here's the status report on my new legs
the physical designs are done and i've started making the molds for casting
the spell matrix is planned out though i still have some double-checking to do
now that the heart and hammer is together enough i can do the work the only remaining unknown is the spellwork to mesh the new shoulder with the old scapula
in keeping with the theme of this whole ordeal it's time for more complications
remember the "magic missile" spells we had to dispel on our way through the mournland?
the first renewal job at the h&h was a forged by the name of "barrer" who learned how to extend her meta-matrix outside her body so she could harmlessly grab them out of the air
when practicing this with her friend "transom" she managed it twice in a row but the third destroyed her forearm so she came to us for help and i'm pretty sure we can
barrer and transom and spark are in the same "fight stable" run by a forged named "gears" who popped in the next day to open a tab with an ingot of silver which is apparently a surprising amount for them to possess
spark asked about this sudden windfall and gears explained that they'd gotten a side job to escort a shipment of supplies through an area called "khyber's gate"
out of concern for their associate spark planned to observe discreetly
meanwhile relic accompanied me to a house jorasco facility where got all the information i needed with no strings attached
wait no i had to cut a deal to help them first
the clinics in the lower tiers of sharn have been filling up with "grown" (non-forged) folks messed up from dust and nobody knows who's providing it outside the forged community
if we can find the source and stop it they'll share their knowledge of arcane healing
where do i even begin
it's a worthy goal and i hope we can make it happen quickly not just for me but because people are getting hurt and if i can help put an end to it then i've got to at least try
but it feels like there should be professionals here already far better equipped for this sort of thing
and absurd that i should have to make any sort of deal to learn secret healing magic
medya explained why and i still don't believe it but here we are
dust seems to come from the direction of "cogsgate" which is a massive screw elevator connected to an unimaginably noxious area below sharn called "the cogs" which happened to be the starting point for the shipment that gears was escorting
we watched discreetly and discovered someone else following along as well except they were scry-shielded which is more than a little suspicious
those in our group capable of being stealthy were stealthy
bell and i started a riot
in our defense we were trying to spook the spook and only intended to start a loud discussion about local sports heroes
well that's my defense
i think bell was getting into it a little more enthusiastically
anyhow once the watch showed up to disperse the crowd that mystery biped took off and so did we
i'd like to note that i'm trusting the judgement of those who've been here longer than me and they seem confident that this was all a good plan ...?
after all this we caught up with gears who explained that they only took the job because it came from "crucible" who operates a forged gathering house in the cogs and whom they consider a reputable source
naturally we went there the next day
crucible sent us to first receive a blessing from "smith" who is the priest maintaining a spring called the "waters of onatar"
i guess we passed the sniff test because he seemed comfortable enough to share more information
smith expressed suspicion that house cannith is harboring agents of the "dark six" who are ... malicious gods? so gods work very differently here
he also requested that when we meet d'cannith merrix we invite them to a blessing so that goes onto my lengthening checklist
we returned to crucible who told us that the delivery job came from another trusted forged named "lem"
as for the dust leaks... no idea but it's not crucible or gears at least
when we got back to the h&h barrer was there to finish her renewal work but also to talk
she felt that her ability to reach her metamatrix outside her body was some kind of flaw
i couldn't tell if she meant in how she was designed or in how she chose to explore and understand herself but when i feel the same way about myself ... in those moments i don't know the difference either
but i don't let that stop me and barrer isn't letting it stop her
i'm proud of her
however gears felt that she and transom were both being reckless and irresponsible so arguments were had and afterward transom stormed off
barrer asked bell and spark to help talk sense into gears which they agreed to do but only after we helped her test out her new arm
i'm glad to report total success ... and better metamatrix control than before thanks to an added focusing lens
bell does great work!
the next morning barrer came by for training with relic but she was too distracted because transom hadn't returned from their walk
spark went looking and didn't find them but did find signs that they'd gotten in a scuffle and perhaps been dragged away?
the group gathered to investigate and it took much asking around before we got the name "zhakil" and a suggestion to try asking at a strictly no-fighting bar in khyber's gate called "shamukaar"
to put it simply shamukaar made me very uncomfortable
it felt like everyone there valued nothing but themselves and the way they reacted to our questions confirmed that
someone named "nareyet" said they'd let zhakil know we were looking for her and to return the next day
so we did that and after only a little more hassle from nareyet we were finally introduced to zhakil who turned out to be the one who tailed that shipment
zhakil said that she didn't touch transom and that her orders came from "cazha bloodwing" so we talked to her
both of them are part of a criminal hierarchy called "daask" who wanted to be the sole distributor of dust throughout sharn
cazha cut some deal with her provider – someone named "cinnabar" – to get one-fifth of everything that moved through khyber's gate
that shipment was an attempt to route dust around her
gears didn't know any of this but cazha took it out on him anyhow by abducting transom to see who came searching
and then she told us they were in the upper alcoves of the "old temple" in the lower sewers and that we were free to rescue them
zer' followed the thought to transom's location and found it guarded by a basilisk so he returned
cazha and zhakil left with a reminder that the bar we were in was neutral territory but khyber's gate was not
pretty much all of cazha's actions fall into a category of maliciousness i have literally only ever read about in books
as much as i wish we didn't have to we're going into the sewers to get transom
i hope cazha's not planning to wait for us down there because i'm pretty sure we can't be friends
and i will not let her stop us