2:40 PM Moonday, 10th of Lamashtan, 4710

As the party split up, Kaple lead those who stayed down the stairs to a huge steel trapdoor that lead to the city's jail.  After a brief argument with the head of the guards, one "Acting Sergeant Dun," the group was lead down into the dungeon itself.

The jail was a large stone cellar with high ceilings, a wide landing, and several cells lining the walls.  All of the cells were empty, aside from an extra-large cell usually used to hold groups.  It only had one guest at the moment however:  The Beast.

The towering abomination sat in a solid iron chair, held in place by no less than 12 sets of chains.  The Beast was a grotesque patchwork of flesh and bone, beast and man, held together by wires so taut they looked like they might fly apart at any moment. It's mouth was twisted into a sort of permanently sneering rictus grin, and a shock of lank, dark hair clung to it's scalp.  The creature slumped in it's chair despondently, and made no acknowledgement of it's visitors.

  As they walk, Vrenna focuses more on her medallion than on the dank surroundings, lips moving silently and fingertips tracing the five lines in a repeating cycle. She leers right back at Dun's suspicious glare, but otherwise settles into a professional detachment before they reach the next floor.

  "Thank you, acting sergeant. I will require a chair as well. A sturdy one." Vrenna's tail flexes stiffly to either side, but her voice remains level. She approaches the bars and stops less than an arm's length away to contemplate the creature.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:21, Sat 13 Nov 2021.

Felix joined the group speaking with the prisoner, realizing that other than the pile of chains being used, this would be an easier prisoner to care for sine it did not need to consume food. The food bill for someone his size would put a dent in the towns budget for the jail.

Looking over prisoner, he not sure what to expect when they started to talk as he too a deep breath. "Rather than addressing you as what the people in town call you, do you have a name?" he asked

There was a moment of silence as the Beast seemed to consider Felix's question. It's eyes moved up off the floor to glance at gaunt-faced magus for a brief moment, then returned to the ground.  It shook it's head slowly.

"Only people need names." The creature's speech was slow and so raspy as to sound like a growling dog, but the words themselves were clear, unaccented common.  It seemed Liviana's spell of Tongues wouldn't be necessary here.

Vrenna's request drew less of a response.  The burly sergeant merely rolled his beady eyes and gestured to a wooden stool in the corner.  He made no move to get the stool for his "guests".

  The tiefling spends several seconds staring down at the guard, pointedly unimpressed, but declines to get into a battle of wills with him. She brings the stool over and takes a seat as directly in front of the Beast as possible. Anyone else would be dwarfed by the comparison.

  "You may remain nameless if you like. But I am Vrenna. This is Felix, and over there is Maritine; they are helping me with something very important. I want to convince these people to let you live and be free." Here she indicates the guard and the cell door with small gestures. "Is that what you want?"

Felix did his best to not start jumping up and down with joy as the creature spoke. "Remarkable! You might want to start considering a name for you to call yourself. While you feel that only people have names, there are no others of your kind that I am aware of that can speak any syllables, let alone frame a complete sentence. So, you are intelligent, but now are you sentient? What do you feel right now?" he asked.

  Vrenna winces, but gives a gesture to go ahead of her, as though there were a queue. "Mister Axcici, please do satisfy yourself."
This message was last edited by the player at 02:52, Wed 17 Nov 2021.

The flesh golem simply stared at Felix, it's leathery face a mask of confusion.  It's mouth worked slightly as it tried to make sense of his question, either not understanding the terms used by the magus or simply baffled at being asked whether or not it was sentient.  Eventually it settled on the simple response of "...Wha?"

The monster looked back and forth between Felix and Vrenna.  Sitting, it dwarfed even Vrenna's unnatural build, it's bulk seemed entirely composed of muscle, bone, and thick metal stitching.  After a long moment, it spoke up, it's voice hesitant.  "I feel...I just want them to let me go.  I didn't do anything."

"And that is why were are here." Felix said.  "There is more to you that what is normal for a golem. Please be truthful in your responses to Ms Charthagnion's questions."

  "I have no doubt the defendant will be forthright. Lying takes a tiresome intricacy of thought."  Vrenna gives Felix a smile of almost-gratitude, then turns back. Her tail, meanwhile, has made two full wraps around one leg of the stool and keeps flexing as though she might crush the wood that way.

  "Do you remember what you were doing before meeting Doctor Crowl? He is the short man who turned you over to the ones who keep you here."

The Beast seemed to give Vrenna's question serious thought, then shook his head.  "I don't remember."

Sensing that answer wouldn't be enough, the Beast hesitantly tried to elaborate:  "I was in the swamp, looking for a place to rest.  Then my mind went away.  It...it happens sometimes.  Not often.  But sometimes.  When I came back, I was at the standing stones outside town.  I was...crouched down, behind a tree, like I was hiding from something.  Hiding or...hunting.  Then I went away again.  When I came back again, I was indoors.  I was in town."

The Beast shook it's head slowly, confused and distressed.  "When I go away, I wake up somewhere else.  But always somewhere safe.  This time I wasn't safe, I was in town.  Lepidstadt isn't safe, not for me!  I learned long ago that if I went into town, they'd catch me and they'd kill me.  And I was right!  That wizard caught me, and now they're going to kill me."  It slumped in it's chair, despondantly.  "Why did...why would I go into town?"

  As soon as the Beast mentions lost time in its memories, Vrenna sits up noticeably straighter, and twice so when that turns out to be an occasional happening.  She turns her head to face Felix, eyes wide with import, but has a particularly empathetic gaze waiting for the Beast by the time it is finished speaking.  She nods once.

  "Because you are something that spells can control.  I am sorry to say, I believe that when your mind went away, those times, some wizard was using your body to do bad things—things he didn't want to be blamed for."  If there was doubt for her charity, the venom in her tone now may be more believable.  There's a squeak when she manages to flex the stool enough for one leg to shift on the floor, and she very carefully unwinds her tail and pulls it into her lap, even folding her hands over the end.

  "If this is true, then Doctor Crowl is the most obviously suspect of them, but any arcanist of sufficient skill could seize the opportunity, I suspect.  Felix, you know more about magical theory.  What would it take, finding such a confused innocent already created, to magically compel it?  I can look for signs of compulsion, if that might help, but this seems likely to be an unusual case."

Felix pondered for a moment before replying to Vrenna.  "I have a feeling that what we have here is a rather unique case for our friend. From what I have read, golems in general are rather mindless and are designed for simple tasks, like manual labor. I have not heard of one that can speak in a something that could be understood, let alone have the ability to think like you do." he said, nodding towards the golem.

"Most of the time they are created and that two versions, both the clay and flesh version have a proclivity towards going berserk as the elemental spirit link in them is rather tenuous. There is a kind call a shield golem that is controlled using an amulet or such, but the problem is that they both require verbal commands, as in say 50-60 feet or less from the golem. I have not hear of one that can be commanded from a distance since compulsion magic will not work on golems since they are immune to most magic."

"If you do not mind, would it be okay to address you at Titus, rather than the Beast of Lepidstadt?" he asked.

I so wanted to call him "Lurch".

The flesh golem remained slumped as Vrenna and Felix discussed the likelihood of it being magically controlled to commit crimes some wizard's behalf, it's twisted face unreadable as it seemed to consider the idea.  When Felix proposed a name, the creature looked up.  "Titus?" it asked.  After a moment's thought, it nodded. "Okay.  What does Titus mean?  Is it like "titan", because I'm so big?"

"Strong, of the giants would be a close meaning. It could also mean Tenacious, Intelligent, Tough, Unique, Strong if that would be better. I believe that all of those traits would describe you." Felix said.

  Vrenna sits rooted, her perplexed gaze fixed on the other tiefling, for nearly as long after the explanation as delivering it took. Eventually, after glancing to either side as though looking for support and finding none, she nods and attempts a response. It turns out she bites her cheeks when she's stumped.

  "Well, we've confirmed what I did know, and that helps. I think the answer may be necromantic, then. I'll have to consult my advisor later. Regardless, this is an iron defense." She actually waits until the words have finished becoming meaning before continuing, the diva. "If we can prove it. Well then. Titus, is it—"
This message was last edited by the player at 03:44, Fri 26 Nov 2021.