I was unsure of the time when I awoke. Vanity relayed that I had been "visited" by nearly everyone in the house, checking on me. Last night's plates were gone and Set was in the process of cleaning off another one. Set had pushed the incident out of his mind and was quite cheery. I, however, was still dealing with it all, particularly parts that were not like me at all. I've been mad before, but not enraged. Even while angry, I have never threatened anyone. This morning, I wasn't even sure what I had meant by that threat. What could I do that would fulfill my threat?
"Daughter, we Faerie are capable of much," Aloriana's voice came from a shadowy corner.
She glided over to me and got me to sit. She held my hand as she spoke.
"Just as Nature told you outside of Gowgornok, Faeries are a force of nature, especially when our friends and loved ones are in danger. I have, in my time, re-routed rivers, stopped cyclones, and transformed armies into rodents. So, destroying a door is a pittance. As for the threat, it was just that. The fact you cannot think of actions to back it up proves it was hollow."
I listened to her words and knew it was all true. She also helped me realize that I had no reason not to trust Ricvar and his compatriots. The shackles were brought as another test, not preplanned to seize Set. Only after Set's fire demonstrated his power did it occur to them to keep Set in their "safe custody". As I was on the other side of a thick door when this was decided upon, I could not see the changes in their glows and Set did not know what those changes had meant until they pounced on him.
"As you see, this was not a lack on your part nor Vanity's alertness. Let you minds be at ease."
"Thank you, Mother. I will also thank my sisters, who's concern, I'm guessing, prompted them to call for you."
Aloriana laughed, "Very good, Daughter, you know them well. They felt this was a Faerie-to-Faerie thing to work out. The door, just so you know, is about five paces out Callie's back door."
We talked a little longer. They were still trying to find out how I can enter kirlan alone and continuing to revive Selvis and Crialas.
A hearty knock interrupted us.
"Kayla? Are you well?" Gorval's voice was muffled by the door.
"Enter, all is well," I called.
Gingerly, he opened the door. He looked puzzled at Aloriana.When I introduced them, he stumbled back.
"Faerie Queen, I am honored. It pleases me that Kayla has such as you for guidance. We dwarfs are not masters of magic and even our clerics were at a loss as to aid these girls with such power. Is everything settled now?"
"Yes, Your Majesty, it is settled," I told him.
"Good, I am glad. Ricvar and his crew have been sent to Elv Ror to fix boats. They will not bother you again. I do have their results, if you wish them."
"I would like to add them to my journal, so that others will know what to expect from emperor dragons."
"They are downstairs with your sisters and their research. Will you both join us?"
"I have business elsewhere, but thank you for the offer. We still have some puzzles of our own to figure out."
Gorval and I took our leave of the Faerie Queen and headed to meet up with the rest. Set finished his meal and joined us before we reached the dining room. In there, the table was nearly buried in books, scrolls, and parchments. My sisters, Lanara, Nana, plus members of the council were pouring over them. While my sisters did not have to look up to greet me, the rest smiled slightly and verbally acknowledged the three of us. Nana cleared a spot and ushered me over to it and placed food and drink in front of me and urged me to "eat up".
There was a lot of information on Mechanicus from many different races. As expected, they focused more on the dwarf and gnome accounts than elf or human. We learned that it was a rigidly lawful and the Mechs, or the mechanical inhabitants, are just as rigid. As the Duergar had, many called upon them to enforce laws, agreements, or vows. Since the could not be bribed, threatened, or swayed, they were absolutely objective and unbiased.
"When non-dwarfs arrived in the mines, why did the Duergar see it as betrayal?" Lisa asked randomly.
One of the councilors answered, "Over the centuries, we have splintered into actual sub-races. Each accepts they are not the same as when dwarfs were first created save two. Duergar and Deep Dwarfs, both who do not venture into sunlight, are utterly convinced they are 'true' dwarfs. Deep Dwarfs tolerate the rest of us as 'errant children' who have lost the 'path'. They live in only the largest mountains, keeping as much material between themselves and all surface races as possible. None are in Stahendring as it is too 'shallow', other races are too close. Duergar, on the other hand, seek to punish us for 'falling away from the true ways of dwarfs'. They preach that every being save for Duergar are either inferior or 'mistakes'. Bringing non-dwarfs inside the mountain was sacrilege to them. That is why they accused us of betrayal. We soiled their 'pristine' area."
We accepted his explanation. The records we had contained accounts of meeting with other clockwork beings. I could tell Alice and Anna were "seeing" the events written before us. Wisely, they did not tell more than what was recorded. I, too, received images as we culled through the mountain of information. Once account stopped me cold. A physician, no race given, recorded witnessing "surgery" being performed upon one being by another. The one doing the task freely explained that each cog served a function and determined the being's "occupation". The one being fixed had a damaged cog which was making it behave erratically and was highly destructive. It stated that only cogs made in Mechanicus could fix Mechs. While cogs and gears made elsewhere would physically fit, they would not have the same function and the Mech would behave as if no cog was there at all. When I showed this to the others, they hit upon the same conclusion. Gorval voiced it.
"If this Guardian was badly damaged and his parts replaced by gears from this realm, he is the mechanical version of insane, even though physically intact. He, literally, has some screws loose."
"Given the way this being looks, I do not see how it could be called a clock," Lanara stated, pulling some drawing done by various people to illustrate her point.
Callie placed a piece of paper over one of the drawings and began quickly sketching, mumbling to herself as was he habit. Her family teased her about it, saying she "talked pictures into being". The dwarfs, however, were fascinated and watched her intently. Soon, she had "encased" the Mech in rock and dirt.
"Since we know it fell into lava, it may have become shrouded like this," she said, holding up both her drawing and the Mech picture, "then, when it was discovered..." she trailed off as she adjusted her marks, "it could have either been carved or broken, or beat around to look like this," holding up both again to show a strange approximation of a large clock one might see in palaces or rich homes. We nearly all gasped.
"Duergar have never seen true clocks," one of the councilors stated, "They may have seen drawings or heard them described. The one who found him, the Keeper's father we presume, must have seen some of the gears, the size, and heard the noise and called it a clock."
"What puzzles me is how did it fall into lava?" Lisa asked, " As such an observant being, surely it knew the danger of the stuff and avoid it."
"Unless it thought otherwise," Anna commented, "What if someone had the Foot and was walking on the lava? If it knew nothing of the Foot, it may have concluded that it was safe to walk on and did just that."
"Interesting idea," someone added, "but impossible to determine."
My sisters and I exchanged looks while mentally discussing how to find out. Observant Lanara saw our exchange.
"Sisters? You know something? We can be hard-headed, but if you have a way to get this information, we will listen."
The other dwarfs, slowly, began encouraging us to share.
"I have done it before," I started, "To uncover something in the past, I have mentally journeyed there and witnessed the event as if I had been there originally."
The dwarfs huddled and whispered, confusion and doubt hovering around them. They did not talk long and returned to us.
"Kayla, please do this again. It is the only way to find out. We do ask if you could do this in the Temple of the All Father's Eye. It would allow us to see as well," Gorval requested.
We accepted the conditions and followed them to the temple with the huge mirror. Once there, we told the clerics our plan. They set up a "seer's chair" between the mirror and altar. Other chairs were placed within easy viewing of the mirror. I sat and laid Vanity, unsheathed, upon my lap. Set curled around the chair and placed his head across both of my feet. I stilled my mind and calmed my emotions. Gently, I slid...
...into Andros' home. Vanity stood waiting. Surprisingly, Laduguer was also there. He nodded slightly and led us to the door.
"See the events as they truly happened," he encouraged.
He stepped through and we followed.
We were in a large cavern. It shown little evidence of carving or working of any kind. Small niches dotted the walls, connected by holes made to take the place of ladders. Duergar slept, sat, or were active in the niches.
"Unlike joban," Laduguer told us, "Duergar do not shape the tunnels, caves, caverns, or channels any more than absolutely necessary. They are not lazy, but they do not do more than is needed for minimum comfort."
He continued to lead. He seemed sad. I guess he noticed my look of concern enough to be moved to explain.
"This was my strong time. They forsook all gods but me. Every temple, shrine, and holy place was mine. I could command them to do anything. Now, I need your help just to reveal this small thing."
We did not press that issue any further. He stopped before a flowing magma river. He indicated for us to watch. A Duergar came running, holding something close to his body. Not far behind, a Mech was gaining on him, shouting for the dwarf to stop and return the "property" to its rightful owner. The Duergar ran on top of the hot flowing rock without pause or looking where he was going. The Mech stopped and watched this happen. Making up its mind, it took off in pursuit, on the lava. Not feeling pain, it ignored its smoking feet and melting shell. It grabbed the Duergar, knocking the Foot out of his arms to land on the hot rock. Without it, the dwarf began burning, screaming in pain. The Mech dropped him to get the Foot. The dwarf was quickly burned to death and cremated in the lava. Picking up the Foot, it proceeded back the way it had come. However, it was still smoking and melting. It continued until it could no longer walk. It tucked the Foot inside its chest and crawled, still on the lava, towards its destination. Eventually, this, too, became impossible. It clasped it melting hands to its chest and let the flowing magma carry it away, into a tunnel and out of sight.
"For the next three to five generations, no one would see either Guardian or Foot again," Laduguer told us.
The cave changed as we instantly went to another part and time. This area was much smaller. The remains of the Mech, encased similarly as Callie had drawn, lay a few feet from the river of lava, far enough to be out of the heat. A portion of rock had fallen away and the clicking of its gears echoed loudly in the small space. From a tunnel, a Duergar male entered cautiously. The echoing made it difficult to pin-point the Mech's location, but he did find it. Pulling off some of the encrusted rock, more gears were revealed by the dwarf, as well as the Foot. Although it did not speak aloud, it somehow instructed the Duergar on how to use the Foot. Taking both Mech and Foot, the dwarf walked on the lava and back up to the living area. The others looked fearfully at him as he walked unharmed over the intensely hot stone. He shouted to the others that the "Divine Clock" had told him how to use the Foot to walk on lava. Someone, shouting in fear or anger, threw a rock and knocked the Foot out of the finder's grasp. Fortunately for him, he jumped when this happened, one foot landing on the firm side of the lava flow. The other foot, however, plopped right into the hot rolling magma. He screamed and fell forward, regaining the Foot, tossing the Mech ahead of him, and saving the rest of his leg from burning away. Duergar and Mech were drug away to another part of the cavern. The burnt flesh was removed and the remains of his leg were tended. As he was treated, this male continued to tell all what the Mech, the "Divine Clock", was teaching him, which included denial of gods, powers, and any deity of any sort. He began to have a following and fewer Duergar visited temples and shrines. For some reason, only this male and his son could hear the Mech speak. The son excelled at the lessons taught and soon became a strong wizard. The father, however, descended into madness and, towards the end of his life, a mumbling invalid who's words had to be interpreted by his son. The son became the Keeper, who continued to teach the lessons taught to him by the Mech. The temples became deserted. A chance slip of a joban miner let a piece of human or elf handiwork tumble to the Duergar. This renewed the feelings of betrayal and started their "purging of vermin" from "our" territory. The Keeper listens to the Mech and follows its word as to when to make incursions on the joban. Its word is the new law.
Laduguer placed his hands on my shoulders and nodded. The cavern seemed to melt.
It took a few moments to reorient myself to my true location. Our audience was finishing their recording of the vision. A cleric brought me water as Set rubbed against my leg to get me to firmly return to the present. Vanity hummed in my lap and told me how well I handled such a journey. The concern of my sisters flitted around me like moths. When I could fully acknowledge them, we returned to the dwarfs. The clerics seemed pleased at how well their devices shown my visions. Gorval and the council were slightly distressed. While I could not hear their thoughts like I could the elves, their emotions told much. Turning from a dwarf god to follow a malfunctioning mechanical being shook them deeply. Laduguer's declining power also concerned them.
As they consulted, I drew one of the clerics to me.
"Cleric, how often does mental communication occur among dwarfs?"
"Rarely, Sister, maybe one in five thousand can hear any such speaking at all. One in twenty thousand can understand that speech. Last we checked, no one could speak mentally who was more than one thirty-second dwarf. If I can hazard why you asked, the Keeper and his father were two rare beings among all dwarfs, both Duergar and joban."
"Thank you, you hazarded correctly. for your records, Callie is one sixty-fourth dwarf," I told him.
The cleric noted it and returned to his duties. The council was rising and heading out the door.
"Ladies, we have to meet with others concerning this news. If you would not mind, could you stay home until we have a working plan on our next step?": Gorval asked.
We told him we had no objection and there was plenty to keep us busy back at the house. Relieved, he gave us our leave. My legs were a bit wobbly and Set, Callie, and Lisa helped me walk back to the house. Nana had moved our research to one end of the table. It was dinner that was set before us, which was slightly surprising. Time was hard to track inside sunless caverns.
I nearly fell asleep while eating. I am not sure who aided me to my room or who got me ready for bed. Set and Vanity were beside me when I surrendered to a dreamless sleep.
"If this Guardian was badly damaged and his parts replaced by gears from this realm, he is the mechanical version of insane, even though physically intact. He, literally, has some screws loose."
"Given the way this being looks, I do not see how it could be called a clock," Lanara stated, pulling some drawing done by various people to illustrate her point.
Callie placed a piece of paper over one of the drawings and began quickly sketching, mumbling to herself as was he habit. Her family teased her about it, saying she "talked pictures into being". The dwarfs, however, were fascinated and watched her intently. Soon, she had "encased" the Mech in rock and dirt.
"Since we know it fell into lava, it may have become shrouded like this," she said, holding up both her drawing and the Mech picture, "then, when it was discovered..." she trailed off as she adjusted her marks, "it could have either been carved or broken, or beat around to look like this," holding up both again to show a strange approximation of a large clock one might see in palaces or rich homes. We nearly all gasped.
"Duergar have never seen true clocks," one of the councilors stated, "They may have seen drawings or heard them described. The one who found him, the Keeper's father we presume, must have seen some of the gears, the size, and heard the noise and called it a clock."
"What puzzles me is how did it fall into lava?" Lisa asked, " As such an observant being, surely it knew the danger of the stuff and avoid it."
"Unless it thought otherwise," Anna commented, "What if someone had the Foot and was walking on the lava? If it knew nothing of the Foot, it may have concluded that it was safe to walk on and did just that."
"Interesting idea," someone added, "but impossible to determine."
My sisters and I exchanged looks while mentally discussing how to find out. Observant Lanara saw our exchange.
"Sisters? You know something? We can be hard-headed, but if you have a way to get this information, we will listen."
The other dwarfs, slowly, began encouraging us to share.
"I have done it before," I started, "To uncover something in the past, I have mentally journeyed there and witnessed the event as if I had been there originally."
The dwarfs huddled and whispered, confusion and doubt hovering around them. They did not talk long and returned to us.
"Kayla, please do this again. It is the only way to find out. We do ask if you could do this in the Temple of the All Father's Eye. It would allow us to see as well," Gorval requested.
We accepted the conditions and followed them to the temple with the huge mirror. Once there, we told the clerics our plan. They set up a "seer's chair" between the mirror and altar. Other chairs were placed within easy viewing of the mirror. I sat and laid Vanity, unsheathed, upon my lap. Set curled around the chair and placed his head across both of my feet. I stilled my mind and calmed my emotions. Gently, I slid...
...into Andros' home. Vanity stood waiting. Surprisingly, Laduguer was also there. He nodded slightly and led us to the door.
"See the events as they truly happened," he encouraged.
He stepped through and we followed.
We were in a large cavern. It shown little evidence of carving or working of any kind. Small niches dotted the walls, connected by holes made to take the place of ladders. Duergar slept, sat, or were active in the niches.
"Unlike joban," Laduguer told us, "Duergar do not shape the tunnels, caves, caverns, or channels any more than absolutely necessary. They are not lazy, but they do not do more than is needed for minimum comfort."
He continued to lead. He seemed sad. I guess he noticed my look of concern enough to be moved to explain.
"This was my strong time. They forsook all gods but me. Every temple, shrine, and holy place was mine. I could command them to do anything. Now, I need your help just to reveal this small thing."
We did not press that issue any further. He stopped before a flowing magma river. He indicated for us to watch. A Duergar came running, holding something close to his body. Not far behind, a Mech was gaining on him, shouting for the dwarf to stop and return the "property" to its rightful owner. The Duergar ran on top of the hot flowing rock without pause or looking where he was going. The Mech stopped and watched this happen. Making up its mind, it took off in pursuit, on the lava. Not feeling pain, it ignored its smoking feet and melting shell. It grabbed the Duergar, knocking the Foot out of his arms to land on the hot rock. Without it, the dwarf began burning, screaming in pain. The Mech dropped him to get the Foot. The dwarf was quickly burned to death and cremated in the lava. Picking up the Foot, it proceeded back the way it had come. However, it was still smoking and melting. It continued until it could no longer walk. It tucked the Foot inside its chest and crawled, still on the lava, towards its destination. Eventually, this, too, became impossible. It clasped it melting hands to its chest and let the flowing magma carry it away, into a tunnel and out of sight.
"For the next three to five generations, no one would see either Guardian or Foot again," Laduguer told us.
The cave changed as we instantly went to another part and time. This area was much smaller. The remains of the Mech, encased similarly as Callie had drawn, lay a few feet from the river of lava, far enough to be out of the heat. A portion of rock had fallen away and the clicking of its gears echoed loudly in the small space. From a tunnel, a Duergar male entered cautiously. The echoing made it difficult to pin-point the Mech's location, but he did find it. Pulling off some of the encrusted rock, more gears were revealed by the dwarf, as well as the Foot. Although it did not speak aloud, it somehow instructed the Duergar on how to use the Foot. Taking both Mech and Foot, the dwarf walked on the lava and back up to the living area. The others looked fearfully at him as he walked unharmed over the intensely hot stone. He shouted to the others that the "Divine Clock" had told him how to use the Foot to walk on lava. Someone, shouting in fear or anger, threw a rock and knocked the Foot out of the finder's grasp. Fortunately for him, he jumped when this happened, one foot landing on the firm side of the lava flow. The other foot, however, plopped right into the hot rolling magma. He screamed and fell forward, regaining the Foot, tossing the Mech ahead of him, and saving the rest of his leg from burning away. Duergar and Mech were drug away to another part of the cavern. The burnt flesh was removed and the remains of his leg were tended. As he was treated, this male continued to tell all what the Mech, the "Divine Clock", was teaching him, which included denial of gods, powers, and any deity of any sort. He began to have a following and fewer Duergar visited temples and shrines. For some reason, only this male and his son could hear the Mech speak. The son excelled at the lessons taught and soon became a strong wizard. The father, however, descended into madness and, towards the end of his life, a mumbling invalid who's words had to be interpreted by his son. The son became the Keeper, who continued to teach the lessons taught to him by the Mech. The temples became deserted. A chance slip of a joban miner let a piece of human or elf handiwork tumble to the Duergar. This renewed the feelings of betrayal and started their "purging of vermin" from "our" territory. The Keeper listens to the Mech and follows its word as to when to make incursions on the joban. Its word is the new law.
Laduguer placed his hands on my shoulders and nodded. The cavern seemed to melt.
It took a few moments to reorient myself to my true location. Our audience was finishing their recording of the vision. A cleric brought me water as Set rubbed against my leg to get me to firmly return to the present. Vanity hummed in my lap and told me how well I handled such a journey. The concern of my sisters flitted around me like moths. When I could fully acknowledge them, we returned to the dwarfs. The clerics seemed pleased at how well their devices shown my visions. Gorval and the council were slightly distressed. While I could not hear their thoughts like I could the elves, their emotions told much. Turning from a dwarf god to follow a malfunctioning mechanical being shook them deeply. Laduguer's declining power also concerned them.
As they consulted, I drew one of the clerics to me.
"Cleric, how often does mental communication occur among dwarfs?"
"Rarely, Sister, maybe one in five thousand can hear any such speaking at all. One in twenty thousand can understand that speech. Last we checked, no one could speak mentally who was more than one thirty-second dwarf. If I can hazard why you asked, the Keeper and his father were two rare beings among all dwarfs, both Duergar and joban."
"Thank you, you hazarded correctly. for your records, Callie is one sixty-fourth dwarf," I told him.
The cleric noted it and returned to his duties. The council was rising and heading out the door.
"Ladies, we have to meet with others concerning this news. If you would not mind, could you stay home until we have a working plan on our next step?": Gorval asked.
We told him we had no objection and there was plenty to keep us busy back at the house. Relieved, he gave us our leave. My legs were a bit wobbly and Set, Callie, and Lisa helped me walk back to the house. Nana had moved our research to one end of the table. It was dinner that was set before us, which was slightly surprising. Time was hard to track inside sunless caverns.
I nearly fell asleep while eating. I am not sure who aided me to my room or who got me ready for bed. Set and Vanity were beside me when I surrendered to a dreamless sleep.
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