“I am sorry, Sire’s, but this will take me another few minutes. Feel free to go inside to stay warm while I work.” Both men smiled and stayed right where they where. After a few minutes I had the wire frame as I thought I would need it. I then went about making a second frame nearly identical. “If I can ask sires, are your homes close together here in the city? Do you happen to be neighbors?” Both men chuckled at that.
“Our ancestors were invited to build our homes in the Palace district when it was first formed by the counts great-grandsire. We have been loyal vassals of his families ever since. And the palace district is rather small.” Said the taller of the two men.
“He means yes. We’re neighbors. Our grandchildren and great grandchildren play together often. We even knocked down the privacy wall between our two estates.” Said the shorter, more bent over man. I stopped my work for just a moment, pulled up my golem interface and changed something small on the design I had worked out yesterday. I couldn’t alter it much. It was a new piece of golem crafting that I had not yet used, but it was something that I had known about since I finished construction on the dragon-golem.
“That is good to know, thank you.” I began adding small weaker crystalline gems to the structure, sticking them in place with mana and small loops of leather strips and the malleable chicken wire. I added a small whistle to the throat of each of the constructs, along with a small bellows bag I had ordered for my experiments, and held it in place with three thick straps of common leather. Once the frame and all the pieces were in place, I imbued the entire structure with mana, and filled each of the small gems to their capacity.
I sighed in satisfaction at what I had made. I wasn’t finished, but things were coming together. I took a thick piece of oak wood, picked up a carving knife left by the house staff, and began carving runes into the thing. These were largely human sigils, easy to carve, simple meanings, but if used in enough complexity they could form miraculous things. Right now, all I needed to do was build a connection between my two creations and the will of whoever held the stick I was carving.
Two times I nearly ruined the work, but I found a quick fix by adding in a dwarven rune or an elven glyph that fit in to fill my mistake. In the end there were six sigils, one dwarven rune, and two elven glyphs on the small stick. I had yet to imbue it with power and form the connection between the two. That would happen later. For now, I finished the thing by wrapping it in a thin leather strip, and placing another only slightly more powerful gem at the top. I carved a small hole and then pressed the gem into it. The wood, spurred on by the elven glyphs, seemed to almost happily accept the mana-less gem. Satisfied, I left the would-be control rod on the work table next to my two creations and began looking around for something I had nearly forgotten about. There it is.
I dragged the small barrel of salted pork and venison that I had requested over towards the two constructs. I hadn’t intended the meat to match the heraldry of the two men, but everything seemed to come together well enough for a theme to appear. I began adding the meat to the constructs. They absorbed long strips of meat almost greedily. I tried mixing the meats up, but I got an error message saying it would decrease my chances of successfully creating a new template by 50%. I was more careful about what I added to which construct as I finished adding the last few strips of meat to both.
As with Puff, the meat became moldable and malleable in my hands. I shaped the two creatures as if they were clay until I found the two forms were perfect for what I intended. I then grabbed the last item I would need. I laid the sheets of metal along both bodies, and infused them with massive amounts of mana. They became visibly hot, nearly molten yet still easily malleable to my hands. My Master of Fire Magic Skill Bonus gave me immunity to the heat. Though I felt like I was touching a warm bowl of food fresh out of the microwave. My skin didn’t burn as I pushed the metal into the shapes I needed them to be. The metal was High Steel, expensive as mundane materials went, but it accepted the shaping well. The metal didn’t provide me any success bonus, but the pleasant thing about it was that it also didn’t penalize me. It was all good quality or higher, depending on the sheet.
When I stopped infusing the metal with mana it rapidly cooled. The smell of burning deer and pig filled the entire courtyard. Then I picked up the control rod I had made. It wasn’t perfect, I had made some serious mistakes crafting it particularly in the mark-work. But, with a little luck, it would at least be functional. As the metal finished cooling I added two metal rods to the head of the deer, and two metal tusks in the boar, jabbing them into the meat around the golem’s jawline.
The constructs accepted them almost eagerly, the meat molding to them. I felt like I needed to add more mana to those to ensure they were as high quality as they needed to be, so I did just that sending a trickle of my mana into both at the same time. The deer’s antlers sprouted dozens of sharp points out of each antler going in every direction, while the boar’s tusks elongated and sharpened to a deadly pair of points.
In the end they looked like small, dog sized and armored incarnations of the creatures I had molded them to emulate. I activated the two constructs with a flex of my will, and I felt tiny tethers attach easily to my mana pool. The things still lacked any sort of enneagram, which I was about to resolve. I gripped the two small tendrils that connected to my mana pool, and their corresponding connection to my antina-atomny or my will, and tied them all together. I smiled as I stepped back, picked up the control rod and forced three thousand mana into the gems and other materials, activating the runes, glyphs, and sigils. Then I took the now intertwined mana and will connections and attached them to the control rod. A prompt filled my vision.
You have activated a Basic Golem Control Rod. Please select a target / targets you wish to assign to this device. Targets assigned: Small Flesh-Golem - Boar, and Small Flesh-Golem - Buck. No native enneagram detected. Would you like to imbue this Control Rod with a single controlling enneagram? Yes / No
My smile widened as my hunch paid off. If it hadn’t been possible to create a single enneagram that controlled both golem bodies through the control rode, I would have had to imbue both golems. More than likely a modified dog enneagram. But this, this would save me in time, materials, and hopefully make both golems more effective at their jobs as guard-dogs. If I did it right.
I looked at the rough-hewn connections that both golems had made to the control rod, and wove them and attach them to different parts of the rune-sigil-glyph hybrid structure I had carved into the wood. After a few minutes, the connections had been forged. I was ready to imbue the enneagram onto the control rod.
I started with the structure of the simple dog-like golem enneagram I had generated on my way to Sowers Vale more than a week ago. I stripped it of its dog like expressions, but kept the loyalty and desire to serve and protect. These were at the core motivation for the enneagram and so were the easiest to keep. They would serve as a great baseline for what I had in mind. I then thought about creatures on Earth and from mythology that had a type of hive mind. Ants, bees, and some of the more unique creatures from fantasy books I had read. I decided that would be too difficult as it would require me to imbue an enneagram on all three objects. So I went a different direction.
I thought of the control rod as the brain of the creature and the two golem bodies as its appendages. Like a giant octopus with its central body and brain, and eight smaller subsidiary brains for each of its tentacles, all working in concert as one being. As I added parts to the enneagram, I realized it would be far larger than I thought, yet less complex in its way. It was like looking at a brain that was trying to do multiple tasks and once, and capable of doing it.
I bet a this thing having multiple smaller brains will make it easy to multi-cast, I thought as I shaped the thing. The entire structure would be easier to make this way, yet more time consuming. I sized it down as best I could, which brought it to within a reasonable time frame to construct, and then began attaching different par
ts of the new enneagram to the golem construct. I didn’t create a mana construct of this thing first, I wasn’t sure what being connected to such an alien if benevolent creature would do to my mind, and I didn’t want to find out. There were seven total nodes to each piece of the singular multi-body golem construct. As I attached each node I had to bring the pieces physically close together. When the last node was imbued with mana, and the enneagramic matrix was finished attachingit to the control rode structure, the golem came to life.
When holding the rod, I felt a presence. A semi-intelligent consciousness that was smarter than my water dog, more complex and capable. This creature had significantly improved problem solving skills. Something similar to Puff in terms of its intelligence, yet far more benevolent and protective rather than aggressive and domineering. The creature wasn’t quite sapient, but it was sentient. Several major notifications filled my vision, and I let them wash through my mind.
I had created a new enneagramic template, I had created a new golem template, I had gained two skill points in Golem Crafting, and two in Run Writing. And, I had fulfilled my quest with posative overruns. I saved the last notification for later. I wanted to examine it more in depth once the two men had left.
Sweating slightly, I turned and presented my gift. “Gentlemen. I present to you your new household guardian. I fulfill the quest rewards and offer one of my greatest creations to you as a way of saying two things. First, thank you for your grandson’s bravery in helping to fix a problem I created. In protecting innocents I had put in danger.” I handed the control rod over. The two friends took it in hand together and held it in awe as they felt the connection to the alien and benevolent consciousness.
“There is something in this—”
“It is gentle, whatever it is.” Sire Hugal said with a mix of confusion and delight.
“Almost like a faithful hound, but, larger. Smarter.” The taller and chubbier Sire Stigal said. “What do you plan on doing with this, Master Wizard?” He asked, and the two men locked their gazes on me.
“Uh, I kinda thought this,” I pointed at the control rod. “And those,” I gestured to the two now swaying golems. “Might be the reward for the quest I gave your son and grandsons son’s. That’s what you’re here for, yes?” They both nodded and looked back down at the control rod. “With that, you can speak to the golem and give it simple commands. Like say, patrol our properties and alert us to any intruders. You should see the interface for commands just by thinking about it.” Their eyes opened wide and glazed over with the look of people who were reading an invisible screen.
“Before I let you all learn the commands, there are two things I need to know. First, are you willing to share this and allow it to be the guardian of both of your families?” The men’s eyes refocused, and they both grinned and nodded in agreement. “Good. Second, do you accept these as the reward for your houses?” The shorter man, Hugal, released the control rod and stood straight.
“Boy, this is a finer gift than any anyone in my family has ever received for a quest we had to fulfill regardless. One of my grandson’s greatest fears when he got the call to war, was leaving us old farts and the children of our house unprotected. This will do well, at the very least, to warn us of danger should it ever come.”
“And looking at these statistics, by the Gods wizard, have you seen this? They’re almost as powerful as a knight and they can take damage like a brick wall. Look at that damage resistance.”
“I haven’t yet.” I pulled up the statistics for the creatures and a pop-up filled my mind.
You have created a Flesh Golem Puppeteer! A Living Weapon, with the ability to connect too and control Flesh and Metal made constructs with no native or imprinted enneagram.
Name: Unnamed
HP: Dependent upon puppet
Durability: 67/70 - mild durability loss due to poor craftsmanship. Seek aid from an enchanter, rune smith, master golem crafter, or mechanist to repair.
Quality: Good, Upgradable, Magical
Rarity: Local - Exceedingly Rare, Universal - Uncommon
Level: 1
Level Limit due to Quality: Level 5
Experience Points: 0
Experience Needed for Next Level: 10
Current Puppet Limit: 1 *
*Puppets made alongside this Living Weapon do not count towards the Puppet Limit.
“Wow,” I said. “I did not mean to make a living weapon.”
“Such things are rare in Tor, though I have heard of them being more common in other parts of the world.” Sire Hugal said before bowing to me. “I see this” he locked eyes with his friend, who nodded. “No, we see this as not just a fulfillment of the quest reward, but as several steps beyond. Our lines are indebted to you.” The air filled with the same heavy meaning as I had experienced so often here in Torish lands. It meant an oath, or social event, or some form of social custom was about to take place. “So long as it does not interfere with other oaths and duties, you can call on members of our houses to aid you as best we can.”
“So say we both.” The taller Sire Stigal said, echoing his friend. My vision filled with another prompt.
The heads of two noble families of moderate ranking Torish nobility have sworn an oath of aid to you. Should you ever need their help and they can provide it, they will do so. Houses Sworn: House Stigal, House Hugal.
I thanked the two men, and showed them where they could learn to control the two golems in the house's front yards. “If you two need these things repaired, there is an enchanter’s shop in the market I would suggest you use. Tell them I sent you and they will help.” I gave them directions to Yiddle and FIddles shop. Though Yiddle, or was it Fiddle? I couldn’t remember which one was the goblin, and was technically in the city illegally. I was sure these men knew how to be absent when oaths and rules might force them to do unpleasant things. It was a lesson I had learned from the few knights I had encountered so far. With these men being true working people and not just pampered nobility, I was sure they knew how to be so circumspect.
When I returned to my makeshift workshop at the back of the building, I felt renewed. The sun was slightly past noon, so I ate some bread and cheese before I began work on what was going to be my real project for the day. As I worked, I started laying plans for the future. For handcarts, and wagons, and what we would need to ensure people’s safety over a long, arduous, and dangerous trip north. The Pervolin’s, as soon as the snow melted, would need to be ready. And I was determined to ensure that they would be.
Chapter 8: Dance Party
"Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass, it's about learning to dance in the rain" - Vivian Greene
The Traser Estate, City of Sowers Vale, 4th Novos, 2989 AoR
When my companions returned from their duties later that afternoon, I had my creations displayed in rank after rank of elemental fury. Many of them were unique creations, experiments I had conducted. Most of those proved fruitless endeavors. But a few had paid off in spectacular ways. Most of those, though, were far too costly in materials or in mana to make more than the one of.
As my friends returned, they walked past four rows on each side of different elemental golems. Most of them uniform, less than two foot in size, with humanoid proportions. When Tol’geth was halfway down the walkway, as he was looking at my creations, he turned to me and opened his mouth to say something.
Before he could I giggled like a mad man and sent a pulse of will through each of the control rods I had bound the different types of golems too. My little monster men started dancing, and a few of the larger unique fleshy ones started singing “The Munchkin Land Song '' from the wizard of oz movie. As I giggled, my massive friend looked exceedingly uneasy. As he made his way through the ranks and rows of dozens of tiny dancing golems singing a song that sounded creepy even in its original language he grimaced.
“What sorcery is this wizard? Have you gone mad with power? Or is this more of your silliness?” Tol’geth pulled his lon
g sword from his back scabbard and held it at the ready.
“Waaaait! Wait, no, they won’t hurt you. I’m just having some fun, come on.” I said, and the large barbarian stopped and thought about that as he slowly put his sword away. He locked gazes with me, and I could see a mischievous gleam in his eye.
“You must do this to Traser, after what has happened, he could use the laugh.” My big friend joined me on the patio, watching the front walkway as Ailsa appeared. We didn’t have time to activate the golems before she reached us.
“What are you guys doing? Have you been making these things all day? And what the heck is that it looks grotesque.” She pointed towards one of my unique creations. This one was made of the left over meat I had after building the two protective golems from earlier, and some random cow bone the kitchen staff had laying around. The thing stood on two wide feat, and looked remarkably close to a demented version of Barney.
I opened my mouth to respond, but the sound of wagon wheels crunching on the stone came to me. An evil grin crossed my face. “You’ll see! You’ll see, now get over here and be quiet!”
The nice couch wagon pulled up to the metal gate, and both Traser and Zed hopped out. They made their way to the front and opened it. Seeing my golems arrayed in row after row of elemental awesomeness, they both slowed. Traser glared at me as he began walking forward . As he reached the first row, I moved, grabbing all of the control rods at once. The control rods were nowhere near the level or power of the intelligent weapon I had created. But they allowed me to send commands to groups of the smaller golems together rather than having to shout my commands all at once. It also allowed whoever had the control rods, not just me, to give them commands.
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