[The Courtyard] Pulser to Pulser, We Stand (Thomas Cosa)

[Ialari Pythone]

Ialari listened to Thomas' explanation of what he hoped to attain as far as his Animation pursuits were concerned. She stifled a smile as he spoke. She sensed a slight hesitation or nervousness in his demeanor. She thought it almost seemed kind of cute the way he seemed to almost stumble at first. The more he got into the explanation though, the more sure and stable in his thoughts he seemed. What he was telling her was not all that outlandish though as it resembled something else that was very close to her and her people.

When he had finished clarifying his ideas for the soul and his concept of immortality, Ialari openly smiled albeit softly. "Your thoughts on the matter, I must admit, they are insightful. Interestingly enough, my people have been known to achieve a similar end when it comes to our creations outlasting us." She held up her metallic arm. The black finish glistened in the dim light of her chambers. Silver veins lined her arm and stood out from the black, metal skin ever so slightly creating a contoured texture of sorts. Etched into the dark surface was a tattooed weave of lines, patterns and geometric shapes that extended from her shoulder to her elbow.

"Our arms are gifts given to us by our Divine Father, Izurdin. With them we can mold and shape the physical building blocks of the world you see around you." Ialari walked over to the stone wall nearby and looked at Thomas as she placed her metallic hand flat against the wall. She then sunk her fingers into the stone as if it were soft clay. At the point where her fingers touched and sank into the wall, the stone parted as if it weren't really stone. Small ripples formed around her fingers. She then pulled her fingers from the wall, wiped her palm over the points she touched and left a slight smudge in the stone itself where her fingerholes had been.

She smiled, looked at her hand and then back to Thomas. "Along with being able to shape stone, metal and wood with our hand, we can also use it to impart a piece of our selves on to an object. Our devotion and standing in the eyes of our Divine Father determines how much we can impart. All of us however can pass on a tiny piece of our soul, the purest form of djed, into an object thereby sharing with it a bit of what makes us who we are. The most basic of traits passed on is enhanced durability. An object becomes capable of withstanding most mundane forms of physical wear and tear and even a bit that isn't so mundane."

"As one progresses in their faith, devotion and standing with the Father, the extent of what we can impart upon objects is increased. For example, I am capable of imparting enough of myself onto an object that some of my personality, mood, my very nature is passed on. For example, if I were to impart upon a dagger, not only would it become unnaturally durable, I could make it so the wielder felt at ease among the unliving or cause those encountering the wielder to feel somewhat physically inferior around him. There is really no end to the type of property I can add. Only the potency of that quality is limited. The closer ones get to Izurdin, they find they can add even greater mystical qualities to an item on par with skilled magecraft. He who walks with Izurdin side-by-side can impart so much onto an item that the item becomes akin to his child. It has some of the creator's intelligence, knowledge and skill. It will essentially live forever since its physical form is unbreakable." Ialari smiled with a sense of pride as she explained a bit of Izentor to Thomas. There was so much more to the whole process but she figured that she might get into that more later.

Ialari set to gathering a few things, most importantly a well-worn leather-bound journal thick with yellowed pages and inserts tied shut with a black, woven leather cord. "There is nothing wrong with wanting a part ourselves to live on after we are gone. It's how one goes about it though that makes the difference."

Placing her journal into a pocket inside her robes, Ialari nodded her readiness to leave. She followed Thomas as he led her to their destination. Most of the known and a handful of the lesser known destinations that made up the whole of the Citadel were etched into Ialari's mind after her experience with Drainira's "prison". She could picture the map in her mind as she walked. Sometimes she would even close her eyes as traveled about the corridors simply for fun. She allowed her mind to lead her which except for a couple nearly disastrous times, worked out alright.

When they arrived at Lab 15, Ialari glanced around at all the work being done with golems of all shapes and sizes, purposes and designs. While she knew of the lab, she never visited it before. Her path went a different direction with her interrogation of the prisoners and occasional trip to the forge or magecraft facilities. Although not formally an apprentice at the Citadel, her unique status as an honored guest and associate (of sorts) to Master Qiao (doing his dirty work with prisoners), did offer some small advantages.

When asked what she wanted to see first, Ialari was at a loss for words. Her experiences with golems in general had been mixed at best, absolutely awful and life-changing at the worst. Not knowing how to begin, Ialari simple said, "I guess I'd like to see how it begins. Where does one start in creating a golem?"

[Thomas Cosa]

"Over there," Thomas pointed, already winding his way through the maze of scattered parts and glyphed animation circles. "Watch out for spare parts and the chalk drawings," he warned, turning around to look at her, "Especially the drawings with something in them," he pointed to a couple of the circles occupied by various gadgets and golems, "They'd be in the middle of an animation, and if there's anything I'd want you to pick up here, it's that you never, under any circumstance, disturb the animation circles," Thomas nodded, "A lot of shyke could happen, usually just the corruption of a golem's directives. I mean, that's the example you always read about anyway," he explained, the duo arriving to a great wall of cubbies and holes, each filled with rolled parchment.

"These are all the recorded blueprints of every and all creations made in Lab 15," he smiled, proudly showing the collection as if it were his own, "Name whatever golem you've found in the Citadel, and more than likely, it's blueprints are found here. That's not to say any apprentice can get there hands on them though," he smiled wavered slightly, "We need approval for anything violent, or exceedingly complicated. Especially for anything exceedingly complicated, considering the crafting aspect would be well beyond my personal ability.," Thomas joked, looking back at Ialari.

"I bet you could do it though," he paused, "What you did earlier, with your gnosis and the stone, you said all isur can do the same? Because of Izentor, your people's, uh, "Divine Father", you said?" Thomas asked, wondering if Izentor was to the Isur as Laviku was to the Konti. "Could other races pray to him?" he asked, obvious with his own intent. Although Avalis had claimed him first, that didn't mean he would refuse another god's interest -- especially one like Izentor.

"But yeah, this is where everything begins," he said, remembering why he had brought Ialari down here, "Followers, Overseers, Listeners, they're all made here. Anything in particular you'd want for your lab?" Thomas smiled, hoping the isur would accept the gift. Thomas was only just beginning to see that everything in Sahova came with a price, and hopefully, with this offer, he could call on Ialari if he ever needed anything in the future.

[Ialari Pythone]

Ialari allowed Thomas to lead her through the maze of tunnels and halls. As they approached the lab, she heeded his directions involving the various circles and glyphs. She took mental note of everything he shared regarding the animation and golems. Her experiences with golems was unique yet limited. Beyond her short yet traumatic time spent in the "prison" that once held Drainira, the Supervisor Golem, Ialari had only had brief encounters with the various golems that ran the Citadel. She had learned a little about listening golems from her newly acquired friend, Shalla but it was limited at best. Thomas' initial instruction about the circles, glyphs and the disturbing of the circles was quite new to her.

They two stopped for a moment and Ialari gazed upon the countless rolls of parchment; the blue prints for all that was conceived and construction in Lab 15. She briefly wondered to herself if there was anything there that spoke of Drainira. While she hadn't spent much time pondering her newly acquired enemy, the threat that Drainira posed was always there. The Million Miza golem, now Champion of Sagallius, had threatened revenge upon Ialari for saving Sahova. One was wise not to take such threats lightly. However, learning about the basics that eventually led to Drainira's "birth" was more than useful.

Thomas referred back to Ialari's manipulation of the stone in the courtyard. She nodded in response to his questions and comments and said, "Izurdin is the father of my race, that much is fact. At the time of our creation, he sought to improve upon the early humans. He saw them as flawed yet not without potential. While the other gods wrought their influence upon humanity and used them for whatever divine whims they had, our father watched and waited. Ever the smith, he chose to create his own race. Taking the best qualities of humanity, he improved upon them." She paused for a moment and considered Thomas' question further while also trying to construct the words in the common tongue to best convey her intended meaning.

Although she had a good grasp on the common tongue, the language of the humans, it took her some time to articulate it in a way that she found suitable. Although her accent was still thick, she spoke her words as clearly as she could. "Our Father does not discriminate when it comes to creative talent. Although it is not a primary focus, we are taught that all creatures who possess the desire and skill to create physical representations of their will can gain our Father's favor." Ialari struggled internally for a moment with the idea of sharing too much information about her people though she never tired of freely speaking of Izurdin.

"Anyone can pray to our Father. If one were to display a talent for creation; a talent for designing and constructing physical objects that represent who they are as a person, their skill, desire and individuality, he may answer their prayers. My people have may ways of praying to our Father. One of the most profound ways is creating physical works of art." Ialari's teachings had been focused primarily on how the Divine Father related to her and her people yet it wasn't exclusive to the isur.

Then came the offer from Thomas in the form of a gift. He possessed a much greater knowledge of golems and animation that Ialari could ever imagine having at that point and the offer in itself was something Ialari saw as quite unique. "You would offer me a golem as a gift?" Ialari was not accustomed to the idea of a human offering generosity without terms attached. It was more than a little alien to her and made her rather uncomfortable.

"This is not something...Forgive me but I am not used to humans offering anything out of pure generosity. Of course you must want something in return." Ialari struggled greatly with the idea of any living human gifting her with anything positive. She couldn't however deny such an opportunity not only to have her own personal golem but to also gain greater knowledge of the art Animation in general. "That said...I accept your offer. While I know not what you wish for in return, I have little..." She paused for a moment. While she didn't have much to offer equally in return, she did have a few things that may be of importance to the human. "Of course we can discuss terms later. You don't strike me as a fool, as surprising as that is to me. You will want something in return, that much is certain; a discussion for later." Ialari pondered his offer further and thought about what sort of golem she may want for herself. It wasn't something she had considered before so the question came as quite a surprise.

After a few brief moments of trying to decide what would be useful to her, she finally said, "I am yet unfamiliar with the limits of your full knowledge in this area and what your capable of. But, as a child, I had a pet. Other than the Divine Father, he was one I could always talk to, share thoughts with and find comfort in his presence. If you could somehow craft something that could imitate the form and function of a snake yet be intelligent enough to communicate with me on a level that was a bit more than the typical golem that shuffles around this pit, my gratitude would..." Ialari thought a moment longer about what she would give in return for such a gift. This human was unique in a number of ways. Perhaps he had even more potential. It remained to be seen but what did Ialari have to lose? "Let's just say that if you could provide me with such a thing, I could reward you with something great to say the least."

[Thomas Cosa]

Thomas stiffened awkwardly, shocked momentarily by the bluntness of Ialari's response; of course he would be expecting something in return, hadn't that been the reason for his offer? Still, to be obvious in her dealings wasn't something Thomas expected of the isur -- or of anyone on the isle. Even new as he was, the animator picked up quickly on the wizard politics, on the veiled threats and natural flattery -- all to a means of an end.

But here they were, in the middle of a very public lab, making a very public deal -- and Ialari had called him out on it. Even more confusing, she hadn't seemed offended, but amazed that a human could be capable of generosity.

"Something like that...," Thomas paused mid-sentence, thinking about the logistics involved in making of a golem of that standard -- the snake body would be easy, he imagined. At least the body aspect; several cylinders could be attached by pulleys, or gears even, allowing for a general flexibility. If he made them small enough, they could probably get the golem flexible enough to mimic a snake. Or so he hoped.

"At least the gadgeteering aspect could be done. Flexibility, especially for something so linear, wouldn't be too hard -- and we could order in materials light enough for you to carry, but that would make it almost completely defenseless," he mumbled, thinking aloud. The animation part would be a different story, completely. It would take weeks at most to create something intelligent enough to speak and understand the common tongue, probably till the end of the season to make it smart enough to actually learn and adapt to be able to actually hold a conversation.

But she had promised him something great in return.

And he could do that in between his duties.

"Yes, I can make something like that. It'll take a while -- it probably wouldn't be finished till the end of the season, but I could complete something like that, if you wanted," He smiled, grabbing a piece of paper. "What kind of size were you looking at? Did you want defensive capabilities, what kind of material...?" His voice trickled off, question after question forming in his mind. This would be a good golem, he could feel it already.

"After we get a general mechanical feel for the golem, we can talk about the actual animation process."

[Ialari Pythone]

Ialari noted the slight change in Thomas' posture as she spoke of his offer and how she saw it more of a business deal. She never had much use for the subtlety of the politics of mages. Even back at the Silver Tower where gaining knowledge and influence over another was a symbol of personal power, Ialari was never quite able to grasp the intricacies of it all which usually left her a little frustrated and blatant in he interactions.

She listened then as he spoke of the general concepts related to the form and design of what she was requesting. Adding to his comments she said, "Don't worry about the materials being too fragile to protect it. If you'll allow me to assist, I may be able to address that problem. As I mentioned earlier, Izurdin has blessed me with hsi favor. I can call upon that blessing to impart onto the golem's body, before animation, the enhanced durability and strength of the materials. So even if the golem's body was crafted from something soft and light as copper, I could grant it the strength and durability of steel.

"As far as time is concerned, it's of no consequence to me. My presence here and the access I have is more payment for services rendered than anything else really. The duties I do perform are more for Master Qiao's amusement more than anything else I think." When questioned more about the form and structure of the golem, Ialari took a moment to think about it. Her mind was an analytical one; always planning and looking ahead while always imaging the end result in her mind.

When she had that mental picture, she described it more detail for Thomas, "So the majority of the golems here are constructed as simply as possible with only the shape and structure needed to perform their specific function. So when it comes to the one we are planning, I'd think the size would be comparable to the living creature. Much larger wouldn't be practical because it would need more design to be able to move the greater size at the cost of flexibility. So maybe around five to six feet long from head to tail tip. As for material, actually, copper sounds pretty good. It's lightweight and easy to work with. Perhaps throwing in a bit of silver to round out the smaller details as well." When it came to the question of defensive abilities, Ialari thought about a living snake from which the golem would be modeled from.

"Perhaps as far as defense goes, it should have similar abilities to that of a live python. Constriction of course which would be the next logical step up from the golem being able to move like a snake. I don't know much of gadgeteering beyond completed works that I've seen but I imagine a mechanism could be included to grant such a function. Probably a powerful bite as well. I remember back home we had these huge lifts that could raise people and heavy objects from lower levels to higher ones and back down. They used some sort of pulley system that balanced leverage against weight. The lifts could move loads much larger than any isur could. Perhaps a similar concept could be used to allow the snake a bite much stronger than simple joints could? Ialari never took the time back home to learn the why's and how's of the various mechanical devices that allowed the isur such great ability in building and moving materials but the concepts always interested her.

Nodding at the idea of getting the design down first, Ialari said, "I have some experience with drawing and planning. If you would like, I can draw up a sketch of the basic idea and you can add or modify based on what you see possible."

[Thomas Cosa]

"Could you? And it would be the same with any material we worked with?" The question asked, the pulser mage tilted his head slightly to the side. He mused the exact power her gnosis gifted her, and to what extent her abilities could be used -- "And the copper would retain it's lightness? Would only the durability be changed?" His eyes flickered down to the blank parchment, imagination filling the void.

"I think it would be best, if you helped," a smile flickered, "Two minds are better than one, although..." he paused, his mind once returning to Izurdin and Izentor, "What exactly are the limits of your marked powers?" he asked, referring to her gnosis, "I've understood you can manipulate stone and metals fairly easily, but what are the limits? Cloth in craft as well -- could you do the same with silk? Or perhaps, using this example, could you make the copper flexible? Perhaps mimicking a snake's natural muscles and reflexes?"

Perhaps he had overstepped, but Thomas had never seen such a power before -- he had heard of the wonders of alchemy and magecraft, but he hadn't thought those so instantaneous as Ialari's god blessed abilities. And in combination with magic? Truly, Izurdin was a world mage's god if there had ever been one.

Thomas nodded at Ialari's suggestions, pushing over the parchment and ink and quill to the isur. "I agree with most of what you said -- and as for the defensive capabilities, we should have no problem ordering in a live python for a model. This, on top of using you as a source, should ensure it act as a 'real' python would," he concluded, quoting fingers on the word real.

"So, show me what you want and I can see what I can do."