5
Username: Ancelas
Karn looked crestfallen and waited for the page to clear before he scribbled another message.
"THE RUKO IN CAGE FOR TOO LONG ALREADY. THE RUKO IS HELPFUL. WRONG TO MAKE THE RUKO WAIT. JOIN WHEN YOU CAN"
He then closed the book and began packing up his materials again before making his way to the door.
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Username: Taliesin
Rorr let out a strange raspy sound, perhaps the warforged equivalent of a sigh? He called out after Karn. "I will be at least another 10 or so minutes." He paused "Remember to get the frills. And if you are slaughtering in the street, please … save the outer leather flesh as well. I can make armor for others from it."
He turned his head back to his work and said lowly to himself. "Crocodilian teeth are probably not a good addition." He reached over and moved the offered mortar and pestle into a specific location beside the parchment of aetherstone shards and the bit of clay. He then reached into his bag and brought out two more crossbow bolts and laid the out near the other materials.
"Crowley, is very interesting. We already have leverage in returning some of his goods and now to return with frills and a story." He began on the next arm with the same focus as before. 'Legs, feet tail, hands, head.' He thought to himself, putting a specific order to his creation steps.
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Username: Ancelas
"I am Karn!" Karn called out over his shoulder as he departed.
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Username: Opiii
Crosp just kind of… Glanced between the two. By the minute he was reminded again and again that these two were not… Normal.
It was wonderful! It was unsettling! Here they were building, and suddenly bam- 'let's slaughter in the street and take their skin.' These guys were nuts, but effective.
Like… A couple of loose cannons. But not awful like the ones he knew around here. Karn left, Rorr returned to his work. Comfortable silence settled in.
"So, ten minutes huh." He folded his arms an nodded a little. His attention shifted to the second floor. "… He seems like the kind of person to let bygones be bygones… Still, I'd be careful. She was trying to kill you guys not ten hours ago." He tightened his lip.
"… Or maybe he just doesn't like the idea of prisoners."
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Username: Taliesin
Rorr peeked up and nodded. "I've had some practice making this smaller construct with different materials and using magic to animate." He paused as he worked on some careful shaping that needed his undivided attention. "Usually takes about 30 minutes in total."
He made a gravelly hum sound as he moved through the same carving he had done on the other arm. "He had said that he was not a jailor earlier - so he might not like the idea of prisoners." He paused, leaning his head closer to his work and making some fine adjustments. "But it could also be that -Ruko- has provided information and his only guidance on finding the Guardians. So, perhaps multiple things."
After setting the arm down he took up the torso again and flipped it so the back was to him. He then began the work to carve in the arcane symbols for mending between the should blades and the U channel. This was only a minute of work, but apparently very necessary.
"Currently I trust that the lizard will remain calm if well fed and looked after. I don't trust enough to remove the locks without the others around to aid just in case." He moved the torso back and then moved on to creating legs.
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Username: Opiii
He nodded slightly at Rorr's summation. His attention remained on the clay creature while Rorr continued. A construct of such peculiar make…
"Well it's your call. I trust the judgement of your group… The lizard woman hasn't really fought to break out, so I'm inclined to believe she follows some kind of honor code." He paused. "Unless she thinks I can take her, in which case I'm flattered."
He flipped a few pages, returning to organize his new spellbook. "… I just hope Karn isn't being played. Some folks will tell you anything you want to hear…"
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Username: Taliesin
Rorr began shaping the legs. They didn't match the standard bi-pedal structure among the majority of the party. No, the legs actually more closely matched to the hind quarters of a large cat. "Her people were displaced and forced to join Blightfang or die. What little I have listened to makes it sound like she and others preferred life in their old home."
In the meat of the right leg he carved the arcane sigils for the jump spell. In the same place on the left the sigils for expeditious retreat. He took the extra bolts he gathered from his supply and cut them accordingly. These were quickly adorned in clay and from the pieces grew a foot, paw really. The build matched to that of Cerberus meaty paws.
"If she betrays Karn she would be a decent amount of food for a few days and her exemplary hide could do some good." He continued non-chalantly. He joined the feet to the legs and critically looked at the pieces so far. "But don't worry, Cerberus likes you and will help protect you while I am assisting Karn at the docks."
He grabbed more pieces of bolts and made quick work of hands. They were appropriately sized to the body and seemed to be modeled on another creature, reminiscent of the larger more vicious among the badger family, only with the fifth digit offset to make and opposible thumb. "And Servus will accompany me alone with Poe." The hands attached to the arms in quick order much as the feet to the legs.
He was about to move on but shook his hand. "Stupid - " He leaned in close over the hands and very carefully etched the sigils for spare the dying into the backs of them. He was careful to not harm integrity while ensuring the form was correct. "Now head and the rest."
The intensity of Rorr's focus on the remaining bits was only rivaled by the mounting excitement in his form. He was sure that he was on the verge of a breakthrough and was eager to see just what was possible.
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Username: Opiii
Crosp continued to listen and watch, considering the information presented about the lizard woman's people. Granted, it wasn't right, he thought, to raid and kill a distant city under any context. But fear was a powerful motivator, and the reptiles were… by and large simple folk.
It was when Rorr suggested that Ruko would become meat and hide that he caught himself double-taking. Right, right, those were lizard folk terms weren't they. Still, to hear this creator breaking down a person into materials and resources so nonchalantly caused him to laugh slightly- the only reaction he could muster amidst the cognitive dissonance. He cleared his throat, nodded, and folded his arms, taking note of the sigils and script.
It appeared Rorr was… cobbling together different spell resources. Spell-Mashing, in a way. He touched his chin some. "Well, I'm glad the cat uh.. Likes me. I don't have too much luck with felines, so maybe a mechanical one will be more amicable." He noted the warforged artificer's growing excitement. It must be close to animation. He studied the curious and unorthodox method, gradually tilting his head.
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Username: Taliesin
Rorr focused and made quick work of the head, modeling it loosely on memories of imp familiars others at the Lyceum had. He pulled out some rounded crystals from his component pouch and then placed them in the empty orbs for the eyes. He then scribed into he inside of the skull the arcane symbols for light. He set aside the top of the skull and feverishly pulled out some clay.
He eagerly fashioned a tail and cut small channels into multiple spots. He then jumped back to the head and dug out small channels forming what appeared to be a helmet. His attention turned again to the materials to the side. All of the smaller shards were carefully placed into the mortar.
He lifted the pestle and used careful deliberate grinding motions to avoid loss of bits out of the mortar. Once it was down to a sparkling dust he slowly trickled water in down the edge of the mortar until it had permeated through all the dust. He then took the appointed small chunk of clay and pushed it in.
More use of the pestle mixed the dust into the clay while also drawing the clay into a thinner slurry until it was the consistency of icing. He took his tools and started into scooping the slurry into the carved runes to meet the edge of the channel and keep a smooth surface.
After all the runes were lined additional touches were done. The carved piece of crocodilian flesh was lined in the helmet shape on the head. The 6 bolt tips added down along the tail. One of the frills was nestled into the channel in the back of the torso and arms were attached to get the remaining frill connected there.
He took another frill and carefully split it into multiple pieces. He added the remaining bolt shaft pieces to add rigidity and form and then added the cut frills into the remaining channels on the tail. The remaining body pieces were joined together to form a roughly 2 foot tall creature.
Rorr made a rhaspy sound as he inhaled. "Awaken, Servus," his voice hissed out while a shimmering glow of green and blue exited what was his mouth and into the mouth of the impish face. The body took on a new color and all of the runes sparkled with dim light. The clay took on an almost living texture simulating normal movements of muscle and tissue in spite of it being clay. A light grew behind the clear crystal eyes which vanished momentarily as Servus blinked and stretched.
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Username: Opiii
Crosp watched on with increasing interest and focus. Little by little, as time passed, his brows took to furrowing. He hadn't seen sigils and symbols cobbled together thusly… Honestly, he began to doubt the whole thing.
Rorr spoke and commanded something to rise, awaken. He almost objected, prepared to correct the warforged on his methodology. And they the misty vapors escaped Rorr's mouth and Crosp's brows went high.
"… Son of a bitch…" He murmured, dumbfounded.
Rorr could feel a tiny pang in his chest as the ritual came to completion, a sensation of… Something being drawn from his body, an exchange that left a sort of emptiness in it's place. It was familiar enough to not be discomforting- he'd done this before, after all. As his construct blinked to life, watching it would bring a sense of familiarity- as though he was greeting an old friend.
(Roll a D20, flat)
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Post by opius on Jul 2, 2024 17:01:04 GMT -5
Username: Taliesin (Not my normal die <object class="emojione" data="<a rel="nofollow" href="https://resources.enjin.com/1489581540/themes/core/images/emojione/svg/2639.svg?0">https://resources.enjin.com/1489581540/themes/core/images/emojione/svg/2639.svg?0</a>" standby=":-(" type="image/svg+xml">:-(</object> … 3)
Rorr leaned back, the glow from his eyes narrowing the light close enough to approximate happiness. "There we go." He held out a hand to the tiny construct in order to steady it.
"I'm hoping that the runes help augment it a little. Normally this construct is just sticks, mud, and other detritus. Tends to last only 8 hours and can only be apart for so long."
Servus' lit crystal eyes had the light shrink and grow with the blinking as it animated. The tail swished side to side, the frill fins expanding and contracting. It dropped its hands forward and grabbed Rorr's hand.
Rorr looked up from Servus to Crosp. "I'm fairly confident that Servus is stronger and more able than they appear.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Username: Opiii Crosp just blinked at the thing, taken aback as he studied the thing. After several moments, he leaned in close… Though he kept just enough dusted distance just in case. Hands planted in the counter he took in this is odd new magic. He tried to piece together the how, but couldn't quite parse the runic.
"Well I'll be…"Servus, for it's part, wagged it's tail and turned to observe Crosp. As Rorr watched on he saw a spark of intellect, tension enough in the Linda limbs to signify strength, a density to it's 'flesh' that suggested Constitution. It appeared… Whole. Rudimentary, simple, but without any aberrations from the norm.
"Stronger than he looks, huh… Reminds me of an imp. I've learned not to underestimate small things." He nodded curtly. "Do you need me to note down any observations while he's here?" -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Username: Taliesin
Rorr quickly pointed out some of the runes. "I've done this before without the addition of the aetherdust. Light for the eyes, mage hand to allow lifting of items in excess of the constructs weight." He stood and angled himself to point. "Mending there is intended to imbue the construct with the ability to assist with minor repairs. But -" He paused contemplating a thought. "If you were to research - you may want to attempt to determine how they continue to exist."
He reached for his writing instrument and quickly sketched out some rough shapes and added numbers beside them. "Ah - good, I should be able to make Servus some clothes." Making considerations for the more civilized in the group. He looked back up. "You can certainly observe other things as well if you like. Servus can not speak, but does understand common."
He turned his attention to Servus, but didn't speak - not aloud anyway. 'Servus, this is Crosp. Assist him in any way you can while I am away. Cerberus will protect you both if needed, but you will likely be staying in this home until I return.'
His head lifted once more. "Cerberus, you stay and protect Crosp." He finally looked back to Crosp. "I must assist Karn as I had agreed. I do not believe this would take more than an hour." He awaited some variety of response before making an exit.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Username: Opiii He glanced over his shoulder, blinking some at the construct feline. "You're leaving them both? Is that… safe? For you, I mean." Rolling a shoulder he looked back to Rorr. "I mean, I appreciate the protection, certainly. I wouldn't want to see you jumped by some cheese ball working Driscoll's racket." The gruff wizard turned his attention to Servus, folding his arms. He was interested in this little thing, at least, especially at the mention of 'determining how they continue to exist.' Indeed it defied most common understandings of magic. The runic was more… gestural, more artful.
Sorcery actually came to mind. And with that fresh in his thoughts, he began spinning mental threads, considering the possibilities.
Servus observed Rorr and nodded its imp-like head briskly- two flicks before it turned toward the wizard, looking him over. Its jaw craned open, but it did not produce any sound, merely gesturing with its designation and command issued. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Username: Taliesin
Rorr grabbed his quarterstaff and stood completely upright. The cloak that he once used to hide his form was left on the chair. A strange whistle issued from him and the clockwork raven leapt from Cerberus and up to his shoulder. "I have Poe and Karn is not too far that I am concerned. Servus is also less a guard and more an assistant." He gave a nod and made his way to the door.
"Based on the reaction Karn gets I think I will not find much trouble - plus I do not need to breathe and they do." He left Crosp's making sure the door properly latched behind him.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Username: Opiii Crosp nodded as the warforged left. As silence dominated the room, he glanced to his two new.. companions? He pursed his lips and moved back to his work, awkwardly observing Servus. "…Alright then… Little… guy… thing. You know anything about putting a spell book together..?"
Servus, for his part, approached the Wizard and looked him over, glancing at the materials presented. Though not the most dexterous mitts, it reached for the thin spool of thread and a needle, prepared to stitch the book's pages into the bindings.
"…That's a good sign, I think." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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