Clockwork Hound 5
The artificial dog stops its assault and stands still among the barbs and sharp edges of the manticore's former lair.
The cat, mollified by the sudden cessation of violence, eventually creeps out of the tube and gingerly makes its way out of the cave. It sniffs at the jerky in Criek's hand and, deciding it's safe, starts to chew on it.
At Sharae's urging, Criek becomes marginally less twitchy, but keeps a weather eye out for any gawkers in the surrounding trash heaps as he scritches the cat's head. "You're a bold one, aren't you? Did you come to off the manticore yourself before we got here? I suppose you are welcome to join our, uh, menagerie?"
He glances at the mechanical hound and raven before grinning at Sharae. "It is quite an assemblage of fur and metal you're surrounded by, isn't it!"
Fishing out more bits of food for the cat as he surveys the manticore's cave. "We should look around here a bit -- a thing like this is bound to have accumulated some things of value, and scavenge is the way a place like Scrapwall works, as you've seen."
Criek will gingerly pick his way through the sharp edges of the tangle, looking for loot.
Criek picks his way through the dangerous looking rubble carefully and in an initial sweep finds a lovely looking silver armband with inset pearls. The manticore apparently did not care for treasure, only food.
Knowing from his upbringing as a scrappicker that a heap like this is likely to have something of value, Criek spends a little more time picking through the mess, after tossing the armband to Sharae. "If the manticore's been here any length of time, it must have carried, er, things back here to eat -- there's bound to be more that fell off a body at some point!"
Criek finds a battleaxe and a dagger that both seem well made.
He does get nicked twice as he hunts through the rubble.
Sharae, scooping the cat up and draping it safely across her shoulder, stands watch whilst Criek searches... she doesn't trust herself in amongst the sharp edges and vile looking puddles of goop that line the cave - and Criek has natural scavenging tendencies.
...and seeing Criek cut himself, Sharae calls out to him, "Are you okay there?"
"Just some scrapes and scratches--I...I hope?" offers Criek, wincing as Sharae probes his wounds. "I've, heh, had far worse in the time we've been journeying!"
"What do you think we should take as a trophy? Er, head? Tail? Both?" he asks, eyeing the manticore's corpse with an obvious lack of enthusiasm for trying to saw it up.
What faces them is a grisly task, the taking of trophies from fallen foes a less than pleasant way of living... but, in this instance at least, a necessary evil. Sharae ponders Criek's question, "I suppose the head... it could be mistaken for little else than what it is". She takes one of her starknives, grasping it firmly... and, looking the other way - a grimace upon set her face, stabs into the corpse's neck. When she is confident that the blade is as deep as it will pierce, she steadies herself and starts to cut...
Being experienced in the outdoors, Sharae and Criek have little trouble separating the manticore's head from the body though it is a grisly task.
Then as the sun starts to set they head back towards The Clockwork Chapel heavier by a battleaxe, a dagger, and a head.
HELLION KNOWS ALL! HELLION SEES ALL! THE TIME OF THE FOLLOWERS OF HELLION IS NIGH! a loudspeaker booms out as they do.
Criek is getting used to the peculiarities of the junk piles and scrap canyons that comprise the interior of Scrapwall and he has little trouble, even under the darkening sky, in finding a quick route back to Dinvaya's home and place of worship.
As night falls two massive beams of light spring into life from the middle of Scrapwall. These are so large that they can be seen from any part of the town that is open to the sky.
WITNESS THE GLORY OF HELLION'S FOLLOWERS, THE LORDS OF RUST. COME TO THE SCRAPMASTER ARENA IF YOU WISH TO SEE IF YOU ARE WORTHY OF JOINING THE ARMY OF HELLION comes the proclamation from the loudspeaker as the lights switch on.
Halfway back, the group stumbles across quite a scene as they enter an open area from a tunnel of refuse.
There seems to be a fight going on.
It's a bit hard to tell in the dark, because it is night now but the sight of four un-moving small bodies is quite prominent, as are the whoops of bloodthirsty delight from the taller figures engaged in the fight. The smaller figures seem to be hard pressed and the more numerous taller combatants seem to be dividing them and cutting off any means of escape they might have.
Push off strangers Comes a warning from the fighters closest to the group and a little distance away from the main fight as she stands up from cutting the throat of one of the four bodies. This is ganger business she takes an object out of her belt and puts it up to her chin and suddenly a beam of light appears to illuminate her face, she has a flashlight like the one you've already seen!
And what the beam of light illuminates is horrendous. A slim human face, that might have been pretty once upon a time, displays a ghoulish leer as the upper lip is missing along with large strips of flesh from the cheek in an upwards arc away from the absent lip.
Or do you want to tangle with the Smilers too? she taunts as she plays the white beam of light on the group.
Her tone seems to change as the light rapidly moves from the bronze dog to the manticore head. It seems angrier and less confident PUSH OFF I said! she says loudly.
Some of her compatriots glance over at the sound Jinkie! What are you playing at? Come join the fun. We'll have all 8 raider tails at this rate!
..."Tails"? Criek surveys the uneven fight, looking at the smaller bodies in growing horror.
"Well, we're supposed to be drawing attention to ourselves, right?" he murmurs to Sharae, still reluctant to make the first move.
Criek looks closer at the hooded body that Jinkie the Smiler is standing over. He sees a claw and a furred snout. They are, indeed, ratfolk.
Seeing Criek recoil at the sight of the fallen body, and the realisation that they are of his kin, Sharae has her pistol quickly to hand, "This stops now!!! Enough of this madness!!!"
The Smiler's face twists into a grimace. Not even the Lords talk to us that way. I'll bring your bodies to 'em.
She drops her flashlight and whips out a pistol of her own.
Criek's cat seems uncertain about this turn of events but doesn't want to move away from Sharae or Criek while the bronze dog stands to alert attention.
"You want bodies?!" Criek's voice rises to a shriek as Jinkie's leer pushes him into action, "We'll add yours to Birdfood's!"
He hurls his last two bombs at the Smiler, hoping she doesn't realize they're the last of his supply.
"Hound, attack!"
Sharae's voice is uncharacteristically cold, "Had your chance... these 'Lords' that you pay homage to... will they save you now?"
Caught flatfooted by Criek's anger fuelled opening volley Jinkie the Smiler's life ends in a blaze of both freezing chill and electrical spasm. She does not even hear Sharae's rhetorical question.
As she falls Sharae aims for the next closest tall figure, the one who had called out to Jinkie. He screams and bites back a curse We gettin' jumped! he manages to get out just as the clockwork hound charges into him!
The smiler's warning turns into a strangled yell as the Clockwork Hound brings him down to the ground!
The cat gives a yowl of surprise at the sudden violence
The other tall gangers react to the yell with sounds of consternation and surprise
What is that thing! Get it off Scrat!
Who's jumping us?
Look there's more where Jinkie is! Get 'em
Three step away and fire guns at the bronze dog while two close the distance to the rest of you, one fires at Sharae, the other fires at Criek.
The sharp crack of the Smiler's gunfire and the acrid smell of gunsmoke fills the air.
As the Smilers adjust to meeting the new, far more deadly, threats at their rear, their original targets take the opportunity to scatter. They head for the closest tunnels and disappear down them.
Smiler Jinkie Dead by Bomb
Smiler Scrat 16 on ground
Dog 4
Criek 5
I'd...hoped the rest of them would scatter on losing their leader. thinks Criek, anxiety creeping back in on his rage. ah well. We're in it now.
He reaches down to give the cat a quick scritch, trying to reassure himself as much as it, before stepping in front of it
He draws a sickly yellow glowing vial and fulps it down, grimacing briefly at the rate. The expression turns into a snarl at the remaining raiders as the ratfolk bulges perceptibly and a feral look enters his eyes.
Sharae moves forwards, raising her pistol and firing again... whilst her off-hand slips down to pull the starknife clear from her belt...
As Criek takes his mutagen and seems to turn feral Sharae's blast hits the Smiler that fired at her.
That's a nice pistol! the one she hit shouts out I'll take it from ya corpse! and he reloads to fire back.
Criek's assailant on the other hand blanches and says Stop firin' at that one, hit the rat! I hurt him but he's getting angrier!
Their marksmanship seems to fail them however and the crack of gunfire doesn't result in any injury.
Meanwhile at the back Scrat tries to struggle up to his feet, which is not the smartest thing to be doing.
and Dinvaya's clockwork marvel's jaws clomp down on Scrat's head with a sound of crunching bone that ends with a dull metal thud. There's.. really nothing left of his head after that.
As this happens one of the Smilers shouts Rust take this damn thing and drops his pistol and charges the bronze dog.
His dagger scrapes off of the hound.
I like getting in close anyway another giggles and takes the opportunity to flank the dog with a charge of her own.
The opportunistic attack seems to do some actual damage to the dog. Seeing the dog flanked and with no opportunity to flank himself the third smiler at the end of the oval takes the suggestion to reload and fire on Criek.
Despite the range the attack hits Criek.
The Hound snaps at one of the assailants
and manages to take advantage of the unbalanced charge to close its now very bloody and gory jaws on the Smiler's abdomen.
And down the Smiler goes with a yell as his head thuds down onto the red stained ground right next to what's left of Scrat's!
Smiler Jinkie Dead by Bomb
Smiler Scrat Dead by Head being mostly stuck to metal dog jaws
Smiler vs Sharae 5
Smiler prone next to Dog 8
Dog 6
Criek 8
The cat crouches down where it is, taking cover behind Criek's suddenly hulking form.
The Smilers' relative inability to do serious harm to either them or the hound helps Criek's rebounding confidence. Not quite ready to get in close, though, he only draws his bow and returns fire.
Moving closer, easily bounding over the rubble on the ground, Sharae slams her starknife into the abdomen of the closest smiler...
Criek's arrow finds the wounded Smiler's abdomen while Sharae moves forward to give him her blade, edge first, rather than the pistol he just admired. He's hurt and bleeding but he refuses to go down.
The Smiler brought down by the dog shows much more presence of mind than the recently deceased Scrat and slashes defensively at the dog from his prone position.
The true utility of this is to keep giving his friend an opportunity to get through the dog's defenses.
They both miss the dog though.
Meanwhile the wounded Smiler facing Sharae drops his pistol to slash at her.
Which misses her widely.
But again another of the Smilers loops around to threaten the swashbuckling cleric's unprotected back.
Sharae's charge leaves her unbalanced enough that the dagger gets through her defenses.
It deals her a deep gash.
The last Smiler not engaged in melee screams Shank 'em! Kill 'em at the others as he reloads one more time to fire at Criek.
But the gun crack does nothing to help.
****
The bronze hound tries to take advantage of his prone enemy and bites down to savage the Smiler
The Smiler screams in pain.
Suddenly from the shadows of the tunnels bolts come flying out targeting the Smiler still firing his gun
He shouts in frustration as two of the bolts cause him damage.
Smiler Jinkie Dead by Bomb
Smiler Scrat Dead by Head being mostly stuck to metal dog jaws
Smiler vs Sharae 14
Smiler prone next to Dog 15
Smiler firing gun 7
Dog 6
Criek 8
Sharae 7
Surprised by the sudden thung of crossbows, but not unwilling to accept the support, Criek focuses on Sharae's assailants, peppering the nearest with arrows.
The Smiler who moved to flank Sharae is closest to Criek and one of the arrow pierces him.
Smiler Jinkie Dead by Bomb
Smiler Scrat Dead by Head being mostly stuck to metal dog jaws
Smiler vs Sharae 14
Smiler prone next to Dog 15
Smiler firing gun 7
Smiler flanking Sharae 7
Dog 6
Criek 8
Sharae 7
Finding herself flanked, and barely noticing the bolts fired from the tunnel, Sharae slashes at her foe... and then, firing at point blank into the smiler's midriff, she pushes away from him and moves out of reach...
As long as she is wielding a light or one-handed piercing melee weapon in one hand and one-handed firearm in the other hand, you can fight with a weapon wielded in each of your hands; You can make one extra attack each round with the secondary weapon.
Prerequisite: Gained as Picaroon Class Feature.
Benefit: Your penalties on attack rolls for fighting with two weapons are reduced. The penalty for your primary hand lessens by 2 (to -4) and the one for your off hand lessens by 6 (to -4).
Normal: If you wield a second weapon in your off hand, you can get one extra attack per round with that weapon. When fighting in this way you suffer a –6 penalty with your regular attack or attacks with your primary hand and a –10 penalty to the attack with your off hand. If your off-hand weapon is light, the penalties are reduced by 2 each. An unarmed strike is always considered light.
Sharae spins out of the way of the Smilers with an improvised manuever that lets her slash and shoot at the same time.
Unfortunately the lack of experience shows and she just misses her adversaries with both attacks.
And of the smilers gets in a lucky slash on the Desnan as she moves out of harm's way.
Sensing weakness the two smilers move in on Sharae again.
But this time they don't get through. The slashes are vicious and well aimed though. Despite their own wounds it seems the sense of having drawn blood has excited the sadistic gang members.
The bronze hound is assaulted from two sides as well.
And the Smiler at the rear giggles again as her dagger lands a hit, leaving a deep deep gouge on the clockwork dog's back.
The lone Smiler not in melee shouts in frustration and not being able to see where the crossbow bolts are coming from and fires yet again at the target he has chosen to focus on, Criek.
His marksmanship fails him though.
The dog, wounded, but not feeling any pain continues to savage the prone enemy in front of him.
And this proves the final bite needed to end the Smiler's existence. The clockwork hound's jaws are now flowing with blood and gristle.
Another barrage of crossbow bolts fly at the gun wielding Smiler.
This time three of the bolts hit.
And this proves to be far too much for the Smiler to handle as he sways and collapses with five bolts stuck at various angles from his body.
Smiler Jinkie Dead by Bomb
Smiler Scrat Dead by Head being mostly stuck to metal dog jaws
Smiler prone next to Dog Dead by said Dog
Smiler firing gun Dead by mysterious pincushion.
Smiler vs Sharae 14
Smiler flanking Sharae 7
Dog 13
Criek 8
Sharae 16
Criek continues his barrage on the nearest Smiler --
...before looking back at the cat to exclaim, "You could help, you know?" and waving at the thugs flanking Sharae with a tongue click. I think we've got this, but no spectators in an street fight!
Criek's first two arrows takes one of the smilers around Sharae down while the third catches the second in the eye. They both collapse, screaming.
The cat gives Criek a look but with, what seems like the feline equivalent of a shrug, launches itself at the last renaming Smiler.
Not only does the cat draw blood from the Smiler's calf but with a twist brings the Smiler down to the ground.
Smiler Jinkie Dead by Bomb
Smiler Scrat Dead by Head being mostly stuck to metal dog jaws
Smiler prone next to Dog Dead by said Dog
Smiler firing gun Dead by mysterious pincushion.
Smiler vs Sharae Dead by arrow
Smiler flanking Sharae Dead by arrow
Smiler flanking Dog. 3 hp and prone.
Dog 13
Criek 8
Sharae 16
Looking around and realizing that she's the only one left the Smiler yells out Alright, I give, mercy!
With the smiler down, Sharae points his gun at the woman's chest, "Drop your weapon... that's right... kick it over there".
The entire time, Sharae is looking over shoulder...
Who just helped us? ...and how long will they stay friends?
From the tunnels around the oval clearing where the fight took place four small figures emerge. They huddle together far away from the combatants before one of them comes closer to you. It removes its hood and you can see in the faint starlight of this moonless night that it's a ratfolk with brown fur and scars visible under his eyes and on his ears.
Th... thanks for helping us he says warily as if poised to flee You're not Smilers. Are you friends of us Raiders?
The Smiler on the ground, with her hands raised above her head sneers at the newcomers We had you by the tails you snout faced cowards
Criek acknowledges the pack -- "Hound, stop! Good kitty!" -- as the last Smiler surrenders and he hastens to join Sharae in standing over their captive.
"You're in no position for taunts," he cautions the Smiler, attempting a stern look before turning to the other ratfolk.
"No, we're no Smilers! Nor Lords of Rust, for that matter, or, uh, any who are friends of Hellion's?" He pauses before addressing the Raider's question -- "So you'll have to tell me where that leaves us in regards to you Raiders?"
"At very least, it seems we are allies this evening?" He glances at Sharae, "--but we should be going, I expect." Before yet another of this incredibly complicated network of gangs appears to attack some or all of us.
Knowing that the muzzle of her pistol is painfully cold, Sharae gently taps the smiler across her forehead with the frozen metal, "Silent cur..." Feeling - given the tense atmosphere - that this is a time for kin to talk to kin, Sharae pauses to let Criek speak...
The ratfolk nods We've lost a lot of our own today and would have all died if not for you. So yeah, allies for at least today. I'm Spivel. he looks at the brozne dog and at the manticore head You lot are certainly makin' a lot of noise in Scrapwall. Uh... we'll.. we'll take our friends stuff if that's okay, and uh, say four of the Smiler's stuff as recompense? You can have the scrap from three others.
It seems like scavenging etiquette is a big deal at Scrapwall.
Spivel glances at the last Smiler And her too. As a prisoner. Smilers have been hunting us almost to death for the last little while. We have her and maybe we'll be able to find out what they've got planned.
Rather die then go to your filthy rat holes, tail suckers the Smiler ignores Sharae's suggestion to be silent as she hurls another insult at Spivel.
The cat yawns widely as it settles back on its haunches and starts to lick itself clean. Probably trying to get the taste of Smiler blood out of its mouth rather than clean its fur.
"Sure about that are you?" Sharae's voice is full of uncharacteristic menace as she rests her hand upon the blade of her starknife....
They would have slain all of these 'Raiders' without a moment's thought... this one had better be careful or these ratfolk will avenge themselves.
Sharae smiles at 'Spivel', "I am Sharae and this", gesturing towards her friend, "...is Criek. It is a relief to make an ally of you... friendly faces are in short supply in this place".
Criek nods at the Raiders' proposal. these wretches are too battered to force their claim, and they seem to be at the bottom of the heap here...as our kind are everywhere, I suppose -- all the more reason to treat them fairly! ...And especially if they could provide aid in the future.
"That sounds fair, and we are sorry for the loss of your comrades. We've heard the Raiders have held out against Hellion's consolidation of power, and have suffered for it - it seems just that you hold this one prisoner in hopes of limiting your further losses. I hope you will consider passing along any intelligence that might benefit us? If we do make a name here, it should be for breaking Hellion's hold, and we'd welcome aid in that endeavor."
Spivel nods at the both of you gratefully and gives a short whistle. The three other ratfolk quickly strip their own and three of the Smilers of all their gear, as if they've been doing such things for their whole life. Meanwhile Spivel gags the surviving Smiler with rope so quickly that she doesn't even have time to scream her outrage. It takes Sharae's and Criek's help to hold her down as Spivel finishes trussing her up.
Then the four drag the struggling ganger away. As they disappear Spivel calls out We'll tell Redtooth about this. If she says we can we'll share what we find out.
That done, Sharae and Criek find themselves, with an artifical dog and a non artificial cat in the small clearing strewen about with ten bodies, seven of them stripped of all gear.
On each of the three remaining Smilers find a small jar with a pink gel like substance, masterwork leather armor, a masterwork buckler, a dagger, battered pistols that can only be sold for scrap, and 25 bullets and doses of powder.
As they finish their own search the slab device being carried around by Criek gives out a beep. As Criek brings it out Anody's face pops up on the screen all smiles.
Hello, Hello! Anody says from the screen, his voice distorted a bit as it is transmitted by the technology Oh my word I can see you! Can you see me? Hello! Oh dear is the voice catcher working from here? How about the voice sender? I said HELLO! CAN YOU HEAR ME!
In the background you can see Dinvaya peering over Anody's shoulder. She still seems irritated by this whole business but also quite intrigued.
Momentarily taken aback as the technological slab bursts into life, Sharae composes herself and smiles back at the face on the screen, "Yes Professor... we can hear you... there's really no need to shout!!! Can you hear us?" All the while, and mindful of how the Professor's voice tends to carry somewhat, Sharae is checking that no-one else is coming...
Ahah! I hear you perfectly. My word this is exciting. Anody says his voice only dropping a bit in volume Though it is quite dark where you are. Oh dear it must be later than I thought. Ah... are you two quite alright? Is this a safe time to talk?
There is no safe time in Scrapwall Dinvaya notes dryly from behind the Professor And after darkness falls least of all. I can see that both of them are well enough and they should hurry back to sanctuary.
Ah yes of course The little Professor says, mollified. Do hurry back. I hope you've had success and I cannot wait to hear all about it
"we've already had quite an evening, yes," Criek replies, "and look forward to telling you about it."
Sharing Sharae's anxiety at lingering to long, he adds, "I can't wait to see what our hostess recommends we do next?" after the tablet goes dark, and hoists the manticore head with his still-enhanced strength for the trek back to Dinvaya's sanctuary.
Sharae and Criek get back to the Chapel without further incident and as they pull the hidden lever that swings the door open they are met by Dinvaya Laneli herself as they enter the atrium.
She notes the manticore head and asks Did the residents of Scrapwall see you with that? If so then it has served its purpose. Please leave it outside.
Inside in her workshop the two of you can see that Anody has carved out a small corner of the room to himself, apparently with Dinvaya's blessing this time. He doesn't seem to need much space as he's gathered together a few technological items from the heaps of gears and cogs and scrap that constitute most of Dinvaya's tribute and raw materials and placed them on a flat slab of metal that has become an impromptu work bench for the little professor.
He jumps up, his smile almost as wide as his entire head as he looks at you with undisguised relief.
As Dinvaya commands the hound to jump up onto the pedestal that she most recently used to repair her guardian golem he comes over to you.
I am so glad to see you're both alright. I'm sorry I wasn't there to help but it seems like it's all turning out well. You must tell us everything... oh hello!
Anody's chatter is interrupted by a mrrrow sound from the cat as it sniffs around the workshop.
Dinvaya turns around and stares at it. What is that thing. she says flatly. It's almost more of a statement than a question.
Criek quirks a brief smile at Dinvaya's reaction to the head -- and the cat. She certainly is fastidious, for someone who lives among heaps and piles of scrap! I suppose that just shows the order she can see in the chaos here, that everything here is where she means it to be?
"This, er, 'thing', was engaged in single combat with the manticore when we arrived at its lair? Were it not for our assignment, we might have left it to collect the beast's head for its own trophy, but decided to team up instead, and he's apparently decided to make it a lasting relationship. I think I'll call him 'Pinki', until he tells me otherwise?"
We are quite the collection, Criek and myself, a mechanical dog and now this stray, Sharae does no more than arch her eyebrow as if daring her to make a scene about 'Pinki'...
"We met more than just the manticore", Sharae looks down at the grizzled mess that was the Manticore's head, "...and yes, more than happy to leave this one outside. There was some kind of horrific vermin infestation that sought to make us food... and then, after we slew the manticore, we had a pleasant time with the Smilers - let's just say that I don't think the Smilers will forget us in a hurry... and hopefully, we have made allies of the Raiders?"
Sharae turns to Dinvaya, "What can you tell us of the Raiders? ...of Redtooth? Would an alliance be a sensible thing to do... they certainly seem opposed to the Smilers ...and, by extension, Hellion and the Lords of Rust?"
Dinvaya narrows her eyes at Criek's statement about the cat fighting the manticore. It may be that she does not have much of a sense of humour.
She sighs deeply and purses her lips I... very well... Cats are clean and curious creatures. Keep it from interfering with my works and it is as welcome as the rest of you are. she turns back to her dog and lowers a large magnifying glass attached to a moving mechanical arm that moves smoothly at her touch. Yes, I see, scratches as if from a rat, and damage as if from a knife. Nothing a night of work won't be able to repair.
She rotates on her stool to select a number of different implements before turning back to her work and continuing My Goddess is pleased by efficiency and the three.. four.. of you have been nothing but. In one day you have pulled the Hawks back from the brink, removed a beast that has preyed on Scrapwall for many years, and made contact with The Smilers and the Raiders as well. This bodes well for the future and discovering what Hellion and his followers are up to.
She pauses for a second before considering Sharae's question. The Smilers are much as you might think they are. Opportunists and perverse degenerates. I have been keeping an eye on them from a distance for a while now as none of them have come to me for healing, they prefer to mutilate themselves on Soothe instead.
Criek, you recognize what Soothe is when Dinvaya mentions it. It must be what the pink gel in the small jar is that you scavenged from the Smilers. A minor cure that is only very effective when spread on a fresh wound that has the drawbacks of being slightly addictive and causing the wound to close itself into an unsightly scar. It also numbs the area for quite a while. It's worth about 200 gold a dose.
They only rose in prominence by allying with The Lords Of Rust and they are using their new found power to take retribution on the Raiders. The Raiders are... were.. the closest thing to Law and Order that Scrapwall had to offer and they kept the Smilers in particular in check. They were allies of a sort to the Hawks and as the Hawks fell and the Lords rose the raiders have been hard pressed. If Redtooth lives still then her and her brother Whiskifiss would be fine allies.
As Dinvaya works and talks Anody reaches out to pat Pinki on the head and Pinki responds by playfully batting at the gnome. Anody almost goes tumbling with a laugh. Oh my, he is a friendly one
Criek smiles a little at Dinvaya's apparent praise, before stifling a yawn. "Efficient, perhaps -- but tired. Hope we haven't set expectations *too* high for future rate of achievement? Though, from what we've seen of how Scrapwall works, I shouldn't expect we're able to dictate the pace of our engagement from here.
"Er, speaking of, we haven't exposed you to undue danger by coming back here, have we? That is - you seem quite capable of your own defense, but I shouldn't want to cause you trouble if further association with us eliminates some shield of neutrality that currently serves you?"
I would not be so certain of that, Alchemist Criek Dinvaya says The winding up of a mechanism may take time, but once the gears start spinning much can happen quite quickly. As for my safety, it has been under threat ever since this Hellion made its presence known in Scrapwall. The Lords care not for neutrality and their ability to wield profane magic makes the divine energies of Brigh irrelevant to them. But... excuse me for my thoughtlessness. You have had a very long day and must need rest. You may rest wherever you wish here aside from the workshop and we will continue this conversation in the morning.
Anody stifles a yawn as well Ah I will turn in with my friends as well, I did enjoy our conversations Dinvaya. Anody picks up the tablet he was working with and carries it with him as Dinvaya nods without turning her head. He shows it to Criek and Sharae excitedly. Look! It can interface with technological items in range and even communicate with some of them like the other device we found. It's how we were able to communicate. My word, it's no wonder that we did not find much magic under Torch, why would the Androffans need it if they had all these technical wonders serving them? In any case, I think the battery in your device is almost tapped is it not? I have one spare battery that I can put in there and then we can communicate even if we're seperated like we were today. How is your pistol coming Sharae? I would love to know if it's been working as you expected.. if not maybe I could try and see how it could be fixed but I suppose that if you've fought off a manticore and gang members and who knows what else that it's been working as you expected...
Anody patters on.