Harmonia Mortus
20-11-2004, 19:52
Somewhere in the northern regions of Arx (Stronghold), Rath.
Sounds of machinery echoed around the castle, perched high atop a peak of some of the highest mountains of Rath. The castles design had been taken from some of the early horror films of Earth. It was dark. It had pointy turrets suitable to imprison princesses in. It was also made of steel, though this was not typical it made up for the fact by being much more impressive.
Right now it was wet as well, and being hit by lightning alot.
It had rubber walls on the inside.
"Let my creation LIVE! HAHAHAHAHAHA!"
A man in a white coat (of course) threw up his hands, at the exact right moment, as a flash of lightning tore across the window, creating a perfect sillouhete. His wild hair now stood on end as the energy built up in the room. Huge storage batteries deep in the mountain sucked up the lightning greedily and fed it into the capacitors on the opposite end of the room.
In the middle of the room six tables, covred in blueish cloth (as per regulations), sat. The vaugly humanoid shapes underneath promised something interesting.
"The capthitorth are charged thir, we can thtart thoon." Something like a large collection of stitches had stumped its way up the stairs onto the catwalk above.
"Ahh, excellent Igor. THROW THE SWITCH!"
"Ith a button, marthter."
"Press the button, Igor!"
"We have to prime the thwitch firtht, marther."
"Commence the damn operation, Igor."
"Yeth, marthter."
Igor stumped off again, he stumped because one leg was about two inches shorter than the other. This was compensated for by the nailing of a wooden block to his shoe. It also resulted in his longer leg being, in fact, shorter than his short leg.
Arcs of electricity earthed themselves in a few unfourtunate minions as Igor proceded to set up the final phase of Tin Man. Of course, the Tin Men in question were brass, but that didnt seem to bother anybody.
"Throwing the thwitch, marthter!"
Igor threw the switch.
The room dissapeared, a blinding flash of energy filled the castle, visible for miles around. For a few minutes the castle was a huge lighthouse.
On the Thaumic level the disturbances were felt a bit more widely. The terrain of Rath, being of magical nature, was sublty altered for a wide area. Around the mountains and on the plains below bits of stone rolled over (or in some cases hurled themselves violently) towards the castle.
Rocks pinged on the windows.
Damn, Igor thought, Im the one whose going to have to clean the bloody windows.
On the tables...something twitched.
"YES! LIVE! LIVE! LLLLIIIIIVVVVEEEEE!!!" The man threw his hands up, but the storm was apparently feeling stubborn now, no lightning appeared.
One of the sheets fell off the table, and a mechanical man sat up.
Large insectoid eyes stared out into space while a four-fingered hand flexed and twisted while its unoiled joints creaked.
It stood up.
Ah, Doctor, I see you have some new toys for me.
The doctor spun around, a manic grin on his face. Charnel was currently in the form of a man, maybe twenty years old, with a glazed look on his face. His mouth was open and he was drooling. The Keeper had never mastered facial muscles.
"Ah, yes milord Charnel. The new Automatons are ready. We were able to build them exactly to the specifications you desired. They are strong, loyal, and intelligent, but not TOO intelligent."
So, they are a kind of Golem?
"Yes and no. They are significantly more inteligent. They lack the basic free-will element, but otherwise have near-human intelligence, for instance they have some measure of common sense, they wont dig a five hundred foot deep well if told to 'dig a well'. They have a basic self preservation code, they cant destroy themselves without certain override codes."
Can they fight?
"Of course. They can use any weapon a normal human can use, and a number of heavier weapons. We think they can handle a Black Guard TC, maybe even one of the swords."
Good. Will we require this much...stuff, to create more?
"Oh, no, of course not. I just feel that the first ones should be made the...tradiational way. Indeed, this much modern equipment would be enough to bring thosands to 'life', I shall have a full report by tommorow, sir."
Very well. Contact me when your ready/
"Yes, milord"
Charnels body vanished in a puff of smoke.
Sounds of machinery echoed around the castle, perched high atop a peak of some of the highest mountains of Rath. The castles design had been taken from some of the early horror films of Earth. It was dark. It had pointy turrets suitable to imprison princesses in. It was also made of steel, though this was not typical it made up for the fact by being much more impressive.
Right now it was wet as well, and being hit by lightning alot.
It had rubber walls on the inside.
"Let my creation LIVE! HAHAHAHAHAHA!"
A man in a white coat (of course) threw up his hands, at the exact right moment, as a flash of lightning tore across the window, creating a perfect sillouhete. His wild hair now stood on end as the energy built up in the room. Huge storage batteries deep in the mountain sucked up the lightning greedily and fed it into the capacitors on the opposite end of the room.
In the middle of the room six tables, covred in blueish cloth (as per regulations), sat. The vaugly humanoid shapes underneath promised something interesting.
"The capthitorth are charged thir, we can thtart thoon." Something like a large collection of stitches had stumped its way up the stairs onto the catwalk above.
"Ahh, excellent Igor. THROW THE SWITCH!"
"Ith a button, marthter."
"Press the button, Igor!"
"We have to prime the thwitch firtht, marther."
"Commence the damn operation, Igor."
"Yeth, marthter."
Igor stumped off again, he stumped because one leg was about two inches shorter than the other. This was compensated for by the nailing of a wooden block to his shoe. It also resulted in his longer leg being, in fact, shorter than his short leg.
Arcs of electricity earthed themselves in a few unfourtunate minions as Igor proceded to set up the final phase of Tin Man. Of course, the Tin Men in question were brass, but that didnt seem to bother anybody.
"Throwing the thwitch, marthter!"
Igor threw the switch.
The room dissapeared, a blinding flash of energy filled the castle, visible for miles around. For a few minutes the castle was a huge lighthouse.
On the Thaumic level the disturbances were felt a bit more widely. The terrain of Rath, being of magical nature, was sublty altered for a wide area. Around the mountains and on the plains below bits of stone rolled over (or in some cases hurled themselves violently) towards the castle.
Rocks pinged on the windows.
Damn, Igor thought, Im the one whose going to have to clean the bloody windows.
On the tables...something twitched.
"YES! LIVE! LIVE! LLLLIIIIIVVVVEEEEE!!!" The man threw his hands up, but the storm was apparently feeling stubborn now, no lightning appeared.
One of the sheets fell off the table, and a mechanical man sat up.
Large insectoid eyes stared out into space while a four-fingered hand flexed and twisted while its unoiled joints creaked.
It stood up.
Ah, Doctor, I see you have some new toys for me.
The doctor spun around, a manic grin on his face. Charnel was currently in the form of a man, maybe twenty years old, with a glazed look on his face. His mouth was open and he was drooling. The Keeper had never mastered facial muscles.
"Ah, yes milord Charnel. The new Automatons are ready. We were able to build them exactly to the specifications you desired. They are strong, loyal, and intelligent, but not TOO intelligent."
So, they are a kind of Golem?
"Yes and no. They are significantly more inteligent. They lack the basic free-will element, but otherwise have near-human intelligence, for instance they have some measure of common sense, they wont dig a five hundred foot deep well if told to 'dig a well'. They have a basic self preservation code, they cant destroy themselves without certain override codes."
Can they fight?
"Of course. They can use any weapon a normal human can use, and a number of heavier weapons. We think they can handle a Black Guard TC, maybe even one of the swords."
Good. Will we require this much...stuff, to create more?
"Oh, no, of course not. I just feel that the first ones should be made the...tradiational way. Indeed, this much modern equipment would be enough to bring thosands to 'life', I shall have a full report by tommorow, sir."
Very well. Contact me when your ready/
"Yes, milord"
Charnels body vanished in a puff of smoke.