Muttonhawk — Roleplayer Guild

Reaching the end of the deserts was a relief for a number of reasons amongst the group. Not least was the return to self-sufficiency granted by the forest. They could hunt again, instead of relying on rations and summoned imps. The Anequinans amongst them had a short period of adjustment but their beast spirits were well controlled and any trouble was short-lived.

From Janius, there was a brief period of nervousness when they group ran close to Bravil. He was quick to take up the responsibility of remaining in their camp outside while the others sold off their supplies. He was open to anyone who asked about his family that resided there. He was stubborn enough about avoiding them that no effort to convince him to take the opportunity to reconnect succeeded.

The getting-to-knowing of Marcaille and Ri'vashi was embraced by just about everyone in both packs. It was a surprise to witness how shy Ri'vashi was, given how stoic and confident she outwardly acted. However, this simply made everyone less intimidated to talk to her after a while. Gallus was glad that she was opening up; it would be great practice for when they reached the Bruma clan. Marcaille was fine company as well, but no one pressed her too hard about that which she did not want to talk about. They were personal matters, after all.

About halfway through the leg between the Imperial City and Bruma, Fendros finally remembered about his odd feelings regarding Marcaille. It was that one time in the reclamations temple in Vos, when they had a visit by a certain daedric prince. Mephala warned them about a Breton. Fendros shared his memory with Ahnasha, but at the point that he did, he was dismissive of it. Marcaille was a fine person and they had no reason not to trust her. If they did, then they would just as likely be within reason to avoid Sabine as well. Fendros simply asked Ahnasha to be careful, as she always was.

The group trudged through the wind and the snow before the cave mouth that led to their home. Fendros was the first to answer Ahnasha while he carried a clinging Rhazii on his back. They both wore thick fur clothing, just as they always had to at these heights. "I know. It's hard to believe that we were at a desert a time ago." Fendros took another breath, letting steam flow forth. "I never thought I'd miss this snow as much as I miss the desert heat right now."

Rhazii raised his face from Fendros' shoulder where he had been keeping his running snout warm. "Are we home?" he asked.

Fendros grinned. "Yes we are, little one. We're finally home."

Bringing up the rear, Gallus was also grinning. He turned to Marcaille and Ri'vashi with an encouraging tone. "Ah, just you wait. We'll have a hot, juicy roast waiting for us, and a lovely steaming broth to warm our bones." He vigorously rubbed his gloved hands together to warm them slightly. "And you'll finally get to meet the great extended family that is our clan."

 The Meek
Level 1 Demigod of Crafting (Machinery)
8 Might

The Great Artisan, Divine Mason, Builder of Civilisations
Level 4 God of Crafting (Masonry, Carpentry)
25.5 Might & 1 Free Points

Birth of the Craftmaidens, Part 2

Written by BBeast, Hygswitch, and Muttonhawk
Oppressively draconian editing by Muttonhawk

Kinesis was washed and dressed by Illunabar and the Muses and left to wander the Celestial Citadel.
Conata and Teknall arrive in the Citadel.
Conata and Kinesis meet each other and are very excited to have sisters.
Teknall leaves them alone for a short time, and they construct a mechanical dog to play with.
Teknall returns with a simple dress for Conata.
Teknall leads the sisters off a balcony, and they discover they can fly.
Kinesis and Conata fly around a bit, experimenting with their newfound ability before Teknall announces the start of their world tour.

Within the gleaming white halls of the Celestial Citadel, Kinesis had spent her first hours on Galbar in the care of Illunabar and her Muses. They had caringly cleansed her, clothed her in a lovely white dress, and given her a quick tour, before once more returning to work on their capitol city of Lifprasilia. At first, they had kept their eye on the infant demigoddess, but soon their attention waned, leaving the curious girl to wander off into the palace's labyrinthine innards. It was not as if she could get into any meaningful amount of trouble with Zephyrion out of the house.

Kinesis wandered for quite a while, marvelling at her Father's craftsmanship. Before long, Kinesis right away felt her father's presence, alongside that some other familiar yet new entity. She wondered which room or hall they were arriving into.

Elsewhere in the halls, a pitch black rift opened, and out stepped Teknall. Behind him came a small, polished copper girl. As she exited the portal, Teknall turned and warned, "Watch your step." Even with the warning, he reached forward and caught Conata by the underarms to support her weight. Conata's knees immediately buckled under the tenfold stronger gravitational field of Galbar. The movement made her eyes widen as her shoulders hunched up around her neck. With a careful readjustment of balance, Conata stood up straight again.

Conata became used to her new weight almost unconsciously as the new building she found herself in overwhelmed her. Her eyes stayed fixed open and her mouth was agape as she turned her head up and around to take in the details. This place was nothing like father's workshop; it was pointy, and curly, and there was far less metal that she could feel. Yet, it was familiar. As the memories of before her birth scattered through her head in an unreadable jumble, Conata once again clung onto Teknall's side with her tiny hands. Her copper polished skin dulled and began to shift into a nervous, pitted magnesium. With an anxious fascination in her voice, Conata asked, "Where are we, daddy?"

"This is the Celestial Citadel, a grand palace which I built long ago," Teknall answered pridefully. "It floats high above the world of Galbar, which- well, I may as well just show you."

Teknall led Conata over to a nearby balcony. As they stepped outside, the breeze whistled stronger in their ears and they were bathed in direct sunlight that made Conata squint. Far below them, stretching off for over a thousand kilometres, was the globe of a great and colourful planet. It had magnificent shades of emerald and sapphire, with streaks and specks of white, lazily coasting above the surface. Conata was struck silent again. She blinked a couple of times simply with the effort of taking in something so vast. Her skin and hair shifted again, this time into a bright, excited bronze.

Teknall gave Conata a few moments to marvel at the view before speaking. "This is Galbar. It is a whole world. Many people of many different kinds live down there, who will some day soon grow to become great civilisations."

Little things kept striking chords in Conata's mind as Teknall mentioned them. She had so many questions that she almost choked trying to say them all at once. In the end, no more words came from her to clarify her situation. Instead, she could only manage a small remark. "There is...so much there."

Conata took a step away from Teknall, looking out over the planet. She kept one hand hanging onto Teknall's pocket, but another step brought her to the end of her arm span. Her fingers loosened until she took another step away. She then brought both her hands to the marble balustrade and poked her head forward to see even more. With no regards to her personal safety, Conata lifted a foot up and caught purchase on the balustrade, lifting herself up so she could lean over. "I want to see it..." She leant to the edge of falling.

Teknall stepped forwards and laid a steadying hand on Conata's shoulder. His grip was not restrictive, so she could still look over the edge to the vast planet below, but it was firm enough to stop her from climbing all the way over. "You'll see it in time. There is a lot of world down there, and it isn't going to disappear any time soon. But before I take you down there, I think we should go meet your sister."

As if conducted with theatrical timing, Kinesis poked her head curiously around the corner to see her father and the new entity, just as she got down from the balustrade. Kinesis' long, magnificently shimmering hair hung nearly to the floor like a curtain from her head.

Conata's face shot around to look at Teknall. "Sister?"

A smaller being made by her father was what she saw. Kinesis' innards churned with excitement. Apparently, father had learned from her making; it looked so perfect. A pretty thing of metal, if she wasn't mistaken.

Teknall smiled at Conata's surprise. "Yes, sister. She's actually just over there." He turned and looked over to where Kinesis was standing behind the portal to the balcony. Whatever effort Kinesis was putting into making herself scarce, Teknall humoured her little. Conata's curious red eyes found Kinesis'.

Kinesis let out a small yelp and hid behind the corner, quickly clapping two hands to her mouth. She then slid down the wall to hug her knees with the other two arms. Under her hands, she had a bright smile. Father had made a sister!

There were no sounds that Kinesis could hear but the surreptitious padding of bare feet from the corner she had retreated from. They stopped close and a little magnesium hand curled around the corner's edge. It was followed by the slow reveal of Conata's head as she peeked around the corner. Her curious face and hair were just as grey and pitted as her hand. Although, unlike Kinesis' reveal, Conata's hair was stiff enough that it didn't fall so conspicuously beneath her.

They stood staring and blinking in silence for another few seconds. Conata's skin ran with a hint of polish as she stepped out and took another pace towards Kinesis. She craned her head down to better see Kinesis' face where she sat. Another creeping step took Conata closer. She carefully reached out a hand. With the most gentle touch, Conata curled her fingers around some strands of Kinesis' voluminous hair. The hair changed colours under the light in an iridescent fashion and Conata broke into a giggle, her entire body swimming with little waves of similarly colourful bismuth in response.

"I like your hair," Conata said. Her skin was now fading into the previous bright bronze.

Kinesis looked up and tilted her head, letting her hands sink from the clamp hold over her mouth. "Thank you!" she said, not paying much mind to her hair being touched. "I like your..." She gestured around and stood up to be about a head taller than Conata. "I don't know. Your everything! You are so well made!" Kinesis paused her inspection of Conata, looking down at her... "I am Kinesis." She said, excitedly holding out one of her hands.

"Thank you." Conata was not discouraged by Kinesis' spontaneous introduction. She even found that Kinesis' hair had sufficient length that she could still have a handful of it even while they both stood. Without knowing exactly how to greet new people, Conata lifted her left hand up and grabbed Kinesis' outstretched fingers. "I am Conata." She grinned and the bronze became more reflective. "Did daddy make you, too?"

At that, Kinesis looked around the corner towards Teknall and then nodded.  "If daddy is Teknall, then yes, father is my father too." Her voice was a bit more subdued when she said this, in respect for her maker.

Teknall drew up beside the girls as they greeted each other. He was pleased to see them getting along. To Kinesis he said, "Kinesis, I trust Illunabar treated you well while I was away."

Kinesis looked at Teknall and clasped Conata's small hand again.  "Yes father. Mistress Illunabar welcomed me here and showed me around for some time. She is a bit distant, but Mistress Meimu was very nice. She bathed me and gave me a dress." She said nodding. Then she was quiet, seemingly shy or thoughtful for a short while. That ended with her blurting out, "You really built all this father? It is so big and great!" 

Teknall gestured around them and said, "Indeed! The stonework and the plant life are all my handiwork. This palace has floated through the sky since the very early days in this world's history." There was a moment's pause for thought. "You've reminded me of something. I'll be back in a minute. Talk amongst yourselves." And with that he departed down the halls, leaving the two girls alone.

Conata stood and watched her father stride into the architecture with echoing footsteps until he was out of sight. She then turned her head up to look at Kinesis expectantly. After a second, she couldn't help but let out a giggle, causing yet more colourful bismuth to swim over her bright bronze skin. She might have been apprehensive to be away from Teknall, but Kinesis gave off a similar familiar feeling as he did. She really was her sister. Conata's mouth closed as she thought of something to say.

"Can you feel the metal around us, too?" Conata asked.

Kinesis looked slightly surprised at that, looking around. She raised another of her hands to her cheek in a pensive gesture.  "I must not be as good at feeling materials as you, but I can sense the structure of the place, even though it has no real moving parts." She thought at that for a moment, recalling hazy memories from the time her essence had still been part of Teknall. "Yes I...think I am..." She broke off, looking at her sister. "I am good with other things...I am..." Her eyes flickered in a green glow for an instant, and she spoke in a hollow voice, recalling a language dead longer than the universe lived;  "Συγκρατημένη Κίνηση." She then she seemed dazed, staring into nothing until she shook her head and smiled. "Oh, movement!" She exclaimed.  "Motion! Restrained motion of linked parts! Now I know what my name means. I am...I am a demiurge of machines!" She tilted her head, thoughtful again.  "Wait, are there even machines yet?"

Conata could not exactly conceptualise what Kinesis was on about, but it sounded like fun. She knew exactly what she wanted to do now. Her curious smile broadened into an inspired grin and she jumped from foot to foot. "Can we make one?" Conata's skin began to heat up to the point of Kinesis' hand warning to let go before the metal girl became more excited.

Kinesis let go, hissing in surprise. It had not hurt yet, but the rapid heating of Conata had startled her. She looked at the palm of that hand, holding it up by the wrist with her other hand of that side. She sighed in relief that it was not burned.

"Oh..." Conata slowly retracted her hand. Her face lowered into regret and her bronze began to pit with spots of dull tin. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to..."

Kinesis looked at Conata again, wrinkling her forehead. "Oh, it's okay, I...nothing happened." She showed her the hand. "You just surprised me, that's all. I didn't know you would heat up like this. See? It's all fine."

While still embarrassed, Conata's tin spots shrunk slightly.

Kinesis pondered for a second, then added, "Come on, we will build something great. A machine, I am already getting an idea. We just need to find materials."

Conata's full reflective bronze returned and she showed her grin. Her hairs bristled with such excited heat that the air rippled above her head. "I think I can feel where some are..."

*  *  *  *  *

Teknall was absent for a long while. Just enough time, as it happened.

Within this time, Teknall's craftmaidens had pilfered all of the metal they could find in the palace and also a few other knick-knacks for their project. Some wood from the old Lifprasilian gardens, for example. A minor part of Illunabars art gallery also fell victim to their creativity. In the end, what they had made was a wonder of clockwork in a small wooden chassis. It actually looked like a small kitten or dog, at least vaguely. The last component that Kinesis put in, made with the tools Conata had shaped with her metal fingers, was a spring box that would power it. One of Kinesis' long hairs wound up inside as a spiral spring. She took some time to crank it up, but once she was done, the small thing whirred to life. It stood up and began making a funny clacking sound with its mouth. A strip of canvas from one of Illunabar's paintings was lolling out like a tongue. It looked at its makers expectantly with eyes of polished glass marbles.

Conata squat down and wrapped her arms around her knees opposite the jittering automaton. With a neutral look, she reached out with one hand until her finger touched the clock-dog's nose. In that instant, the dog recoiled, skittered back on its spindly legs, and started sprinting down the halls with a rhythm of ticki-ti-tick ticki-ti-ticks against the floor. Conata burst out laughing and began to run after it, her hair bristling once more. She skipped sideways for long enough to beckon to Kinesis. "Come on!" she shouted through a laugh before resuming her run. She was surprisingly fast and tireless for her size.

Kinesis whooped to herself and laughed as well, pumping one arm as she jumped in the air to run after them. "It works, yay!" It quickly became apparent that even though Conata resembled a girl two years younger than her, Kinesis could not catch up with her. She just wasn't a good runner. At least, she was no match for Conata. She subtly extended herself to make her legs longer. She soon looked more like a young teenager, getting lankier with each step, but also gaining a bit of speed. Her vibrantly colourful hair trailed behind her in waves as she sprinted after Conata and the automaton.

They chased the wooden dog down the halls, their merry laughter echoing through the Citadel. Soon, they had it cornered, with the dog bordered in by the girls and stone walls. Yet just when they thought they had caught it, a small hole opened in the wall which the automaton dove through, just slipping out of their grasp. The stonework sealed itself back up just as quickly as though the hole had never existed.

The girls could tell that the automaton was simply on the other side. There was the muted sound of wooden paws scurrying on the granite floor. The dog soon emerged from a doorway behind them with a bundle of linen in its mouth. It sat with a clonk on its wooden haunches and looked expectantly at Conata with its tail wagging and scraping on the floor.

"What did you find, machine?" Conata asked the dog with a grin, bowing forward with her hands on her knees. With another giggle, Conata ran up to the dog as fast as her little legs would take her and skidded to a halt. She then squatted down and brought her hands out. The dog obediently dropped the linen into Conata's hands and she unbundled it to see what it was. It became obvious when she held the fabric flat by the corners.

"It is a...like yours, Kinny." Conata turned around to Kinesis, becoming copper and showing her the garment. "You said 'dress' before? It's too small for you, though."

Teknall then stepped out from the same doorway the dog had emerged from. "That's because it's for you," he said to Conata.

Conata gasped and looked up. "Daddy!"

Teknall knelt down next to the mechanical canine and rubbed its head. With a grin on his face, Teknall said, "It is good to see you two enjoying yourselves."

Even though it had only been a few hours, Conata ran up and embraced Teknall. She turned into a loving silver when up against him, but that went back to bronze as she pulled away. Her grin was contagious. "We made a machine!"

Kinesis was still catching her breath from the run, her cheeks flushed from the exhaustion. She nodded, shrinking back to her eight-year-old self.

In her excitement, Conata seemed to forget the dress already, letting it hang from her hand, partly crumpled on the floor. She only realised this after another moment and lifted it in her hands again. She stuck her arm through the top, apparently puzzled as to how to do the dress on.

Kinesis laughed and helped Conata find the right way to put it on. "Here this is how it works," she said softly to her sister. Once it was slid over Conata's head, Kinesis tugged at the dress to straighten it here and there.

"Thank you," Conata chimed. She twisted curiously, testing the dress' movement. The fabric felt strange but not uncomfortable. She hoped that it would not be damaged easily by heat.

Teknall laughed too and said, "Come. I think it is time I showed you two the world." He beckoned for his daughters to follow him to a nearby balcony.

Conata's hair bristled with heated anticipation once again. She ran forward to take her father's hand.

Kinesis followed curiously as well, ending up standing behind her sister. She placed two hands softly on Conata's shoulders and folded the other two in around her sister's belly.

As they walked forwards, the balustrade seemed to melt away, leaving the edge of the platform open to the great drop below them. Teknall turned to face the girls while still leading them forwards. His grip on Conata's hand became firmer as he instructed to both the girls, "Just look at me, hold on, and keep walking."

As they walked, the balcony retracted from beneath them without a sound. Conata did as Teknall asked for the first few paces, keeping her eyes upon his goblin chin; she did not notice the balcony moving at all, untuned as her senses were. Though, eventually, she noticed they were walking beyond the balcony's reach as if it were still solid stone. Why weren't they falling? Conata looked down and grabbed at Kinesis' arm around her with her free hand. The elder Sister held her a bit tighter as well in response.

They were standing on nothing but air, with the breeze whistling about them and a forty kilometre drop below them. Yet they did not fall.

As Conata's eyes went down, Kinesis looked around. Already, her mouth was agape. What unsettled her was how natural it felt to do this. To walk like this, with nothing but whistling wind between the toes. No churning or clenching in her belly, no fear. Just the assuring feeling that her body; her very being was made for this. It was utterly capable of keeping her afloat. She finally looked at her father when she had firmly internalised this and curiously asked. "Father, so we can walk on nothing but air, but can we also fly? Like swooping around as a mighty bird would?"

Teknall nodded and let go of Conata's hand, leaving her levitating. "Indeed," he answered. To demonstrate he leant backwards as though falling, but then the fall flowed into an upwards swoop. He flew in a short loop then returned to Conata's side. "You'll need to find a method which feels natural to you."

Kinesis pondered this for a moment. She then took a big breath and closed her eyes. She slowly folded one pair of hands. With the other pair, she made the gesture of understanding, forming a ring out of her thumb and index finger as if she had just collected a grain of truth. Her essence began churning harder in her heart chamber. A moment of meditation later, it shined so brightly that the flesh between her metallic ribs glowed in a dim, reddish tone. She opened her eyes, revealing a green glow of divine energy. Then, she opened all four of her hands and fused both pairs of arms into one again as a barely visible shining nimbus came into view behind her head. As the light in her eyes slowly regressed, a pair of ephemeral wings, barely visible, unfolded from behind her back.

The glowing in her chest and eyes stopped, but the slight glow of her aura and wings stayed the way it was. She looked at both of her wings in wonder and nodded approvingly. "I think I found my way of flight, father," she said before spreading her arms and wings wide and letting herself fall backwards like her father had.

With no one to hang on to, Conata had simply been left in the air during her sister and father's demonstrations. It was with some confusion that she began shooting her gaze left and right, ineffectually swimming her arms through the air.

Kinesis returned after a far deeper fall ended with a few loops and barrel rolls. As she levelled to a hover, she panted and smiled from the exhilaration. A healthy blush was spread across her cheeks. "This is great! You need to try it, sister."

Conata was still flailing. She did not have the mind to even realise that she wasn't falling until Kinesis spoke. "Umm..." Her magnesium surface pitted further. "I think..."

There was a moment of pause for thought as Conata stared down at the clouds below. She stopped moving her arms and carefully straightened out. With a deep breath, she closed her eyes and began to lean forward. Then, as if the invisible precipice beneath her collapsed, she fell forward.

In her freefall dive, Conata was silently devoured by a cloud in the blink if an eye. A tense few seconds passed. Then, with a loud, childish laugh hailing her return, Conata burst back upwards out of the cloud in a red hot bronze. The inside of her hysterically laughing mouth glowed white hot as a trail of steam was left behind the tips of her toes. She didn't seem to mind that her dress was beginning to brown with the sheer heat coming off her. At least she was moving too fast through the cold air for the dress to properly ignite.

Conata's mirthful ascent didn't stop until she outright tackled Kinesis out of the air. Kinesis laughed in surprise after being having winded by her playful sister. Where Conata touched her, her dress quickly charred as well, but a slight glowing barrier kept her sisters blast-furnace-like skin from touching her directly, this time sparing further burns.

Kinesis was surprised for just an instant longer before she hugged her sister."See? You can do it too." 

Conata didn't have big, beautiful wings like Kinesis, but she was flying just as naturally. The pair floated back to Teknall together, Conata still looking fresh from a forge's fire. She seemed to be laughing far too hard to speak, even as she tried to pause to breathe and form words.

Teknall laughed at the fun his daughters were having. However, there were things to be done. Once they returned to him, he spoke, "Come now, we have a world to see."

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