The gnome stops his giggling and turns towards Doc. You can see that the front of his goggles is completely covered with soot and you doubt he could see out of them now. After a couple of moments looking askance for the source of the voice, he has a moment of clarity and moves the goggles from their place over his eyes to the top of his head.
Smiling with the unabashed joy of a child with both hands in the cookie jar he nods "Yes, yes - all is good, very good. Maybe not enough boom, but the bang, flash and smoke were all quite enjoyable were they not?" his voice is rapid fire and clipped as it tumbles over itself attempting to escape his lips. Clapping a little with glee, he then looks down and realises he is sitting on the ground and furrows his brow in confusion.
Depends on if that's what you were goin' for. Mind if ah take a look at yer formula? Ah might be able t' help.
Blaze, not really drunk just a bit tipsy, moves up behind Doc his hand on Sunstrike. When it's revealed that this was just some odd accident or experiment, he relaxes. "Friend of yours Doc?"
The gnome mouths for-mu-la and starts looking around before looking at where the table once was and points at the blackened spot "Well it was there..." shrugging his shoulders in acceptance he stands and presents a blackened hand to Doc in greeting "Please to meet you, my name in Gnomish is a bit hard to pronounce for you folk, so I've changed it to Bombonbabombepommibonmsprengjabuamabumba d'Explosion. And you are?" beaming a grin as wide as his face at Doc with strangely white teeth that belie the general wear and tear of the rest of him.
Looking into his shop-lot you can see a usual cavalcade and plethora of alchemical gadgets, gizmos and thingmabobs. In one corner of the shop is a pile of brass armor too large to be worn by a normal sized human or gnome.
The explosion wasnt close enough for Sentis to feel the need to react instantly. Plus Doc didnt seem worried and that was reassuring. He followed the others and watched absentmindedly as the gnome explained himself.
Skylar lands on Grusks guantlet and the two of them try and decide if they should stay with Doc or head in to rest before a new mission shows up.
"Look Docs gots a new friend I think his name is bombyahmomspregnant."
"No Grusk it is bombboneabonspregnjagnat I think." Kaavel says after trying to say the gnome's name.
"Look Docs gots a new friend I think his name is bombyahmomspregnant."
Doc chokes a little trying to hold in a laugh. "Pleased t' meetcha Bombyahmom. Ye c'n call me Doc. Mighty thick smoke ye've got 'ere. Izzat what ye were goin' fer? How long's it linger?"
Cort's blade was in hand in seconds, his earlier weakness forgotten in the heat of his years of training. But he placed it away again as he realized there was no need for steel.
Guess I'm better than I thought. He smiled as he leaned on a wall. Must be a bit... what was it the medic called it? "Psychosomatic?" The young man whispered thoughtfully.
Wiggling a finger within his ear to dislodge something wedged in tightly Bom replies "Ain't meant to be quite so smoky... though in retrospect I should probably be thankful it wasn't as boomy as it should have been. Just making some fireworks and curiosities for noble's parties and what not. Care for a peepsie?"
Doc and anyone else interested is given a rudimentary tour of the crowded shoplot. There are firecrackers as small as peas, as well as a string that looks like it would knock down a wall if it were set off against it. Fireworks with tail sticks and even a shoulder mounted firework launcher that Bom calls his Portable Party Precipitator. There are a range of chemicals both staining and explosive in nature - as well as the suit of strangely sized brass armor.
Kaavel goes to look at the gnomes chemicals, wondering to himself if the gnome was odder than Doc. Kaavel than stops before the brass armor turning to Doc he says "I am no alchemist but why is there armor here?"
Wiggling a finger within his ear to dislodge something wedged in tightly Bom replies "Care for a peepsie?"
"NO thanks yah! I don't drink nothing wit pee in it or in tha name o it."
"Ah swear, tha' boy ain't right in th' head..." Doc grumbles to Kaavel thumbing back to Grusk.
"Same reason ah make armor? It's handy stuff. This's somethin' ah aint seen b'fore though. Looks like the framework t' somekinda gollem. Hey Bombyamom, what's this thing?"
Kaavel shrugs "It is Grusk, is all I can say to that. As for the armor, I meant more about the size of the thing. Looks to bigger than something someone Grusk and my size should wear."
"Ah think tha's th' idea, actchally. It's supposed t' make ye bigger. Like yer wearin' a mechanical ogre. Ah've heard o' things like this, an' had a few ideas of me own, but ah've never seen one b'fore. Facinatin'."
Seeing that the guests have taken an interest in his brass suit "Aye you've the measure of it. Meant to make you bigger and made of not-flesh so you can hit things harder. I inherited it from my uncle and I've been trying to make the bloody thing work for years now... no one seems to be strong enough to make it move once they're in there though - just stand around like stunned mullets until they pass out from the heat and I let them back out again... shame." pottering a little further before casting a surreptitious and mischievous eye back at those that follow "Care to give it a try? I could fish it out for you?"
Kaavel shrugs "Sure, it is interesting to see such different things."
Kaavel is assisted by the gnome in digging out the bronze armor and helping him climb into it. The inside of the golem is ingenious in design, being a snug fit, but allowing for some freedom of movement. There are handles within the arms and a couple of platforms for your feet to stand on. Bom closes up the back of the golem and you can hear his muffled voice cry "Give it a try, can ye move it?"
Kaavel tries with all his strength to move the armor, without it moving the armor any.
After a few minutes of trying to move the armor Kaavel finally says loudly "Seem I cannot move it."
Watching his buddy struggle while lost in thought Blaze finally says "Doc, what was it that that red stone you were scared of did again? Didn't it let you carry heavier stuff than you normally could? Maybe you could use that here?"
"Oh, yeh, fergot 'bout that thing since I set th' orbit outta mah own vision. 'S it still floatin' around back there somewhere? Grab it, wouldja?"
The ioun stone is retrieved from it's orbit around Doc and provided through the back of the brass automata to Kaavel. Attempting to release it within the innards of the golem doesn't work as the stone refuses to enter orbit. However Kaavel does find a small circular hollow in the armor next to his breastbone. Slotting the ioun stone into it, a low almost inaudible hum can be heard.
Bom closes Kaavel back into the brass frame and takes a few steps back. One sleeve wipes some of the grime from his forehead as he watches animatedly.
Kaavel after hearing the hum begins to try to move the armor. The armor start to react to his movements. He than tries to stand up and move, a few attempts causes the armor to lean to the sides. He than gets the trick and starts to practices some of his more basic forms. After repeating those a few times he starts to shadowbox, to test out how fast the armor could go.
"Whoa there, lad, b' careful now! This shop's full o' stuff that would b' bad t' fall on."
Cort stepped around Kaavel, watching his friend testing his new armor. "Do you think it's helping? Seems slow." However he is shocked to see the speed that the monk begins throwing punches. "You got another one of those?" He asks Bom half-jokingly. "I could do with something to even out the odds." He waves his maimed hand for emphasis.
"Jus remember how f@&!in heavy yah is an stay off tha roofs."
The soot covered gnome claps his hands in glee as the brass contraption begins to move under Kaavel's ioun infused power. Kaavel is able to make it outside and is just starting to give it a decent workout when it all comes apart.... literally.
As Kaavel shadowboxes in the area in front of the shoplot the armor slowly comes apart at the seams - heavy plates of brass falling to the ground with subdued thumps as they hit the dirt. Bom's face turns quizzical with a raised eyebrow as it happens.
Try as he might, nothing stops the armor's disintegration - and Kaavel is soon left standing in nothing but the wooden frame that served as the skeleton upon which the armor was hung.
Wul there's yer problem, right there. It's' metal anchored on wood. Wood contracts and expands, rots, an' don't react well t' rust. 'S a wonder it all dinna fall upart years ago. Tell ye what, ah'll buy th' plans from ye, an' take th' framework t' build a new prototype. If ah c'n perfect it ah'll come back an' we c'n talk about mass production."
Bom walks up to a discarded brass plate and gives it an experimental kick. Seeing that nothing happens he mulls over Doc's words "Why you want it if it's broken?... and why would I let you take all the funsies to make it work again?"
"Cuz yah don't has tha stone tah power tha ting, nor tha reflexes tah make it goes like Kaavel ken....Besides who said a ting bout leavin yah out o helpin Doc, he will like yer company alot!"
"Cuz yah don't has tha stone tah power tha ting, nor tha reflexes tah make it goes like Kaavel ken....Besides who said a ting bout leavin yah out o helpin Doc, he will like yer company alot!"
"Ah want it 'cause ah think ah c'n improve on th' design.If you wanna be part o' that yer gonna have t' pack up shop. Ah work on th' go."
Doc turns to the gnome with a businesslike expression on his face. "Look, Bombyamom, ye said this thing'd been sittin' here fer ages. Ye don't know how it works or ye woulda done somethin' wit' it my now. Ah could be takin' th' stone tha' ah used to make it go, an' now tha' ah've seen it in action ah could prob'ly build a new one on mah own, but ah'm no' like tha'. Ye d'serve t' be part o' th' process. Trick is, ah'm no' stayin' round 'ere. Ye wan' t' be in on this, yer gonna have t' be goin' where we go, an' tha' ain't always fun an' safe."
Bom purses his lips as he considers Doc's words. After a few seconds he comes to a decision "I'll need to think about that.... how about you take stone, I keep frame and I'll come see you in a couple of days? Where can I find you"
Doc looks at Blaze. "We still gonna be in garrison?"
Blaze nods at Doc's question "As of right now, we're on a break. No new orders are expected any time soon."
Grusk attempts to move one of the large brass plates.
Looks at Doc and taps his new breast-plate......
"Hey Doc maybe we need tah goes hunting fer some lighter materials."
"Hey Doc maybe we need tah goes hunting fer some lighter materials."
"Jus' wha' ah was thinkin', Grusk. Once ah draw up some blueprints ah'll make a list o' th' things ah' need that're hard t' come by. Ah think we might need t' go bug huntin'"
Sentis could only look on with wide eyed wonder as Kaavel moved around in the hulking armor and the dwarf and half orc discussed logistics.
...my life has changed so much in these last few months...very much for the better...all the things I wouldve never seen or expderiencedd had I stayed isolated in the jungle...it was so selfish...and what wouldve became of poor Lucky and Baran...my destiny is with the Steel Wolves; I see that now...
Somehow sensing the half elf's thoughts; Baran sat up and rubbed his head on his friends leg hoping for an ear scratching. He didnt have to wait long as Sentis was ever mindful of giving him attention and affection.
Bom nods and watches as the group leaves out the alley back towards the barracks.
The next couple of weeks pass as slow as treacle dripping from a spoon. The oppressive Sargavan heat leaves you slicked in sweat morning, noon and night and drains alot of your energy from you. Bom swings past once every few days to talk shop with Doc - though most of the ideas are reasonably fanciful at present and in need of refinement. No new jobs are coming in to the company at present and the barracks are slowly swelling with a press of people as they return from their own jobs.
A few days after the gnome first visits the barracks to talk shop, there is a commotion towards the front of the compound. One of the other squads has come back... and they're injured. Screams of pain ring across the compound as the Captain calls out above the din
Doc dropped a pot in a clatter and started running as fast as his stubby legs could carry him, drinking an elixer to boost his speed along the way.