The Fae's Golem...

[Stonewall]

This is a thread for Witchy and I.

It was just another typical day in Luthmor. The glittery sprites were zooming all across the lands in all sizes, some as small as a light bulb and some were the average height of people - meandering about carelessly and some with a business intent. They moved in a generous harmony and life seemed to roll around them with a fluid nature, not a care in the world. It differed from the forests to the city though - the fun loving feeling was gone and the abysmal dog-eat-dog side of existence emerged. Venom dripping from spiders fangs as they stare wantonly at smaller insects and birds. O, the joys of reality. But this devious reality was only just beginning...
Somewhere in the ruins of Donnalaich, a grandfather fae whispered silently to his three grandchildren about a war that happened long ago. The three kids flitted anxiously over one another in a pyramid fashion as they eagerly absorbed the story. Attentive eyes watched the sparks of magic and life drip from their old grandfather's digits and he conjured and weaved his tale of WarMages and their mighty golem armies!
They hid beneath a blanket in unison as the pyroclastics oozed from their grandfather's illusion in a firey storm that scorched their enemies alive. They watched, wide-eyed as the tale unfolded and the rock warriors became pack mules for a conquest of annihilation and his tale seemed to wind down with a massive, epic battle of cataclysmic proportions that lead to be why their home, Donnalaich, was just a set of buried ruins within a great rain forest in their lands.

"Rask ahalla' nor esuna ruin!" The grandfather exclaimed and his illusions rolled with fires and large orbs opened for eyes. His realistic illusions would fill the room and cause the children to stare in fear and wonder at this mammoth of insane size - the pyroclastic golem. It didn't even fit inside the little notch that the four fae squirmed within, and yet the could imagine the size of the monster if it's head didn't even fit - just one glowing amber eye filled the room until it faded. "So what happened to them, g'pappy!?" The kids exclaimed ...

:: :: :: :: ::

Deeply beneath the ruins of Donnalaich, an ancient monster stirred at the words spoken so very far away. Inside the rain forest, the piles of rock and the caves that lay within were from an old fortress of a grand mage, Deus. His power reached beyond all the other mages and because of this, he was slain by his peers, for no single mage should have that much power. However, in his defeat, Deus released his golems to wage war upon his mutinous mage followers and thus, the assumed, great fall of Deus' fortress and the city surrounding. Legend foretells that the piles of rocks are still a little charred from the epic battle nearly eleven centuries ago and are actually the remaining pieces of the great war mules, the pyro golems.

:: :: :: :: ::

"Uhh ... he-he-hHElo?"

The voice echoed off of the hollow walls down the center of the ruins. The parallel, narrow walls seemed endless beneath the massive fortress above and yet 689 had remained there for over a thousand years. The walls were cracked and defaced, smothered with wet moss from years of water leaking through the ceilings and some of them were decimated under stress points and fractures around 689. The voice that rang down the halls was gruff and coarse and left the scent of ash in the air.

Stone Wall 689 moved. The world around him cracked and groaned. The walls crumbled around him - but not really. He was the wall and after a thousand years he was just readjusting himself. Stonewall groaned slightly and moved forwards with a rolling pile, rock motion. Tumbling out from the wall, the giant stood slowly, his massive rock frame coming together in pieces. Two giant boulders for his pectorals and then a series of smaller, average rocks for his abdominals and then the rest of his body compiled upward caused him to stand almost at full height. The crumble of his brows squinted and he looked up, thunking his head on the ceiling. He crouched and began to roll down the hallway with a thunderous bellowing, landslide of a sound.

The scent of ash followed his motions and he rolled around to a blocked off passage and two other directions. Stonewall was stumped. Not in the wooden way, either - for he wasn't wood at all! If he had a lip, he would have chewed on it in his primitive ways and pondered which direction to go. He would remember that when he was brought into the pit in the first place when the building and beginning of the fortress was being assembled, he came from the direction on his left. "Uhhh ... l - l - LEF! HA HA!" His bellow of laughter shook the walls around him and the dirty misted his head, his laughter echoing throughout the ruins. He rolled to the left and began to see cracks of light emerging from the hallway ceiling in front of him.

[Lasair Anubail]

“Hmmm... bug, bug, bug... ohhh, moss!”

The small and energetic Fae eagerly reached out and pulled a small piece of the purple coloured moss off of the rock. She was not entirely sure what kind of moss it she held, yet she knew she’d seen it before. Perhaps in one of her tomes. Bringing it to her small nose, centre upon her soft, oval shaped face; she gave it a quick sniff. It smelt like dirt and a bit like something sweet. It tempted her to eat it, but she knew better. Yes, she did! The last time she’d eaten something she didn’t know enough about, she’d gone a little weirdy and had tried to storm her sister’s shop using a failed synth experiment that had turned a steel sword into the consistency of rubber. Needless to say her sister had not been impressed and the two customers she’d had at the time had nearly blasted her with fire balls! That would have been bad because then there would have been burning and screaming and her little plushies may have come to the rescue! Which would have meant more burning and screaming. Oh, not a good thing indeed.

Thankfully, Lasair had learned not to eat things that simply appeared to be edible. Yep, yep. Yes she had. So, instead of tasting it she slipped the messenger bag strung across her body off and onto the ground. Opening it, she rummaged around inside, her arm disappearing deeper into the bag than the simple leather confines should be able to allow. But the bag was special, made by Lasair herself in her shop. It carried an infinite amount of items in it and never went over ten pounds, a very helpful enchantment to someone like Lasair. She was so small compared to the Draconians and she didn’t really have a lot of strength in her. So items that even humans had an easy time lifting could be quite hard for her. Suffice to say, it frustrated her. But she got over it!

Eventually, her slender arm pulled out a really large tome bound in leather that was frayed and worn upon the edges and etched with a beautifully intricate symbol. Flecks of gold were what remained of the paint which had filled the etchings. Carefully, she opened the book and began leafing through the old and stained and weather pages. Some of them were just barely hanging on to the bindings keeping them within the leather book, so Lasair was very careful. The tomes she possessed were her greatest treasures and they held within them knowledge of Dheathain that most would never know. Plants and animals and all kinds of crystals, some of which appeared to no long exist. That made her sad.

“Ah-hah!” She said cheerfully to one in particular but herself, after all, she was the only one around in this courtyard. Well, it had been a courtyard at one point in time. She supposed it could still be one but now it lay within the middle of a pile of ruins. They were pretty ruins, the stones the colour of the light blue sky and some of the intricate carvings and ancient designs could still be seen, though much had been worn away by time and weather. Lasair now sat within a relatively open space with large columns having collapsed all around her and walls caved in. Not much of the structure remained, but it was still pretty to her.

“Danham Alla Sioda Caonach.” The moss had a very long name. “Spider-Silk moss... apparently, this moss is named so for the tiny black spiders that tends to make their home in the soft, purple leaves. They weave small webs and create little burrows from which to hunt out. Adventurers should be weary for their bite is especially painful.

“Oh, well that doesn’t sound very good. Thankfully, this one appears to be spider less!” Or so she thought.

Looking down at the small clump in her hand, Lasair watched, golden eyes wide as a little tiny black spider came crawling out from inside.

“This can’t be good...”

It bit her.

She screamed.

The piece of moss went flying through the air.

And the poor Fae cradled her hand and curled up into a little ball. The area that spider had bitten her already swelling up and turning her golden skin an awful and nasty red colour.

[Stonewall]

The halls were dank and charred with the scent of old battles. Peat moss covered most of the walls now from the rains that had fallen for the past several centuries and turned this entire land into a rain forest. The scent of fresh mist was lingering in the air, even as low as Stonewall was. Ancient ruins and markings lined all the walls - instructions for if the golems were to get lost, forget their tasks or in general, directions to all areas. Stonewall paused to decipher the old markings that had run down and crumbles and then he chuckled heartily again to himself.

"Toi ... toi! Wut dis?" The grinding voice questioned with a dusty ponder. The symbols were worn and angled differently, slightly slumped and worn down in certain areas. "Toilet? Wut dat?" The expression of rock that crumbled around his eyebrows seemed to be totally quizzical and a blankly puzzled look. Stonewall shrugged slightly and went to move, before a disc of purple moss came flying through one of the holes in the ceiling and a yelp followed it. Instantly, the golem cowered and crumbled into a pile on the ground, a disguise. He shivered slightly at first, crossing his burning, amber orbs and staring at the piece of purple stuck to where his nose would be ... if he had one. "Wut dis?"

Standing slowly, rebuilding himself - Stonewall paused and lifted an appendage. Pebbles rolled up and formed a hand with digits and tiny fingers and he lifted the moss from his nose in curiosity. He sniffed. The texture was sweet and on his inhalation, his eyes radiated brightly with the oxygen inhalation and the crevices in the middle of his boulders where the Nexus Infinito lie an incandesce glow of blazing orange emerged.

He pet the moss gently and grinned, setting it on his shoulder and then began rolling down the hallway and then around the corner to a set of run down, crumbled stairs. Pausing slowly, the pile of rocks seemed to hesitate in remembrance. This hall was always guarded by a mage with a pressurized water wand and he didn't like the feeling or discipline of that. Yet now - no one stood there, so 689 moved onward. His newly found independence came from the aged Nexus inside of him. The landslide sound emitted to the surface of the rain forest and the ground rumbled as the titan emerged from the hole in the ground to be surrounded by the ruins of his companions. His body composed slowly, rolling to the full height and the reaching out and poking the rocks on the ground with a concerned look - totally confused.

"Why you lay down? Git up?" His voice wavered slightly and the heat of his breath left an ashy taste in the air. Stonewall paused and looked around slowly. The bodies of his friends lay in ruins across the ground for as far as he could see. Their markings still intact slightly - worn from the rains, crumbles from the elements, and smothered in bird crap from centuries old. Their stool eroding the rocks in certain places and defacing the over-all color of their once magnificent forms. "Hmm. Guess core run out. Das bad. Wut my core run ow?"

The figure turned and looked down to spy a little girl with a rut sack and a sad scowl covering her cute, round face. The pile of rocks tilted its head and lowered itself to a pile of only three feet tall and spreading out along the ground, the purple moss resting gently on his shoulder. "Aw! Why you frown?" Granted, working a hundred centuries ago with humans didn't seem awkward or different, so 689 didn't see any harm in questioning her, however he was a little fearful of being yelled at ... after all, humans were masters.

[Lasair Anubail]

The book really had been right. That spider was mean and nasty and had a bite that equalled something ten times its size. Her hand throbbed around the small wound, still a nasty little bump on her hand. Oh, what if it was poisonous? She couldn’t synthesize a cure out there! Well, actually she could, but she wouldn’t know what kind of ingredients to use and would be grasping at straws and might end up turning herself into an Algora! Oh, that would be bad. No, the moss was bad. Bad, moss... it was a very, very bad moss!

Sniffling softly, Lasair perked up a bit when she heard the gravelly voice near her. Oddly enough, the warm air that fanned across her skin smelled of smoke and ash, though she didn’t remember lighting a fire.

“Because a mean old spider bit me!” She said to him in a small little voice, still cradling her hand and acting as if it were infected with the worst possibly disease ever and was totally about to become gangrenous and fall off.

When her golden eyes looked up to see whoever it was talking to her, she found no one. Well, no one visible. She blinked and turned her head from side to side; trying to see if the person was perhaps hiding from her, but the only place they could hide was behind this large, three foot pile of rock. More like a small rock wall. But it had not been there before.

“Oh... uhh... rock? But where then the voice come from? Is there no one here?” The wings on her back perked up, moving faster than the normal eyes could follow. They shimmered the many colours of the rainbow as the clear, translucent appendages caught the light of the sun. “Maybe I’m hearing voices. Oh that would be very bad. Aileen says that when someone starts hearing voices they’re either losing their mind or they’re very gifted. But my mind is still inside of my head, so I can’t have lost it. Then again, I’m not exactly gifted either. Oh no...”

Wiping at her eyes, Lasair reached out to place her hand on the rock and help herself up, but she stopped a few inches away. There were two glowing orbs staring at her from within the rock wall. The orbs were fanned by these two cute little pieces of stone that looked like eyebrows. And there even lay a place for a mouth, though oddly enough no nose. Well, maybe that could be classified as a nose, but she was not entirely sure.

“Is the wall talking to me?” She whispered to herself.

She certainly came across stranger things in her travels. Well, actually, no she hadn’t. But Lasair was not the kind of woman to let a talking wall discourage. Examining it, she noticed the clump of purple moss sitting along its surface, not too far from what she guessed to be its face.

“Moss!”

Squeaking, she snuffled back a few steps away from the thing. “Moss has spiders, spider hurt when they bite, stay away!”

Grabbing her side bag and the tome she’d dropped onto the ground, the small Fae stood and ran as fast as her bare, little feet could carry her. She made it about three feet away, then she dove behind a boulder jutting out from the moss covered ground. Safely behind it, she tucked her tome into her Never-Ending rucksack and then slowly inches towards the edges. Long tendrils of blood red hair fell down across the side of the rock as she peaked around, trying to see if the moss followed her or not.

[Stonewall]

Stonewall remembered how mean the WarMages were to him and speaking out of line to them about his random thoughts or stupid questions about life and objects that surrounded him - most of the Mages thought that he was so dumb that when he asked a question, they involuntarily answered it to shut him up. Knowing that if he knew the answer to his question, it would take the wall at least another day or so to ponder the word or meaning of the answer he'd received and then another day to just remember what the question he'd previously asked was! Silly rock.
But this little master was kindly speaking and actually said more than a few sentences to him. Thankfully and lucky for Lasair, Stonewall had gained a lot of knowledge and brain power over the past few centuries and so his response time was a little quicker, but he was still puzzled.

"SpyDUR!" He exclaimed and acted as the little fae had. The wall hefted to its enormous nearly nine foot height and took a few slow steps to the right and the left with his bouldery arms up in a frantic display of visual finesse. In the truth of the matter, mimicry is used by toddlers, infants, and general youth to try and act older and comprehend things they do not - in his case, 689 hadn't the foggiest idea what a spider was. Just knowing that a spider was bad news, by the tones of the little squeaky voice, Stoney was terrified.

"AhHH! MO-Z!" Reaching to his shoulder, 689 picked up the purple fluff and threw it up into the air in a lofty manner. It floated skywards due to the momentum for a moment or so and then on descent, Stonewall blew. The Nexus Infinito was a bright sparkle in the center of his chest - like a crystal illuminated by the sun and the pyroclastic breeze that escaped his pebbled mouth was hot enough to ignite the plum hued plant and it burst into flames. Just a little flame, though - like tissue paper, it went up in smoke and then plumed in a cute display of amethyst smoke that hovered around like pollution.

"AHh! SPYDUR MOZ!" Like the Fae, Stonewall was naturally afraid by her reaction that he thought he might be bit also. His overly exaggerated size was much more hysterical than he knew as he tried diving like the fae. His sheer mastiff proportions caused the ground to shake violently with his erratic movements and then with a vertical leap of no higher than a foot - pretty disgraceful for the rock, he shattered and crumbled into a spread pile across the ground - however, he tried to hid behind a tree instead.

What he didn't know about trees was - they can be hurt and move. With his landslide of a dive, Stonewall slammed into a thick oak and its branches swished violently in the canopy. The cracking echoed like a narrow hallway throughout the forest as the gigantic tree toppled slowly - it cried and whined on the way down. The crash was disastrously magnificent as it shook the ground as a second earthquake following the titan's child-like antics.

The ashy scent filled the entire area with his body now sprawled across ten yards of rocky, grassy terrain. The tree finally settling in the background and the shaken feeling crossing through Stonewall's chest. His pectoral boulders arose with his head on top and he peeked over a rock as well, looking to the Fae with glowing ethereal amber oculars.

"Iz da spydur go'ed?" The tremble in his grinder-voice lead on the fear that she'd induce in him by acting so rashly over a small little arachnid. These were new feelings to him, new words, new objects, new worlds. The basic understanding he had and the words Stonewall's vocabulary possessed came from centuries of listening and observing silently, the WarMages that used to wander these parts...

[Lasair Anubail]

Lasair let out a small squeak or surprise as the ground practically shook from the impact of the stone thingy. She clutched onto the rock in front of her, holding on to it as if for dear life and even after the ground stopped all it’s moving, she still held it. It seemed like a good idea to keep her tiny little hands on something that seemed stable, even if it shook slightly. At least it didn’t last for long. And once the ground started shaking her brain kind of righted itself and everything with the world seemed well and safe. Only if that dreaded spider was gone though. After all, she was not about to let another one of those near her. Her hand still hurt! Oh, hopefully Aileen would know what to do with the spider bite once she got home. Or maybe the tome had something in it that would take away the sting and the swelling, because her hand did not look very good when it swelled up. No it didn’t. It looked kind of big and stuff.

Watching at the stone thingy’s head rose from the long pile he had turned into, the small Fae slowly nodded her head in response to his question. She had no idea why he would be scared of a tiny little spider though, he was made of stone. Its teeth would not be able to hurt him. It could hurt her, but not him. Not unless he was made of really soft stone. Maybe then it would hurt him. Of course, she’d only know if it was soft if she asked, oh, or if she touched him! He’d let her do that, wouldn’t he?

“The spider was in the moss, now that the moss is gone, we don’t have to worry about the spider anymore.” Lasair said to him softly.

Holding her messenger bag, the small Fae crept out from behind the rock, daring to go out into the open. She took small, careful steps on the grass and dirt with small feet until she once again stood in the middle of the courtyard. Once there, she felt comfortable and didn’t even feel any of the worry over the little spiders anymore. The moss she had found was feet off to the left and as long as she didn’t go near it, everything would be safe.

“You can come out now, thingy.” She told the stone wall in her cute and high, child-like voice. “The spider is gone, not that it would have hurt you anyway, and you’re made of stone. Oh! Are you a stone golem? I’ve heard of them before. They’re created from magic and they run on little magical spheres in the centre of their chests. They’re supposed to be great for building things and moving things and protecting people. Are you that?”

She really hoped he was. That would be so cool if she could go back home saying that she’d found a stone golem. No one would believe her. Well, they might if she showed him to them. Oh and he could do so much around Donnalaich, maybe even helping with the rebuilding of the city if he wanted to. He might not.

“Do you maybe have a name? Should I just call you Stoney? It doesn’t sound very nice... if you don’t have a name I could give you one!”

The little wings on her back shimmered in excitement once again, moving so fast that they blurred behind her into a rainbow of colours as the sun caught it.

[Stonewall]

The forest seemed quiet for the moment that the massive stone beast had settled. His fabricated heart pounded within his chest as he stared off into space and silence, breathing heavily as if he needed to. Stone ducked quickly behind the rock as the little girl thing emerged and spoke to him - her voice was calm, soothing to his agitated spirit. He peeked out again, standing slowly and rolling from behind his hiding place, but paused and looked behind himself. The tree that had fallen, was on one of his leg boulders and he cocked his head curiously, as a dog would have. "Wood! Owwie!" The pitiful noise and voice that the beast made caused his large pebbled brows to frown slightly and then with a mighty swing in such a toddler fashion, the golem slapped the tree and it rolled like a bowling ball and cracked a few more trees, shaking them violently and raining leaves down from the evergreen canopies overhead.

Like a curious kitten, 689 stood slowly and swiped at the falling leaves that poured down from the heavens, ever-so curiously. His eyes were wide with a burning amber hue and his stone maw pulled upward into a large grin and he laughed a chalky, guttural, grindingly ashy laugh. "Ah Hah ahha! Fall down!" And at they began to grow thin in their descent he stood there and tilted his head again, baffled at the sudden ending of the raining leaves and then shrugged some - the sound grinded roughly. Stonewall turned to his right and went to walk again and paused totally startled - he'd forgotten the little person was there the entire time!

"Oh!" And then the fae bombarded the wall with questions and he was stunned, beginning to process the incoming information. Again with the head cocking and goofy smile that processed across his face along with the information.
"Spydur - bad." He thought some more.
She asked about his Nexus Infinito and spoke about the stone golems and he nodded, understanding and wondering how she knew so much about them, but didn't have any knowledge of the time that had really past. So, he nodded slowly. Formulated some words inside of his thick skull and chewed at the pebbled lip on the front of the bouldery strong face.

"Frendz not move no more. No Nexus Infeneeto..." Turning a shoulder to the little girl, he motioned to where his deltoid would have been and the ruins marked and engraved on his shoulder were in prime condition and not aged at all due to the Nexus core and his secure location within the castle. The symbol was pulsing with a crimson glow that offset the dark coal epidermis and amber glow of his inner self. "Stonewall Nombr Sx Eeght Non is wut dey call'd me.." Then with his body at full height, Stonewall towered over the little girl, easily being twice her size and his arms lifted to his chest - spreading the two pectoral boulders.

It wasn't so much as how she described as a sphere, but a force - a soul power that was nestled within the core of this mammoth construct. The force or core was a glowing amber light, a few shades darker than the sun itself, but barely lacked the intensity of its explosive glow. It pulsed like a heart beat and washed the little girl in an indescribable warmth, like a rushing flood that would pool around her figure and flit around like micro fairies and sparkles of energy. His fingers released the boulders and they shifted slowly back into place. Stonewall smiled talking a few steps toward her and lowering himself to her height in a crumbling, yet controlled fashion before pausing before her.

"Is dat bad name? You give? Wut doz on your back? Wut your name?" It was his turn to be curious and like a little girl at a slumber party, Stone lifted his boulders to support his head, much like palms to his chin and he grinned excitedly.

[Lasair Anubail]

Wow, that little centre part of him seemed so pretty. It glowed like some of the brightest crystals that her sister had ever made. And the warmth that came off it bathed and tingled her skin. She wanted to touch it. Maybe it would feel just as warm as it looked. But maybe it would burn her if she touched it. He called it the Nexus Infineeto and it kept him moving, so perhaps it would not be such a good idea if she were to touch it. It might hurt him. Or it might hurt her. If she asked he would let her know. He didn’t seem to mind answering her questions. Sometimes, people got annoyed with her when she asked too many all at once. The problem was she got so excited that she forgot to only ask one question at a time. Besides, he asked her ones back and lots too, just like she did! So he must not mind at all.

“Well...it’s an interesting name, but it’s just a number really.” She told him with a bit of thought. “It doesn’t make you...you. So, I’ll give you a name just for you.”
For a few moments she remained silent. Her thin fingers tapped her chin as she thought about what would suit a giant stone golem. Probably a really strong Draconian name would do best. He would have to be happy with something like that. It would make him seem fearsome and cool. Heh, cool, she liked that word. She had picked it up from a bunch of really young humans when she’d been in Corone. They’d just thought almost everything was cool. Except her wings, those they had call amazing and real neat. She assumed that meant good things since they weren’t yelling at her or calling her names. Some humans just weren’t very tolerant of other races.

“Oh, how about I call you Erionn!” She threw one of her hands up into the air enthusiastically and then brought it down, clutching it to her chest as she looked at him expectantly. “Erionn dar Anubail. You can use my last name if you like it.” She gave him a great big smile. “My name is Lasair Anubail and those things on my back are wings, aren’t they pretty? They let me fly, like this.”

The muscles all along her shoulders and into her back suddenly tensed. Then her wings began to move and shift, faster than almost any eye could follow. They became of blur of colour behind her and within seconds she was off the ground. Her small and bare feet left the grass and dirt and she tucked them in a little closer to her stomach as she darted off behind Stoney. A second or two later she remerged on the other side of him and set her little feet back down on the ground. Once on solid ground again, she brushed her blood red hair back out of her face. Then she ran her fingers over her green dress, straightening it out.
“See, wings! You probably shouldn’t try something like that though. You look too heavy for wings to be able to carry you, well, Fae wings anyway. Maybe the wings of a Draconian could do it since they’re like really cool Dragons. But since you don’t have wings I guess you don’t need to worry about it.”

With a small and soft thud, the little Fae dropped to the ground. Her bottom impacted on the hard ground lightly as she crossed her legs in front of her and looked up at the stone structure and where his face should be. It was always easy for her to tell because of the glowing eyes.

“Have you been in these ruins for very long? It must be really lonely to be here all by yourself when the others aren’t working anymore. You should probably come back to Donnalaich with me. It’s a really big city that was created by The Ancients a very, very long time ago and we’re rebuilding it now! It’s only half built, but it’s really pretty and who knows, maybe in the parts of it still in ruins you can find more stone golem friends. In fact, there are ruins all over Dheathain, who knows, maybe there are more of you out there. I haven’t seen any glowing eyed stones... but it might be worth looking and you can always ask me for help. I know Dheathain really well.”