Heart of Artifice: Part I--Engineered Enigma

[Rystil Arden]

*Anvuss has some trouble, but he manages to find the pieces with the symbol on it based on the fragments of the symbol from before, and he is able to assemble it like a jigsaw puzzle (if not actually repair it instantly), so that the symbol can be extrapolated across the pieces. It is a strange symbol that looks like a personal sigil, but it is not one that Anvuss has ever seen before. Though it is simple, Anvuss has to admit that the symmetry and flowing curves of the symbol is rather aesthetically appealing as a sigil, at least for those who care about such things.*

(OOC: By the way, shouldn't the UMD +2 bonus from tools be only a conditional that applies to crafting emulation rolls? The way you've written it, I might accidentally apply the full +8 to a UMD to activate an item)

 

[Patlin]

ooc: I just reread the proposal, and it was terminated when we decided the SRD covered it. From the SRD, it *seems* to apply generally, not just to item creation. I suppose we might need to clarify how we want it to work in LEB.

"Does anyone recognize this sigil? Given that it is on a construct, perhaps it relates to house Canith in some way?"

Anvuss continues to look over the construct. Would it be responsive to a repair light damage, or is it too broken for that? He doesn't actually check, he's merely trying to form a professional opinion.

 

[Rystil Arden]

(OOC: Okay--well I won't be giving +2 tool bonuses to things that shouldn't allow tools unless my hand is forced, and things like Bluff or the using-items kind of UMD are top on my list. I'm happy to give it to the actual item creation process though)

*Anvuss thinks that broken constructs can never be repaired by that infusion.*

(OOC: As per the text of the infusion/spell, it doesn't apply unless the construct has 1 or more HP)

 

[Patlin]

(OOC: Okay--well I won't be giving +2 tool bonuses to things that shouldn't allow tools unless my hand is forced, and things like Bluff or the using-items kind of UMD are top on my list. I'm happy to give it to the actual item creation process though)

Understood, and I don't disagree. Though in a multi-dm world, I'm not sure how to write that on my sheet. Perhaps you could propose making that an actual LEB-wide rule, to avoid confusion?

(OOC: As per the text of the infusion/spell, it doesn't apply unless the construct has 1 or more HP)

ooc: Which means Anvuss has ruled out, to his own satisfaction at least, the construct having the living subtype.

"I do not know that if repaired it could be induced to lead us to its home, but repairing it seems likely to be beyond my skill."

 

[Rystil Arden]

"Okay...Thank you. If it helps, I can cast Mending to get rid of one of the cracks..." the woman offers.

 

[Erekose13]

(ooc: I'm here and will catch up a bit later tonight. Man you guys really took off. Expect a post from me tomorrow at the latest)

 

[Velmont]

[SBLOCK=OOC]Kharas here too... I'll post later tonight.[/SBLOCK]

 

[Erekose13]

"Let me give you a hand Anvuss. Here this might help too." says Aethelus. He places an infusion on Anvuss' eyes, allowing him to search better with it.

(ooc: aid another on the search (need to roll atleast a 3), use skill enhancement Search on Anvuss to add +3 to his roll. Provided Kharas is aiding another too we'll hit 35.

General Knowledge checks:
Knowledge (arcana) +7
Knowledge (engineering) +5
Knowledge (the planes) +4)

 

[Rystil Arden]

(OOC: Well, I see no reason why Kharas would refuse to help search, and I'm on now and might not be later, so...35 it is!)

*After Aethelus finally finishes his infusion on Anvuss, the three gathered Artificers search again, and this time, with their combined expertises--Anvuss's knowledge of metallurgy and attention to detail, Kharas's expertise with intricate devices and ability to appraise metal, and Aethelus's theoretical and practical knowledge of all things magical as well as sound engineering design principles, they are able to scrounge more information from the fractured construct.*

*First of all, while Anvuss looks for matching cracks and shards in the outer shell, Aethelus and Kharas are able to arrange some of the pieces on the ground in areas of roughly similar function, together constructing a rough skeleton of the infrastructure of the creature. None of them has particular expertise at drawing, but they try to extrapolate from what they see to make a rough sketch of what the construct would have looked like--they can always double-check this with the woman whose name they still don't know if they want--as is often the case with Artificers, they have been paying more attention to the engineering task at hand. Their sketch looks like, in Aethelus's xenotaxonomical opinion, a rather fanciful imp or mephit-like flying construct with slender fluted wings like a mix of a butterfly's or a hummingbird's--great for flying with high manoeuvrability: They might be able to learn more from someone who knows about the principles of aerodynamics (OOC: Perhaps because he studies skyships as a House Lyrander scion). One thing that has all three of them scratching their head, however, is that as far as they can tell, though the design is creative and rather ingenious, from what they have here to go on, it shouldn't work.*

*Additionally, a reaction of some of the metal fragments to several simple smithing tests (proposed by Anvuss) and simple alchemical/magical tests (proposed by Aethelus) indicate that the creature was constructed from several different materials--the wings seem to be a light mithral alloy perfect for flight, which isn't surprising. The main body is mainly steel, with slight amounts of other strong and ordinary yet rarer metals. The insides, however, seem to consist of some sort of alloy of steel, platinum, and an unknown metal that none of the three can identify.*

 

[Patlin]

"A conundrum indeed. Could part of the construct be missing? Also, perhaps it is possible that the creature was animated by external magics rather than as an independent construct. Ma'am, perhaps you could tell us about yourself? Clearly you have some magical skill, but is there any particular reason you or your familly might be the target of hostile magic?"