Spoiled Bread

[Feend's Scrapyard] Hay in a Needlestack

"Feel free to call me Burner2137. I used to work in a glass factory so that was my codename. When the owner realize its cheaper to buy a new construct than it cost to fix me, he just dumped me here. Then Feendz's lackeys dismantled most of my body." The robot head was more chatty than one would expect from a robot, but maybe because it was just a head that the only thig it could do was talk.

"How about you? Tell me more about yourself. You sounded like a good guy so why are you here taking this shady job?" The robot asked in return.

"Make sure I'm properly facing your forward so I can give better direction. Ah, go slightly left to your 10 O'clock." Regardless, the robot head, or Burner2137 as it claimed, smoothly directed Leif to a particular pile of waste slightly deeper into the scrapyard. At a glance it didn't look any different than any other pile, but Leif could see several people already there. There's a goblin seemingly hiding from something, or someone. A pudgy helmented man begrudgingly digging through trash. A few distance further there's also two men with metallic limbs pulling out car parts from another junk pile.

"Here, in front of you should be where the thief who snatched the memory disc was shot by Feendz. I heard some nasty crack when that happens so the thief probably didn't survive, and Feendz won't enter this scrapyard by himself so the memory disc should still be there somewhere." The robot head informed him.

"I found it amusing that Feendz didn't like the disc being stolen while he himself stole the disc from someone else. This situation is probably what you human categorize as... iron-y."

Meanwhile, Zetmit was trying to spot he source of his uneasiness. He looked around and tried to focus his senses. However, he couldn't sense anything notable until he saw a figure already moved towards him. Donning a multi-layered rust-colored attire consisted of a leather garment covered with long over coat, boots, gloves, hat, and the most striking one was a beak-shaped gas mask. The figure move with a silent eerie gracefulness that they almost seen gliding rather than walking towards Zetmit.

"You poses something that is mine." The figure stood next to Zetmit, their gloved hands opened as if demanded something from the goblin. They're relatively short compared to most human but still towered one or two feet above the goblin. The voice that came out of their gas mask was coarse and distorted. The gas mask covered their entire face and the orange tint on the eye sockets were too thick for Zetmit to see through.
"Please return it."

@Starleaper @Scrove

[Feend's Scrapyard] Hay in a Needlestack

"I can not sense your direction, human. The only sense I still have is my hearing and my internal compass." The robot head replied to Leif's question.

"How about this? You carry me around, and I will help you find it. In exchange, I want you to help me meet Feend. I have some words for him." Hearing this, many of the other dismantled robots tried their hardest to make noises. Some quickly open and close their mouths, some spin their antennae to make it hit nearby metal, some moved whatever limb they were still attached to. The result was a weird cacophony of disjointed metals clattering around Leif, almost as if they were cheering whatever the talking robot would do.

@Scrove

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The pudgy helmeted augmenter didn't notice Zetmit's presence at all as he passed by and headed straight towards the mound where the goblin found the crystal. After feeling the air for a bit, the man crouched right on top of the mount, then dug directly into the mound.

"Damn those two. Making me do all the work. I'm sure they will claim all the money if we get the disc." The man grumbled as he pulled a memory disc from beneath the mound. The light reflected from the blue orb embedded in the middle would no doubt catch Zetmit's attention, but what's more surprising was the man pulled out a sack made of fishnet and put the disc into it, together with at least 3 other memory discs with similar appearances.

As he watched the event unfold in front of him, Zetmit would suddenly feel a strange sensation. An uneasiness that spreads around his body that reminds him of being stalked by a predator. Just as he was silently watching the augmenter, someone too was silently watching him.

@Starleaper

[Feend's Scrapyard] Hay in a Needlestack

The junk pile that Leif dug into was relatively new due to its closer location to the entrance of the scrapyard. There's less rust and dust on the various mechanical bits there compared to everywhere else. Yet, after digging for some time, he couldn't find memory disc that matched the description. Instead, he would find that some of the parts around him jerked when he touched them, then as he dug deeper he would find robot's heads piled under, the rest of their bodies nowhere to be found. Some weren't completely dead, yet they couldn't do anything but stare at the human digging through them.

"You won't find what you're looking at here, human." One of the robot's head seemed to still be sentient enough to converse with Leif, a rusty rectangular-shaped head with cracked eye sockets popping out of its frame.

"You should head there. That's where I heard the commotion come from." The robot spoke as if it was pointing at something, almost as if it didn't realize that it no longer had limbs to point or eyes to see.

@Scrove

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Zetmit's frantic digging fortunately didn't draw any particular attention, for now. Moreover, once he cleared enough of the junk, he would find himself in front of the shiny things buried under the pile: A fist-sized green crystal, gleaming brilliantly as it reflected the little sunlight that reached it. He could see tiny runes etched at the side of the crystal but the most striking thing about it was a large crack where a bullet had lodged itself half-way into the crystal. The thing was clearly more magical in nature but Zetmit had no knowledge of its function. He would also notice the big mound of strangely fresh-looking soil around the gem, very different from the rust-mixed sickly ground under the scrapyard.

Zetmit's goblin ears would perk up as he heard steps coming towards his direction. A brief peek would reveal the helmet augmenter was currently heading into the pile he's in, the other two still bickering, not moving from their spot. The helmeted individual didn't seem to notice Zetmit in particular, but his arms were still raised in front of him as if he'd been detecting and trying to grab something.

@Starleaper

[Feend's Scrapyard] Hay in a Needlestack

The gnome didn't bother to get up from his chair. He took another sip of his lemonade before he answered Leif's question.

"Good thinking, human. I lost the disc two days ago because a damn thief tried to snatch it from me. Fortunately, I have eagle aim and shot the thief down, hah. The memory disc should look brand new compared to everything else here. Also, there's letter 'SVR' carved into its side."

The gnomes explanation was interrupted when a shard noise of iron hitting another iron could be heard nearby. Leif and the gnome could see a young female elf just accidentally kicked a large iron bucket that caused the noise. She didn't seems to be hiding but the thick brown leather cloak she's wearing made her blend well with the rusty surrounding. Various tools and vials could be seen strapped to her belt and torso and a mask with beak-shaped filter could be seen strapped to the side of her head. Once the elf realized that her presence had been known, she let out a brief squeal before running deeper into the scrapyard.

"Hah, rare to to see them long-ears around here." He shrugged at the situation before looking back at Leif. "Is that all your inquiries, human? Now shoo, start looking, the disc won't reveal itself."

@Scrove

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Zetmit found himself inside the labyrinth made of piled junks. Countless mechanical bits stacked high and formed something akin to a canyon around him. The goblin could see plenty of faintly shiny things buried under the wastes. However, unearthing those things would take some effort, and there's not even guarantee the shining things would be something of value.

The goblin could start digging through the junk here, or choose one of many path that would lead deeper into the scrapyard. On one of the path, he could see three individuals blocking the way. They're all human, but each of them had one or two of their body parts seemingly made of steel. They're what people call augmenters, someone who enhance their body with cybernetic parts.

"Look at what I found, boss! A WP-130 prosthetic. Why would someone dump these bad boys here? You think I can use this to enhance my hands?" One of them, a lanky man with cybernetic legs and impressive neon pink mohawk made of steel, excitedly pulled a pair of obviously broken metal arms out of the junk pile. Next to him, a large bald man with cybernetic arms shook his head, unimpressed by what his friend just found.

"Look at those rust. You'll die of tetanus before the surgery even begin."

The third member was a rather pudgy man. He didn't seems to have any cybernetic limbs but he was wearing a helmet that cover almost all of his head, and there's antenanes jutting out of the side of his head. Compared to the other two, this one was seemingly focus on using a seemingly high-tech gauntlets by raising his hands above the junk piles. Zetmit couldn't figure what he was doing from simply watching him.

@Starleaper

[Ryke] Cainbell Barony - Recruitment

"An astute answer from a morality standpoint." Meredy clapped at the butler's answer, yet the mischievous grin didn't vanish from her face.

"However, Timothé, you just doomed yourself for no particular gain to anyone. If the God is in bad mood you might get the [Murder] label, which would make your life difficult until you atone. Moreover, you are now prone to be named as the culprit of the incident should the officials need a scapegoat." She explained as her grin turned into a giggle, then her expression suddenly became more serious.

"If you're going to serve me then you need to understand that the most moral answer isn't necessarily the best one. Look for a way for you to benefit of the situation, and be wary of what other people might do in response. Opportunity and survival should be the priority. Well, we're just shopping here but once you met some of my noble born acquaintances you might understand."

After a few minutes of walking they arrived at a lavish building with countless glittering neon light decorating the entrance. A couple of large bouncers stood in front of it, preventing random people from entering. Meredy waved a document towards the bouncer and after verifying it, they let both Meredy and Timothé to enter the building.

The inside of the auction house almost looked like a museum with the vast hall filled with numerous novelties. Vintage machine prototype made by dead artisan, now simply exist as collector items. Taxidermy of exotic creature in a glass tube waiting for someone to claim it and display it on their living room. A living horned horse, chained and restrained with a strange magical device on its neck. There's many more items being displayed here so the visitors would know what they can get today.

"Ohh, first time I see a unicorn. I might try bidding for that." Meredy nodded in excitement as she watched the horse from afar.

"Do you have something you fancy, Timothé? I can get it for you if you want. One of the perk of working under me is that I splurge for my servants too so no need to be shy."

[Feend's Scrapyard] Hay in a Needlestack

Widersia was a heaven for crafters. Freed from the strict religious tenets of The See, or the patriotic warmongering of The Empire. However, behind all those technological advancements lies one of the region's looming problem: waste management. It used to be much more manageable, but once the tinkerer developed various ways to boost productivity. The amount of waste produced exploded exponentially. Several sites dedicated to holding such waste were built. Ideally, the existence of such a place should only be temporary until a more permanent solution is found, but sometimes, it's just cheaper to let it be, regardless of the consequence.

Most of the scraps thrown into Feend's Scrapyard came from countless construct's body parts. Some were still usable or recyclable, but the majority of them contained too much dangerous material or simply too expensive to recycle to be worth the effort. After years, the place became a huge mountain made of broken construct parts. A literal pile of graveyard in the eyes of the construct race.

The group gathered in front of the entrance, which was just poorly erected wire fences with a fading sign that read 'FEEND's SCRAPYARD'. A strong combination of oily and rusty odor could be smelled miles away from the place. Almost as bad as the smell of a regular dump site. The man who gathered the group was a stout male gnome in a tuxedo. His bloated belly peeked out under his suit as he twirled his seemingly fake mustache. Next to him was a clean white robot with a black screen as their face. The construct was also wearing a formal suit and was holding several documents in their hands.

"Greetings. People. I'm Feendz, the owner of this fine establishment." The gnome started the briefing the group and walked onto several stacked wooden crates. He struggled to climb some of the box but the robot gave him the nexessary boost. Once the gnome managed to reach the top of the box, he continued his speech with newfound confidence as he looked down at the gathered people.

"I'm looking for a very important memory disc. It accidentally fell into the pile and now I can't find it. Regardless of the result, I will pay as stated in the contract, but anyone who manages to find the disc will receive a HUGE reward." The base payment was already pretty decent for a one day job that didn't need a specialized skill. So the mention of even more rewards would be promising to most people.

"Don't waste time. I'll waiting here." The gnome shooed the people away while his robot assistant prepared a lazing chair and a set of fresh lemonade for him to enjoy. Then it stuck a picture of said disc on the nearest wall. Apparently the memory disc was a palm-sized thick round device with glass-like blue orb in the middld. Seeing the picture, most of the gathered immediately rushed into the scrapyard, eager to get the bonus.

[ʀʏᴋᴇ - ᴀʀʙᴏʀʜᴀᴠᴇɴ] 𝑅𝑜𝒶𝒹 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝑅𝒶𝓂𝒷𝓁𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝑅𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓇: 𝒞𝒶𝓃𝓉𝒶𝒸𝓁𝑒 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓊𝓃𝓈𝑒𝑒𝓃

Marrion

Charms, charms everywhere. Scattered throughout the hut like overgrown vines. Most people might found it messy and a little freaky, but Marrion actually found the insanity and the passion... inspiring. Maybe, once she got her own lair she would hang hundreds of small puppets to decorate it.

The pale woman invite them inside. The wrapped figure carried behind Marrion's back brushed carelessly against some of the hanging charms, threatening to snag them from their anchored spot. Marrion's middle eye frantically scanned every corners of the room to make sure there's no ambush nearby, while her two normal eyes stared at the pale woman. A thought started to emerge from her fractured mind as a black chitin hand emerged from her ragged cloak and pointed at the charms the woman was making.

"We want a charm to find people."

[Ryke] Cainbell Barony - Recruitment

"Fine. I will call you Timothé, but you will also not call me ma'am. That makes me sounds old." Meredy huffed. "I guess you can call me young miss if you want to be formal."

"The chocolate man is the man that owns the chocolate factory. Last time I met him he wanted to acquire the tavern to expand his cafe franchise or something. Unfortunately the owner rejected his offers. Now that the tavern is put in an auction I have no doubt he would make an appearance."

The wizard who tinkered with the magic circle nodded. Meredy urged Timothé to follow her into the middle of the room. A bright light engulfed both of them as the crystal room teleported them miles away. Once the light subsided, they officially arrived at Clockhaven - the capital city of Widersia.

If Prahuel had a more somber vibe due to its mountainous isolated location and high nocturnal population, Clockhaven felts much more crowded and industrious. Its steam-powered technologies gave it a particular feel that couldn't be achieved anywhere else. The street was much larger due to the huge influx of vehicles and the sight of constructs doing various menial works were very common, splitting the road in two lanes was the tram rail that hums loudly as the box-shaped vehicle dragged itself across the city.

"Welcome to Clockhaven." Meredy welcomed Timothé into the city as if she was a tour guide, clearly enjoying herself here.

"Since its your first time here I have a little personality quiz for you. People here call it the trolley dilemma. See the rail there?" She pointed at the rail in the middle of the road.

"Now imagine you are standing next to the rail. The rail branched out into two rails and the lever that can switches the rail path is right in front of you. The first lane has 10 people tied right next to the rail, on the rail itself are barrels of boiling hot oil stacked on top of each other. On the other lane are another 10 people tied right on the track itself. A tram is coming at high speed. Left alone it will knock over the oil barrel on the first lane, spilling the hot oil on the 10 people next to it and kill them in a slow agonizing death. However, if you pull the lever then the tram will be diverted to the other lane and quickly kill the 10 people tied there." Satisfied with her set-up, Meredy had a wide grin on her face as she looked at the butler and stated the quiz.

"Would you pull the lever?"

[ʀʏᴋᴇ - ᴀʀʙᴏʀʜᴀᴠᴇɴ] 𝑅𝑜𝒶𝒹 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝑅𝒶𝓂𝒷𝓁𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝑅𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓇: 𝒞𝒶𝓃𝓉𝒶𝒸𝓁𝑒 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓊𝓃𝓈𝑒𝑒𝓃

Marrion

Marrion had already made a small camp at the edge of the town before coming here so she didn't rent a room at the inn. Although half way to her camp she wished she had just got the room there as the storm pelted her and her puppets. She would need to spent some time to dry Horatius once the rain's over.

Marrion returned to the inn rather early. The storm last night made it hard to hunt for breakfast so she figured she would have another stew, and maybe popped some of her honey crystals. She silently walked into the inn, sitting near the bubbling pot waiting for it to be finished. While waiting a thought suddenly struck her head.

"Must show Horatius to bird woman." She said she was looking forward so Marrion figured she could show her right now. She tried to recall the name of Miiya's room, two-oh-four. Thankfully it's less than fifty so she should be able to find it. Yet the moment she stepped into the second floor the opened door immediately draw her attention. The curious Marrion peeked inside, and once she was sure there's no one, she stepped in.

"Something happened." She muttered. She picked a few of Miiya's feathers.

"A fight happened." Replied a much deeper voice coming from Marrion. "No blood, but a lot of mess. We should tell the guards, or at least the innkeeper."

"You're correct, Horatius." Marrion replied herself with her usual voice. There's no urgency on Marrion's voice as she stepped down to the common hall and approached the innkeeper.

"A fight happened there." She pointed at the direction of Miiya's room.

[Ryke] Cainbell Barony - Recruitment

"I'm not one to involve myself in physical conflict, Timmy." Meredy didn't shy away at looking straight back at Timothé, confidence and defiance could be seen gleaming in her eyes.

"But if there's a bigger fish blocking me from my goal, then I will use an even bigger fish, or maybe a bigger spear, to remove it."

It didn't take long for the carriage to arrive at their destination. A heavily-guarded building isolated from everywhere else. It's a teleportation spot, an old one. Said to be built before the great war. Meredy waved her family badge in front of the guard holding a black orb and they immediately let them in.

"Have you ever go to Clockhaven, Timmy? I like to do my shopping there so you better start familiarizing yourself with that city." Meredy asked as she stepped out of the carriage. In front of them was a large chamber with red crystals lining up the ceiling, the light that reflected by the crystals filled the room with ominous yet beautiful red tint. An old man in wizard attire seemed to be inscribing their actual destination into the large magic circle carved into the floor.

While they're waiting for the teleportation preparation, Meredy handed Timothé a piece of paper with several to-do lists written neatly on it:
- Obtain tavern from the auction (beware of Chocolate Man)
- Buy furnitures
- Buy clothes lots of clothes, all size

"A small list of what we'll do."