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"Well, I can try. I can't guarantee I don't break it, though. Anyway, here's goes nothin'." Toby plops down and, with the flat end of one of his thieves tools, tries to carefully pry out the gemstone contained in the clockwork spy.
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Joli watches with rapt, anxious attention as Toby does the dead. His face wrinkles, he puts his hands over his eyes, he peeks out between his long, spindly fingers...
Toby, after so much time playing with the spy, finally opens it. His nimble fingers have no trouble operating the mechanical catches, and the gem pops out.
When inserted into the statue, you hear a familiar, wooden voice.
"Maybe Arkley's familiar, assuming it's their spellbook we found. We sh—"
Then a flurry of movement.
"Noooooo wait! Come back here and let me look at you!"
"Clockwork spy! Catch it!"
"Come back! How come I can't smell you? What are you?"
You continue to hear yourselves talk until the recording ends.
"Ah. Disappointing."
Purpose Creche removes the spy's gem and inserts the final, unviewed gem.
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The gem from the desk begins playing.
“This recording gem and the information it contains is for the organization’s internal use only and not for dissemination to the public, under penalty of law.”
The Spindle Solution is a division of the Ioun Imperative that serves as the Azlanti Empire’s intelligence organization, and is a group dedicated to improving humanity’s quality of life through the use of ioun stone technology. The organization creates and specializes in the spindle series of stones, while also performing humanitarian research. Spindlelock Tower, and the facility it is a part of, was intended to be a research station.
This is the entirety of the organization as it is known to ordinary citizens. Behind this facade, though, the Spindle Solution is also a front for classified military and intelligence research and development.
We have recently captured a spy. Originally suspected to be an elf from Celwynvian disguised as a human, the spy proved to be tenacious, resourceful, and dangerous. Once captured, the spy was placed in temporal stasis, and since the organization’s leadership was unwilling to house the prisoner at the Compass, the headquarters for the Spindle Solution, this facility was renovated in secret to contain the individual. Most of the other researchers here were unaware this was going on.
We have recently determined that the Empire of Azlant has been manipulated by a hitherto unknown aquatic race. Some speculate that the spy might be related to these creatures, so a second series of renovations were performed on Spindlelock Tower to accommodate the spy’s release from stasis and eventual interrogation. At this time, the general public is unaware of this aquatic threat.
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"Hey, that's me! Wait, that's weird...oh. It's just us talking? That's boring."
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Joli begins laughing and rolling on the floor as his new friends' voices are repeated. "This spy sure knew trouble when it saw it!" He considers taking another run at Toby's cloak, but his attention is caught up in the last recording. His fascination turns sober at the talk of an aquatic race. "You don't think they're talking about these skum, do you? They don't seem that impressive."
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Cedar smiles at the memory of finding the clockwork spy, but then scratches his chin.
"Why would the clockwork spy record that moment? I mean, can it act on its own, or was it sent there by someone to spy on the village? Hmmm... It's got me unsettled."
At the mention of an aquatic race, Cedar turns to Silt.
"Do you know what they could have been talking about? A hitherto unknown aquatic race? So, that's the spy they were talking about."
"If this is Spindlelock Tower, do you think the spy is still here, in stasis?!"
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Silt blinks at Cedar.
What is a hitherto? I have never heard of this race. Sea people do not converse with rocks, which do not live. Little bugs… good food, not good spies. Silt fidgets with his straw hat.
There is much unknown; Eel-Riders must be wary, even so a matriarch was once abducted from the very center of our colony — taken for strange purpose to the abyss forever.
He looks around, blinking. How far away is stasis? Will a spy be hard to find in it?
Purpose Creche removes the gem, entwining it in wooden fingers, and listens as the others converse.
"The clockwork spy may be an automaton acting out some function. Like the soldiers downstairs. It may be acting on the commands of someone alive. Now. Reconnoitering or observing the colony. But."
The gem's edges are sharp and hard against his palm; he doesn't feel, or doesn't care. "More pressing information. Elves evacuating. Azlant and its end during Earthfall. A spy discovered just before. A sect of the Ioun Imperative. Secret police. Secret facility. Spindelock Tower. Here."
He turns to Silt. "Hitherto. Meaning they had not seen a member of this race before. Stasis. A kind of storage to keep something inert. Unchanging. How far?"
Purpose Creche strides to the door near the center of this floor, vision momentarily obscured by a flurry of soft grey flakes.
He uncurls a finger towards the placard. "Here. Let's see if the spy remains."
He opens the door.
This enclosed area is an octagonal walkway illuminated by a soft, pervasive light. The overwhelmingly dominant feature is another chamber inside this area, which has transparent walls and appears to be filled with gently bubbling water. This cistern or tank appears to extend up into the next floor, although there is a stone ceiling 15 feet above this external walkway. At the north end of the walkway is a door that exits the enclosure. On the east side of the tank is a transparent door, complete with an opaque handle.
Joli moves into the room cautiously, trying to climb the walls and examine his surroundings for traps.
When he enters the room, Purpose Creche cocks his head to the side and shifts his perception into a different register.
He gingerly approaching the tank, alert for alterations in both the flow of magic around it and the contents within. If all appears safe, he lowers himself to his stomach at the base of the glass, attempting to look up towards the next floor.
The tank’s walls and door radiate auras of moderate abjuration.
Valves of various sizes cover the floor of the tank, leading to pipes and hoses that thread throughout the tower. Purpose can see up to the third floor, but can't make out much detail. It seems like that floor is more sparsely furnished than the other two.
Silt walks in slowly and looks around. He runs his hand along the transparent wall as he circles the chamber.
He stops at the door, takes out his click-claw, holds it against the wall, and considers… then quietly puts it away.
Silt sees nothing unusual in the tank. There's no visible airlock on the door, but it does have a magical aura.
Silt cracks open the door. If no water pours out, he will stick a finger into the tank. If nothing bad happens, he will take off his hat, and slowly immerse his head and look around.
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Joli will peek between Silt's legs as he cracks the door, excited to get wet if the opportunity arises. As it opens, assuming it doesn't burst, he flicks his tongue out to taste the water.
Silt opens the door, but the water stays in place, as if held by some kind of barrier. However, as he reaches his hand forward, nothing stops it from going into the cold water.
Joli's tongue tastes the water with some trepidation. Time for a swim?
Joli tastes the apparently normal water in the tank. It is surprisingly tepid and clean.
Silt takes off his farmer's hat and sticks his face to look around. He will take a small breath of the water while doing so.
Joli squeezes past Silt and into the water. He looks upwards to see if there's company before he swims up to Silt's eye level and waves.
"Woah, how come the water doesn't fall out?" Toby sniffs at the water, then hesitantly pokes it with his finger and sniffs that. "Weird."
Purpose Creche lifts himself from the floor and unsheathes his sword.
"The stairs will probably prove necessary. But."
He walks into the tank and looks up; green light suffuses the waters.
The spell seems to be a custom one, creating a semi-permeable force field to hold the water in the tank but allow people to enter and exit.
He also spots a slight irregularity in the motion of the water in response to Joli's strong kicks, as though there were a creature made of water trying to hold very very still.
Purpose Creche immediately points his sword towards the figure.
"There. Hidden."
Silt steps into the tank. He tries to spot the creature where Purpose pointed. He spreads his empty hands.
In Aquan: We see you. Hiding or spying?
Joli waves in the general direction indicated by his friends. "Um, it's friendly, right?" He smiles broadly.
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"Maybe...we should take the stairs."
If it doesn't do anything, Silt will swim up next to it.
Blub, blub, blub
We can go. First: whose tower is this? What do they do? He pauses to try and count. Second: Do you want to be left alone somewhere else? This water is stale and this pond is small. He flicks his tongue out in a gesture of distaste.
Purpose Creche slowly lowers and sheathes his sword, then inches his way towards Joli.
"What are they saying?"
Silt whispers to Purpose: Wants to be left alone… I ask why, who, help.
Aquan: "Can't leave. Go away!"
It is a Medium water elemental, an outsider with the elemental, extraplanar, and water subtypes. What would you like to know about it?