Engineered Magic

48 AL: Grandmother

“Whose turn is it?” Grandmother asked.

“Mine,” Ellen responded. “I don’t feel right claiming this one. It is your quest, the crystal should be yours too, Grandmother.” Sarah, Todd and Alex all added their agreement. Companion made no move towards the crystal. Their large liquid eyes darted around the gallery taking it all in. The Gallery was a long thin space with tall glass walls. The walls were opaque, blocking any view of what lay behind them.

There were two doors on one side. One led to sanitary facilities while the other opened up into a side room housing a food service. Either end of the long center room was decorated with chairs and couches in artistic little clusters set around tables. There were three groupings on each side. The center section of the room was raised. A furniture cluster sat across from a freestanding wall. The wall sat in a rock garden, or maybe it was a sand garden, that was sunk about three inches down from the flooring. The rocks were almost small enough to be sand, but they were large enough to see that they were all different colors. Some were transparent while others bore the glint of metal. Most were stone in all the colors of the rainbow.

The wall held an inscription written in the Egyptian font. Floating in the air in front of it, over that multicolored sand was a protection crystal. It was about a foot tall and ten inches in diameter. It was the largest crystal Grandmother could remember outside of a square. Until this moment that honor belonged to the crystal that was in the secure gallery between their home square and the exit that led to the Speedwell.

This gallery was almost an exact copy of that gallery. The main difference was where this gallery contained the sand garden, the other one had a pool with fish in it. Another difference was that in this gallery all the tables were empty. The other gallery started that way. After Grandmother reached tier six fighting bears during a migration, she returned to the gallery to find an abstract sculpture on the central table. Eight year old Sarah named it a bear.

Grandmother stepped out onto the sand. Gently she touched the crystal. From the point of contact color flooded the protection crystal turning it a dark dark violet. Control granted her the discovery. A pile of bright copper coins appeared, along with a miniature integrated crystal. She picked them up. She expected the miniature crystal. She received something similar when she claimed the crystal in the other gallery and the one in their home square. She still didn’t know exactly what it meant or did. The coins surprised Grandmother more. They represented more value than what she was granted for claiming the square crystal. That meant Control thought this gallery was more valuable than a square that could house a thousand people.

When she turned to step back out of the sand, she noticed that the central table wasn’t empty any longer. Instead it held an abstract sculpture of stone, glass, oxidized brass, brightly polished stainless steel and dark cast iron. It was Sarah’s bear.

“When did that appear?” Ellen asked, when she noticed the sculpture.

“When Grandmother touched the crystal,” Sarah responded. “It must be tied to her.”

“Well she did kill a lot of bears,” Alex observed.

Grandmother looked at the sofa by the inscription wall. It was covered with a tan fabric with smooth wooden legs. She really considered if she wanted to sit on it or not. With a sigh she gave in. She didn’t want to have to decrypt the inscription sitting on the hard floor. Her neck was still stiff from the last one. She didn’t really have a stiff neck, ever since she reached tier six the nanobots in her blood wouldn’t allow her to get one. She knew if she was a normal person she would still be in pain, that was what mattered here.

She swung her pack off and sat it on the floor. She braced her staff against the armrest and settled herself down onto the seat. She allowed her finger to trail through the bear sculpture. The bear was just an illusion at this stage.

“What do you think?” Todd said quietly to Alex. “Beach or desert?” Grandmother just knew the two men were talking about what scene would reveal itself on the sofa. The furniture tapestries often took inspiration from their surroundings. Todd was betting on what the sand garden would inspire in the sofa.

“Don’t answer that,” she ordered Alex. Alex gave her an innocent look.

“How long are we staying?” Sarah asked.

“A couple days at least,” Grandmother responded. “We will give Companion some time to replace their lost blood. I have been impressed at how well they keep up, but with the crystal there is no need for us to push.”

“Ok,” Sarah responded. “Alex, can you help me convince Companion to take the breastplate off? I want to improve the enchantment on it.”

“Sure thing,” Alex agreed.

“Grandmother, can I borrow that starter hammer you found? I might be able to do some repairs on their ax with that,” Ellen asked.

“Of course,” Grandmother responded. She pulled the stuffed gathering bag off the back of her pack and handed it to Ellen. She put most of her physical spoils in it.

“Actually, we should go back and get the anvil. I am certain I could fix that notch with that,” Ellen commented.

“Is there a prize altar behind the inscription wall?” Grandmother asked. That was how the gallery near their home square was arranged. Sarah stepped around and looked behind the wall.

“Yes,” She called back, “and a set of storage shelving.” Grandmother smiled and stood back up.

“I’ll go with you,” she said rifling through her pack in search of her other gathering bag. “I marked the location of the anvil on my map.” Ellen and Todd exchanged a look. All the human members of the party realized that they would gather all the larger starting crafting gear Grandmother was forced to leave behind.

So-La-Do

So-La-Do watched as the others lightened their loads. They set backpacks by sofas, while pulling out gathering bags and rope. So-La-Do sat his ax down by the pebble beach in the central area. There was some discussion between the crossbow archer and the not-green warrior when the warrior produced a red gathering bag. Companion couldn’t understand a word they said, but he was starting to get a feel for the newcomers body language. The archer seemed angry, or maybe just annoyed. The warrior seemed strangely frightened. Considering the closeness of the group, Companion decided maybe it was just chastised.

With gathering bags hung over their shoulders the group headed back out into the halls. So-La-Do followed along. After fighting alongside the others clearing the rooms he was feeling like part of the pod. They left the association hall and set off in the direction they came. Instead of clearing every room they headed directly for some unknown destination. When they reached their selected room, they entered in the same methodical method they did before.

It was a room they cleared previously. Despite that, no one let down their guard. They searched the area like this was their first entrance. Only when they were certain the room contained no new hidden danger did the Elder break formation. It picked up a starter loom that was sitting on the corner of one of the corner desks. The Elder tied a length of cord to the device and swung it over its shoulder. The maneuver was so smooth So-La-Do knew the Elder must have experience carrying starter looms with this method.

There was some discussion. So-La-Do thought the Elder was trying to look innocent while the others seemed resolved. The not-green warrior was inspecting the footed dolphin carcasses that littered the room from the first entry. It slung one of them over its shoulder that looked entirely intact.

They left this room and headed directly to another. It wasn’t long before So-La-Do figured out the pattern. They were picking up all the large starter crafting gear. The second room contained a movable fire. The third room contained an anvil.

The anvil was a turning point. It was an especially heavy piece. The two archers carried it out into the hall. In the hall the newcomers started talking. He thought that the archers wanted to carry the anvil back to the association hall, while the Elder wanted to go a slightly different direction. So-La-Do opened his map and thought about the path they followed. They left the association hall and traveled to the farthest away starting equipment, the loom. From there they were working their way back, picking up heavy items along the way.

So-La-Do wondered why they didn’t pick up the rock polisher. He was fairly certain it was about four rooms farther from the association hall. He only remembered it because he was surprised to see it. Rock sculpting was considered a tier 2 craft, as such the starter items were extremely rare.

“Elder,” he said boldly calling the tier six’s attention to him, “aren’t you going to get the polisher?” The Elder looked at him and tilted her head at him.

“Com-Pan-Ion,” it sang to him. It followed its version of his name with a nearly monotone sentence. There was just the slightest rise in note at the end.

“The polisher,” he said. He used his flipper-hands to give a rough size of the unit, then pointed back at the room he thought it was in. He mimed picking something up. “Don’t you want it too?”

The newcomers talked among themselves. The blue warrior turned and looked back the way they came, the way So-La-Do pointed. It said something short to him that again ended in a rising note. It raised a hand and waved it directionless down the hall.

“There,” So-La-Do replied, pointing directly. He moved down the hall in the direction of the room. The blue warrior followed him. So-La-Do stood before the door to the room with the polisher and tapped it. He really hoped he was remembering this correctly. “This one,” he said.

The Elder gave an order. The newcomers fell into their room entry formation. They made entry into the room and swept it. So-La-Do was happy to see that it was the correct room. The polisher was still sitting on the floor, just in front of a column. The column itself looked damaged. A pile of broken stone was strewn out to the side. Considering the presence of the polisher, chances were that some of those stones were potentials.

None of the newcomers even looked at the polisher. So-Lo-Do went over to it and tapped it. “Polisher,” he said. The Elder was at his side looking at the device. It called out to one of the green archers. So-Lo-Do couldn’t tell the two green archers apart because they’d left the crossbow back in the association hall. The two of them started talking as they poked and prodded the polisher. The tone and beat of their voices altered, the beat was faster, the tone higher.

“Com-Pan-Ion,” the green archer sang, the faster higher monotone that followed ended in a rising note. So-Lo-Do was starting to think that the rising note was how they asked questions. It was like their language was all mooted and flattened down.

“I don’t understand,” he said back to it. Figuring out it was a question and figuring out what the archer wanted to know were two very different things. He showed them his open hand and waved it directionless before him. It was the gesture the blue warrior used to get more detailed information about the direction. So-Lo-Do hoped they understood he needed more information too.

The Elder and the archer conferred with each other. The Elder swung the hand loom off its shoulder. The archer was talking. It pointed at the fabric of its clothing and the loom. Then it pointed at the polisher and showed its open hand. So-Lo-Do couldn’t make sense of that. Why would you want to polish fabric?

It must have seen his confusion. It pulled a green gathering bag from where it was tucked in its belt and sort of stuffed it into the loom. Saying something, it pulled the cloth bag from the loom. It dropped the cloth onto the loom and turned to the polisher. It reached inside with an empty hand and mimed pulling something out. It opened its empty hand showing it to So-Lo-Do. It pointed to its open hand. Again there was that rising note in its voice.

Suddenly it hit him. They didn’t know what it was. So-Lo-Do was stunned. How could the outsiders have a tier six among them and not know what a simple rock polisher was? Did they not have any stone craft? The Elder wore an amulet, So-Lo-Do saw it. Yet the Elder was looking at him with a keen interest too.

So-Lo-Do changed his grip on his hammer and brought the head of the weapon fully into view. The head was wrapped in coils of oxidized bronze, but it was still mostly stone. Its stone heart showed through on the sides. So-Lo-Do pointed at the shining golden stone. “It polishes stone,” he explained.

The Elder reached out to touch the hammer. They were talking to each other again. Their tones were lower, the beat of the voices slower. So-Lo-Do couldn’t understand if they understood that or not. He handed the hammer to the Elder and took a step or two over to that pile of loose stones. They looked like a white marble. That was a tier zero stone so it should work. He picked up a piece at random, hoping it wasn’t flawed. He put the stone in the inlet chute and activated the polisher with a simple ‘on’ command.

The tool vibrated and made a low grinding noise. Everyone waited. One of the archers was passing the time inspecting the hammer. The Elder was looking at the loose stone by the column. The not-green warrior was inspecting the land urchin carcasses that were scattered around from their earlier entry, while the blue warrior and the other green archer kept watch.

The tool clicked, the vibration and grinding noise stopped. So-Lo-Do reached in and retrieved the rock, only now it was a perfect sphere with a finish like water. He handed it to the green archer and took his hammer back.

Ellen

“I don’t believe it,” Ellen said as she looked at the rock in her hand. Ellen considered herself the crafting member of the team. It was her responsibility to know everything about it. She may not be the master of every crafting skill, but she knew how it was done and who to go to get it done. When Grandmother and Sarah discovered enchanting, Ellen’s world view was shaken just a bit. She consoled herself with the knowledge that it wasn’t really crafting. Enchanting was more a new field of magic, separate from imbuing and casting. But this… this was crafting. The fact that she could think of no use for a shiny stone ball had nothing to do with it. She was well aware that the crafting tools tended to spit out pretty useless objects when run in a default mode.

Companion just turned the tool on and let it go. They didn’t control it. There would be a whole series of controls, or crafting spells, tied to this tool that would alter the end product. The crafter could probably change the shape, finish, size and maybe even the color. Ellen didn’t remember seeing that golden stone from Companion’s hammer anywhere before. She remembered they found the hammer by the yellow player. Perhaps the stone’s color was tinted to match the owner’s magic.

“Imagine my surprise,” Grandmother said. Ellen glanced at Grandmother. The older woman did not seem nearly as shocked as Ellen felt. Grandmother was testing the weight of the tool. “Yeah,” she said. “We are going to have to head straight back to the gallery. We can search all these rooms again tomorrow.”

“All of them?” Todd asked.

“Yes,” Grandmother responded. “This is an advanced tool, something like a loom. There is bound to be a whole set of simple tools, like pins, spools and shears that go with it. Companion’s help in identifying them will be priceless. Otherwise we will have to haul all this debris back to the gallery to find the bits and pieces that convert to an item and not to scrap.”

“That sounds like something you have experience with,” Ellen said. She would never have considered using that method. It would take forever.

“Well it is not something I want to do again if I can avoid it,” Grandmother responded. She was picking up the rocks and putting them in her purple gathering bag. The bag was growing darker where Grandmother held it, but the bulk of it was holding on to its clear violet color. “I’ve been thinking about it and you very rarely see free stones. The soil in the greens are usually free of rock. Although there are a lot of stone floors and walls, I don’t believe they will break very easily. I remember some of the first explorers broke the sandstone in a water feature trying to find where the water came from, but I doubt sandstone will make a very good product.”

Ellen thought Grandmother was right. That artistically broken column was a rare find. The fact that the polisher was right beside it could not be a coincidence. This was one of Control’s hints.

“I saw rocks down in that smelter room,” Alex called from the door.

“Yes,” Grandmother agreed. Ellen remembered Grandmother studied the room for a long time. “I thought it was ore at the time. If we make any progress at this stone crafting we will have to go down there for a closer look.”

“We should check the scrap we picked up,” Sarah commented from the door. “Companion picked up most of it. If their people use a lot of stone, that might be what they were looking for.”