Glimpse Stone - Artificer's Apprentice

This stone was found in the workshop where the friends found Relic, in The Sunken City.

Benefits when synced

• Proficiency in Intelligence (Arcana)
• Ability to cast identify and detect magic 1/day each as ritual

Completed scenes:

With the a low-set point of view and the small hands of a child, you are waiting with two other urchins (named Temon and Pol) in a city square. A woman enters the square - she is well-dressed and unguarded, and has a twisting dark mark like a tattoo on the right side of her neck.

You point at this new figure and your two friends grin and nod. All three of you split up in a well-rehearsed pattern. As you hide off to the side, Temon and Pol start wrestling with each other in the street and knocking into the woman. While she is distracted, you slip behind her and slice her coin purse open with a bladed contraption you crafted yourself.

One of the coins slips out of your hand and clinks to the ground, and she spins around. You immediately turn to run, but after only a few steps, you stumble to the ground, a gooey thick paste entangling your legs and sticking to the ground. The woman gives Temon and Pol only a glance as they quickly run away. She approaches you with a look of annoyance kneeling to grab your wrist. But her eyes catch the purse-slicing device and they gain a look of curiosity. She turns to you and gives you a small smile, "Did you make that?" You nod. "My name is Cereh d'Rayre of House Cannith. Would you like to learn how to make more?"

~~~~~~~~~~

You walk a short distance through a city of towers, a maze of criss-crossing catwalks and bridges stretching above and below. You turn to watch a small boat fly past, with a well-dressed human couple in the back arguing loudly. Your gaze lingers on them for a moment while you idly walk backward, bumping into a heavily armored dwarf.
"Watch where ye're going, laddy!" the guard captain chastises you.
Mumbling a quick apology, you scurry along the catwalks, carrying a paper-wrapped parcel to one of the towers. You enter and lock the door behind you, walking through the front entry room and into the back workshop area. "Cereh, I have the materials! Mal said he used a special alloy...." your voice trails off as you see a human woman across the cramped room from you, working on a large and unfinished warforged.
She turns to you and nods, brushing graying hair from her face and the twinkle of a smile reaching her eyes. "Thank you, Temit" she says, "this is good work we are doing. I hope you believe that. This time... this time is different." She takes the parcel from you and unwraps it, revealing a large breastplate. Without a word she turns to a side workbench and begins (with your help) inscribing an intricate geared tree.

~~~~~~~~~~

"Fetch my lunch, Temit. Carry my tools, Temit. Sit in the corner and watch, Temit. When will it be my turn?" you angrily mutter to yourself while you hastily walk through the crowded streets. You see a poorly-clothed young man, barely in his twenties, across a courtyard from you.
You lift your hand and call out "Temon!" and wave, but the figure just scowls at you and quickly walks away.
You pause for a moment, then continue in your walk. You enter a large open workroom where several humans are working on various projects at the tables scattered around the room. Each of these individuals have marks on their body somewhere, similar to Cereh's. She is also there, and raises her head and nods, waving you over. Her brown hair is pulled back in a loose bun and she has spectacles hanging low on her nose. As you approach, you say "Ms. Rayre, how can I help you today?"
She motions you to sit and points at the diagram she is working on. You catch a glimpse of a warforged before she turns the page and shows you the design for a creation pattern on the other side. She takes a few moments pointing out the workings of a creation pattern and how they work to operate the creation forges where warforged are made. At the end of her lecture, she gets quiet suddenly and peers at you intently.
"This is the end-goal, Temit. And end to the War. I am calling this model 'War Ender', and it will heal the world. Nobody else has to die!" She squeezes your shoulder with an encouraging smile.

~~~~~~~~~~

You look out of a small window in the front entrance room at the city of towers. Parade barges float through the city, waving banners and fireworks. Anyone with any semblance of magical prowess is shooting harmless flashes of energy into the air, as the entire city seems to be celebrating. You turn away from the window back to the entrance room and see Cereh standing, the deep sorrow in her eyes the only emotion you see on her otherwise stony face.

"Cyre… do you really think it's destroyed? How could an entire country be…" you begin.

She holds up a hand to her lips and shakes her head. "Something terrible has happened, but they are not celebrating the tragedy. They are celebrating the end of violence. They are not celebrating the end of our home." she nods toward the window. "The end of violence, the end of the War, is something we always strove for… do you remember?"

You nod and pause for a moment. "Cyre… destroyed… Do you think it was Ender?"

A sharp look from Cereh cuts off your question. "We cannot ever talk about that failure. Ever, Temit! Do you understand?"

She lowers her eyes and tears well in her eyes. You reach out a hand to her shoulder and say, "We… we can do better. We will do better. Next time" You reach out the window and pluck a flower from a bush just below and hand it to her.

She smiles and takes the flower, "Nature … the only constant. The only good. You're right, we can be better."