Bordering one side of the Zeklaus desert, the Ragnivaul Mountain chain is rich in ore and gems. This has led to the founding of Cursa, a town on the opposite site that mines the mountains for its riches. Situated on the snowy slope is an abandoned outpost, long unused. Built into the mountainside, it is unknown just how far it extends into the mountains, if at all. No records tell why it was abandoned if there even was a reason.

He was kneeling, before the entrance of the outpost. "Seirait. Are you ready?" He had his sword imbedded in the ground before him, the Sword his Father had passed to him, and his father before him, and through his family line. He wrapped both hands around the hilt, and looked into the runes, glowing across it. "Father, as you did before Me, and your father before you, I will do now. I swear to serve the Will of Ajora, to fight in his name, and to reap destruction, where evil has been laid." Standing slowly, the Vampire pulled his sword from the ground, his Crimson Tabard hitting the ground. "Burn it." The emblem upon it was of Clan Seraph. "We have Goblins to kill. I suggest we do it quickly, before they can get to the townsfolk." He swung the rune blade, the air hissing as it cut through it. Drawing his Blood Sword in his other hand, he walked into the mine. "Goblins have a weakness to Ice. Prepare to freeze them as they flee from me."

Seirait looked at what was to be their clan hall. Outside it looked like something the Queen needed to remove but she had assured him that it reached into the mountains, corridors carved into the stone itself. The archway at the entrance had long since crumbled and all that remained were the two columns that held it though now they were worn smooth by snow and wind.

The wind howled around the two of them and the peak as the sun set behind the mountains into the Zeklaus Desert. "And it's only going to get colder," he muttered. As if to confirm this, it began to snow, lightly at first but the wind began whipping it up. "You would almost think she sent me on a suicide mission. To her knowledge I was alone," he mused. Shaking the feeling he looked into the depths of the stone entryway.

Handprints could be seen on the walls. They were patterned more inquisitively than fearfully, obviously not the marks of scared men. Not the handprints of humans but of something slightly smaller and more animal-like, seemingly the goblins Selferas had mentioned.

Watching as Selferas took point he couldn't help but feel out of place. Following had never been something he did. It had been one of the things Headmaster Cid had talked to him about, calling it a propensity towards leadership. If Cid had had more time for each student he might've known Seirait preferred to work alone. Despite his feelings, Seirait had been slated to lead a mission before NORG's uprising. Even now he wondered just what that mission could have been.

He pulled out his blade in response to Selferas statement. "They would have to be running pretty quickly to get away from me..." As per Selferas' wishes, he cast a thundara spell to incinerate the tabard bearing Seraph's crest. The spell left small charred remains that were quickly covered up by the falling snow. "Impetuous fools," he scowled as he followed Selferas in.


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

The goblins huddled around small campfires to keep warm. The icy climate was far from their favorite and made them sluggish and short tempered. There were fifteen total though the two leaders were in the central command room. The thirteen others were scattered in the outpost 3-4 to a fire, all of them wrapped with stolen blankets and eating stolen food.

There were two tribes in the outpost each led by a different goblin. Meliok led the larger of them holding 7 under his command. His were marked by red headbands to separate them from the others. Garuum led the smaller tribe overseeing 6 goblins. These were differentiated by yellow bands on both wrists. The goblins themselves did not get along well and kept the same company at their fires even if their leaders got along.

"Why can't we just move the crystal? We all know we can't live in this cold for too long," one of the goblins complained, red headband marking him as one of Meliok's. A larger one smacked him in the back of the head. "You idiot! Haven't you even seen the crystal? It's growing out of the floor. We can't move it, not without destroying it."

"I still don't see why we all have to be here in this free-" The larger goblin smacked him again. "Shut up and stop complaining." "Fine," the smaller one grumbled, rubbing the aching bump that was now rising on the back of his head.

Meliok and Garuum stood in the central command room of the outpost, a small fire burning in front of them. The crystal stood behind them, catching the firelight and throwing it around the room. The crystal was as tall as they were and twice as wide, growing from the floor. A natural gem, it would vibrate when loud sounds were near it.

Both Meliok and Garuum were lacking some mental capacity, each thinking that the crystal was speaking to them, commanding them to make it offerings of earthy goods, the stolen metals and gems. Piled beside it were several week's worth of goods. Gems and metal bars flowed over each other, an endlessly sparkling hill. Who could say if the crystal were actually talking to them or if it were just the inherantly greedy nature of goblins turned manifest in their minds?

"Our master is pleased with out offering but he requires more," Meliok intoned. "More? How can we get more? We've already taken the last shipment. There wont be another for a week," Garuum said. "The master requires more," Meliok repeated. "Then have it tell us where to get it."

Garuum had become disillusioned with his 'master' over the time they had spent worshiping the crystal. He had begun to lose his faith in it and had begun thinking of deserting. "We shall attack the town." Meliok said as he turned to face Garuum, a wicked look in his eye.

He held his hand up, open palm facing the campfires he saw. "They can't see us right now, the fire blinds them." Whispering softly, Selferas smirked. Then he raised his hand, bringing it forward. They will know what true terror is. Heathen monsters

"AURORA!" The Goblin directly in front of them was frozen in place, as Darkness enveloped the rest. "EXHALE BLOOD AIR!" The bleak energy was surrounding him, Selferas feeling the terror of the pit, reaching into his soul, making him pay for his crime. He did not let it sway him. Terror was being defeated by faith. "UNHOLY!" There was a multitude of screams, the souls of the damned wailing. "DARKNESS!" And it all exploded, utterly annhilating the Goblin.

And when the light returned, Selferas stepped forwards. "All who wish to live the day will surrender now."

Seirait watched as Selferas cast a spell, the same one he had cast in Windtrace Dunes. By the sound of it it was some sort of darkness based spell. If that were true then he would be unable to use his zombie spell against them effectively. His help apparently uneeded, he leaned his back against the wall, blade ready should the goblins begin to run.

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

The goblins sat in shock as one of their number was seemingly obliterated in a torrent of darkness. Those closest to the target clapped their hands over their ears to try to drown out the unholy wais but to no avail. When it finally stopped, the body of the goblin was lying face down on the stone, unmoving.

They uncovered their ears and looked wildly around tr ying to see in the darkness. After a few seconds, one of them shouted, " Over there! In the entrance!" En masse, they turned to look at Selferas.

"All who wish to live the day will surrender now."

The goblins nervously looked at each other, unsure of what to do. One in the back stood up and took a breath to calm himself. After what he had just seen and heard, he was sweating and a fouler odor than normal surrounded him. "Alright. We surr-"

He was cutt off as he sprawled forward. Behind him stood Garuum and Meliok. Garuum's foot still hung in the air where he had kicked his goblin out of the way. "Surrender?" he scoffed. "Never." Meliok closed his eyes and touched his finger to his temple. After a few seconds, his eyes flashed open as he slowly raised his arm to point at the pair in the entryway.

"The master commands that we destroy those two and present their weapons to it as an offering." Looking at the skepticism in the other goblin's eyes, he added, "Or you will all perish!" In small groups, they grabbed their weapons and stood up to fight, afraid of both sides.

Selferas smiled. "THEN YOU WILL ALL DIE!" He felt it rearing up. A hunger. "Seirait, you get the Seven on the left, I'll get the ones on the right."

He span both blades in his hand, before leaving a set of afterimages, as he whirled around, and suddenly was behind one of the fires nearest to him, grabbing the Goblin with the foul odor, and hurling it across the room, into a fire.

"Foul creatures"

Seirait kept an expresionless look. To him this was just a job, another extermination that would lead to payment at its completion. The only difference this time was that he had brokered the agreement instead of Garden. "Still," he thought, "I have a contract to fulfill."

He pushed off the wall and took his place at the entry way to the outpost. With a bored look, he lifted his Dancing Wolf up and fired it, the tip clinking against the opposite wall with a goblin transfixed along the bladed chain.

The others, seeing their chance rushed him only to see another frozen and subsequently shattered by a blizzara spear. Frozen in fear and amazement for only a second, Seirait took the oppurtunity to retract the blade. As the metal clanged back into place he held it out ready for an assault.

"C'mon now. I believe you were attacking me," he sneered.

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

"Kill them!" Meliok screamed at the goblins. Afraid of whatever retribution the crystal would deal to them, the goblins surged forward. Garuum stood at the back with his arms crossed, a smug look on his face. "We have the numbers. Nothing can stop us."

Selferas smiled as they leapt at him. He whirled his hands around, and disembowled one with a single cut, before imbedding his Blood Sword in the other. The other two goblins looked on with horror as the Sword drained there companion of blood. "Care to continue?" He pulled his sword free of the Ashes of his enemy, and side stepped his enemies as they tried to grapple him, before kicking one in the stomach, into the crowd.

"We won't stop until the crystal has been appeased!" Meliok screamed, frothing at the mouth as he urged the goblins further. He pulled out a dagger and started tossing it back and forth in his hands in anticipation of doing his duty to the crystal.

The goblins were now down to eleven and yet they still came even though some had tears in their eyes, not knowing what to do. To fight meant certain death and the retreat mean tthe same. They were trapped.

Garuum's smugness had faded, seeing how quickly his men were being taken down had forced him to take a scowl on his already ugly features. As the battle continued the goblin that Selferas had thrown into the fire had regained consciousness and begain screamign as the flames ate at him, frantically rolling on the stone floor to put the blaze out.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The goblins came back, this time in a wave. Placing his off hand on his blade, Seirait fired it, bringing it around to slash the chests of all five of his attackers. As he controlled it, he cast a thundara spell onto his blade. The metal channeled the spell along the Dancing Wolf, releasing an electric bolt with each hit. The bolt traveled through the bodies of the goblins. One died when the shock stopped it's heart. The others fell to the ground twitching as the electically changed blood jerked their muscles.

"You don't even need a blizzara spell to kill them..." he said in disappointment. He had been hoping for a challenge.

Blur, Goblin lost a hand, blur, another one lost a few fingers. Then Selferas smiled, and span his Blood Sword in one hand, and took a fencing stance, before thrusting, feinting, backstepping, and cutting one open. He was toying with them.

"Stay down, it suits you." He slashed the hamstring of another, causing it to collapse. "Pathetic wretches"

Seirait kicked the twitching bodies into a pile as he watched Selferas toy with his goblins. 'He's playing with them? Can there be any bigger waste of time? The longer it takes to do this, the longer it is to fix this place up and the more time they have to do something...' True to Seirait's thoughts Garuum had planned just that.

Garuum stood at the back of the room, nonchalant look gone, replaced with a look of disbelief. He couldn't help but blink several times. His fighting force was being annihilated before his eyes by two men. Only two men. He had already been thinking about deserting with his tribe but now... Now there wasn't much left of it to run away with. "Screw it," he spat. Garuum made a mad dash for the entryway, hoping to get away.

"Almost there," he panted. Then his vision started going down. Before he knew it, his face was in the stone. He looked up, frantically trying to get back to his feet hoping he hadn't been seen. As he pulled his left leg up to get to his feet he found he was caught. Seirait's Dancing Wolf had snaked around his ankle.

Garuum rolled over to see Seirait staring at him with a smirk. "Trying to get away? I'm afraid I can't let you do that..."

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

The goblins started surrounding Selferas, edging around him, slowly closing in. They still had the advantage of numbers even though that advantage was slowly dwindling. Meliok started screaming unintelligible words. Interspaced in his screams was the word 'master'. He was seemingly trying to invoke some power of the crystal yet nothing happened. The pedastal that Meliok had placed the crystal on was crumbling and even now he was losing faith, even though he was in a fervor.

He let the hunger consume him with need. "No more playing around." He pounced, crushing the enemy under him, his bulk shattering them, before pouncing off of him, and grabbing another by the back of the head, and roaring, slamming his foes head into the concrete, shattering it. "HrrrAAAAAAH!" He was now fully into the battle lust. He no longer appeared a man. Fangs were out, and his eyes almost glowed red.

""NO, NO, NO, NO!!" Garuum yelled as Seirait reatracted his blade, reeling Garuum in. The goblins hands scrabbled at the stone floor tying to find purchase. His fingers became bloodied and he was heaving, finally afraid for his life. Until the blade shot back.

One of the shocked goblins had found the strength to get back up and tackle Seirait. The tackle forced Seirait's instincts to retract the blade in a simple, quick maneuver. The result was that the flesh and muscle around Garuum's foot was shredded but he was free. Garuum started crawling towards the exit, emitting small cries of pain as his raw fingers pulled him along.

Meanwhile, Seirait twisted and slammed his back against the wall, knocking the breath out of the goblin and forcing it to release it's hold. "You coward!" Seirait snarled at the prone form. A quick swing and the Goblin would never wake up.

"And you! You're not going to crawl away from this!" He sighted along the blade as he leveled it with Garuum's back. The goblin made for an easy target, slowly crawling on the ground. He fired, the tip piercing the goblins back. Garuum started to cough up blood as he dropped back to the ground. Still he tried to pull himself along the floor but he could only pull himself another few inches before giving up. "All this...for a crystal..." he said with his final breath.

Seirait ripped the blade out of the dead goblin's back before looking at Selferas. "So you've gone under the bloodlust again? Seems I would be better off staying on the side..." He fired off a flare spell to immolate the pile of shocked goblins. A fine ashen powder drifted down from the explosion; all that was left of those bodies.

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

There were only four goblins left and now there was no hope of winning for them. Suddenly the one that was rolling in flames jumped up and began screaming, heading straight for Selferas. Meliok took the opportunity as a distraction sneaking around Selferas to jump on his back. As soon as he was behind the vampire, he jumped, twisting the dagger in midair to face down.

"Time to die, desecrator!" he yelled, poised to drive the dagger into Selferas' back.

The knife planted into his back. And Selferas roared, grabbing the Goblin. "DEFILER! DESECRATOR! I AM A KNIGHT OF AJORA!" He hurled his foe into the wall behind him, and he span around, and cut the flaming goblin clean in half, before jumping, and tucking his knees into his chest, rolling over him. "MASTER OF ALL SWORDS! CUT ENERGY! SANGUINE SWORD!" The Brass eye appeared over his foe, and opened, revealing the red iris, the tears of dark energy falling on his enemy, and bursting upwards in a Red Stalagmite. Selferas inhaled the energy with a smile, before turning to the rest of his foes. "You can run now."

Their leaders dead, the last pair of goblins looked at each before looking back at Selferas' leering face. They threw their weapons to the ground and ran towards the entrance, grabbing each other and throwing them back in an effort to be the first one out. They found their way blocked by Seirait.

The emotionless mask was back. "There is to be no quarter. Our orders are to execute all of you. No exceptions." He loomed over them as they grabbed each other for support in fright. Four slashes later, they were on the ground still clasping each other.

"I do believe that is the end of that."

"No...its not...over...yet..." Meliok whispered from where he lay, battered and broken from Selferas. Slowly he propped himself back up to a kneeling position. "Why? Why did you not come to our aid master? I thought it was your wish that we kill them. Why have you forsaken us?!" he called to the heavens.

"Maybe it was all for this... Maybe we were meant to die... But I can try to take one of you with me!" He threw the dagger in his hand at Seirait before collapsing.

The dagger stuck into a stone crevace next to Seirait. The mercenary only closed his eyes and shook his head. "Blood-misted eyes and fanatical devotion only lead to your own demise..." he said quietly.

"You worshipped a false god. That is why you were left to die." He began hurling the bodies onto the fires, his face a mask of disgust for them. "This was too simple. Goblins are vermin, even if they are zealots... Although, in retrospect, this IS where a Town Guard would be stationed, so maybe the nearby miners had no clue how to fight them..." He shook his head, sighing. "Had we eleven more, we could call ourselves Templar..." He distanced himself from the idea. "Come, Seirait, let us see what our prizes are." He began walking into the depths of the outpost.

Together they walked deeper into the outpost. The further in they got, the less rough the walls and floor became, smoothing out into what seemed to be created by machine more than man. Even deeper into the catacombs, they came to an iron wall, set firmly into the ground.

"It would seem someone would want to bar our path," Seirait commented. He ran his fingers along the door, looking for a way to open it. Off to the left side he found a small panel with button. Pressing it, the door opened slowly, creaking the entire way.

Walking into the new room, they found a large crystal growing from the ground. Surrounding it were piles of precious metals and gems. The bars of metal themselves were stacked into altars, the tops holding the gems aloft as though a sacrifice. "I suppose this is their 'master'..."

He went over to the crystal and tried to break a small piece off. Though it resisted, it eventually broke. He held it up to the flickering lights above. The light shone through easily, distorting into its different colors. "Some sort of quartz I'd imagine, given its breakability and translucentcy."

Seirait tossed it back into the piles of metals and gems where it clinked harmlessly around them. The mainc rystal however began to vibrate at the metallic sound. Not a lot but enough to be noticable. "And the crystal has a reaction to sound. That might explain their belief that it was a god."

The control panels were more interesting to him. After tinkering with the assorted buttons he found the main lights. What he had thought was another wall was actually a huge pane of glass over looking an excavation pit. The lights flashed on, going around the spiral path that followed the pit. "They were further along than I thought..."

As he was headed to the door a charred scrap of paper caught his eye. He reached down to pick it up only to find it was a sheet of paper from the remains of a book, still bound to several other pages. He leafed theough the charred remains, barely able to make out most of the writing. It seemed to be a journal of sorts full of entry numbers and officer's signings. Together there were only eight complete entries.

'Entry one:
The worker they sent us is doing well. What would have taken months to carve out of this mountain has only taken two days. I must admit, the quality of its work is far better than any humanoid could have done. As I sit in what is planned to be the master control room, it is clear that these rocks were not hewn by human hands. There even seems to be a finish to the walls.

The digging itself has gone well. Already the giant has unearthed four mythril deposits. And that’s only the rarities. We’ve found gems the likes of which have never been seen; some are the size of our own heads. We’ve already sent one load off to be shipped for distribution and the sheer amount of it shocked the shippers. I guess that means were off to a good start.

Entry Two:
In the past four days we’ve uncovered several nodes of iron and even one of gold. The deposits seem to be getting farther and farther apart but we are still busy digging up the ones we have already found.

Entry Three:
Private Garrett was killed today. The roof caved in on him as he was shoring up the walls behind the worker. It is my solemn duty as captain of this outpost to send my respects to the family though I honestly wish it had been a more valiant death. But still it is in service to the Queen and that in itself is an honor.

We have since closed off that tunnel and have now brought the worker to the front to begin creating the rooms. Till now we have slept in the control room together and it will be a relief to have a room to myself again.

Entry Four:
The rooms have all been finished in the past week. What was slated to be our armoury turned out to have a geothermal vent running through it. How fortuitous. We have redrawn the plans to make that room our kitchen. The armoury has been replanned to be next to the control room for easy access.

Entry Five:
We discovered a nest of bombs deep in the mountain. It has stalled out work for over four days. However the only reason for the stall is the sheer number found. The worker has proved itself to be a capable fighter too, having destroyed many of them on its own.

Entry Six:
This is not good. While we were searching for the last bomb the worker was damaged by one of them exploding. Since then its been on a rampage. We’ve cordoned it off in one of the offshoot tunnelbut its breaking through. My men have been building barricades against it but I don’t know how long they will last. We’ve been working it hard lately. I can only hope that its power source will run down before it kills us all.

Entry Seven:
We’ve holed up in the control room. There are only six of us left. The iron doors that surround the room have kept out the worker but I don’t know how long they will last. We’ve jammed the mechanism that opens them but if it finds out how to repair it then were doomed.

Entry Eight:
The banging on the doors has completely stopped. We hope that its power has run down. We have to wait another day or two to know for sure. To open the doors now would be folly if it still had power. If it- *only a stretch of ink and bloodstains remain*'

"Selferas..." he said, "We may have more to deal with in the depths of this chasm."

"A Construct? But those are only Legends. Damnit to hell, I wish I had an engineer from Goug. He'd be able to give us a better idea of what we are dealing with here." Selferas tightened his hands. "Regardless, I'll be able to fend it off if need be. They said there was an armoury? We should make our way to that first, and see what is left." He chewed on the inside of his lip. "And if we are lucky, we may find something to tell us what is going on here, maybe a record more detailed than that, or possibly even the design of the creature."

"Then you know of these machines then? I could only imagine something the likes of it coming from Esthar. That is if the stories about that city are true." Seirait continued to the iron door leading to a side room, away from the pit. Finding a similar switch to the last one he pressed it and the door opened. Inside was the supposed armoury, though now it was full of even more gems and precious metals stored from the goblins' raids.

Weapons wise though, there were several pikes lined against the wall and some swords in a stand. Several shields hung on the wall and there were piles of armour towards the back. Sitting in a corner was a slumped over pile of armour. Held in its grip was a spear. Upon his breast was the insignia of the royal army and under that was emblazoned the rank of captain.

"Nothing out of the ordinary. More treasure stolen by the goblins. And..." he sniffed the air slightly. "...Death. Take what you want. If it comes to fight with this construct then I'll use my magic. Lightning will short circuit it." Going to the other door that led to the pit, he flipped the switch for it. "I'm heading down. Equip yourself as you see fit."

Looing over everything in the armour, Selferas was quick to grab several plain steel weapons, and a few other odd trinkets, and stuff them in a bag, before following.

"Right behind you." He was rusty with his throw skills, but he would hopefully be able to do it properly. He was following Seirait into battle with a creature that likely had no mind... "I pray my powers work against it."

They followed the circular path around the pit. checking each room for signs of the sentinel. Each hall was just as immaculately carved as the others clearly the work of this machine. The rooms were the size of a normal bedroom, about 20 total as they went down the path. Relatively unadorned, a sign that the malfunction had come before they had settled into their own rooms. As the log stated, there was a geothermal vent in the kitchen which kept the caves at a relatively comfortable 68 degrees.

As they reached the mine shaft itself at the bottom of the pit the walls became rough and there were holes in the walls where nodes of ore had been dragged out from within. At the end of the tunnel stood the sentinel, unmoving.

Seeing the construct, Seirait pulled out his weapon, prepared to engage it. Though the action was clearly a sign of hostility, the construct failed to move. Moving even closer, it could be seen that the eyes of the constuct were black, without a spark of power in it.

Circling around it, Seirait could tell it had been in the middle of digging a new tunnel when its power had run out. He tapped the mechanical giant with his blade, testing to see if it truly was dead. Evidence pointed to that being the truth.

"It would seem the outpost captain was right. The power died probably only a year ago or so given the lack of age on it. My guess is that a few wires got crossed. The log alludes to it being used as a worker first then a guardian. If these were its directives then if wires were crossed then not only would the directives be swapped but could change what it saw as being an invader," he mused.

"Since we have neither an engineer from your Goug or a machinist from my Esthar the next best thing would be a moogle or if we're lucky maybe there is a newfolk that has the skills."

"It would be immensely fortunate if there were a Newfolk. I've no trust for the beings who reside here... It's almost as if they despise us." He shook his head. "Come, for now, we have spoils to catalogue, and... Bequeath, to the Townsfolk who we are taking under... Your, wing." Remembering that he was not exactly supposed to be publicly seen, Selferas chuckled. "I'll have to see if I can find myself somewhere to hide... Unless..." Selferas thought about the armoury. "I think I saw a suit of Platemail in there... If need be, I could hide in plain sight, as a statue..."

"Do as you see fit to blend in," Seirait said, not really paying attention. He was looking more at the Steel Giant before him. He tapped his finger on his lower lip as he thought about his own hypothesis. 'If it really is just crossed wires then I should be able to fix it myself...'

"When you find what you are looking for up there, go ahead and start cataloging it. I'll check out the mines down here. By the sound of the report, they probably left quite a few things down here." Leaving it at that he started looking at the giant closer, trying to find a way to pry it open to get a look in it.

As Selferas walked, his form began to break down, flesh losing cohesion, until there was nothing but mist. And as it traveled forwards, it soon began to take another form. And soon, all Seirait heard was the sound of a bat squeaking, and flying off.

Selferas glided, marveling at the feeling of freedom. He let out a scream, and heard the echoes, before soon gliding, and pulling up, and finding a gap in the rock. Claws finding purchase, he settled in to watch Seirait work.

Seirait listened as Selferas walked away, hearing the footsteps slowly fade. The squeak of a bat rang through the caves. "Signs that this place is easily livable though we may have to check for infestations..." he muttered. Content to be alone, he pried off a metal plate from the steel giant's chest, revealing a cannon. Pulling off several more, he found it had a series of three cannons.

'Could this be what happened to them? Blasted into oblivion? I can't imagine a construcion worker has a use for something like this.' Tracing the wires up with his hands he found the junction where they came into it's head. Indeed there were several wires out of place, some crossed, others not even connected.

Easy enough to reconnect them but the problem was getting them unfixed so he could change them. The heat from the bombs must have melted the fixative and the explosion jarred it. He made a mental note to keep the giant at range from bombs.

He pulled out his Dancing Wolf and cast a thundara spell on it. The metal took the charge and channeled it through the blade. Placing the tip on the fixative, he melted it. Quickly he fixed the wires back in place while it was still hot. It took awhile but it was delicate work; time had to be taken for something like this.

As soon as he was done, Seirait started to replace the metal chest plates, he noticed an undone power coupling. Reaching in, he reconnected it. Replacing the last plate, he stood up to find the steel giant peering at him, once black eyes now a luminous blue.

Seirait involuntarily took a step back. 'The thing must've had an emergency energy supply!' "Master, what is your order?" the giant said, an odd tone to its voice, almost unearthly. "I expect that was an emergency power supply?" "Yes, Master. The normal power source is auracite. This is a secondary piece should the first run down. The first should be replaced as soon as possible."

"Then we will get right on that. Is there some sort of designation you have?" "I am Worker 4." "Then it shall be a pleasure to have you with us Worker 4." Seirait smirked. 'An obediant machine imprinted on me. What could be better?'

Selferas continued observing, grooming himself in his current form. Auracite? Why would such a creature use Auracite? How would it draw power from it? He scratched the back of his head with one small claw, utterly confused, but decided to leave the matter be, and resume roosting. He had found a hiding spot amazingly quickly.

"Now then..." Seirait tapped his gunblade against his leg in thought. " As it is, restoring this outpost will require funds which have already been aquired. What remains will be restoring you, Worker 4. To do that we will need to collect what has yet to be recorded in any logs and sell those to get a new piece of auracite"

"Follow me," he said, beckoning the steel giant with a finger. It followed obediantly, surprisingly quiet for a machine of its size, sounding just like Seirait in footstep. They went down a shaft and at the end lay several pickaxes and a steel cart. Jutting out from the wall was a vein of silver, topped with a large ruby.

"Excavate the vein and the ruby," he said, pushing the cart towards the steel giant. "Place the ore and the gem in the cart." Again the worker began it's task obediantly. Seirait couldn't help but marvel at the technology. The machine had the dexterity of a human but the strength of over a dozen.

Ore rained down into the cart in pieces as Seirait looked at the wall opposite Worker 4. In the light something sparkled, catching his eye. Walking over he rubbed at it with a finger. When it didn't go away, he leaned down for a closer look. It seemed to be a gem, a green one, almost the same color of his eyes.

With the worker still busy on the ruby, Seirait placed his left hand next to the gem. He cast flare, blowing a huge chunk in the wall and sending a sound wave reverberating through the caverns. In the control room, the crystal formation caught the sound and began vibrating. The vibrations became to strong for it to handle and it began breaking apart. The floor became littered with 3 inch pieces of crystal.

In the caverns though, the hole had revealed the true size of the emerald. It extended over two feet into the wall and was about another foot thick. But that was what was left. Lying on he floor were about 7 half inch globes of emerald. Reaching down he grabbed them and pocketed them.

Another loud sound echoed behind him. Worker 4 had dropped the ruby into the cart. It was about half the size of the emerald. "Pull this piece out as well, Worker 4," he said stepping away from the hole in the wall. With a single pull the emerald was out and in the cart. "Bring the cart back with us to the central room. These should prove to bring in a sizable sum. No doubt we will be able to to get several auracite crystals for you."

Seirait came back into the central room, a smirk on his face, gunblade on his shoulder and an emerald in his left hand. He held it up to look at it directly in the light. "I think its exactly the same color... I'll be taking a few bits of that silver ore as well..." Worker 4 followed behind at a slower pace, pushing the cart in front of him.

Just dozing off, Selferas felt something rustle nearby, then something warm against him. Then another. And another. He cracked one eye open, and, while he was a large black and white Bat, the ones which had flown in with him, were smaller, grey and brown ones. How odd...

He fidgeted, getting a better grip, before feeling one of the bats nudge against him. Hey, cut that out Pressing against him now Getoffme!

Finally detaching and taking flight, Seirait saw a Black and White bat the size of a large cat, followed by a swarm of other bats, go flying by.

Seirait watched a swarm of bats fly by, either following or chasing a large black and white one. 'Unusually large that one...' he thought as he led Worker 4 up the ramp to the control room. Upon arriving he found the crystal shattered. "Selferas, you clumsy fool. I would've thought a vampire would have more balance."

"Worker 4, find us another cart in the depths for us to haul out the stolen goods." The steel giant ambled off back down the ramp. With the giant gone, Seirait reached into the cart for a few chunks of the silver ore and stuck them in the same pocket as the emeralds. 'A little something extra for the leader of the mercenary troop...'

"I hope you found your disguise Selferas," he said aloud. "We'll be heading back to Cursa to deliver the stolen goods soon." Waiting for the giant to come back he surveyed the slaughterhouse that was the room before. The goblin he set aflame were still burning so he rolled the others into the pile with them. "Flithy creatures," he muttered.

As soon as he finished he went back to the control to see the Steel giant pushing another cart into the room. "We'll need to fill up the cart with the goods. Use only the one one you just brought up; the other is our spoils." Together they heaped the stolen gems and ore into the new cart.

The sound of one of the doors being slammed open, and then it falling off it's hinges were heard. "Ajora cursed, Brave hated, BLOODY DAMN BATS! GET OFF OF ME!"

Seirait saw the bat swarm fleeing, and Selferas walked out of one of the side corridors, one or two bats clinging to his shoulders. "Bat form. Bad idea." He reached up, brushing the other bats off, seeing them fly off, disoriented. "So, we ready to get going?" He looked at the construct. "Is it safe?"

"Explains where you've been. I suppose you were the giant bat that was getting chased? The bats here seem to have taken an interest in you. Get your...disguise... and come on." Seirait turned back and motioned for Worker 4 to finish loading the cart.

Worker 4 followed behind with the cart of stolen goods as they trekked back to Cursa to return them. As they were taken to be inventoried and shipped out, the village elder approached them, cautious of the seemingly unfriendly bearing the pair had.

"Umm... I guess we should thank you for what you've done for us," he said hesitantly. "It's merely buisness. We're mercenaries; unless we have something to gain from it, it matters not to us. As it is, you are under our protection seeing as how what happens here affects us as well," he said in an emotionless tone, competely in tune with buisness.

"We'll be just over the ridge if you need us again." He offered his hand and the elder shook it. "Contract sealed," Seirait smirked. He turned around and headed back to the outpost.

"Selferas, go ahead and pick out your room here. I have buisness to attend to in town and with our...Queen..." He spat the last word, obviously disgusted with the creature that sat on the throne. "Worker 4, get the other cart. We'll head into town for your auracite and to appraise these gems. If you would Selferas, clean up some, at least the charred bodies."

[Clan Lux -> Empyrean Hall]
[This thread now closed due to redundancy.]