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>>156323
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>>156337
An idea occurs to me, a method to maximize the usefulness of the disciples of Ozmand. If I send them off, if I can inspire them to move on, possibly become adventurers, mercenaries, whatever they may choose, they could grow to become powerful allies in the future--and all the while be speaking of a mage Mordre with a Soul Grave as this command, aiding in the dissemination of my cover throughout the populace. The more widespread it becomes, the harder it will be for people to disbelieve it, so this could be highly beneficial to me... that, and if I keep Ozmand's disciples with me, it would mean having to maintain my cover more thoroughly.
"I need to see you thrive, Ozrick,
You and the rest of Ozmand's disciples.
With Ozmand in this Soul Grave's shoulder,
I feel obligated to see you through this moment of sorrow.
I will tell you what any deceased master would wish their pupils to know:
That if you truly wish to honor him, then simply surpass him:
No master could ask for more, from those that follow them.
Perhaps I shall see you again, and you can tell me how far you have gotten, eh?"
I elect to go with a more positive image of 'mage Mordre,' on the off chance it can assist me in maintaining my cover. I still have far too little military power to my name to even consider risking my exposure as a free willed, sapient golem.
The kindly words seem to work wonders, and I see tension sliding out of many shoulders, strain easing off of faces. I may have said something they wanted to hear, judging from their response. Ozrick finally addresses me after a long pause.
"..Thank you, for that. I think we all know Ozmand would tell us much the same. .....Well, we are going to stay here for the time being, rest up, clean ourselves up.... and then I think we are going to go looking for work, where we could hone what Ozmand taught us. ....When we see each other next, I hope we will be able to repay the debt we now owe."
I spend a moment playing the part of a thoughtful master wishing well to students, hoping they perform well, both to enforce a positive image, and to attempt to instill greater surety in the surviving disciples, so that they may survive to carry that message rather than be weighed down by doubt. By the time I head back to check on the Premen, now fully armed and armored, I feel the disciples hold no ill towards me for their master's death, and that they think quite highly of me.
The sight of the now fully-equipped Premen is quite impressive. No two suits are quite the same, and no one fidgets with uncomfortably settled weight. The ten Premen with Ugrokk, the taller, slimmer Premen, now wear full leathers with metal studs woven in at regular intervals, a segmented breastplate with pauldrons, leather coifs with metal helmets atop them, all open faced with a latticework of bars to guard nose and eyes. Greaves and gauntlets both adorn the ends of their respective limbs, and with new sets of bucklers, several axes, and a quiver of heavy javelins each, they seem likely the most heavily armed 'scouts' I have ever heard of.
The Premen with Oggroth are a see of dull gray, cleverly segmented plate festooning all of them, each appearing to have been designed to match the individual bearers body in the most utilitarian manner possible, curves and lack of embellishment everywhere.... yet the lack of corners or clear angles will make this armor most vexing to land a solid hit upon, as anything not carefully aligned will simply skip off at an angle. And with the enormous and tall mauls they bear, each larger than Ozmand's hammer, with the reverse end a slightly curved metal spike some two feet long rather than another hammerhead, they may likely be able to harm my own form, which would mean little could avoid their clutches in battle. Between the armor and the heavy weapons, I think they will prove most formidable against conventional foes.
Oggroth's armor has what appear to be over-sized pauldrons with plates running down from them as extra protection to his upper arms, but when I see his weapon I dismiss my puzzlement. He now has a hammer much the same as those the Premen that follow him now bear, simply expanded in size.... with a set of runes emblazoned on it's side. I also note the chain of his original weapon is attached to the base of his new hammer, and that the actual lump of metal, the actual sphere is clapped against his side. But more importantly, even fully armed and armored, his form so cloaked in metal he appears a smaller Soul Grave, were it not for the lack of soulfire about him, Oggroth is still astride the war beast we pilfered from Verther, now managing to guide it with at least some degree of accuracy. To bear all that weight and still move so freely, the creature must be strong indeed.
Ugrokk now sports a surprisingly large Axe, and beneath a heavy pelt, I see plate and leathers both. He seems to be considering how to manage the belts that his new set of some eight axes works, before finally pushing down on a final buckle, and removing his hands to find the assembly hang freely down his back. He lets the heavy pelt fall to cover it as he hefts his new axe, swinging it about as he twists and turns, testing his flexibility. I note several runes worked into his armor, and wonder what purpose they could serve.
I see Arkus peering over a piece of paper, and frowning at Oggroth and Ugrokk both. I walk up to him, and as he turns to face me I see some measure of relief on his face.
"Perfect, you can speak their tongue fluently, I can barely manage a few words, could you tell Oggroth that his rune activates when he hits the metal ball? It looks like Del Rogo made some sort of weapon set-up for him, made to work with his ball and chain. Lets him accelerate the ball to some pretty high speeds while magically amplifying the mass of the ball. It also makes the chain elastic.... or maybe it grows, not really sure. Oh, but he did make a note we would regret it if we let Oggroth try this when he wasn't on stable ground. Something about needing to anchor the hammer after hitting the ball... really, it took me this long to get past all the cursing and his terrible handwriting. Anyway, that's all I know about Oggroth's rune, but we should probably test it to make sure I got that right.
For Ugrokk, his note says that it activates by pressing both gauntlets to the helmet, looks like the hands should be as thoroughly in direct contact as possible, he wrote 'If the pissant tribal can't get it's feckin hands proper on the damn helmet, won't do shit for the bugger. That why it don't activate when yer stupid tribal's takin the helmet on and off, you idiot!'..... yes, it has been a joy to decipher this note of his. Really. Back to what the runes actually do looks like they take in light, cloak the wearer in shadow, or make him invisible, not sure, but it says it makes the suit get colder and colder the longer it's active. It also mentions that to deactivate, it has to discharge all the absorbed light, which is going to be very visible, .....also looks like it will heat the suit in proportion to the amount of light released. Says should be fine for at least an hour 'unless the tribal's a coward about facing some cold, or dealing with a bit of heat thereafter.' ...Ah, does say the wearer is sheltered from both the light eating and light releasing effects of the armor, in terms of what they see. So they won't get blinded discharging it, I imagine."
Most interesting. I glance over to see Askeladd looking at me, having been patient while I spoke with Ozmand's disciples, but clearly anxious to see us leave as we agreed, it has been some time so far.
What should I do or say, and to what or whom?
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