Robes and Hall

“Now, I can't say if it will fit well or not, never made clothes for your kind after all, but you should rearare right in with this”, Herukah announced.

In a flash, the excited tailor slipped the mantle around Wanderer’s shoulders and secured it to their four arms.

While they were fixing up the costume, the tailor said, “I would perlekrargiro once you get up there, you don't move your bottom set of eirstry much, the chaos up there will probably prevent people from being suspicious but it's still better to be safe.”

Once again, the Golem was drawn to question what exactly was going on in the surface that allowed them to blend in so seamlessly with those so different to themself, yet Wanderer kept quiet as they knew they would find out soon enough.

It only took a little while longer for Herukah to finish, efficient in their job despite Wanderers body type.

Eager to observe their new outfit, the Golem thanked the tailor and stood back to view themselves in the mirror.

Across their shoulders now sat an intricate robe, reaching down to the floor in order to hide as much as their body as possible.

In many ways, it mimicked the styles they had seen on so many humans, with four arms instead of two, with exception of a few differences.

The robes of others often contained vast quantities of gold in their designs, with other colours existing as highlights.

But the one that Wanderer was wearing now hardly touched on the colour, instead bringing a full rainbow of different tones and hues to light.

A hundred different colours appeared in a hundred different ways all across the outfit, sometimes bold and distracting, sometimes in amounts so small the Golem could hardly see them.

As they moved, tiny tassels and trinkets connected all across the fabric jingled with them, each one inscribed with letters they could not read.

On the back of the cloth, the previously missing pigment of gold appeared in full force, forming a swirling vortex that centred toward a single figure.

In a way, the depiction resembled their Spirit, swirling power and single eye all present.

Yet this figure was not a simple ball, instead, taking a form similar to that of a human.

“This was the god that saw us”, Wanderer realised.

A bolt of distress shot through their Spirit as they came to a similar realisation, causing them to insist that the Vessel take the robe back off.

Wanderer wholeheartedly refused.

The outfit had been made especially for them and they loved it, there was no way they would risk offending the one group of humans who had shown them any civility because it had the depiction of another god.

The Spirit bristled at this, their magical body growing tumultuous, and stated once again the risks that a god brings, the risk of their own destruction.

Yet the Golem had developed stubbornness in their soul and would not let it leave so easily, reiterating the simple fact that if they were wanted dead, they would be.

The Spirit still did not relent, firing back about risks and with the assertion that the intricate costume would attract attention, and they would be found out.

“If anything, the portrayal would likely improve our favour”, Wanderer resisted, “And I have already been told that I will not be noticed above, and I trust these people”.

The guide fell silent, opinion unchanged yet aware that the Vessel was not going to give out and there was little use in arguing.

“Do you like it?” Herukah asked with an expectant look on her face, bringing Wanderer back to the present.

“I used a lot of good flergio in this outfit, stuff I have been wearlare for a long time”, the tailor continued after Wanderer had given their affirmative, “Figured I would use it now, how often do you get to tailor for a real life Goreleshra after all”.

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“Just make sure you don't ruin it up there ok, its earagiago stuff, I would hate to see it go to waste”.

After yet another enthusiastic nod, the little backroom fell into an awkward silence, Herukah seeming to want to say something more and Wanderer being unknowing of where to go.

“Can I ask you a question, Traveller”, despite their request for permission, they continued before the Golem could react, “How are you still alive?”.

The Vessel wasn't quite sure how to react to that, and resigned to a simple shrug.

“It's just, the Earliag have been claiming that all the Goreleshra were dead since they wiped out the Goreleshra shreshkefeh”, she continued, “and I would have thought, if they had seen a Goreleshra walking around, they would have sent the Gtririag to kill them.”

This was a lot of information for Wanderer to process, not only was there a place that other Golems lived, everyone inside there had been killed by unknown forces, and those same people could be coming for them.

A bit befuddled, Wanderer conveyed their lack of knowledge on the subject, and tried to ask about the supposed place their kind had once lived.

“The shreshkefeh? I can't say I know much about it, other than the fact that it's still sitting empty around the other side of Orshkarsha.” Herukah replied, seemingly puzzled at the question.

“What would that be like?”, Wanderer thought, what would they find in the home of their kin?

Perhaps there they could finally learn what happened to their parent.

The Vessel asked for directions to the place, hoping to add yet another stop to visit on their travels, yet was disappointed by the answer.

“I don't really know earglaire where it is, but you could pergolio ask Keshte when you get back from your mission.” Herukah stated apologetically.

With that, another awkward silence spread across the room, before the tailor offered to escort Wanderer to the surface.

Eager to prove themself, the Golem scooped up Emio and hurried after Herukah, being careful not to knock anything over in the process.

Soon , they were back out into the central ring of the complex, which had died down a little since they had last been there, with a few of the store rooms and shops closing their doors and leaving, each of the caretakers dressed in equally intricate robes as themself.

Wanderer ignored the stares they got to the best of their ability, and followed Herukah down a hallway nearly identical to every other, if not for the lacking placement of light sources, and dustier walls.

“I'm going to take you to one of our less used entrances to the city, by the looks of you, you seem like you want to avoid more people.” Herukah stated, receiving a signal of gratitude from Wanderer in the process.

They went further and further into the complex, the sounds of people fading into the distance before the group eventually passed by an oddity in the ruins' uniform structure.

Splitting off from the central hall was a cavernous tunnel, at least twice as wide as Wanderer was tall.

Wooden barricades with indecipherable letters blocked entry, giving the gaping hole into the dark an ominous feeling, although in truth there was nothing more suspicious about the descending staircase than any other part of the complex.

Sensing Wanderer curiosity, Herukah refuted it before it could take hold.

“We dont let people down there, not after the first few we sent to perlrere never came back up”.

The tailor continued, “I don't know if the place is trapped or there's some terrible monster down there, but it isn't coming up here, so we are happy enough to leave it alone”

This shocked Wanderer, not expecting something so morbid, instantly their mind recalled the swarmlings, and the mine they lived in.

The Golem didn't know for certain if that was what was down there, but it would certainly make sense.

Just the thought of having to face the ravenous centipedes again made Wanderer shiver, a dull pit of dread rising within them, swarmlings or not, the Golem decided they were never going down that tunnel.

Eventually, after a bit more walking, the party arrived at a small room off the side of one of the narrower halls, with a sleeping guard stationed outside of it.

Herukah narrowed their eyes and walked up to the human, who remained utterly oblivious to the horrors about to follow, before shaking them awake.

What followed was a vicious scolding in the language the Vessel did not know, unbefitting of the happy, bubbly person they had seen of Herukah so far.

It was a shocking reversal, one that revealed a whole new side to the tailor that Wanderer would have never guessed existed.

After the two were done, soldier thoroughly in remorseful silence, Herukah addressed the Golem one final time.

“They will take you up to the city”, the tailor declared while pointing at their companion, “And they will be here when you get back”.

With that Herukah said some final goodbyes, before walking away and disappearing behind a corner.

The moment the tailor was gone, the guard next to Wanderer let out a sigh of relief, before turning toward the Golem, and motioning them to go up a ladder that lay in the centre of the room next to them.

As they did so, however, they seemed to finally realise what, exactly they were looking at, as all confidence crumbled from their body only a moment later, and their jaw dropped.

Unsure how to react to this and with an impatient Emio raring to go, Wanderer walked past the human and climbed the ladder into the city above.