ORIGIN - [Quest] we can dream, we can pretend

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Ethics.

Lady she might like to present herself as, Miriam wasn't above eavesdropping. Overhearing voiced concerns over the use of life-bearing stones to prolong a golem's time of service almost drew a scoff to her lips. Amongst polite company, however, she kept the scorn firmly locked away; when playing the role of innocent maiden, letting slip such disdain would surely tarnish her image. Chattering mouths carried words far, and then any chance of luring malleable minds into her grasp would be foiled by rumors of the foul serpentine witch who slithered throughout the caves. Leaving malice unvoiced, she approached Totum's table and daintily picked through the materials resting atop it. Thoughts upon humiliating her dear kyte companion, already a suitable framework was pictured in her mind.

She needed this creature to be lightweight yet fierce in the places where it mattered most. From the assortment provided, mostly twigs were acquired and arranged into a shape reminiscent of the Lesser whose position she desired threatening. For the paws, she switched to bone instead, managing to scrounge together some clawed toes. Teeth seemed a more difficult find, the scarcity of them driving forth consideration of a full beak as an alternative choice for her design.

When animated, would stone weld to wood if a head was constructed of different pieces? Or should she opt for the less impressive route and carve everything from one material? Artistic ambition tipped her decision toward the first, and the leather case she carried was opened so the tools of her lifetime hobby could be retrieved. Hammer and chisel worked two chunks of rock into the curved top and bottom of a sharp beak. Use of blades followed, stripping away bark and shaping the wood beneath them into what would've been a sleek wedge if not for the blunted tip that allowed linkage to the constructed mouth.

Eyes weren't necessary, but Miriam hollowed out a single spot on the golem's forehead regardless. Scooping a handful of loose pebbles, she concentrated the rubble into something greater than the sum of its parts. When her palm opened, a mossy green gem was revealed and slipped into place. Purely aesthetic, of course, but why not give the construct a little extra appeal?

The sound of the Zoisite's voice cut through anything Juggernaut tried to distract itself with. It hadn't heard it in so long - it cut the incoming internal monologue short. No. We are not thinking about this. We are NOT thinking about Zoey.

She's right there, though.

He busied himself with assembling some bones (white and elegant, like Mother's designs) into an animal-esque shape with his stingers, scraping them towards his part of the floor and past the other closer Gembound. It lay flat on what would be its stomach, four short limbs and a lengthy tail. It was made of mostly leg and arm bones, long and stiff, with the beginning of a foot or hand used as a head.

As he reached for a stone, though, the conversation interrupted his focus again. Sacrifice was natural, and to be remade into something that could serve Mother, however brief, was a blessing. This was innate to him. But because it was this particular Gembound, and this particular subject - ~~sinking ships~~ - he hesitated, staring blankly at the pebble like gem sitting next to his construct.

He was stronger this. He should be.

Nikolai Berkley

He waited and watched for a moment, raising an eyebrow curiously. So golams, interesting. He wasn't really sure how or where things like this would be useful for him, but he wasn't one to turn away a new ability. And so, he took a moment to glance around, noticing how others worked on theirs before he turned his attention to his own.

With a sigh, he picked out a few items, mostly sticks and vines, earthy things, things that reminded him of trees and forests. It was quite difficult to do at first, but slowly he began to assemble his own little creation, though it wasn't nearly as good looking as the others, as he didn't care very much about its appearance. All he cared about was it working.

• I take my whiskey neat •

Totum offered murmurs of welcome to those who thanked them, and smiles to those who declared the process interesting, or fun. It was Zoey who made their head tilt, thoughtful; Wilder echoed the same concerns, and Totum gently shook their head.

"They are not... living, exactly; but it does... use it up? Hmm, but you might use a piece of your own stone, instead--if you prefer. But you need not do either. You can animate them only with the magic. It will simply not last so long," they explained.

And then they turned, looking fondly down at their own creation.

Eat-? Totum blinked back up, between Zoey and the... shack? "Please do not eat one another," they agreed.

Once most of the golems were mostly assembled--be they strange conglomerations of sticks and bones with too many legs, or the knuckle bone and fibers... Totum spoke up again.

"Now, pay attention, if you would. This is the important part. This is the magic, how you will shape it, all right? Look--like this. Their hands were held above their own new creation, and the Gembounds present could feel the very nature of the spell. It wasn't too unlike giving life, for those who had done it: a simple magical imbue of the inanimate object, with both power and intent behind it.

----------------

Gembounds are being granted the spell Golem, and invited to test it out. Their created golem will last for a few days unless a gemstone--or Give Stone--is found and inserted. Those who did not post last round may do so this round and GM tag to be given the spell.

Golem: Medium Intensity Manipulation. The caster creates a golem out of inanimate objects such as stones, bones, or twigs, or commands their existing golem. Give Stone or a living Gemstone may be used up to provide an energy source that can be recharged each cycle with another cast of the Golem spell. Experienced users can control a golem up to the size of a deer, or two small golems.

Golem is now also unlocked in the Magicka Shop. This thread is now closed to new entrants, and will only consist of one posting round to complete the Golem creations, and a farewell post by Totum. (Please wait until your character has been given the spell before posting.)

@Esther @Juggernaut @Wilder @Setanta @Nikolai @Cardan @Miriam @Wulfsige @Zephiran @Nikolai @Zoey @Giggle @Mocha @Five Seven and Two

Setanta is oblivious to the dilemmas the older Gembound discuss, about stones and lives. She's still too young to really know, and also not particularly inclined to care. And there's the new shiny toy of fun cool awesome magic!

Her eyes glitter as she watches Totum drive will into their newer golem. And then it was her turn. Her very own creation. She just had to make it live.

I've never use magic before, she'd worry, before placing a paw on her creation, and hoping for something. Anything.

After a dreadfully long silence, something did happen. The vine covered bones that had served as the face of Setanta's creation cleaved right in half.

Her jaw drops as she stares at her now broken golem. "WHAT!? Am I that bad at it!?"

The silvered pup focused more on the teaching than any of the others around him. Placing a light paw over the stones and things he grabbed. Cyan eyes watching as he called for any of the power.

Magic swooshed from his paw, the stones rumbled. It wasn't perfect but he did it! He made the golem that stood unevenly. Zephiran would learn it eventually. Even maybe decide better looking rocks or gems. The golem began to move around him. Carrying its weight side by side.

It was odd to see the golems at his side. Zephiran figured if he could get a decent sized one he might be able to actually push the stones off the entrance of where he lived.

"Speaking"

( @ )

Wilder nodded, but sadness filled her heart as Totum continued to echo the same sentiment that so many already said - the stones were not alive. It just felt so wrong to Wilder, because they did feel alive. They were remnants of lives lived, memories and echoes, and to use it up was simply erasing all that was. The potential for anything further was gone. The end of a line. It was...so sad to her. She wouldn't blame others for doing it, but Wilder herself didn't think she would be able to bring herself to do it.

Still, magic could sustain for a short time. So she gathered her stones and twigs and arranged them into a shape that could be a creature, and pressed magic into it. The sticks and stones shuddered and then, a moment later, began to rise. There was no head or face to it, and it was a bit wobbly, but it rose and animated before her eyes.

A smile narrowed the corners of her eyes. "Oh, there! How cute!" She could feel her connection to it, although it was wavering. Totum was right - without the gemstone like a battery, it was precariously close to collapsing.

There was an almost sarcastic creak of Five Seven and Two's windows. Of course it wasn't going to eat anyone. It did not think it had the right parts for that. Did it? Whenever it got hungry it simply sat down. It hadn't fully grasped why other things didn't simply sit down when they were hungry. It had seen Lumut put things into her mouth before. It found the idea strange and the act itself distasteful. Five Seven and Two could communicate none of these thoughts, though. It assumed that things walking inside of it counted as it eating to others. But did it count if it held its door open? When other things ate, they closed their mouths afterwards. And so, that was what Five Seven and Two decided to do: it left its door open, in a form of compliance.

Inside, should Zoey choose to continue, they would find that, despite the oddness of the whole situation, 572 had
a singular room which was quite pleasant, and abound with tea sets and soft cushions. 572 would not move, nor raise any walls, simply allowing Zoey to do as she wished with its many contents.

572 shook with barely contained joy. It had a visitor! It had to stay still, though. It had stood up too fast when it had a red mouse inside of it once, and it had left the house feeling very bad. Wary of moving while someone was visiting, 572 stuck its lantern stick as far forward as it would go, swaying it so that the lantern bumped into it on an upward swing. 572 did not expect the magic to take as well as it did. The Golem did not either. Its piccasso-like creation sprung to life, quite literally. It jumped up on its too many legs and zipped about before 572 in a circle, like an overexcited dog. The walking hut could only watch, surprised at the amount of energy its creation had. The golem's excitement was infectious, and soon 572 was whistling a tune in beat with the golem's steps and circuits.

@Zoey

Juggernaut considered its next action silently, unsure on how much of this train of thought it should truly entertain. Mother would surely disapprove of where it ended, so he made his decision before it did - he left the stone where it lay, instead reaching for the odd, inner potential within him. Something more innate to his existence than order - an uncomfortable truth to him.

He was not magickally adept. He had chosen his path away from it with little regret. Even so, he'd give this a try, if only to fit in with the crowd.

Alas, peer pressure doesn't equal adequate training. The magic fizzled out quick, barely reaching his outermost layers - perhaps there was simply too much distance for the energy to travel. He watched the still homunculus for a long while.

A being of refinement and poise, exhibiting unrestrained excitement would be rather uncouth. Miriam's coils didn't tremble at the prospect of manipulating so much wood and stone into a fleeting mimicry of life. No, she remained still, lips curled into a smile soft but undeniably smug despite not yet lifting a claw to weave magic into every inch of her construct. Someone of her majesty surely would succeed at so simple a demonstrated party trick. After all, puppetry couldn't demand worse energy consumption than condensing rock into far more valuable gems. Suffering backlash remotely equivalent to her first dabbles in her native element was an impossibility. Twigs splintering from afar naturally lacked the concussive sting of pebbles aggressively shattering in her grip.

Unseen threads extended from a lazily outstretched paw. They wrapped around the motionless golem, tying their mistress' influence into place. Claws playfully twiddled; each motion was responded to in kind by minute jerks from the form lying prone before her. As if rousing from a deep sleep, the new minion arched its back, a feline affectation from its creator, and stood. The gem sunken into its wedge-shaped head gleamed while it scanned the surroundings with a certain predatory air.

"Delightful," Miriam purred at the sight. Self-satisfied laughter rang out like a bright chorus of bells. "Really, truly, a charming creature."

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