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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Carnifex" data-source="post: 1356772" data-attributes="member: 227">Thanks gerg! Here's another update for today - probably wont do one tomorrow as I'll be spending the day gaming <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f600.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":D" title="Big grin    :D"  data-smilie="8"data-shortname=":D" />The doors loomed over them, close now, strangely out of place with the dark metal of the tower that constricted around the entrance. Stone and brass, covered in confusing eddies of patterns, ridges and markings. Despite the rather sinister impression this gave to the approaching infiltrators, as far as any of the sages knew it was nothing more than decorative - no hidden meanings or Umbral language. And then there was the large and very functional, but extremely complex-appearing, mechanical locking mechanism. That, though, had already been dealt with, its innards broken open and the guardian cogs tampered with. The great doors, each eight feet tall, were slightly ajar. As prepared and ready as they intended to be, the party began to file through the doors. Wyshira's crystalline javelin caught the light from the so-distant sun, refracting multicoloured hues in a splash across the metal door as she approached it, and around her a number of the scholars were showing their less pacifistic side, spell components quietly selected from pouches as they made ready for any trouble. "You keep close," Johanne nodded quietly to Cazamir, the tall wizard selecting a silvery wand from his belt and reaching over to tap the monk on the shoulder with it. There was a spark, and Cazamir felt an involuntary shiver run across his skin, accompanied by a dim pulse of blue energy. "That should help protect you if we run into any trouble, but we'll need you to be close by. Most of my companions are old men, for all their arcane lore. Jarvis, do as that man says, keep ahead. I know we can trust on you to make it back quickly if we need you, and he's right, your skills would be well suited at the fore." The pathfinder nodded, slipping two short swords from their sheathes as he stalked forwards to the vanguard with Kale. The light caught on one of the weapons momentarily, revealing a vein of crystal to seemingly have been forged into the blade. A couple of the Drakkath wizards muttered the arcane words for spells of light, their staves glowing with the heatless illumination. And then they were through the doors, unassailed, stepping from the warm day outside and into dark, cool gloom within. * * *For a moment, as their eyes adjusted, it looked like there were just fragments of a room before them, slices of splashed light playing across rusted metal, debris, support struts and girders arcing above, panels of dirty glass high above. After a little bit of blinking they saw the rest of the room, the dark majority of it where the beams of light shed from the apertures above did not illuminate. It was like the walls had bled, rust everywhere, the ceiling a nest of the supporting girders. Some of the windows had not withstood the passage of time, their contents scattered instead across the dusty, rusty floor, shards of sparkling glass. This large entryway felt, in some way, like a cathedral; the way the struts soared overhead magnificently, despite the marring of oxidised metal. Debris lay across the floor, scattered. Bits of twisted, warped metal. Glass, clumps of rust, gears and tangled girders surrendering to the carpet of orange as if the rust was alive, a mold trying to devour the metal. In places the walls of metal seemed to have buckled. It was old, ancient. The air was thick with moisture and the tang of metal. Doors led from the room, appearing like organic tubes naturally flowing outwards from the room. Some had doors, some had the remnants of doors, some had no doors at all, just corroded hinges. The largest exit lay straight ahead of them, the sizeable door there having seemingly just fallen backwards off its hinges, lying in the carpet of rust. Across the floor paths and disturbances of the rust were clear, scuffled areas and footprints. Some lead to the sidedoors, most went straight forwards. Crumpled, in the midst of a patch where the rust had been heavily disturbed, lay what looked like a massive suit of armour, some ten-foot tall behemoth of tangled, broken metal and gears, crystal tubes and pipes. The construct looked like it had been destroyed in battle, the bulky, plated form rent by weapon-wounds, and recently too. "That's not Umbral," Johanne said, quietly but with enough force for everyone to hear. "Design's all wrong - must be the work of that Carthagian wizard you were talking about." Amidst the patches of rust on the metal floor around the destroyed construct, other dark red splashes had yet to completely dry out, still slightly resinous and sticky, mixing with the black oil that flowed from the iron warrior's form. Cazamir frowned as he stepped into the metallic tower. The rust permeated the air, leaving the taste of copper in his mouth. That, coupled with the bizarre feeling of Johanne’s spell washing over him, made Cazamir decidedly uncomfortable. He kept his eyes upon the lifeless hulk on the floor as he moved to allow the greybeards into the chamber. He would rather the sages have remained outside the tower while others investigated it for dangers, but he knew they would never allow any prizes to be stolen from them. The experience of what was inside was most definitely a prize to their learned minds – even if it held their deaths.* * *As he stood looking at the giant machine, Burl felt the inadequate crossbow in his hands. It was here he decided that, if this was to be his adversary, the crossbow he carried wasn’t going to be of any help to him. With care, he unloaded the bolt, returning it to its case. He would need to rely on his stock and trade.Wyshira could see the spatters of blood on the floor near the wrecked construct were still slightly wet. The humidity in here probably helps keep it sticky, she mused, stooping over the spots and reaching out with her finger to test one drop. She guessed that it had been this huge metal creature that had made the graves outside necessary; before it was brought down, of course. How long ago had that been?"Looks clear," said Jarvis. "I think we can assume the construct was trying to stop whoever came through this door, but they overpowered it. Can't be sure whether it was destroyed by the Toranites or not though. So... what now?" He looked over, questioningly, to Johanne. Before the wizard could reply, the quiet chamber was rent by the screech of metal and a clunking whirr of gears. Over to their left, a patch of the wall was moving - a plate, some twelve feet by twelve feet, pushed out of the wall and began to move upwards. Beyond it, whatever alcove or passageway lay beyond was still dark and hidden by gloom, though further noises could be heard. The progress of the plate moving, grinding upwards on the power of gears, was slow - even now it had only raised two feet from the floor."Hold the door!" Kale spoke urgently to the mages at the entrance, making sure that whatever the rusty din hailed would not meet a party with no escape route. Unsure of the grinding panel and what may hide behind it, the mercenary strode alongside the doorway and found cover in the sills, fallen beams, and natural folds of the walls. The chaotic rumbles and confusion caused uncertainty among the mage's party, but somehow, for Kale things seemed more clear. Like a burden lifting, he felt more alive, aware- not nearly like the drooding weight of the last few days. It was exhilerating in a smooth way- his hands did not shake as he drew forth his blade. -Umbral?- Kale mouthed to Johanne, indicating the construction of the panel. Hoping the surprise would be more friendly than their predessesors', he coiled like a spring to strike... or flee.* * *Mel walked in awe among the ancient rust and debris, every fiber of her superstitious mind abuzz. Not only had she thought she felt the heavy glance of Toran at the cairns outside, but now she was treading on something so far beyond her puny self she couldn't help glancing up guiltily, as if the thing, Umbral or whatever else it was, would be offended by her very presence and move to squish her like an ant. Beside Wyshira, she bent over the mutilated construct and studied it for a baffled moment. Was that sticky red stuff blood? Was this some sort of half-living, half-machine monstrosity like Anas'turi and her folk made? What kind of Carthagian had constructed this? Before she could mouth her questions, she and all the others were startled by the ear-shattering echo of grinding metal. Around her, among her companions, the atmosphere suddenly became charged as if with lightning. Kale in the front was already gliding his sword from its sheath. Everyone stood staring in dread at the sliding panel. She looked from tense face to tense face and then shrugged. "Hello? Hello! Whoever is there, announce yourself, please!" * * *Despite Kale's urges to keep to the door, the collected assortment of scholars seemed far too fascinated by the prospect of what might lie beyond the rising wallplate, even in the face of such potential danger. Ansas 'Turi stopped trawling through the fragmented mechanical innards of the dead construct with her fingers, letting gears clatter to the floor as she peered intently into the darkness being revealed, and her gaze was the same as everyone elses. What lay beyond was the focus of their attention. Those with sight more attuned to such environs, Melisande and Wyshira, could make out a bulky figure slowly being unveiled from the feet upwards. Then the plate clanged to a halt and the figure stepped forwards. A beast of steel and steam clomped forwards, two powerful metal haunches moved by massive pistons with hisses of heated vapour escaping out with every step. The triangular torso of steel-shod brass plates was studded with vents, and sprouted two powerful arms that ended in a myriad of slender claws; the head of the construct slender and long, slung forwards on a neck of pistons, an impassive faceplate marked only with the two glowing blue eyes that marked its vision sensors. Underslung of the faceplate, two fiercely powerful lights flickered on, sending a powerful flood of actinic blue-white flowing over the scene as those who fell under the glare could not help to wince from its intensity and brightness. The design of the brass creature was delicate for such a massive thing, towering nine feet tall as it did. Elegant runes flecked the construct's surface, a spiny ridge of crystal growths studding its back. The engines, stowed within the armoured shell, were given away by the low growl and snarl of machinery with every step and movement, and with the twin smokestacks that protruded up from the base of the neck in elegant but twisted arcs. "Looks like nothing I've ever seen... not Umbral..." Johanne said quietly, before Melisande issued her challenge of words. Instantly the head swung round to face her, glowing eyes fixing on the blue woman as the headlights washed her down with white light. "Identify yourselves." The voice was metallic and reverberating, issuing not from the head of the beast but from a shoulder-mounted grill-speaker that rattled out the noise. With a rustle of metal, the construct flexed its powerful claws. "Who are you, and what do you want here? Your patterning is not the same as previous trespassers - the master considers you may be non-hostile. Nonetheless, this arcanofex is prepared for battle - if you are an unwelcome visitor, be warned to leave now." Ansas 'Turi was muttering something under her breath, which she then said again, louder, for the others to hear. "Arcanomechanical engine. This is an arcanist's creation - a mixture of magic and metal." The arcanofexes head swung round to focus the headlights on the Ironjack. "Perceptive. This arcanofex was constructed by combining arcane and mechanical expertise. It is fully capable of causing injury and death to opponents. You are advised to identify yourselves immediately." Next Time: Conversing with the Arcanofex, learning more of the tower's secrets, and heading in deeper...</blockquote>

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