++Outside of the Tower, but still clearly connected to it. I'm afraid we are a bit out of my wheelhouse on this stuff. Is it possible the Elves of the Tower created this portal to extract revenge on a slight long past? And if so, why not go back a little further and stop the slaying depicted from even happening? If we have indeed left the Tower, and this time is ages ago, why did our names not appear in the ledger of Seekers who have left?++
Gavin seems to be asking no one, but trying to work through it all himself.
++If the Elves did create the portal, is a company of them about to come streaming through?++
Trying to focus more on what he can control, Gavin returns to the scene before him.
++The Pearl Placesetter seems not to have even noticed us. Best to clean up my mess before we move on with our investigation.++
With a few quiet words, Gavin assembles the pieces of plate back together and watches as they return themselves to their original condition. Then he returns it to the table.
++He's going for the fireplace. OUR WAY BACK!++ Lyra shouts mentally, clearly more panicked to the prospect the doll man is about to cut them off from the tower than Gavin. She rushes toward the fireplace to protect it from him, will ever tackle or knock that thing out of his hand if need be.
As the strange figure moves towards the fireplace, Lyra hurries to intercept it.
Lyra rushes over in worry and tries to bat the clockwork cube out of his hand.
Her concern isn't unwarranted.
The Witness reaches into his spell component pouch, running a pinch of powdered quartz between his fingers as he speaks arcane coordinates describing a vertical plane between the anitom and the fireplace of dimensions equal to the height and width of the room.
Lyra charges towards the compact anitom and swats the strange cube out of its hands as the Witness summons a shimmering wall of force to block off the whole far end of the room. When the cube hits the floor, a sproinging noise hints at a spring inside having popped loose, and a thin metal pipe on its side cracks open. A glowing blue, viscous fluid leaks out and begins slowly dripping towards the floor.
As Fenrick sees this all unfolding and getting insight from The Witness, he springs into action.
Fenrick casts a quick spell as he draws he studies his target.
Are we going to take it down now, or wait for it's retaliation?
Lyra doesn't draw her sword yet, just stands ready to defend herself if the doll man tries to attack her.
A curious device. Is the anitom in fact attempting to affect the portal to The Tower?
The Witness draws upon the power granted him by his final attunement to weave together an improvised telekinesis spell, targeting the strange cube and lifting it through the air towards him.
Seems we are going defensive first
Fenrick casts another spell on himself and moves to be around the other side of the statue from Lyra.
Fenrick then just watches for the statue will do next.
The anitom moves its head as if watching the cube and trundles around Fenrick chasing after it. It begins emitting a noise as it moves, a loud monotone sound not unlike a bow being drawn steadily across a violin string. When it catches up with the cube it grabs it again.
Gavin watches the scene unfold before him. Not sure yet that the automaton poses a real threat, he opts for a defensive spell. With a word and a wave, he makes himself invisible and moves to within 5 feet of the door the frightened woman retreated through.
++Any idea what the box might be?++
++Does he even see us? Maybe he can't, and thinks all of the things we are doing are like ghosts, and he thinks the ghosts are coming from the fireplace.++ Lyra defends the fireplace.
++Normally a construct such as this isn't sentient, and thus doesn't think in the same sense you or I do. It would possess a limited logical reasoning ability to use in pursuit of fulfilling the instructions given to it, which may vary in complexity, but wouldn't have any sense of self or independent awareness of its own existence.
++That said, this anitom appears far more advanced than any I've ever heard or read of. As I mentioned, we appear to be sometime after the Common year 1000 - it may well be we're on the future side of 1332 rather than its past. In this case my knowledge of this construct's capabilities might be rendered irrelevant by advances made over the intervening years.++
As he converses telepathically, the wizard attempts to telekinetically wrestle the cube away from construct.
The Witness wrenches the cube away from the anitom with his mind once again and pulls it the rest of the way to himself. The anitom follows and grabs it once more, the loud high-pitch droning still emanating from it. Suddenly both sets of double doors swing open and two more anitoms step into the room, one through each set of doors. While still appearing more refined than the anitoms of Korryn, these new arrivals are notably bulkier than the cube carrier with wide shoulders and stout limbs.
++We could simply Leave. Staying risks us having to hurt them, or worse they... touching us.++ creepy dolls laying a finger on any of them is worse in her mind than getting stabbed or bitten by almost anything else.
Fenrick continues to hold his position waiting for either aggression or direction.
++It would seem that this portal, random or otherwise, has placed us in the residence of folk who were not expecting us. Given that this is a home, its occupants are within their rights to see us as a potential threat and respond accordingly. I see no obvious value in forcing an encounter. I suggest we attempt to make use of the fireplace to return to the Tower.++ Gavin thinks to the others.
++Agreed.++
With an instant's concentration The Witness unlocks his subconscious knowledge of combat maneuvering, then proceeds to again attempt to telekinetically wrest the cube from the anitom, fueling his spell with another burst of inner power if needed.
Thanks to a surge of mythic power, the Witness wrests away the cube once more and grabs it. When his hands touch it the loud monotone noise coming from the anitom suddenly begins oscillating between the original pitch and a lower one.
The lithe, noisy anitom reaches out and grabs hold of the cube again, though it makes no effort to yank it out of the Witness' hands. Looking down, the wizard can see that the strange blue fluid continues to drip down inside the cube.
The two bulkier anitoms both step into the room, turn sharply to their right, and tromp towards the Witness and the cube. The closer one reaches him, arriving next to the cube-bearer, and swings one of its thick ceramic arms at the wizard.
The other is unable to reach the wizard, thanks in part to the table being in its way, but it moves up behind the other 2 anitoms.
++Looks like I was wrong about them being able to see us, unless it is just the cube holder they can see. I don't want to have to hurt creatures who only crime is we broke into their house and they look creepy.++ Pigoen thinks aloud, drawing her sword but still holding off doing anything unless they try and do anything to the fireplace or one of her companions looks to be in trouble.
Gavin heads back through the fireplace, and reports back to the others if it does not return him to the Tower.
Attempting to obtain this cube is becoming counterproductive, especially given I don't know if taking it with me into the fireplace will simply result in the same effect this anitom was trying to achieve. Best if neither of us brings it any closer to The Tower.
The Witness shifts his intuition to avoidance of attacks as he lets go of the clockwork cube and backs away from the trio of constructs towards the fireplace. Once clear of the anitoms he casts a spell to create a layer of grease on the cube.
Fenrick draws his weapon in case things don't go as we plan as he moves to be adjacent to the fireplace. I will hold the entry way till you are out, Witness.
He then channels his inner power to allow him to create a duplicate of himself as he turns invisible.
He also asks Pharamsa to judge him worthy of her protection and resiliency.
Gavin turns to dart through the fireplace and collides with the invisible wall of force left there by the Witness. The impact produces a dull thud that likely would have seemed fairly comical if not for the potential danger of their situation.
As Lyra and Gavin ready and position themselves, the Witness backs away from the two anitoms, provoking another attack from the bulkier one.
Once safely out of reach, the wizard casts a spell coating the cube in a slick layer of grease.
The anitom holding the cube, however, seems unfazed by the spell. It stays perfectly still and continues emitting its loud, oscillating tones while the two bulkier anitoms move past it towards the Witness. The relatively narrow space between the table and the wall forces them to move single file and spares the Witness from being attacked by both of them, but the lead construct swings its heavy arm at him again.
++I'm dismissing my spell blocking the fireplace.++ The Witness does so and attempts to walk through the hearth back into The Tower.
Lyra will help Gavin stand and follow Witness.
Gavin lets out an audible groan as he connects with the invisible barrier. Doing his best to refrain from any mind-over-matter quips, He opts for sarcasm instead.
++I'm alright Little Bird, now, Back to the safety of the mysterious tower of magic from which no one ever returns!++
Once the others are through, Fenrick swiftly follows behind.
The anitom swings at the Witness again as he moves towards the fireplace.
Once all four of the explorers have passed through the fireplace into the Tower, the first anitom ceases its alarm. The two bulkier constructs head towards the double doors through which they entered the room, and the cube-bearer begins approaching the fireplace again.
The chamber inside the Tower appears exactly as it had when they left.
Lyra sighs in relief at being back to the tower. "What do you think he is about to do?"
"It stands to reason that the trials we endured to be allowed entry into the Tower cannot be circumvented by a temporary portal. I would guess that creatures not attuned could not gain entry in this fashion."
Gavin replies as he eyes the passage for followers.
"But the fact that our pursuers are not 'alive' in a traditional sense may create an exception to that."
Turning to the Witness, he asks, "What is it you suppose that cube is capable of?"
++Given the swift and specific response to our presence, I presume the current residents of Rosethorn Manor are familiar with some of the peculiarities of their fireplace, and may have devised a method of dealing with them. As the anitom seems intent on bringing the cube to the fireplace, the device most likely has some effect on its - and our - magical connection to The Tower.
++I agree the ability of animated objects to enter The Tower is beyond our current experience, though it may not be so for long. While I find it unlikely the anitom or its cube can affect us here, the multiverse is full of realized unlikelihoods. I believe caution is in order.++
The Witness withdraws to the far side of the chamber opposite the fireplace.
The two bulky anitoms continue out through the doors they entered, shutting them as they leave. The remaining construct stops directly in front of the fireplace. The mantle is too low for the explorers to see its expressionless face, or for it to see past if it somehow sees with the face-like part of itself, but those who are ducking to look through, or viewing from afar, can see dozens of cogs and pistons within the cube spring to life. Wispy tendrils of azure light snake out of the fireplace towards the box.
Gavin observes as closely as he can from his position, and casts Detect Magic to try to determine what effects are at work around the cube.
Pigeon is waiting to see what is going to happen. Warily.
I have nothing that speeds it up. I will try to stay focused for a few rounds. The check was mostly to spot a spell-like effect if there was one.
Fenrick waits for his educated partners to figure out what the cube is while he watches, ready for any hostile responses.
The Witness continues to keep his distance and observe.
As the explorers watch, the wisps of azure energy are sucked into the strange, whirring cube. As they are, the tiny trickle of glowing liquid that was dribbling from the cracked tube inside sputters and spurts and sprays a small stream out the side of the cube. The liquid (which Gavin can see to be intensely magical) splatters onto the floor and immediately explodes in a blinding blast of blue energy that tears through the chamber with enough force to knock the explorers backward across the room.
When they regain their bearings, the explorers see that the stone mantle has been cracked through. The open hearth inside has vanished, replaced by a white stone wall matching the wall around it.
A stunned Gavin bears the full force of the explosion and slowly struggles his way back to his feet.
Seeing that the others were in the blast as well, he sets to work repairing the effects of the box.
"I no feel bad for NOT killing that thing." Lyra groans as she slowly picks herself off the wall.