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Fourteen followed at the back of the group, his slowness painfully obvious. As he walked, his head swiveled, looking for other golems. He saw two or three of them amongst the crowds, walking to or from tasks with blank determination upon their faces. One carried a large slab of marble like a backpack, not even straining under the tremendous weight. Another laid bricks at a construction site. A third carried a large, ornate palanquin on its back, the rider obscured by thick velvet curtains. These creatures, these long-lost brothers of Fourteen, looked so at peace, so focused and with purpose. He envied them so much that it ached. 

Soon, the group entered a pristine white keep and hallways filled with servants, then the throne room of the queen. Fourteen heard the guards whispering about him, but he did not respond. He supposed that if he found it bizarre that he had been trapped in the world below with no purpose, those used to golems having purpose would find it strange for him to be amongst a party of foreigners. He made no sign to show that he had heard. Perhaps if they found a foreign golem strange, they’d find a sentient golem stranger. 

The queen graciously granted the party and Fourteen bowed his head. The room was almost pure marble, polished to a shine with a red carpet stretching towards a throne at the back. The queen was eerily beautiful, haunting in her majesty. She looked...familiar to Fourteen, but he was not sure why. He could not recall having ever met her before. The party members took their turns introducing themselves, and soon it came Fourteen’s time. He took a step forward, almost bumping into Nakala, and then knelt to one knee, audibly creaking and crunching as he moved. Once he had settled, he spoke with his impossibly baritone voice:

[b]“Queen Tabitha of Exusia,”[/b] he said. [b]“I am Number Fourteen. I have wandered the Deadwood for many months, hoping to find a purpose and order for myself in a place where chaos reigns supreme. I have no memory of who I am and no idea of what task I was made to perform, but I believe I could find that task here in your magnificent domain. I do not wish for gold, but instead for purpose and direction in my existence.”[/b]