The air was still as everyone took a moment to take stock of things. Illaria yanked her buckler from the ground and grimaced at it. "One of you boys can be fixing this, right?" She asked as she cast a glance between them. Alvec nodded in agreement as he walked towards the still flaming and erupting corpse of the fiend they had just slain.
While Alvec could safely explore the fiend's corpse, it was up to Mavec to examine this final room. As the steam began to clear out, he could see all the pieces coming together. Specialized machinery and exotic tools filled the room. Equipment you'd be hard-pressed to find in even the greatest of the academy workshops. Perhaps the academy at Ac-Rillir might be this well outfitted, but only just. Built into one of the largest workstations, he found an adamantine case large enough to store books. The lock to it had been crudely broken open. The dust outline made it clear to Mavec that what once rested here were the original plans and recipes for many of Alusai's creations in his twilight years.
His blood boiled as he thought about how someone had stolen them. Not only for having beaten him here but how they had carelessly traipsed over Alusai's last resting place. This was a sacred space, and whoever had come through here had been so careless as to invite a slag fiend along with them. Mavec found his way over to a small side room where he found a stone coffin with its lid ajar. "Forgive me." He said to Alusai as he adjusted the lid and restored it to its proper resting place. As he turned to leave, he felt a strange sensation run through him. Piccora was illuminated in a soft, strange light, an emblem blazing in soft silver light upon her head. He recognized it immediately as Sarossa's blessing. After the light faded from her, he bent down and examined his companion. Something about her had changed, but it wasn't something he could test while in the middle of Alusai's tomb. It would be rude if nothing else. As he began to head for the exit, Piccora hopped over to a particular wall and placed a paw softly against it. A panel folded out, displaying a strange circlet with various colored lenses that folded neatly to the side when not in use and a small bracelet that looked like it would fit perfectly around Piccora's neck.
He placed the circle on his head, and one of the lenses unfolded over his right eye. The bracelet glowed a feint orange to the lens's sight. Additionally, small numbers floated beside it. It took only moments for him to extrapolate that they were the distance and height of the object. It would be hard to miss a target if Piccora was next to it, as he'd always have the exact distance between himself and them. He turned his head and bowed to Alusai. "I'll put this to good use Master Alusai." He said as he headed back out to the other chamber. It only took him a few more moments of searching to find the switches to power down the defenses.
"Mavec, clocksmith's usually have specialties, tells in their work that identify them right?" Alvec said as he came walking out from the center of the room, still softly ablaze with the dying embers of the slag fiend. A brittle film of crusty pig's iron encased most of his clothing, and he held two barely identifiable components in his hands. "Do you know anyone who uses springs?" he asked. Mavec's face became a mask of white-hot fury.
He knew precisely one man who employed a lot of springs in his clockwork designs. A certain Warren Alston. That imbecile definitely would have been capable of opening a door for a slag fiend, that was for sure. "Oh, I do," Mavec replied.
Alvec squinted at him. "Please, tell me it's not..."
"WARREN, FUCKING, ALSTON," Mavec shouted.
"By Tohzen! We've got to get back to Sha-Laial quickly!" Alvec exclaimed.
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"We need that ferrous mercury by any means necessary," Mavec replied.
"And you didn't find any formulae? Even a partial recipe would be good; we might be able to cludge our way to completion." Alvec asked. Mavec shook his head no. He realized, begrudgingly, there was one place he hadn't thoroughly looked.
"Damn it, there is one last place I can look, but I feel gross about it," Mavec said. Alvec raised an eyebrow at him, prompting his friend to elaborate. "Alusai's coffin."
"Ah... Think he could have anything with him?" Alvec asked. Mavec shrugged as he pondered the question. If he were a famous clocksmith, he'd likely have duplicates, where better than on ones person to hold any important pieces of information?
"Yeah, I'll go check." Mavec said before entering the room again. "Sorry about the whole opening of your grave. I'll put it back in order in just a second." He said as he pulled the cover back up and looked over Alusai. He'd been dead for some time at this point, and thanks to the conditions of the room, he had decayed as gracefully as possible. It was a far cry from what had become of Vato. Alusai looked as if he had partially or entirely mummified. Seeing nothing on Alusai himself, Mavec double-checked the coffin for secret compartments. While he did find one, which contained a few trinkets he was sure had held sentimental value to the man, there wasn't anything that would help with the impending crisis. He gently restored all the items and resealed the hidden compartment before returning the lid to the coffin. With one last somber prayer to Sarossa, Mavec exited the room again, rejoining the group.
The group milled around, waiting for him. "Nothing," he declared as he rejoined them properly.
"So what do we do now?" Naya asked.
"If it do be that dastardly clocksmith, Warren Alston, then we find him and encourage him to be returning what he's stolen," Illaria said as she gently patted the wakizashi at her side.
"Could we contact the Academy and have them do something till we get there?" Naya asked.
"Depends where the closest Academy is," Mavec replied.
"Jai-Najan" Alvec replied.
"That be a mite out of our way," Illaria said.
“Faster to go Sha-laial.” Bait said, nodding sagely.
"Jai-Najan isn't too far of a detour, but I'm with Bait. As much as I'd love to stop in and see my family, it doesn't make sense to tack extra time to our journey." Alvec said.
"Then its agreed, we make for Sha-Laial," Mavec said. The group made their way back out to the entrance of the building. They found the Lochmaster awaiting them.
"I can see you managed to shut down the defenses. Did you find what you sought?" He asked.
"No, but we have a name," Mavec said as he clenched his fist. "More importantly, you said there were others like you that were this advanced?"
"Yes, a dozen or more of us." The Lochmaster replied.
"If you have any means of contacting them, please do. We're going to need all the help we can get. In return, I promise to return Alusai's accomplishments here."
"It will be difficult." The Lochmaster replied. "We hid very intentionally with new identities, all aided by the children of Akrixi."
"All the same, I ask you to try. You're the only reason we weren't turned into monsters." Mavec replied.
"You've done right by me so far. I'll see what can be done." The Lochmaster replied.
"And if we can get some ferrous mercury produced, we can see about getting more of the dormant spinnymen here awakened," Alvec added.
"I wish you luck, Cheese Acolytes." The Lochmaster said.
"I still hate the name," Naya said as she rolled her head back to the sky and sighed.
"Best name."
The party gathered into their wagons and resumed their return trip to Sha-Laial.