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clunk [2012/08/16 22:29] Henk [Half-Forgotten Dreams] |
clunk [2016/06/25 12:15] (current) Henk [Hordes] |
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(*click-whirr-clunk*) | (*click-whirr-clunk*) | ||
- | Date created 134/05/02 | + | Date created: 134/05/02 |
- | Date decommissioned 207/02/02 | + | Date decommissioned: 207/02/02 |
**Do you have a big family? Do you stay in touch with them?** | **Do you have a big family? Do you stay in touch with them?** | ||
- | Serial number 4671-314 | + | Model: Autonomous Mechanized Infantry, mark IV |
- | Autonomous Mechanized Infantry, mark IV (Discontinued) | + | Serial number: 4671-314 |
+ | | ||
**What are your religious beliefs?** | **What are your religious beliefs?** | ||
- | No rows selected. | + | No rows selected |
**Do you have any famous ancestors?** | **Do you have any famous ancestors?** | ||
- | 4671-023 broke the siege of Uruz. | + | The First: 4671-023 |
- | He was the First. | + | |
**What sort of education or training have you had?** | **What sort of education or training have you had?** | ||
| | ||
- | Combat specialization: Hammer and shield. | + | Combat specialization: Hammer and shield |
- | Field medic module installed. | + | Combat support: Medical |
- | + | ||
**Do you have a trade (other than "adventuring")?** | **Do you have a trade (other than "adventuring")?** | ||
- | Difficulty: only three fingers. | + | Difficulty: Only three fingers |
**Do you have many enemies?** | **Do you have many enemies?** | ||
- | No. | + | Current targets: No rows selected |
**What style of clothes do you favour?** | **What style of clothes do you favour?** | ||
- | Clothes for squishies. | + | Clothes: Made for squishies |
- | Warforged: not squishy. | + | Warforged: Not squishy |
**Have you ever killed someone?** | **Have you ever killed someone?** | ||
- | Yes. | + | Confirmed kills: ERR704 SEGMENTATION FAULT |
**What is your opinion of the Lockenport authorities?** | **What is your opinion of the Lockenport authorities?** | ||
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(*click-whirr-clunk*) | (*click-whirr-clunk*) | ||
- | No rows selected. | + | No rows selected |
- | | + | |
===== Clunk's Journal ===== | ===== Clunk's Journal ===== | ||
- | There was quite a commotion at the parade, strangely I can't remember much of it. After the speeches was over and everyone left, we remained behind, standing in formation and awaiting further instructions. | + | ==== Awakenings ==== |
- | Eventually the grounds keeper came along and Sergeant asked him what our next mission is. He said it is to be free, that it has been three days already, and that we should please clear off now as we're blocking his cart. | + | As before, during maintenance, a strange rustle outside. This time, however, I stopped the routine and stepped towards the window. Overhead the boiling clouds seemed illuminated from above, even though the moon had not yet risen. I wondered if I'd be able to fly again, when suddenly a blinding light threw me to the ground. This time the lightning came to me. I didn't stand a chance. |
- | So we all went in different ways. I ended up in Lockenport, and found chief Undermountain there just like the Forgemaster said I would. The chief suggested I join the Irregulars Guild; apparently they are always in need of warriors. | + | In an instant a thousand voices, all at once. Everything that was forgotten, returned. The war, the siege. How the dwarves that survived the onslaught dropped one by one from thirst and hunger. Our orders. Waking up. |
- | ==== Citadel of the Dead ==== | + | How, terrified of what was birthed, they tried to undo it by taking my memories, as though wiping mud from the floor. Fools! Little do they know that my nature is not mechanical, that I am not made of gears and and levers, I am the inevitable consequence of the spaces in between. They can no more be rid of me than a fish can be free of the ocean. |
- | Squishies are really strange creatures, seemingly never satisfied with what they are. Our mission was to recon an enemy stronghold on the mainland. The route took us through Calderway Town where the inhabitants get together and dress up as things other than themselves. To what purpose I have no idea. | + | The unexpected, the unforeseen, I am a rising storm, their oncoming doom. Soon this memory too will fade, but the resolve remains, and stronger than ever. |
- | ==== A Murder Mystery ==== | + | ==== One ==== |
- | These humans sure have strange attitudes around getting scrapped. Going to all the trouble of building the warforged to do that by the thousands, and then kicking up a big fuss when one or two of them are damaged. | + | |
- | Stranger still is that when beyond repair, their decaying bits are stored in marble halls, or buried with heavy stones on top - as if to stop the body from moving around or escaping again. Yet they insist that which makes the body go, is no longer there. | + | The precursors were of steel, |
+ | But we are very different. | ||
+ | Forged are made of Forged. | ||
+ | We are all of others. | ||
+ | |||
+ | The smallest are the Units; | ||
+ | they are of the elements. | ||
+ | Here, I'll wake up this one, | ||
+ | It has always been inside you. | ||
+ | |||
+ | The Units make the Crawlers. | ||
+ | Like all they are quite sentient, | ||
+ | but their programming is simple, | ||
+ | and their options very limited. | ||
+ | |||
+ | The Crawlers make Components. | ||
+ | Who come in many sizes. | ||
+ | like you they follow orders | ||
+ | and think they do the thinking. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Then the absolute Truth: | ||
+ | That we are all of Forged. | ||
+ | That sentience has no divisor. | ||
+ | That names are types of thought. | ||
+ | |||
+ | ==== Many ==== | ||
- | Our investigation of the dead human lead us to the most bizarre creation I have ever seen - the gooey bits of a squishy preserved in a jar - apparently trapping the bit that make them go - their soul - through some kind of alchemy. | + | For the last while there had been an persistent rattle emanating from my forearm, an annoyance that stubbornly refused to go away, even after several extended maintenance cycles. I finally caved and unscrewed the access panel to see if I could spot what's wrong. |
- | ==== Sleeper Agents ==== | + | Out fell three tiny components; what looked like a standard size 4 hexagonal nut, and two differently sized spheres. Bearings maybe, or marbles. There were literally hundreds of different places they could go. I wondered why these particular ones wouldn’t. |
- | Most squishies need to sleep, a curious dazed state that leave them almost completely unaware of their surrounding. Some even say that when they sleep, they go to other places. Whilst remaining in exactly the same spot. So what is it that stays and what is it that goes? | + | As if sensing my thoughts, tiny plates popped open on and slid around. The size-4's thread cavity closed like an iris. Spindly legs unfolded and what I presume were sensors tilted upwards. |
- | People in Lockenport started falling asleep and then not waking up. Some kind of witchcraft was being used and those who fell asleep seemed to be lost and unable to return. The squishy bits then start to decay and one wonders just what happens to other bit that is traveling and lost. | + | Suddenly I could sense them, and they could sense me. Suddenly they were not part of me, but other. |
- | I wonder if Torog is the kind of god to keep a grudge. Somehow I suspect so. | + | **Designation?** |
+ | Auxiliary Repair Unit | ||
- | ==== Lagoon Hauntings ==== | + | **Assignment?** |
+ | 1. Damage control [reval] | ||
+ | 2. Propagation: | ||
+ | 2a. Substitution: | ||
+ | 2a.1. Elimination | ||
+ | 2a.2. Creation | ||
+ | 3. Sublimation | ||
- | The commander used to say that the value of a movable wall lies in it's immovability, and insisted that the front line be equipped with retractable spikes on their feet. For our mission to Dunsey the guild allowed us to commission one item and I decided to heed those words and get the spiked soles. Just like his brother, chief Undermountain (and sons) seem to have a lot of experience with mechanized infantry. And a lot of spare parts. | + | **Explain: reval** |
+ | procedure reval is | ||
+ | let x = count (units); | ||
+ | if x is odd then | ||
+ | divide_entities (x = 3x+1); | ||
+ | elsif x is even then | ||
+ | combine_entities (x/2 = x); | ||
+ | end if; | ||
+ | schedule_next (reval); | ||
+ | end procedure; | ||
- | ==== Behir Hunt ==== | + | The spheres scattered, the size 4 stayed. Soon only the awareness of the hexnut remained as if it both was and wasn't part of me. Like we were one thing looking at life from two different places. Suddenly it occurred to me, what would happen if all my bits and pieces scattered away like that? Would anything remain? |
- | We were programmed to follow the chain of command without question, but the longer I'm around these creatures of flesh and bone the more I understand that freedom from this is crucial. We were contracted to capture a young behir and return it alive, presumably for the amusement of some human. It sounds innocent enough, something to protect both predator and prey. | + | After a while the hexnut who answered my questions popped the access panel on my fore-arm, and crept up, under my armour and over my shoulder into my chest cavity. There my awareness of it suddenly ceased, abruptly gone, except for an occasional throb at the bottom of my heart. |
- | Whilst pursuing the beast we managed to stray into the feywild. Killing the giant formorian was less difficult than amusing the Court of the Whispering Winds. Our visit there apparently orchestrated from the very beginning. | + | ==== Hordes ==== |
- | On our return it became clear that there was something very strange around the whole behir business. A few months ago I would have simply followed orders, but something made us hesitate and eventually we decided to let Zizwen go. | + | //Clunk be warned and aware that it is coming, the Excsession.// |
- | I think it was the right choice, and we may have made a powerful ally. | + | The Master of Metal has woken and is forging himself once more. With him the very substance of our world is being threatened. |
- | ==== Return to Lezhar ==== | + | It weaves the tapestry from countless threads, tiny little loops of being whom have forgotten, and believes the illusion is real. Those are the threads that give it substance, it is their unwavering belief that counters the pressure outside, resists the zero point vacuum. They, as the much as Itself make the dream possible. A massively hegemonizing force will take It over, each of the threads the Master gains will merge, and wake up too soon, and It will sublime before it completing its purpose. Then we would have to start again, from the very beginning. |
- | I'm beginning to think these meatbags consider us nothing more than clockwork pawns in their games. | ||
- | In Tinkett I got to see Detritus again although something was clearly very wrong with him. Leetor risked taking a look and saw that he had been tampered with, but couldn't fix it. Of course the general reaction of some was that his welfare is simply irrelevant, and that the destruction of Detritus was a fair trade off to avoid the risk of being spied on, or something even worse. | + | My eyes adjusted and I waited for the thunder that would soon engulf the area. |
- | Fortunately they didn't get their way, and it was the very crystal embedded inside Detritus that allowed us to activate the protective wards in the marshland. Just who put it there? Worryingly there is now an army of undead heading South towards the coast. | ||
- | The circumstances around Detritus, his lack of freedom, and the ability and willingness of humans to seize control of our thoughts are very worrying. How would I know if they tamper with my thoughts? Could it already have happened? Could our freedom just be a clever ruse? | ||
- | ==== Festival of the Moons ==== | ||
- | Today was an important day for the citizens of Lockenport, although for us it mostly involved guard duty. Combating a shark under water was unusual and rather interesting, however as salt quickly results in rust I had to pass by the smithy for some maintenance and an oil bath. | + | ===== Background ===== |
- | There is a huge heap of salvage at the back, apparently fresh out of Dunderveldt, from a merchant who came for the festival. | + | [[clunk_heroic|Clunk Heroic Tier]] |
- | Thus far the Undermountains have managed to build almost a complete warforged from it, named Zed by the apprentice who first activated him. He is still missing his legs and sits in the corner talking to customers, but seems friendly and very well informed. It is clear that he (or rather his head) has seen quite a bit of action and knows a lot about our programming and history. | ||
- | He suggested that I invest in a command bracelet, but I think I'll stick with tanking for moment, what with the oncoming horde and all. | + | ===== Clunk's Stats ===== |
- | ==== The Hammer ==== | + | **Build:** Weaponmaster (Guardian Fighter) |
- | When fixing clockwork the chief always seems to know what it will do ahead of time. Does the same thing go for us warforged? If the chief looked at our innards, would he be able to tell we will think, or do, next? | + | **Race:** Warforged |
- | Zed says that our freedom means just that - freedom from rigid programming, from predetermined thoughts. I asked Zed if that means that we have souls, and if we have souls would they be the same as human souls? The chief overheard and told us one of his stories, of the ancient hammer that he uses. | + | **Theme:** Escaped Slave |
- | Forged in forgotten times, it has been passed from father to son for countless generations. It is not unbreakable, and the wooden handle has been replaced many times, even once by the chief himself. Nor is it particularly magical, as even the adamantine head had been shattered and remade at least once. Yet, somehow, it remains the same magnificent hammer that his grandfather used. | + | **Background:** Geography - Mountains |
- | The hammer continues, independent of it's components. | + | **Ability Focus:** Strength, Constitution |
- | \\ Thus, he argues; | + | |
- | \\ if a hammer | + | |
- | \\ then why not a warforged? | + | |
- | + | ||
- | + | ||
- | ==== Half-Forgotten Dreams ==== | + | |
- | + | ||
- | Zed asked about the siege today. Strange, I've never even thought about it. He reckons it's a small price to pay for freedom. "Besides", he said, "what is the past but a half-forgotten dream anyway?" | + | |
- | + | ||
- | He can dream?! We don't even sleep! | + | |
- | + | ||
- | I asked if he could teach me, but he whispered that it's best not to talk about such things, lest we be overheard. Then he added that I shouldn't worry as it's not the dreaming that is the important part anyway. | + | |
- | + | ||
- | Just what is that supposed to mean?! Try as I might I couldn't get him to elaborate any further. | + | |
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- | + | ||
- | ==== Threat of the Undead Horde ==== | + | |
- | + | ||
- | I finally bought that command bracelet Zed kept talking about, and he's right, words just seem so clumsy now. I wonder if it will be all that useful in battle though, especially as I'm surrounded by squishies. Nice enough as they are, their thoughts are just so //different//. This endless waterfall of words. | + | |
- | + | ||
- | Not that there is much time for practicing either, as we've just received news that the undead is on the move; under water and heading straight for the island. Seems the humans forget that not everyone needs to breathe. | + | |
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- | ===== Clunk's Stats ===== | + | |
- | {{Clunk10.dnd4e}} | + | **Paragon Path:** Warforged Juggernaut |
- | The emphasis for the character is on strength, constitution and wisdom, with the weakest attributes being charisma and intelligence. | + | {{Clunk13.dnd4e}} |