Ferric becomes an Iron Man

[missdixievoom]

Ferric has a plan. All the others seem to be busy going off on 'adventures' all over the place, but he knows the most exciting place to be right now is his workshop.

He had been flicking through the Omniscient Literary Advisor one day when he came across a description of the most fabulous items - gloves which would let the wearer move and use things several yards away, boots for jumping higher and running faster, lenses to see further.

Ferric had heard of such things, but never before realised how powerful they could be. In fact, he had never realised how powerful he could be. With great excitement he had tossed aside the book and raced off to his workshop to talk to his elemental advisors.

After several days reading and talking and remembering, he was ready to start designing his masterpiece, a suit of immense power, The Superb Raiment of Infinite Utility. First would come the gauntlets of distant touch. For several weeks he remained in his workshop, oblivious to the world outside, barely aware when others talked to him, only able to think of how exactly his gloves would be made. He explored many avenues, only to abandon them in frustration when it became obvious his plans would not work.

Ferric had a nagging sense that he really did know how to make the gloves - the knowledge was there, but slightly out of reach down in the depths of his own mind. Then, this morning, he woke up and simply saw with perfect clarity what he had been missing all along. Desperately cradling his head in case the thought should vanish, he cast about for some paper and quill and scrawled the vital information down.

Now he is once again running, wild-eyed, to his workshop, shirtless and bootless.

[Rolling Intelligence + Craft Magifire, using an excellency and Craftsman Needs No Tools. Also each roll gets 6 successes from the elementals.
1st: 16 successes net 11
2nd: 16 successes net 22
3rd: 12 successes net 29
+ any from stunt dice?]

[Learned Hand]

Kairos does not have a plan. Kairos had plan; it involved dropping an animate mountain on top of a large city, and it worked. Now he is idly reliving his dramatic victory as he wanders through one of the palace courtyards, chewing on an apple.

So he is understandably confused when 90kg of semi-naked Ferric hurtles into him, sending them both to the ground in a tangle of limbs.

The other man is already up and running away by the time Kairos can get to his knees. What particularly annoys Kairos though, is the fact that Ferric appears to be eating his apple.

'Ferric' he calls at his circle-mate's rapidly disappearing form. 'Ferric!'. Kairos sighs, concentrates, and then projects the word 'STOP' in old realm script directly in front of Ferric's face.

[missdixievoom]

Ferric is running along, furiously concentrating on his glove design and trying to banish the intruding questions of why he fell over and how he got an apple in his mouth, when 'STOP' enters his consciousness. His legs obey but his torso carries on, right into the ground for the second time that minute.

Suppressing a chuckle, Kairos approaches Ferric, plucks the apple out of his unprotesting mouth, takes a bite out of the other side and says 'You've had a eureka moment, haven't you?'

'Uhng' says Ferric. 'I mean, what? I need to get to the workshop quickly. I can't stop, it'll leave my head.'

'You're right, because those five hours away from the workshop must have given you withdrawal symptoms.' But Kairos pulls Ferric to his feet and passes him the apple: 'Go on then, be off with you.'

Running away once more, Ferric shouts over his shoulder 'I think it's time for those bracers you mentioned - I'll see you later!'

[Learned Hand]

Kairos' brow furrows for a moment until he remembers what Ferric is talking about. It's been a couple of months since he sent a message to his contact, and he's expecting a reply any day now. It might be worth checking with one of the incompetent assistants he seems to have acquired in his tenure as king.

One short conversation with annoying assistant #3 (née Weeping Butterfly, or some other awful peasant name) later, and Kairos is indeed angry. Because Tredemin is about 1000 miles closer to Nexus, and is practically on the river; because Tredemin has always been 1000 miles closer to Nexus and practically on the river; because that means that messages travel much faster; because as far as this version of history is concerned, his assistant passed on the message to him a few weeks ago. He should have seen this coming.

Still, all is not lost. He was given a few times and places to meet his contact, and the last one is tonight. He trots to Ferric's workshop where he finds the Twilight sitting, staring at a piece of paper filled with incomprehensible drawings, with a strange blissful expression on his face. 'Ferric, saddle up, we're going to get those bracers. Meet me on the roof in an hour'.

He spends the bulk of the next hour looking for the rest of his friends but with no success. Not even Dalf, generally an easy man to find, seems to be around. Reluctantly, he picks up the carefully packaged armour and bow himself and takes them to the roof, where Ferric is waiting.

With a giant carnivorous wasp.

Sighing, Kairos begins to summon his azure chariot. 'The wasp rides on the roof'.

....

They arrive at the hotel bar, just off Yinhang Square a good half hour early, and nurse their drinks whilst they wait for Kairos' associate. Meanwhile, an increasingly angry wasp flies high above the city with two large packages strapped to its back.

[Learned Hand]

[gauntlets of distance touch can be found WOTLA, P76]

[bravesirrobin]

[1 die craft stunt - applies to all rolls. 3 dice stunt to Ferric for being naked with an apple. 3 dice stunt to Kairos for using the history shift to such awesome effect.]

The two solars are nervous, and trying to hide it. Lookshy may not be the Imperial City, but it's still a pretty intimidating place to be. Tredemin just came full force up against the strength of the realm and now Kairos and Ferric have casually wandered in to the only place in creation that can compare.

Kairos' still has plenty of contacts and they provided the necessary paperwork to enter the home of the seventh legion, but the contact is a man Kairos' has known for a lot longer. And this makes him more than usually wary. Danos Akiron may or may not be a significant player in the Seventh Legion secret services, Kairos has never been sure. But he was certainly a 'friend' to Kairos' father, and he's never been quite sure how much Akiron knows about the family.

Kairos' also knows the capabilities of the Seventh Legion a lot better than the average man on the street. He's not sure if they could detect his use of essence, but he knows if they did they could have a scale of Gunzosha on him before he could say "Sol Invictus". Akiron is a chosen of Danaad, with all the cunning and guile that implies. And it wasn't like him to be late...

It had been almost twenty minutes and the two Solars were starting to get twitchy. But out of the shadowy corner a single figure suddenly flowed out of the shadows, and Kairos and Ferric suddenly realised that Akiron had been there first and been watching them all along.

Akiron shrugs off his cloak and sits down silently at the table.

"Well Adamant, it has been too long. Last I heard you'd quit the guild, not a feat many men get away with. Therefore I can only presume you are here on family business. My condolences on the passing of your father by the way, he was a most distinguished gentleman. So, I have two questions for you young Adamant; Firstly, what is it I can do for you? And secondly, who is you're rather imposing friend here?"

Kairos winces at the use of his old family name, but at least the arrogant old blooded hadn't used his real one. Akiron was immensely hard to read, and Kairos couldn't quite tell what his intentions where hear, merely increasing his nervousness.

Ferric picked up on a little of Kairos tension, wondering quite what had caused it and puzzling at the name that the Lookshy man had called Kairos by. But mostly he was just a little annoyed at being treated as an afterthought.

[Learned Hand]

This is the first time Kairos has heard of his father's passing. He doesn't even blink.

'My business here, Akiron, is entirely personal. Danos Akiron, this is Forged in Fire. Fire, this is Akiron'. He leans in to the elderly blooded. 'Fire is the child of a God of Smiths and he has some of his father's power'. Here, Kairos' eyes point to his reaper daiklave, which is strapped to Ferric's back. 'I am here as his agent, to repay a favour. Fire seeks something to enhance his already considerable skills. I recall that you once mentioned that you have a certain pair of items that may be of use in that respect. Needless to say, we will take care of the medical exigencies ourselves, and we would be willing to pay you a fair price'. He leans back. 'The last time I saw you, you indicated that you would be willing to trade them. Is this still the case, or will my debt go unpaid?'

[bravesirrobin]

Akiron gives a sarcastic chuckle.

"That was some time ago my friend. And you are right, but such items are heavily protected by the sorceror engineers. Last time we spoke I had just such an item, but it has since moved on.

And sadly I was never compensated in that deal, so you'll understand if I'm not necessarily willing to go to the risk of acquiring another one to satisfy your desire. Especially given the circumstances.

However, depending on the price you're offering I can certainly point you in the direction of my last client. And rest assured you could re-acquire the item, without fear of repercussion.

So Adamant, and master Fire, what is it you're offering?"

[missdixievoom]

'I'm not sure we're offering anything. Why should we give you anything if we have no guarantee that we'll be able to obtain the item? And how can you guarantee that there will be no repercussions?

[bravesirrobin]

Akiron smiles and nods. Possibly the first genuine emotion he's shown in this meeting.

"You're completely right. I can offer no guarantees. Nor can I completely assure you there will be no repercussions. However, I can assure you that without my assistance your chances of obtaining the bracers of which we speak are almost zero. As you know we wield considerable influence . We can certainly assuage the wrath of anyone you might inconvenience, and I can assure you that if you somehow came into the possession of stolen Lookshy property by some other means, you would incur more difficulties than you are prepared to handle I think."

Akiron stands, spreading his arms in a gesture of placation.

"Please don't misunderstand me, I do not wish to obscure the nature of the trade I am offering, this is the deal. You may take it or leave it as you see fit."

[Learned Hand]

There's silence for a short while; a little longer than is entirely comfortable, as Akiron looks down on the solars.

Eventually, Kairos speaks. 'I've known Akiron since I was a child, Fire. I trust that he would not charge me for useless information' He looks at the elderly blooded. 'But as you say, Akiron, you offer us no guarantees'. He sighs 'I can offer you a standard jade powerbow, old friend. I'm sure it's not worth as much as you would have got in your original bargain, but it's a lot more than you could justly expect for information'

He kicks Akiron's chair away from the table and gestures him to sit, waving the waitress over. 'So tell us, what is there in this world that could get away with not paying you?'

[bravesirrobin]

Akiron sits back down, and his words seem more jovial, but his manner is now deathly serious.

"You have yourself a deal. I was hoping we would, as I think you may succeed where a couple of my bounty hunters failed. The culprit is your dear aunt [ST note: not direct aunt, rather a catch-all term applying to extended family used in Lookshy and the Realm]. I know there was no love lost between your father and his cousin, yet I always wondered if he had a hand in it. He might have done it just to pull one over on me after all.

Either way, this was just before your little homeland became too hot to hold her, what 10 or 12 years ago? She came to me, purporting to be negotiating on behalf of your father. It later appeared she had been playing both of us against each other. She absconded with the bracers, and a couple of trinkets that belonged to him and disappeared into the hundred kingdoms.

I never found her exact location, narrowed it down to the north east corners, but none of my agents ever returned. And as things got more interesting in our own backyard I never followed it up. I imagine with your family connections, you may have more success tracking her down.

She's a wiley old bitch Adamant. If you get near her, watch yourself. And let me know how it goes."

Akrion's face finally breaks into something between a smile and a smirk. Waiting to see how Kairos reacts to the news.

[Learned Hand]

'I'll do that. I'll send the bow to the usual place

'Let me know if you have any other interesting deals lined up. Until then, look after yourself Akiron' Kairos downs his drink. 'Come on, Fire, we're gone'

After making the necessary arrangements, the two solars leave Lookshy on horseback; they travel through the night so that by the time day breaks, and the Azure Chariot can once again be summoned, they are long out of sight of the imposing 7th Legion Stronghold.

However, as the sun passes the horizon Kairos turns to Ferric with a pained look on his face 'I would appreciate it if you would keep my heritage a secret, but I am member of House Iselsi. My aunt is the queen of Kharadron, our one-time neighbour, where she has been since she was exiled by my kin for killing mortals. She is not a nice person. We will need more men if we are to face her.

'I know you want the bracers as soon as possible, but I fear that it would not be safe to go back to that part of the Kingdoms so soon. The legion will not have time to leave Greyfalls and we may even meet them coming back from Maluka. It would be better to wait a while.

'I trust you can find your way back to Tredemin alone? I intend to go west, to the home of the gemlord I summoned. We have enough powerful enemies; I do not want the earth courts to join them. Perhaps it is not too late for me to make amends.

'If I'm not with you again within a season, then I can only hope my successor is able to find you. Farewell'

When the good byes are properly said, Kairos summons his chariot and flies off to the South East (going around Thorns).

[missdixievoom]

Ferric summons the wasp, who promptly appears with half a dead sheep in its mouth. He's slightly miffed that Kairos went off with very little warning on a totally different mission but is enjoying the lack of snide remarks about his wasp.

He saddles up and they take off towards Tredemin. He flies on for the rest of the day, and near twilight brings the wasp down on top of a small hill. Jumping down, his legs protest and he takes a brisk walk around the hilltop to stretch them. Having completed a circuit he stops and looks out over the fields.

He has had a strange sense of déjà vu for the last half hour or so, and searches his mind for the reason he feels this. After a minute or so it comes to him that he saw this terrain mapped out in a dream about a giant workshop and plans for a golden flying manse. As a purely intellectual exercise he starts to work out where the manse might be if the map's geomantic lines were imposed on this landscape.

As he thinks, Ferric picks up a stick and starts idly jotting down equations in the dirt. Soon, he's scrambling back and forth along the hillside at super-human speeds, dust flying up around him as he recreates the map he saw in his dream with adjustments for visible differences in the land, complete with the necessary equations to move the gemonatic lines. As the map grows bigger he takes to the air, using sandstorm wind attack to burn his vision into the hillside, swooping down to make minute changes where necessary. Finally he lands in the middle of his hillside-map, slowly turning, taking in the size of his effort, and thinking...

[roll to try to work out where the sky manse would be. Perception + geomancy? (using excellency + Master of all trades technique (to increase dice cap) + CNNT for 16 dice + stunt?)]

[bravesirrobin]

[Successful 3 dice stunt]

Ferric spends hours on his ministrations, Yet no matter how many adjustments he makes he can't quite seem to find the right tweaks to give him what he needs. He gets as close as he believes he can, and there is a resemblance, but it's superficial at best. He sighs, the world is too different now, after the fair folk incursion.

Yet he still feels in his bones that he has found a significant place. He doesn't have the correct instruments with him, and his charms only provide so much. Perhaps if he came back and performed a full Geomantic survey, he could perhaps apply the necessary coordinate transformations to shift the modern maps into the first age maps, giving him better ideas to work with.