Reed pats some of the expensive looking items in the room as he follows after the others., whispering "Don't go anywhere". He then gives a salute as he heads out the door.
Falaster watches you all head out of Sylvana's chamber and as you go, he says, "I'll just be here catching the boss up with what's been going on. Good uh, luck with all that." he looks to the IronMaiden but doesn't know what else to say.
You find the door to Teles Avoste's chamber easy enough, it was exactly where the tiefling told you to find it. Knocking at the door, you hear a cough from behind and a croaky, "Come in!" When you push open the large, wooden door, the drastic difference between this man's room and Sylvana's hits you in the face. Where she had a room full of books and items and trinkets and things, they were all laid out in a sort of orderly fashion, put away in their spots on the many shelves that lined her room, with several things on the tables that were obviously the focus of her attention. Here however, there was a path to walk, but that was about it. Clutter was everywhere. The shelves were overflowing with books and oddities and who knows what as everything was haphazardly put away. Tools of all different shapes and sizes and metals were strewn across the room on tables and counters and even the floor. And there was definitely a distinct funk about the room.
The man that you eventually see buried by stacks of books and other things, is a shriveled old man with a long white beard that reaches past his waist. His bespectacled eyes widen a bit as he sees you all enter the room. "So many guests! What has brought you all here?"
The ironmaiden immediately becomes interested in the clutter and junk filling this room, looking around, mesmerized by the items surrounding them.
They see several sets of armor that have been meticulously taken apart, something that the IronMaiden themselves ended up doing to Thell's grandfather clock back at the shop. There are boots, and gauntlets and helms. There are amulets strewn on the tables, a hat that is a fuzzy gray which the IronMaiden picks up and puts on their head.
A few instruments can be seen too, a flute, a horn. There are several bottles of different colored liquids, another thing IM picks up and takes to the desk where the old man sits.
A couple of poles and rods leaning up against a wall, at least most of them, a couple have fallen. Even a creepy little doll is set up on the counter. as for the books, most spines are worn or not seen from the IronMaiden's vantage point. The few they do are some history books and a couple of 'how-to' manuals as well, but they don't linger trying to read too long before the old man speaks. "Tele Ahvoste, I presume? I am the IronMaiden, we are here on my behalf." They put down the coloured liquids on the table and gesture around to the mess, particularly the taken apart armour bits and the poles and rods. "I can see that you have dabbled in all areas of artificing; armouring, alchemy, artillery. What do you know of sentient machinery?"
Virro pipes up saying “We have quite a need, our friend needs help. Living tissue inside metal exoskeleton, as it were. Fascinating physiology, but beyond my … abilities. Do you have any experience with any similar situations?” He holds his chin, scratching it and glancing at Ironmaiden/Archie with true clinical interest, looking around the room at any appropriate table suitable for such work, surgery, or dissections…
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A wizard is never late, nor is he early, he arrives precisely when he means to.
Corlith enters the room and briefly looks around, but once Ironmaiden and Virro begin speaking turns his full attention to Tele Ahvoste, trying to get a read on him as he answers.
"Yes, yes, I am Teles." He ignores the hat and the bottles at the moment as he listens to what IM is saying. As they list the areas of artificing the old man smiles and starts nodding, holding his hands together, almost like holding his own hand in front of his chest.
He comes out from behind his stacks of books, "Sentinent machinery you say? Do you happen to have it on you? I would quite like to have a look at it."
He stops where he is when Virro pipes up and he puts the connection somewhat together. "Wait.. living tissue inside metal exoskeleton?" He squints at the IronMaiden and shakes his head a bit, "Your friend here doesn't mean what I think he does, does he?" He looks to the rest of you to see if there is some joke he is missing.
The IronMaiden shuffles uncomfortably, "an explanation first, I was built by an artificer by the name of Thell, built to be a fully autonomous machine with a sense of self and I believe an individual sentience. For such a task, a large arcane power source is needed and so Thell left in search of such a source. As I was left dormant with Thell's apprentice, Archie, she climbed in and... Well, apsorbtion is at 48% and slowly climbing."
The suit hisses and begins to unlatch at the joints in the chest piece, a wave of heat washes over the room as the front of the armour opens and inside the group and Tele Ahvoste look upon the gruesome and dishevelled sight of Archie, pierced all over by bits of machinery, wires and metalling coverings which are fusing with the fire genasi form, Archie herself is slumped within the suit as usual her head not quite reaching up to the helm as she lays there unconscious but breathing, the orange flame of her skin and hair faint as the blue envelops it lighting up the IronMaiden's systems. "Since the beginning of her assimilation, my consciousness has grown, my sentience and individuality, but it is costing her her life. She suppressed my consciousness with a magnet for a few days but it has left her in an exhausted state and she is not strong enough to wake yet. I cannot remove her myself. We wish to be separated, but we both wish to live."
Corlith carries on watching Tele Ahvoste trying to determine how shocked he is, or if not how confident he looks that he can help.
"Perhaps you might have heard of Master Thell from Baldur's Gate? I am not sure how close knit a group you artificers are, but if you do know of them, and perhaps their whereabouts? Or where you might go to acquire such a power source?", he asks speculatively.
Reed peaks into the armour and frowns a little, but with absolutely nothing to contribute to what is going on here, he wanders around the room looking for anything of value.
Roo bounces about the room, not very interested in the initial volley of niceties and business. He jumps from floor to table, from table to counter, strolling amongst the scattered clutter of the room and scratching about in it as he goes, trying to take a look at the things scattered about. He kicks papers and knick knacks all over the place, all over the table and counter, everywhere as he searches for who knows what. Truth is, he probably doesn't even know.
He only stops when he looks at Archie, his head jerking from side to side as he struggles with what he is seeing.
"Uh..." The little Gallus says, suddenly completely out of his element. "How do...what...can we save her?"
When Archie is revealed, Reya puts her hand to her mouth and her eyes start watering. She immediately runs out of the room.
Teles's mouth drops open and his eyes about bug out of his head as Archie is revealed. This was obviously not something he had seen before. It actually takes him a bit to regain his composure. "Why... why this is incredible. This is well... madness. You are both living and utilizing the same life source? I don't.. why yes I know Master Thell! She studied under me for a couple of years, brilliant mind and so ambitious!!" His brows furrow, and his voice drops a bit.. "Perhaps a bit too ambitious."
He gets closer and starts to look at the situation with scrutiny, mumbling a bit as he goes, "large arcane power source.... 48% absorbed..."as he looks up he sees Roo making the mess even worse and he scowls at the avian humanoid. Not letting it distract him, he turns to Corlith, "Master Thell's whereabouts? Why I haven't seen them in probably a decade, I have no idea. Or where to find such a large... why would she do this? I've never seen such a situation before. Both sentient beings.. alive." He says those last parts to himself as he starts running his hands over the machinery.
"your interest, however appreciated, is not informative. Does our separation seem possible under the caveat that both of us should live? Can you explain what exactly is happening to us? Do you need to do any tests and if so what would that entail?" The IronMaiden stays stock still as Archie is still exposed and being examined, their voice losing it's tinny echo with the suit wide open. "I should also inform that I do not believe the intended source was a sentient being. I do not think that the choice that Archie made when she assumed this role was informed at all, unfortunately"
"Ironmaiden here has more faith in the intentions of Master Thell than I do I'm afraid. I cannot understand why there would be space for a humanoid to occupy the armour if it were meant to be powered by a non living source and be autonomous. I also find it more than coincidental that she chose a fire genasi as her apprentice, the perfect source of power it seems. But, I never met her and artifice is beyond my knowledge", Corlith says with a shrug and a look of concern.
"However, such conjecture is also not helpful at this point in time. Perhaps I can be of help to you if you will allow me to offer you some additional arcane focus", he says and places his hand lightly on Teles' shoulder, offering the focus he spoke of.
Nothing much in the room is catching Reed's attention. Dusty old books don't sparkle like the gold in the other room. So he drifts back over to the Archie - IM discussion.
"So any idea what would happen if the, um," Reed tries to remember the word, "absorption hits 100%? Do you think Archie would disappear and just leave the IronMaiden? Or would they somehow merge into a new being?"
He then looks over at Corlith and Virro and then to the IronMaiden.
"So you guys all know magic or whatnot. This guy seems useless," Reed says, gesturing at Teles, but smiling to try and take the edge off the comment. "Maybe you could just learn how to separate them. You've already learned how to do things you couldn't when we first met."
Reed raises an eyebrow at Corlith then nods his head. He waves his hands in a shooing motion as he says "Come on, get out of the way. And all of you outside."
He then heads out of the office and into the hallway looking around for Reya, but also for anything else of interest.
As Teles looks deeper into the suit at Archie, he starts mumbling, "Oh dear, oh dear, this isn't good. This isn't good at all." He frowns at the Iron Maidens assertions, "Not informative, eh? I'm sorry but I have never seen anything like this and obviously time is of the essence." he scratches his head, then runs his hand over his long white beard, "Tests? Hmmm...well first of all, what are the differences between these two beings? Do they casts different spells? Do they have different abilities?" Those watching him can tell he is hesitant to touch Archie, but is completely enthralled with the entire idea.
He hears Corlith, but doesn't reply until the tiefling touches his shoulder and the older man feels the boost run through him. Looking up to Corlith, but not moving from his position, "Why I don't believe Thell would have intentionally done this.. looks to me she used a suit of armor for her creation, and well, the cavity inside is just what it is. But like I said, I don't know for sure.." he turns back to Archie, waiting on responses to his questions.
"Absorption hit 100%? That would be bad for Archie, very bad indeed.. I believe that would kill her, in fact I am sure of it." He seems to ignore the rest of Reed's comments, absorbed as he is.
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Virro gives a wan smile and follows after IronMaiden, walking away. After they have walked a little distance, he says awkwardly, “On to Tele Ahvoste!”
A wizard is never late, nor is he early, he arrives precisely when he means to.
Satisfied by what he has heard regarding Reya, Corlith also heads out looking for Tele Ahvoste.
Reed pats some of the expensive looking items in the room as he follows after the others., whispering "Don't go anywhere". He then gives a salute as he heads out the door.
"I imagine we'll be back."
Falaster watches you all head out of Sylvana's chamber and as you go, he says, "I'll just be here catching the boss up with what's been going on. Good uh, luck with all that." he looks to the IronMaiden but doesn't know what else to say.
You find the door to Teles Avoste's chamber easy enough, it was exactly where the tiefling told you to find it. Knocking at the door, you hear a cough from behind and a croaky, "Come in!" When you push open the large, wooden door, the drastic difference between this man's room and Sylvana's hits you in the face. Where she had a room full of books and items and trinkets and things, they were all laid out in a sort of orderly fashion, put away in their spots on the many shelves that lined her room, with several things on the tables that were obviously the focus of her attention. Here however, there was a path to walk, but that was about it. Clutter was everywhere. The shelves were overflowing with books and oddities and who knows what as everything was haphazardly put away. Tools of all different shapes and sizes and metals were strewn across the room on tables and counters and even the floor. And there was definitely a distinct funk about the room.
The man that you eventually see buried by stacks of books and other things, is a shriveled old man with a long white beard that reaches past his waist. His bespectacled eyes widen a bit as he sees you all enter the room. "So many guests! What has brought you all here?"
The ironmaiden immediately becomes interested in the clutter and junk filling this room, looking around, mesmerized by the items surrounding them.
They see several sets of armor that have been meticulously taken apart, something that the IronMaiden themselves ended up doing to Thell's grandfather clock back at the shop. There are boots, and gauntlets and helms. There are amulets strewn on the tables, a hat that is a fuzzy gray which the IronMaiden picks up and puts on their head.
A few instruments can be seen too, a flute, a horn. There are several bottles of different colored liquids, another thing IM picks up and takes to the desk where the old man sits.
A couple of poles and rods leaning up against a wall, at least most of them, a couple have fallen. Even a creepy little doll is set up on the counter. as for the books, most spines are worn or not seen from the IronMaiden's vantage point. The few they do are some history books and a couple of 'how-to' manuals as well, but they don't linger trying to read too long before the old man speaks. "Tele Ahvoste, I presume? I am the IronMaiden, we are here on my behalf." They put down the coloured liquids on the table and gesture around to the mess, particularly the taken apart armour bits and the poles and rods. "I can see that you have dabbled in all areas of artificing; armouring, alchemy, artillery. What do you know of sentient machinery?"
Virro pipes up saying “We have quite a need, our friend needs help. Living tissue inside metal exoskeleton, as it were. Fascinating physiology, but beyond my … abilities. Do you have any experience with any similar situations?” He holds his chin, scratching it and glancing at Ironmaiden/Archie with true clinical interest, looking around the room at any appropriate table suitable for such work, surgery, or dissections…
A wizard is never late, nor is he early, he arrives precisely when he means to.
Corlith enters the room and briefly looks around, but once Ironmaiden and Virro begin speaking turns his full attention to Tele Ahvoste, trying to get a read on him as he answers.
Insight: 10+5=15
"Yes, yes, I am Teles." He ignores the hat and the bottles at the moment as he listens to what IM is saying. As they list the areas of artificing the old man smiles and starts nodding, holding his hands together, almost like holding his own hand in front of his chest.
He comes out from behind his stacks of books, "Sentinent machinery you say? Do you happen to have it on you? I would quite like to have a look at it."
He stops where he is when Virro pipes up and he puts the connection somewhat together. "Wait.. living tissue inside metal exoskeleton?" He squints at the IronMaiden and shakes his head a bit, "Your friend here doesn't mean what I think he does, does he?" He looks to the rest of you to see if there is some joke he is missing.
“Probably best you just show him”, Corlith says to Ironmaiden, having determined the old man seems genuine.
The IronMaiden shuffles uncomfortably, "an explanation first, I was built by an artificer by the name of Thell, built to be a fully autonomous machine with a sense of self and I believe an individual sentience. For such a task, a large arcane power source is needed and so Thell left in search of such a source. As I was left dormant with Thell's apprentice, Archie, she climbed in and... Well, apsorbtion is at 48% and slowly climbing."
The suit hisses and begins to unlatch at the joints in the chest piece, a wave of heat washes over the room as the front of the armour opens and inside the group and Tele Ahvoste look upon the gruesome and dishevelled sight of Archie, pierced all over by bits of machinery, wires and metalling coverings which are fusing with the fire genasi form, Archie herself is slumped within the suit as usual her head not quite reaching up to the helm as she lays there unconscious but breathing, the orange flame of her skin and hair faint as the blue envelops it lighting up the IronMaiden's systems. "Since the beginning of her assimilation, my consciousness has grown, my sentience and individuality, but it is costing her her life. She suppressed my consciousness with a magnet for a few days but it has left her in an exhausted state and she is not strong enough to wake yet. I cannot remove her myself. We wish to be separated, but we both wish to live."
Corlith carries on watching Tele Ahvoste trying to determine how shocked he is, or if not how confident he looks that he can help.
"Perhaps you might have heard of Master Thell from Baldur's Gate? I am not sure how close knit a group you artificers are, but if you do know of them, and perhaps their whereabouts? Or where you might go to acquire such a power source?", he asks speculatively.
Reed peaks into the armour and frowns a little, but with absolutely nothing to contribute to what is going on here, he wanders around the room looking for anything of value.
Roo bounces about the room, not very interested in the initial volley of niceties and business. He jumps from floor to table, from table to counter, strolling amongst the scattered clutter of the room and scratching about in it as he goes, trying to take a look at the things scattered about. He kicks papers and knick knacks all over the place, all over the table and counter, everywhere as he searches for who knows what. Truth is, he probably doesn't even know.
He only stops when he looks at Archie, his head jerking from side to side as he struggles with what he is seeing.
"Uh..." The little Gallus says, suddenly completely out of his element. "How do...what...can we save her?"
DM of AURYN: The Measure of Devotion - Escape from New York
When Archie is revealed, Reya puts her hand to her mouth and her eyes start watering. She immediately runs out of the room.
Teles's mouth drops open and his eyes about bug out of his head as Archie is revealed. This was obviously not something he had seen before. It actually takes him a bit to regain his composure. "Why... why this is incredible. This is well... madness. You are both living and utilizing the same life source? I don't.. why yes I know Master Thell! She studied under me for a couple of years, brilliant mind and so ambitious!!" His brows furrow, and his voice drops a bit.. "Perhaps a bit too ambitious."
He gets closer and starts to look at the situation with scrutiny, mumbling a bit as he goes, "large arcane power source.... 48% absorbed..." as he looks up he sees Roo making the mess even worse and he scowls at the avian humanoid. Not letting it distract him, he turns to Corlith, "Master Thell's whereabouts? Why I haven't seen them in probably a decade, I have no idea. Or where to find such a large... why would she do this? I've never seen such a situation before. Both sentient beings.. alive." He says those last parts to himself as he starts running his hands over the machinery.
"your interest, however appreciated, is not informative. Does our separation seem possible under the caveat that both of us should live? Can you explain what exactly is happening to us? Do you need to do any tests and if so what would that entail?" The IronMaiden stays stock still as Archie is still exposed and being examined, their voice losing it's tinny echo with the suit wide open. "I should also inform that I do not believe the intended source was a sentient being. I do not think that the choice that Archie made when she assumed this role was informed at all, unfortunately"
"Ironmaiden here has more faith in the intentions of Master Thell than I do I'm afraid. I cannot understand why there would be space for a humanoid to occupy the armour if it were meant to be powered by a non living source and be autonomous. I also find it more than coincidental that she chose a fire genasi as her apprentice, the perfect source of power it seems. But, I never met her and artifice is beyond my knowledge", Corlith says with a shrug and a look of concern.
"However, such conjecture is also not helpful at this point in time. Perhaps I can be of help to you if you will allow me to offer you some additional arcane focus", he says and places his hand lightly on Teles' shoulder, offering the focus he spoke of.
Nothing much in the room is catching Reed's attention. Dusty old books don't sparkle like the gold in the other room. So he drifts back over to the Archie - IM discussion.
"So any idea what would happen if the, um," Reed tries to remember the word, "absorption hits 100%? Do you think Archie would disappear and just leave the IronMaiden? Or would they somehow merge into a new being?"
He then looks over at Corlith and Virro and then to the IronMaiden.
"So you guys all know magic or whatnot. This guy seems useless," Reed says, gesturing at Teles, but smiling to try and take the edge off the comment. "Maybe you could just learn how to separate them. You've already learned how to do things you couldn't when we first met."
Corlith frowns as Reed calls Teles useless. Not the best encouragement for the old artficer to help them.
"Perhaps you could check on Reya, Reed", he suggests to the halfling.
Reed raises an eyebrow at Corlith then nods his head. He waves his hands in a shooing motion as he says "Come on, get out of the way. And all of you outside."
He then heads out of the office and into the hallway looking around for Reya, but also for anything else of interest.
As Teles looks deeper into the suit at Archie, he starts mumbling, "Oh dear, oh dear, this isn't good. This isn't good at all." He frowns at the Iron Maidens assertions, "Not informative, eh? I'm sorry but I have never seen anything like this and obviously time is of the essence." he scratches his head, then runs his hand over his long white beard, "Tests? Hmmm...well first of all, what are the differences between these two beings? Do they casts different spells? Do they have different abilities?" Those watching him can tell he is hesitant to touch Archie, but is completely enthralled with the entire idea.
He hears Corlith, but doesn't reply until the tiefling touches his shoulder and the older man feels the boost run through him. Looking up to Corlith, but not moving from his position, "Why I don't believe Thell would have intentionally done this.. looks to me she used a suit of armor for her creation, and well, the cavity inside is just what it is. But like I said, I don't know for sure.." he turns back to Archie, waiting on responses to his questions.
"Absorption hit 100%? That would be bad for Archie, very bad indeed.. I believe that would kill her, in fact I am sure of it." He seems to ignore the rest of Reed's comments, absorbed as he is.