The hammer hits a weakened spot in the construct's armour, punching through the wood and getting caught in the gears. The hammer moves and spins for a short while before some dented gears fly loose and the construct seems to be move slower. The hammer falls out of the mechanism taking a whole load of small debris with it.
The construct though heavily damaged still stands and looks ready to swing once more at Taliesin.
"Its a machine . . . can it climb stairs? Back off let Forfax at it with his bill. Perhaps it cannot move beyond its perch?"
David's splash of icy water again hits the construct only now barely on its shoulder. The ice itself punches through most of its armor and the clockwork mechanisms seem to shake violently for a second before you hear a 'clink' and part of the construct doesn't seem to work anymore. Taliesin could see te blob of ice covering several gears inside of the construct.
The construct still finishes his swing, though with the gears missing it's power and aim might be lacking.
Taliesin easily avoids the incoming swing, the movement's were sluggishly and the power behind it almost non-existant.
Hopefully this will put it out of commission
Taliesin's first strike glances off the armour of the mechanical creature in front of him, but his second attack with his normal longsword is thrust through the cracks in its armour. The sword seems to be stuck for a mere moment before Taliesin twists it, yanks and pulls it out causing several large gears and components to fly out.
The construct appears to slow down almost instantly until it stops motionless in a movement to draw it's greataxe back for another swing. The clockwork mechanisms seems to have broken down and any danger posed by it has ceased.
The next room is indeed a large bedchamber, a kingsized bed stands in the middle of the room, with two large wardrobes on the left side of it. The whole room seems to shine and let light in, which is fairly obvious in retrospect as the walls seem to be made from glass.
There is a small desk with a small notebook on the right side of the bed.
On the left side there is another stairs leading up.
Well now that this is over. we can explore this place that this construction was guarding he says waving the other to go inside as he inspects his shoulder's wound
Nathaniel looks at the room with surprise and amazement.
"Incredible. Just look at all of this."
Going over the "glass" with his hand he notices something is off, "Guys, this may seem like it, but this wall isn't made of glass.
Do you remember that one specialty goods merchant a few years back? This wall is made of polished crystal, just like what he was selling."
"That is interesting." Elenzar continues to search about the room.
Besides the obvious sleeping garment, the writing utensils and clothes in the wardrobe there is nothing of real value in here.
Mariel walks up into the room and looks amazed at the sight od Serassus's bedroom.
"I didn't expect he would have a room such as this up here. This looks amazing. But I wonder why he would keep such a dangerous mechanical contraption up here, it looks painful."
The next set of stairs leads up to the sixth floor, this stairs unprotected by a construct.
The next room seems very cluttered, there is a small washroom and bath stuffed in a small part of it, right next to the stairs. The rest of the room contains a workbench with different tools on it, small gems, pins, very small nails, screws and what not. On another large bench lays an unncompleted version of the construct Taliesin just recently broke.
The legs look unfinished, the torso is still open and seems to miss multiple large gears before it would be operational.
On the ceiling hang different sort of flying clockwork constructs, many of them different and it's obvious there's a degree of increasing complexity among them.
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David will slowly climb up the stairs, trying not to slip and fall. At the top, he wipes off his boots if the greasy glop, and peers into the bedroom. He is amazed to see the perfectly polished crystal, wonder if that is the reason for the comfy feel to the rooms.
David makes a mental note to tell Arvinth of this find, perhaps he knows something about the strange crystal. He loads his crossbow, just in case there is another mechanical trouble ahead.
When entering the wash room, David's eyes pop and his mouth slack a bit. He is taken back by the shear mass of stuff, and the possibility of the mechanical thing on the bench.
Perhaps this could be used to our benefit, but what to do with it he wonders to himself.
There is still someone on the floor above us. says taliesin as he run's and start to give chase.
Nathaniel runs after Taliesin, carefully minding his steps though, who knows what traps are still present.
Elenzar rushes after his friends. "Be wary. We might be dealing with a frightened citizen gobs would have had get past his machine."
The last room of the tower is darkened, except for a small flickering light in the left side of the room. In the middle stands a large object that takes up a lot of the room's space, the light of what's presumably a candle or two glimmers on the frame of the object.
A dark shape stands at the right side, a clear vision of him or her is obscured due to the light.
He or she is breathing laborously, running up the flights of stairs with little pause must've been exhausting for him or her as well.
"Stay.. there.. If you come.. any closer.. I will not hesitate... to strike.."
The voice sounds male and is speaking to you in the common language. The heavy breathing makes it tougher to distinguish race, but he sounds human.
Elenzar motions the others to be calm. "Fair enough." Elenzar makes a show of laying down his crossbow. "We are friends of Oldkirk. Sent from Heartham."
He's about 25 feet away from the entrance to the room, Forfax could easily see him.
That is ok, i would do the same. We came with Mariel she is on the floor below. We also rescued Rafl, Mica, Sarah and Jermiah at least to a certain extend. he says with a smile We are currently seeking the survivor of this village. he says lowering his weapon.
"They are still alright? So you're not with the goblins? Give me a piece of truth, show me Mariel and I'll believe you."
Having heard the commotion, Mariel appears moments after in the opening to the staircase.
"Ciril? Ciril is that you? I was worried sick about you, we were worried sick about you. Where have you been the past few days?"
A young man comes out of the dim-lit shadows of the top room of the tower, his bow held loosely in his left hand, arrows sheathed in the quiver on his back.
His face looks gaunt, with small curly messed up brown hair and a small light-brown beard and moustache as if he hadn't shaved in weeks. He looks lean, but not too skinny, there are faint red stains on his clothing round his neck and his chest.
"I'm so sorry Mariel. I didn't want to stay out so long, but I ran into a little trouble on the way back. I.. I.."
Before he can continue stammering, Mariel runs forward and hugs him tightly.
He pats Mariel on her back and then turns his gaze towards the five of you.
"I'm sorry sirs, I thought you belonged to the goblins, sometimes they have fierce men with them as well, besides the goblins and the occasional orc."
Massaging his shoulder wound No worries no permanent damage was done. That construction thing was only able to hit me once. So now that we are friends now what can you tell us about the goblins and what they wanted with this village?
Ciril keeps an arm around Mariel when he answers the question of Taliesin.
"Well they ransacked the place that's what. The first group killed or captured many of our townsmen while plundering the houses. They carried several sacks of supplies out of the smithy, they took all the items of Serassus and took almost all of our food that we stored in our homes. There were men, orcs and goblins among the raiding party."
He pauses for a moment, to look at Mariel, doubtful as to what he should say next.
"Several townsmen survived the first raid and escaped or sought refuge on difficult to reach locations. Mariel, the children and I among them, as well as our town's best huntsman, Darius and a couple of others. The second raid were only goblins ransacking and stealing what was left, Mariel and I have buried most of the victims of that raid and the first in our grayveyard."
"I did managed to hear one of the straggling goblin parties say that Monn was busy with a big project, that they now had all the materials and information for it. It's good to know a little of the language, I assume Monn is one of their leaders though."
"I think we need to get you all to safety and make for Heartham."
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David stands in silence as he listens to the mans recount of events. In his heart he is saddened by all the loss of life and bloodshed, but knows that with the help of his friends they seek to end the tyranny in their homes and land. He was more concerned about there being men with them. Goblins are irrational, or so he thought. But if the cunning and foresight of man is leading them...then they are more dangerous than ever.
You say there men with them, any clue where these men originated from? Do you know where they called "home"? Where they all older men or young ones? Did the goblins say which way they were headed next?
"I think they were regulars from Krewlod; big, strong and savage men. They looked older than you or me, but not much older. The stragglers were to remain, I think. The first raid I couldn't quite get a tell on them, but the tracks appear to go south and slightly west."
Elenzar, Lets report our finding and then we will see what we are going to do. Lets spend the night here in recover our strength. I most certainly could use the rest and some healing. While we do have some provision there were certain interesting find like a map etc.
Perfect ! he says with a wide smile
"Right, let's get to it then."
After having gone back to the house that still kept the children, the whole group packs up their things and moves into the luxurious mansion. After everyone was set in for the night, the small group of five Greenbrookers go into the hunter's mansion and ccan collect any weapons that can still be found there.
The night passes uneventful, except for a group of deer running through the village, jumping fences and other obstacles as they go.
The following morning most of you feel invigorated, Taliesin however still feels quite sore from yesterday's ordeals.
The weather looks sunny for now, the dew of the grassfields at the west side of town glistens in the sunlight.
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David will lay his hand on Taliesin, and speak some words. His hand glows with a pale blue hue, and his would close a little.
How do you feel friend? I have a wand as well if you are still hurting? This goes for anyone else with wounds caused by the mechanical structure.
David will continue to keep the children preoccupied with simple cantrips of ray of frost. He looks over the various weapons, and nothing really strikes him as being particularly useful to him, other than the bolts.
May I take 10 of the crossbow bolts, that is my best options for a weapon...not the most upfront individual. That is why I have the rest of you friends. he says with a slight chuckle.
Taliesin talks that night with Arvinth through the communication stones they both have. The signalling isn't quite good however and the communication is sometimes interrupted.
At the mention of survivors and the sacking of Serassus's tower Arvinth sounds shocked.
"Serassus was a good man.... How many surviv...Not sure wha.. wanted..
I'll ask... idway.. contact you in few hours."
About an hour and a half later Taliesin's stone makes a sharp sound in his pocket. When he answers, Arvinth's voice comes in a little more clearly then before.
"Lord Midway says the refugees are of course welcome in Heartham... It would be prudent to know what it is those goblins are building... Might be dangerous... Are you up for such a mission?"
Keep the wand David for emergencies. right now lets just rely on our own magical powers. I feel better but the wound is not completely healed, i was the only one to have been hit by it.
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Turning around to the large group I have confirmation that Lord Midway will welcome the refugees. He also wants to know if we could undertake the following mission: Finding out what the goblins are building. he pause for a bit looking at everyone.
Nathan is there a safer zone we could escort these people in order for them to be able to make it to Heartham on their own? Do you think, given that now you know more about what we can and can not do, that we can escort you deeper in goblin controlled territories?
"Well," Nathan says as he looks at the group of refugees, "If we can escort them to within a days travel, they should be safe among Heartham's scouts and patrols. Best thing we could do is let Midway know when we get there so they can be picked up."
"If that's our new objective, I've got no problems going further south. Be prepared for larger groups of goblins and worse though."
Nathaniel rubs his neck.
"Yes well, hopefully they'll be in smaller groups if possible.
I'm unsure we're going to like what you mean with the "worse".
I can most certainly do that Nathan. if you can give me a specific location and an ETA i can ask for a scout team to come and pick up our refugees.
"It depends on what we encounter on the way, if everything goes smoothly we could make it to that point around 3,5 to 4 days from now. If we encounter any troubles like that giant bird on the way back it might take longer."
The first three days pass uneventful besides the children who sometimes startle from a fleeing bird, hare or fox. Mariel and Ciril check the skies often after hearing Nathan talk about a giant bird.
The fourth day Nathan stops as he sees and hears crows flocking together in the distance.
He moves closer until he sees where or what the crows are circling above.
When he sees the discomfort in the children and Mariel Elenzar comforts them "Do not fear I believe the bird he speaks of has likely moved on and interested in larger prey."
As the group catches up with Nathan, everyone can see that the crows are feasting on a horse and rider. Nathan looks hesitant to check upon the rider, as he probably knows many of the scouts and riders of Heartham, but you're all close enough to see that he wears an Erathian uniform with Heartham's crest just below the shoulder.
"What was that, we're being watched?"
Nathaniel looks where David is pointing,
"Can you see what they are . . . I mean human or not. Perhaps we should ride over if they are on foot. They might be other refugees or the enemie who did this."