Pathfinder: Act I, Supply and Shunting

[Skylez 870]

Pathfinder
Act I: Supply and Shunting

♬ ♪ ♫ ♪

 

((Credit to Ben Bryant))

 

Kaevryn found contentment in the craft. The wrench felt natural in his hand, like an extension of the body itself. The implement turned and twisted as the craftsman tightened a number of bolts to ensure the outermost plating of his craft would hold sufficiently. The aroma of burning incense filled the chamber, it helped to ease the mind and allow greater focus on the work at hand. The Ordinator of Garumdir finished his work. After settling the tool down, he took a number of minutes to lastly survey and inspect the inanimate guardian. This would be the last of his line, he told himself.

 

This was to be his great exodus, a chance to free the realms of mankind from another anomaly. The artificer was an outlier, something that lived yet did not belong among normalcy. He was old, but age still could not take him. It was here where he would depart, to shift through the greater cosmos and realms to perhaps find one anew, or one upon the throes of its destruction. The aged machinist had elected to let the universe decide his fate, however it would not be done here.

 

 

The three mechanical sentries watched as their craftsmen drew near, eventually entering the small enclave. He stops before moving past the small portcullis, turning on a heel to face the two swordsmen within the ruined entrance. A raspy cough slipped from him before delivering the final instruction:

 

“Do not permit any to enter this chamber, nor come near this structure - children of Garumdir.”

 

They listen, yet nothing comes from the machine-minded.

 

“Likewise, you are the bulwark of this place. Should otherworldly fiends rise from below, you three shall put the incursion down by any means, even destruction of this place.”

 

After a moment the portcullis bars the way, iron-tipped ends digging into the ground below.
 

“Blessed be the machine who furthers the will of Garumdir.”

 

He descends into the small chamber.

 

-<+>-

 

 

The contingency of his alchemical creation would be kept alive in another, a similar man, a compatriot of several aliases but of a good, struggler’s heart.

 

The craft of his machines was preserved within a number of past students, a cowled star-seeker, a bronze automaton, a wandering elf rescinding the void, and a few others.

 

 

There, within the dim chamber was where he would slip from this realm and into another. 

A simple sigil was inscribed into the newly laid floorboards, enigmatic and arcane in design. With a deep exhale he made on, accounting over everything that would be brought along with him; weapons, small tools, provisions, an old TAC mask given to him by the Denurem of Mordskov, and so on.

 

 

((Credit to Sam Kim))

 

It was not long after, the shunter sat within his circle and tended to the unlit candles that surrounded the perimeter at set intervals.

 

He began the incantation as the planar had instructed him. Vague energies propagated within the carved inscription, gradually filling the design in its entirety. Focus faltered to a strain at the whole ordeal, something foreign to him - he had sworn from the likes of magic years ago. Seeping out from the ritual’s circle, they push into the artificer from all sides.

 

He was gone.

 

The acrid scent of burning brimstone, the heat of the air.

 

((Credit to Philip Straub))

 

Judgement was given

End of Act I, Act II coming soon

[Zarsies 6795]

 

 

[  “Ť̫̔͝e͉̜̲̠̰͎͖̿̓̿̃̓͜l̬͔̙̘̠̠͊̉͆̚͡’̮͎̳͓̜̠͛̓̈́ͮz̩͌͋̌̈́̅̽ͨk̶͎̺̜̝̘̞̩͐ͣ̆̓u̳̬͙͕͖͙͌̓̿̈́̃͠ͅṳ̰̠͉̱m͈̗͖̥̦̜͢ ̳͈̟̓̋̅̍ͬ̽̇ą͖̦̙͍̋ͬ̂͒͂̽ͯk̵̥͖͆u̅̐͋ͫn͚͙̩̞͚͈̞̽͗͞ ̪̖̲̯͎͒͂͂̅̔͛͋z̡̞̜̭ͮ̽ͅą̹̟͓͌̇ͭ͛ͅ’̯̗̜̤̝̗̈́͒̿v̡͈͐̏̆̍̽u̮͍̬̯̟͈ͩͧ̋̚̚ͅt̲ͣ͑͛͂͒ḯ̶̘͇̩̯̮̣͖̄̍͒̃r͖̻̞̈̊ͭ̇̊ͅ.̵̺̤̲̬̠͙ͪ̅͂̓̒̊́”  ]

 

 

[Jentos 9425]

A compeer, a righteous figure, a pious thing, a holy man, a pilgrim but  a dead man. He danced. Within eyes like glass shone flame, and upon his lips, the name of his God. Madness.

[osumanduas 1442]

Moved to The Great Library. It shall be sorted into the appropriate category shortly.

 

If you feel this is a mistake, please contact myself or any FM and we'll restore it.