Kaul nods at his summons, then waggles his claw at Mog and Fermend;
"Hur. Gents. Tis been a pleasure. I'll pop the first skulls o' foes like eggs in yer honour! Hur-hur..."
The thug takes his leave from the sawbones and lumbers alongside Dibbs chuckling grimly to himself as he marks the strangeness of pair; one belligerently bearing a infamous metal arm, the other hobbling alone on cantankerous crutch.
"'Ere Dibbs. Could ye get a muzzle stopper fer yer big boomstick? Use it to crutch wi' Save ye carryin' both like?"
Flexing his clawed arm at passers-by and those in the way with a leer, the brute bosun refocusses when his shipmate bids him listen;
"Aye they did... I think. Aye. Lopps says aye... Hur... Portents... Sounds forebodin' like..."
The scarred thug scowls and nods sagely as he mulls the potential bloody work to come.
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The Big Claw seems to be perfectly balanced or have some magic on it so as to not burden Kaul with its appreciable weight, but the severed limb still aches and it will take a bit of practice to get down grabbing with the thing. The haphazardly convulsing object has its desired effect though and none of the growing arguing and evangelizing throngs at the Fool's Market harangue the exiting pair. Only a pair of odd souls with metal masks and wrenches which they wave like scepters follow at a respectable distance obviously praying to this new-fangled Te'Kaul'ogy
Dibbs has a nascent smile across his weathered face as Kaul's mechanical marvel forestalls any annoyances from the Fool's Market's folk. Any glances tossed his way are ignored, the Gozreh'ian bastard needing to concentrate more on keeping his footing than worrying about such other distractions.
"Don't know matey, ol boomer prolly could get plugged up, but then I'd fall on me arse anytimes I wanted tae shoot a fecker. Need some time tae think onnit, but alls I know is I ain't gettin nae peg." rolling thoughts over his dry and scaly lips before adding "And aye... forebodin. More sharks an teeth in our future iffin I dinnae mistake it... but Sister Buck Naked an Groomy might hae a tad more insight than I ken manage."
Dibbets spots Jim and the Groom exiting the black beached ship and make their way in his direction. It is unknown what they spoke of, but evidently there was some drinking involved.
During the interrim, the copper-clad cultists sidle up to the pair as they confer. "By the Blessed Bolt! By the Sacred Screw! It has been foretold! Behold Mecha-man, the Bride of Brigh!" They kneel before Kaul. "We are Klick and Klack, your loyal acolytes O' Bride!"
Dibbs raises his un-crutched hand by way of greeting before rolling his eyes at the hangers on. Leaving the KlickerKlackers to Kaul he internally hopes S'long as 'e don't go all coconutty...
At the approach and prophesying of the strange pair, Kaul scowls, then looks to Dibbs, then the others with a mako grin;
"Hur! Seems I got me some a-kaul-ites! Hur-hur-hur!"
The brute bids the pair stand;
"Mecha-man? Bride o' Brigh?! I'm jes' a reaver lads... Sure ye got the right fella?"
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"It is Foretold!" says Klick.
"Mecha-man will marry the the Bronze Goddess and usher in the Age of Tech," says Klack.
"Behold the Metal Claw!" they both say. "You are the union of mech and man. You are Mecha-man!"
Dibbs chuckles as he sidles off on his crutch to one side... wondering if their prophecy has a place for a black stump. He narrows eyes sizing up the Klackerklicker threat...
...before casting gaze back to the Groom and Jimmer.
Kaul digests the words of the prophetic pair, the nods;
"Hur. So ye reckon Kauly is gettin' married to yer Bronze Goddess... She a tasty catch then? When she showin' up fer the ceremony like?"
The thug looks back toward his shipmates with a grin.
Dibbets senses nothing but the usual terrible sincereity of the misguided souls that gather at the Fool's Market. Kaul's question leads to an exchange of uncertain looks between the two men who wear masks that look like a half a copper pie pan. "We will commune and see if it is foretold," Klack intones. Still on knees, the pair wave their monkey wrenches and loudly vocalize odd beeping and shrill squealing noises.
the Groom raises an eyebrow at Kaul and wipes away a drop of salt water dangling from his nose. "Bronze Goddess? Thought you were sworn to the Queen same as me. She's a jealous one, too..." the dark eyes threaten harsh judgement. "This can wait until later, we've got a meeting."
Dibbs shrugs with his right shoulder, which isn't locked into the crook of his crutch, and muses "Aye... words tae come. Dinnae be too hard when ye lets 'em down Kauly... theys don't know nei better."
Kaul glowers back at The Groom's veiled threat;
"Hur. Maybe so Groomy... Maybe's I's one o' them who likes a few wives..."
At Dibbs' words his scowl softens, then he looks at the two copper clad zealots.
The brute bosun leans in;
"Hur... I reckons they could be fun to 'ave around... Handy like..."
The thug shrugs his powerful shoulders, then approaches the kneeling prophets;
"Hur... ummm. Klick. Klack. I gots to do some parley. Talkin' with me mates. You pair do some communin' an I'll be back... Cross me claw. Hur-hur..."
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"Bip-boop. SHWEEEEeeeeeEEEEE! ZHONG! ZHONG! BZZZzzzRRRRRR!" the followers of Mecha-man take no notice of him as they continue communing.
the Groom growls at the heresy, but doesn't deign to further dignify the foolishness with a response. He turns sharply, whipping the damp tails of his black dress coat and moves off back toward the Merchant District. Jim beckons the rest to follow.
The sun has yet to reach its zenith on this hazy Freeport day as you move through the Merchant District. Clean streets and happy faces greet you on your way to a business brunch at Maurice’s, one of the most high-end eateries in the city. You pass under the shadow of the Freeport Opera House to walk down Wave Street. The splendor of the Merchant District pushes aside any concerns or fears of random crime that mars the faces of citizens from the other districts with suspicion or fear.
But even here, the illusion of peace can be ephemeral. KAA-BOOOOM! Just ahead, the storefront that is Maurice’s blows outward in a deadly shower of wood and stone! The shrapnel cuts down passersby as a larger chunk of debris lands at your feet – a blackened ship’s wheel which, until seconds ago, hung proudly above the restaurant’s entrance.
Dibbets grows slowly a mite more attuned with the stilted crutched gait, still revelling in the fact that beside the dull pain of the scorched crust on his thigh - his leg is bereft of the agony that plagued him afore. On approach to their luncheon the Halfling begins to run through his most recent encounter with a bearded salt below the waves... when his reverie is rudely and brutally interrupted.
The shockwave rolls over him and he rides it as he would a swell amidships, easily keeping his foot-ing. His immediate reaction is to scan the scene...
...before adding in a mumble "Feck... hope they were runnin late" and beginning to stump forrad.
"This captain was the wife of the one you know. As I understand it, they had a falling-out--he came out on the short end, and she got the ship. Capable enough captain, but we started off wrong-footed and never got better. Still, she didn't deserve what happened to her. I believe Dingus is off selling the treasure right now. Crazy as ever, he is, and he's gotten us a fine bit of coin.
"We're off to Gozreh's temple for a meeting with Sister Gwylliam. Something about sea devils--it's the Groom's business."
"Something about sea devils--it's the Groom's business."
Peligro nods as he tugs his beard. "I've been hearing stories that they are more active of late. Do keep me up on that news should you learn anything more."
*******
Dibbets peers through the smoke and dazed crowd that is still attempting to register what is happening. The northwest part of the restaurant has totally collapsed. There is a gaping hole in the front where the door and part of the wall has been blown into the street. About a half-dozen forms are not moving. A couple others sit and moan or hold their heads. More moans come from within the shattered structure.
Wordless Dibbs continues his stumping, looking to pick out Sister Buck Naked from amongst the wreckage.
Confused, Kaul shadows Dibbs and lumbers toward the ruin that was once the eatery.
"Feckin 'ells! Someone swap black powder fer pepper! Hur!"
He scans the debris for the good sister in the first instance, and conscious of his stomach rumbling, looks for any breakfast fare that survived the blast;
:
The street is rocked by an even bigger explosion. The rest of Maurice's collapses in a cloud of dust. It takes a moment to realize that the origin of the second blast is to the southwest in the Warehouse District as a dark cloud rises behind the nearby manors. Fortunately, Kaul spots Sister Gwyllin, clothed for her council duties, approaching from beyond Jim and the Groom. She grabs the Groom to help tend the wounded and sends a messenger to call the Sea Lord's Guard.
"Feck me!" Jim looks around quickly before realizing that Gwyllin is unharmed as yet.
As the bigger explosion occurs, Kaul looks to his wee pal, lest the blast knock him off his foot.
"Hur. That's breakfast feckin' ruined! Upside is Sister Buck Naked is alright... if a little o'er dressed..."
The second explosion rolls over Dibbs and sets him staggering, his crutch slipping dangerously on scree before catching. He keeps his forward momentum though, looking to the wreckage and what wretches might be still wheezing.
There are some charred bits of meat upon the street, but it's uncertain whether those are displaced sausages or displaced people parts. Jim notes that they just passed the Opera House on the way to Maurice's. The three-story structure's cupolas and ornate parapets surely offer the highest vantage on the block. Dibbets finds the restaurant has totally collapsed now. There is a chance there are survivors within, but it will require digging through the rubble.
Hunger gets the best of Kaul and he surreptitiously pops a charred chipolata into his craw before lumbering o'er to the others.
The thug taps his new mekanikaul arm as he surveys the devastation, and offers up his manual labour betwixt chews on his brokenfast.
"Hurrr. Reckon me claw could shift some o' that lot..."
"Master Dibbets, I'm going aloft to see where things are happening." The Taldan attempts to scale the outside of the building, judging that swimming upstream in the possible flood of people fleeing would be difficult.
Kaul's offer hangs in the air as Jim takes action and clambers up the facade of the Freeport Opera House. Beyond the first story, the climb becomes fairly easy due to the baroque ornamentation and architectural features which offer plenty of easy handholds. In under a minute, Jim reaches a commanding post and looks toward the smoke rising over Warehouse District.
The thick billowing black cloud makes it hard to tell what is happening exactly, but several warehouses appear blown flat and others are burning as are the two closest manor houses. Jim triangulates the epicenter based on the damage and realizes that it seems to be Kolter's Clockworks!
Jim cups a hand by his mouth and shouts down, "Kolter's blown himself up, and taken a few warehouses with him!"
Kaul scarred brow furrows, then widens at the news sinks in;
"Feck. Lucky it 'appened after we did our business eh Dibbs! Reckon even my hull would 'ave come off second best to that boom!"
The thug nudges his diminutive mate;
"Reckon we should get down there... so if we can help... ourselves to any black powder left? Ye'll be needin' it iffen Kolter an' his lot are up in smoke!"
When and if Dingus hears about the commotion, he'll head that way eagerly, just somehow knowing his shipmates are involved, and will need him to bail them out.
Just about to get kilt deep in the rubble of the restaurant Dibbs pauses at Jimmer's words and frowns before responding to Kaul "Sea Guard'd be all over it afore we made it there... sides, there's mugs need a hand here an now like." seeking to engage himself and minor curatives as needs be to still the approach of death... though not to mend more minor cuts or bruises.
Jim picks his way down from his lofty and cultured perch. "True enough. I'm wondering what the next place to go up will be--if I were a fearful man I'd wonder at two places we were at or were going to getting blown up, and I'd think to check on Brother Peg-Leg."
Jim spots the fashionably conspicuous form of his mate, Dingus, approaching in front of a platoon of Sea Lord's Guard that emerges from the Wave Gate of the Old City and then the sailor climbs down. He and Dingus push through the crowd to join Dibbets and Kaul at the destroyed restaurant. Kaul is still getting acclimated to his new limb, but the convulsing claw has managed to pull aside some heavy posts to clear an area near the original explosion. So far no survivors have been found.
As the Guard approach, the Groom follows Gwyllin over to meet them and the Council Woman begins giving direction to clear the area of gawkers and see to the shell-shocked survivors. After the brief exchange, she returns to the scene of the catastrophe and acknowledges Jim's concerns. "Groom, check on Peg-Leg and grab any help you can from the Temple District. Swing by the Grotto, the Temple of Knowledge and Pharasmite Cathedral as well for any priests that can tend to the injured."
She turns back to Jim, "That second explosion sounded worse than this one. I should get over there. There are two Precinct Houses in the area, but I don't know how able the Watch are in handling something like this."
Jim loosens his blade in its scabbard. "I'll follow along then, if you don't mind."
Perception:
Kaul stops for a second, then tilts a cauliflower ear to the rubble;
:
Jim and a pair of Sea Lord Guard escort the Council Member west down Wave Street through uncertain and panicked crowds that have gathered at the Plaza of Gold. Despite the dangerous situation, no Watch are seen until the small group turns down Wave Avenue which ends in an apocalyptic scene: citizens, blackened, dusty, and many bleeding, flee the ominous darkness from the clouds of dust and smoke at the end of the bock where Kolter's Clockworks used to stand. Sister Gwyllin spots some Watch at the gates of the Maeorgan Manor on the east side of the avenue.
A stern look on her face, the formidable woman marches over and demands to know what the Watch are doing. The man pats his heavy club and chuckles that they're putting out fires and arresting looters. She replies that there appear to be bigger fires to put out than just the ones at Maeorgan Manor and looks to be getting worked up into a fine fervor when she is interrupted by the gathering shouts of a mob back toward the Plaza of Gold.
Now that the Sea Lord's Guard have cleared the area of the shouting and sobbing onlookers, Kaul can hear better and locates the sound of faint shouts from under the wreckage. The big claw clamps onto chunks of mortared bricks and heavy timbers to pull them away from the piles of destruction and begins finding scattered human remains. A tangle of bodies heave up as a pile of timber is removed and a bloody hand feebly emerges to wave for help. The dead are cleared away to find a bloody survivor dressed as a waiter who has miraculously survived!
Kaul relishes the work - not for the feel-good-factor of saving lives, rather the powerful potential of his new claw...
Hur. If rubble ain't no trouble, then it'll bust ribs and pop skulls easy like! Hur-hur-hur!
As the waiter is uncovered, the thug mugs a toothy grin and assists him to stand;
"Hur... Yer safe chum. Live tae take luncheon orders another day! Hur!"
"It was a bomb..." the man gasps to Kaul before he falls unconscious as he is dragged from the rubble by the Guard.
Watching as Kaul first liberates a man from the rubble before the guard moves in, Dibbets frowns. Hobbling forward he gives the prone man a nudge with the blackened knob that serves as the end of one of his legs and channels a mite of the Skylord's indifference through it. Watching he hopes the bastard wakes back up and if he does... presses... "Go on like."
"...the feck is that? Best we see what's causing the ruckus at the Plaza, Sister." Jim makes his way in that direction.
The Sea Lord's Guard lay the man down in a clear spot in front of the ruined restaurant and Dibbets offers a stump of indifference. The man's eyes flutter open and he sits up looking battered, but alive. He blinks a few times and nods. "A suspicious jar was delivered to the kitchen" he illustrated the size of the container with his hands- maybe two gallons. "It was white ceramic with an 'X' on the bottom and a metal cap with some sort of magical rune that I couldn't read. I've never seen anything like it. I went up to tell Mr. Maurice and then, right after he got back to the kitchen, everything exploded."
The green-haired priestess throws up her hands at the incompetence and corruption of the Watch and turns back with Jim and the Guard toward the Plaza of Gold. As soon as they reach Wave Street however, they run into an angry mob that has cornered a fearful gnome.
"There's one of THEM!" "Damned Gnome inventions are to blame!" "String the freakish runt up!"
Leaning on his crutch Dibbets listens to the man's recollection before pressing "Ken ye sketch the rune thing? Might be a matey o' mine can ken it?" Ruminating before turning to Kaul "Any more o' em stuck under lad?"
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Dingus arrives on the scene, the look of fear on his face quickly replaced with one of joy as he sees his shipmates are safe. Others look at him strangely including more than one member of the watch, as he excitedly giggles and claps his hands, as he runs towards the group. He then stops dead in his tracks as he gapes in astonishment between Dibs' missing leg, and Kaul's monstrous mechanical arm.
Coated in dust and cinders, Kaul shakes his head at Dibbs' query;
"Don't reckon so... Most o' them are spread here, there an..."
The scowling thug, looks past the hobbled oracle and grins;
"Ding! Ain't you a sight fer sore beadies mate!"
"Ken ye sketch the rune thing? "
the waiter shakes his head. "I have a good memory, but even as I was looking at it, it kept changing and I couldn't even describe it now."
Fishing out a grimy gold coin to flip the waiter's way Dibbs closes with "Nei matter lad, ye given us plenty eh." before repositioning his pegs and offering a raised chin of greeting to Dingus "Nei time fer gawpin matey... less on an afters Jimmer..."