Alayna quickly knelt down to see the little creatures, her eyes wide with concern. "I am Alayna. How awful! Can I help? I know little of crafting, but I would truly like to help. Or even to find your compatriots!"

She realized her emotions were making her excited and took a breath. "But this place is wonderful. You have outdone anything I have seen in my life. I thank you from the bottom of my heart!"

Tahra dresses and holds the towels out to the keepers. You do your work well. It would do no harm for us to take a look; we might be able to help.

Nwofia smiles at the little creatures, saying nothing but bearing an open expression.

"A few of us are damaged and are here," Oli says.  "In the closet, where we stay.  On their shelves.  When we are damaged and cannot serve, that is what we do.  A few others... the Elves took them.  I don't know what happened then, we never saw them again, and the Elves do not speak to us about it.  I do not think they like us very much.  I do not know why.  But you are friendly to us, they are not."

Speaking of Elves...

Alio said he would bring word to the "higher ups" here, and he has, and he has returned with a few "designated greeters".  By their clothing, they do look at little more important.  Or maybe it is just that they are dressed for meeting strangers, with colors and jewelry, and not in the shades of mottled gray that Alio wears for patrolling at night.

But Alio is still in his patrol clothes and looks a little tired.  He has traveled far, and has returned, while the party slept.  There is a very large gray cat with him, and it too looks tired.  Being a cat, it sees no reason for a formal introduction, and finds a place to sleep.

The Elves, though, four of them, are met by the Argentoses, who figure the party has the odd little caretaker creatures well in hand so they are free to concern themselves with the lords of this land.  Lots of talking is going on, just out of earshot unless anyone wants to wander over.  It doesn't look unfriendly, but Oli, Tholi and company shuffle a bit to the left to keep the party between them and the Elves.

A few of the caretakers are very curious about Esher.  And it rings a bell with a few characters: M. C. Esher is a Gnome.  There are things commonly known about Gnomes.  The Gnomes of Turicum, for example, somehow organize and control the money supply of the world and are said to be responsible for a gold piece being a gold piece everywhere you go.  Some Gnomes, though, are known as Tinker Gnomes.  These make the most remarkable things that many other folk simply don't understand.  Clocks, for example.  If these creatures were in fact manufactured, it would make sense that Tinker Gnomes did it.

Seemingly in aware of the re appearance of the elves. Esher is completely facilitated by the small "porcelain doll gollems"...they are clearly more then that because of the capacity to think and act independently...but Esher does not want to call them animated puppets... even if it is only on his head.

So Esher opens one of his belt pouches and pulls out some waifer thin copper gears. (Spellcraft check to recognize them as spell components) and stated rather matter of factly. I would not call my self  among those capable of making yet. My skills are weak at best. But I am good at fixing and repairs. Show me to your friends and I will see what I can do.

In the back of his mind, Esher has a fleeting thought that there may have be a darker side to the story. But he pushes the thought that these synthetic lifeforms may be slaves, held against thier will. Esher keeps the thought to himself, at least until he has more information. Esher pushed the thought deep, while also lamenting the fact that he often sees the darkest motivation in the most benign things.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:35, Sun 10 Nov 2019.

Nwofia tries her best both to stand between the elves and the mechanical people who seem to fear the elves, but at the same time she is as polite as possible to the elves themselves, greeting them formally and curtseying as drow would expect because she is not entirely sure how elves would wish to be greeted by humans.

Tahra bows her head in greeting and awaits events.

As always, Og was overprotective of his boss and his wife, and sticks close to the Argentos. He doesn’t interrupt anything, but is surely keen in learning more about how the elves and his family can benefit from each other.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:40, Mon 11 Nov 2019.

Celeste sees what Og is up to.  At times like this, she observes too- maybe one day she will be running things.

"Sometimes, Elves can be, well, difficult," she whispers to him.  "They aren't bad, not like Orcs... most Orcs.. you know what I mean... but the older Elves have been around so long, and been through so much, they can be defensive and cynical.  They can even be hard headed.  But they won't be mean, not like that."

Indeed, once some initial bluster on the part of the Elves is done with, they seem to quickly settle into the basic questions:  what is the group going to do, when, and where.  The Elves don't have cities like humans do, they live in smaller groups scattered in the forest.  They do have some larger settlements, though, were performances of their own kinds are staged in central clearings.  And of course, there is this.

They will allow the group to pass through their territory, and put on their shows.  But they do not want the group to be too long in any one place.  They do not want to be seen as putting a welcome sign for humans- before you know it, they will be everywhere!

So the Argentos's promise to move along at a good clip, a show or two, then on to the next Elven village.   This is as good a place as any for the first show.  Better than most, actually.  It has baths!

But meanwhile...

If it was possible to bring tears to the eyes of the little doll like creatures, MC has done it... with copper gears.  The sight of them has the creatures gathered around, staring at them.

"I remember the makers, they had things like this."  Tholi says reverently.

MC Esher and the others know that small, delicate parts like his copper gears are not found everwhere.  The average smith could never make them.  A skilled coppersmith, maybe.. but he'd have no idea what to do with them.  Little gears is a Tinker Gnome specialty.

"You are one of them," Oli says.  "Those who are broken... would you?  Can you?"

Esher looks at Oli and says with conviction commonly heard from religious figures.
"I will try, but I am just a conduit for the power of the GearLord. The divine patron that inspired mortal hands to shape all synthetic life, in whatever form it takes. I am not a cleric, but a simple servant of a greater power.

---

Ooc
GearLord is a super obscure lesser deity of steam power, clockwork, and invention.
His holy symbol is 5 interlocking rusted iron cogs. There is no game mechanic benefits I get, only flavor and unique perspective on synthetic lifeforms.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:07, Wed 13 Nov 2019.

Having made her promises to the little creatures, Alayna stood, then carefully made her way outside.

Her hair in braids, her partially pointed ears were evident. Dressed in her skintight clothing, her frame was as well. She stayed back, not meeting the elves, though she wanted to very much. As an orphan girl, they fascinated her. And she hoped that she would be able to perform for them and perhaps meet them.

The little creatures don't know the meaning of certain words, like "synthetic" but resort to their standard routine when confronted with the unknown:  nod and go along with it.

They direct Escher back inside, where they have a "storage closet", this is where they spend their resting time, and it is where their damaged compatriots wait.  They seem to have an extraordinary ability to wait and do absolutely nothing when not working.  But then, in the Gnome's experience, this is absolutely normal for animated creatures.

Talking, and having feelings, and wants and desires... that part is weird.  That goes beyond anything he knows of the tinkers' arts.  But working tirelessly at repetitive tasks, and waiting indefinitely when not working, that is fairly standard.  He knows of several Gnomish wizards who could do that.

There are three of them in "storage" here, one having a detached foot, one having a cracked torso, and one in which the head has become separated from the body.  It is complicated work from the Gnome's point of view because in each case there are minute gears and springs and wires that must be reattached, all in the right places, and then secured with multiple Repair spells.... which, fortuitously, he knows.

Meanwhile, outside, the Elves and Argentoses do their planning.

Phileas explains that he does not intend to hold a show today, as his troupe is quite tired from their overnight run and need a rest.  This is fine with the Elves, they aren't known for getting to things quickly, and they wouldn't want to hear "There's a great show but you have to hurry to get to see it today!".

So, if they hold a show here tommorow, well rested, the Elves affirm that there would be an audience of curious Elves.

They also have a question concerning Esher, though.

"The Gnome seems to be familiar with the Golems.  We are not far from the Gnome lands, we have met them often, and we have nothing against them.  We count them as friends.  Yet, the Gnomes we have met cannot explain these, as..."

The Elf speaking is interrupted by another.  "As these are monsters."

The lead Elf sighs.  "In a way, yes, you see... the semblance of life, of thought, is too close to things we hold to be wrong.  The creation of life is for the gods, not... not parts and magic.  We do not know what to do with these.  One of us, the Sorceress Ankinri, brought a few to her tree for study and repair.  One ran away, and now causes great mischief.  Perhaps they are a danger to us, but we cannot simply destroy them.  Not if they are innocent creatures."

Tahra listens with interest and speaks up. They are machines like waterwheels or ovens...but much more complicated. Magic must have been involved in their creation, for the ones we saw did not falter and become still.

The one that ran away is not performing its functions in the bathhouse—functions we quite enjoyed, so it may have become, let's say, crazy. You've shown admirable restraint. This machine, I"d guess, shoudl be captured. Have you nets?

Esher goes right to work. For a bit, it is almost as if he has five hand to hold parts together as he uses his right, left, prestidigitation to hold tiny delicate pieces, and mage hand as well as greater mage hand.

Through out the entire process he is praying quietly. Then with a touch of magic (repair light & minor damage) the damaged creatures are as good as new.

tiny golden cogs appear and begin to fade where the injured parts were fused back together. Just like healing of organic creatures, there are scars and blemishes. But Esher is proud he was able to minister healing to his God's children.

Alayna made her way to her beautiful horse and began to rub the beast down, half listening to the elves and to others, using her very good hearing. But the teen girl did not get involved.

"Angel, my love. We rest today. Let's take advantage of that, and practice later. These Elves are different than the ones I met, and I fear not so accepting of a half breed. And I do not wish to harm our host's adopting of us. So we shall stay out of sight."

She leaned against the stallion's side and began again to softly sing her mother's song, the elvish delicate on her young lips.

Satisfied that everyone is safe, Og offers Escher his aid as a fellow magician. Having huge hands isn’t a problem when he can move things with his mind.

“So, these dolls, very interesting. We should offer for them to join us. It would make for more than a great act. What do you think, Escher?”

In Response to Og's proposal. Esher thinks and then responds.

They are free willed creatures, so that choice is their's to make. I would love if they join us. But if that is what they want they can choose their path in the world.

Og senses doubt. Perhaps its his own perception, "You say that like you're not so sure. Free willed creatures. Do you feel so free, little man?"

"I don't care", says Nwofia, "Whether they are machines or people, they seem to behave like people and we should treat them as people.  We should indeed invite them to join us but I would prefer first to let Escher speak with the one who ran away to find out whether he is mad, malfunctioning, or just making a choice to do something else.  Obviously that makes a difference both practically and philosophically."

"Demons behave like people, Nwofia. These dolls have no souls, be sure to treat them as such. If they will serve, let them serve. We have so much work to do to keep the show alive as it is. At least they won't be more mouths to feed."

He didn't mean to be so pessimistic, he just didn't see the point in making the dolls comfortable when he didn't sleep so well himself.

Og's careless slip of the tongue was not taken quite as flippantly as Og had said it.

Wow Og I didn't know you could be so ignorant.

Just because you don't understand something does not mean you can just claim it does not exist. That is what Gnashrip was doing. Like him, you sir are wrong too.

You will die of old age, they will live on. Your mind will grow weak with the passing of the years, theirs will only become stronger. Your body will wither, their's will not.
That is the weakness of everything that draws breath, or requires food or water to sustain itselves.

To say that synthetic life is better in more ways than it is not, in my opinion would be an understatement.

But as this is the way I believe, and that is the way you believe. Perhaps it would be best if you kept to yourself.

Og shrugged. When he died he would go on to a better place with a better body. "I don't think you're wrong, little man, agree to disagree, shall we? Religion has never gotten between us before. I suppose we just never had much reason to talk about it.".

Tahra tries to interpose. To me, it seems they were constructed to maintain this place and to serve its patrons. When taken away, they, I think, will act awry. From the evidence, they have a will to continue existing and take a sort of pleasure serving. I've a feeling it's important we do what we can to help them. The waters of this place may think so too. Also, their creator, or creators, may be alive...or documents or goods they left behind may be findable.

The Elves see that perhaps there is an issue going on...

"Are you sure they will be ready?"  One Elf asks of the Argentoses.

"Performers can be... interesting," Hylensia explains.  "But of course.. Celeste, maybe you can see what the fuss is over.  We'll be ready for a show tomorrow".

Celeste Argentos wanders over cautiously, wondering what little tiff has started up now, and why.

She listens in.

"Is this about the little bath keepers?"  she asks.  "I'm sure they were made by Gnomes.. but with some added magic I have never heard of, for them to act the way they do.  But only Gnomes make things.  We can shift our route a bit, and if you think it would shed some light, we can visit them after the Elves.  They're not far, you know.  Back on the other side of the Rhine, but there are other crossings nearer to them.  The Bridge at Temedo, though I don't know who controls it.  But on the south side are the Gnome Lands.  Though... I suspect our little friends will not want to travel.  If they were made for this purpose, taking them away might hurt them.  But I agree that if Escher can fix any of them, he should at least try.  It's the decent thing to do."

Yes, I would agree that they appear purpose build for the takes they are performing.

While I see their situation as slavery, without even the illusion of it being anything else.

I can not like it all day, every day. I can and will believe that all day. But just because I feel one way, does not give me any right to force my opinion on any creature that does not want to change.

You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink. So I can point out a problem, but I am little more then an outside observer in this. Because a month or a year from now I won't be here. I don't have to live with the problems that plague the area. I would love to end all injustice, but despite my very vocal opinion on the topic. I am only seeing a small piece of a larger picture.

Esher ends with the same conviction as he began. But his tone indicates he is open to the possibility of being wrong.