"Others of my kind feel they are superior to flesh-bound creatures. Still others feel inferior. I share neither viewpoint, seeing all sapient creatures as capable and responsible for their own destiny."
Turning to Vile, Engineer continues, "Your master has deceived you and relies upon your lack of deductive reasoning. There are insufficient numbers for the Warforged race to subsume the existing humanoids, and even if possible, to what end? We are not the creators and extenders of society. There are precious few of us who do anything beyond make war. The world needs LESS mindless soldiers, and MORE creators and artists."
Every word is spoken with precise diction, but to humanoid ears still lacks a certain "punch." It is possible the breath-pauses, minor errors of pronunciation, and the like common to fleshy orators ADDS to the experience. Engineer's statements carry none of those.
Vile says:ha ha ha ha We all serve or have served the flesh bags and we arent treated the same any where. Property is all these so called higher beings still want war,we have one purpose it is to battle and kill ,pillage and conquor. Create yes but more of our kind to rule as the Lord would say "we are the chosen to rule not the bags of bone" so you think we are equals to them ha ha ha ha as his laugh sounds like grating metal on stone
I like you more than ever, #3, now that I have this for comparison." Daxur says gesturing at Vile.
Beaurgard continue with your questioning.
Everyone what are you all doing?
#3 guarding the Warforged
Zevon is in the room with all the staff, asking them some more questions
When Beauregard talks to the mistress in private, Zevon turns to the rest of the staff:
”The rest of the orphanage is still ok. Sorry for this interruption, but it seems the Last Laugh is pretty determined to make sure the children are not found. Anyway, we will leave you to your duties very soon – just a few more questions. What can you tell us about the elves who came here, according to them, send by the mayor?"
Zevon:
Neva says:They were so nice,they were asking the same questions as you and your friends are. Nothing like this has evered happened before.
Korihor smirks at Vile. "Time for you to wear a meat-suit, tin can." She taps his chest plate once, and then twice in quick succesion, and then with a loud scream, slams her palm into his chest with all her force. Light flows out from under her palm as her back arches back, and her feet lift off the ground.
She collapeses to her knees as the light in Vile's eyes goes dark, and the husk of his body crumples to the ground.
Korihor your vision blurs and a loud ringing thrums in your ears,that sounds likeNooooooo! Your headaches a bit and your weak in the knees. As your gut cramps and burns. Your body tingles and the hair stand on ends. The surge of the living essence and its magical power excites your body. Everything looks sharper and your hearing sounds crisper, the breeze on your skin feels sensual and the aromas attack your nose.
psicraft?
Summary execution. That is one option. What did you just do, Korihor? "
Daxur eyes widen as he looks from Korihor to the now lifeless warforged "Korihor, yes....what did you do? And how did you do it? "
Korihor gasps, then chuckles. She lifts her head, and breaths deep. "I cut him." she says, standing. "Or more acurately, I cut his thread, his essence."
She takes Three's hand, standing. The parts of Vile's body lay lifeless on the ground in front of her. "But I didn't execute him. I...am carrying his essence now. I'll figure out how to question him, safely, later."
She looks around for Lumen. "Can you get his body inside? We don't want this on the sreet."
Turning to go inside, a big grin on her face, she winces at the first step. "Wow" she says as her eyes go wide. "Dizzy. And...sore." she says, stretching her back.
Daxur listens to Korihor, having taken out his notebook, scribbles furiously his observations and impressions of the astounding event he just witnessed. Peering up at his friend "So you can talk to him at any time, Korihor?"
"I don't know. I'll try, when I've rested. He's..." she gestures at her chest, then her abdomen, then her throat and head. "...contained, somewhere here."
"Fascinating, really. Did you know you could do that before now ?" he says, leaning over the metal body, taking more notes.
Engineer picks up the lifeless warforged.
"Most impressive. Your arcane talents are quite powerful. I small glad you are on my side. Can you facilitate similar restorative powers on warforged?"
Engineer heads into the orphanage.
"No. I've never done anything like that." she responds, walking in the front door. "I saw his core - the essence of a warforged's soul, as much as it is." She searches for words. "I detached his Ghulra -" she points to her forehead, and nods to Three's forehead. "...I think that's what is...in...me."
Beaurgard Gretchen asksWhat else would you like to know?
Looking up from his notes, Daxur says "I'm going to need a larger notebook" He then taps his sylus against his nose as if remembering something "Oh yes, I had a question for the Chatelaine". With that he runs into the orphanage ahead of #3 and the others.
"You said the locks are about ten years old? Did you have them installed before or after the children who have recently been abducted came to live here? Can you tell me where we might find the craftsman who performed the task?"
Lumen shakes her head with a grin.
"Full of surprises you are Korihor. That looked like it was...quite the experience."
She follows the others into the house, stopping to scan the street before heading inside.
Perception
Daxur enters the room just as Beauregard finishes his question "Yes indeed, I see that your locks are made by Keygan Ghelve. Where might we find his place of business?"
Beaurgard: Gretchen replies The childern only been here for a year and half
LUMEN: You spot nothing ,but the people going back to thier business.
Korihor sits heavily in a chair with a deep sigh, listening as the others ask their questions.
Engineer stands by the doorway with crossbow in hand.
"Were that an ambush, our foe grossly underestimated our capabilities."
"Why mug someone in the street? If we hadn't noticed it, they may have just sat around doing nothing."
"Diastraction."
"Distraction..." Korihor muses. Looking up stearnly at the matron mother, she says "Give us an immediate count of all of the personal and children. They may have struck again."
** spoiler omitted **
look at up again the spoiler
lumen and #3
spot
"What?" she says, seeing Three and Lumen staring at her with puzzled expressions on their faces. "Do I have something on my face?" she asks, wiping the corners of her mouth.
"More like your arm." Lumen says cautiously. "I think you absorbed more than you bargined for."
SPOT
"about the second ambush: I thought this might be a distraction as well and I already did a quick check but everything seems ok in the orphanage. A more thorough head count may be useful though. Perhaps the thugs were following us & noticed #3 alone on guard?"
Zevon turns to the staff
"Ms. Fanister, could you show me the room of the kids that have been taken? I also like to talk to some of the children if that is ok with you"
Before leaving the room with the nurse, Zevon takes a few biscuits with him.
Hearing Lumen's remark Zevon looks at Korihor's arm and lingers a while longer in the room to hear the rest of the conversation, before going to the children's rooms.
"Most interesting. It would appear you have taken on some of the characteristics of the warforged you disabled. If this is an innate magical talent, I recommend close and careful study to maximize your benefit. I would also caution against frequent use until further control experiments have been performed."
Pulling out some paper and charcoal, Engineer sketches a quick "schematic" of Korihor.
"Would you mind disrobing? It may prove useful to document the exact progression of the changes to your body."
Korihor stares at her arm, stunned. "Fantastic." Her voice drips with irony and sarcasm. "And don't say changes. It's...likely not permanent. I hope."
She undoes her leather vest, letting it fall to the ground. Looking at the staff gathered, watching with rapt attention, she rolls her eyes. "You guys want to leave a tip for the show?"
She pulls her dagged-sleeve shirt over her head, baring herself, but quickly covers her breasts, pulling down her gray scarf over herself. Her back is covered in a tattoo of a tree, upside-down, starting from her hair-line, the trunk travelling down her neck, and branching out spreading down her back. Fresh blood spots dot several of the smaller branches, looking like red lotus blossoms.
The branches are made up of hundreds of tiny arcane sygils and symbols, all combining and flowing together to form the image of a tree. The ones at the edge look newer that the ones towards the base.