Constructing Souls III
"The body can be just about anything." Phoma said as she lead Lyra around the workshop. She pointed to several tables where half finished golems were resting, each of different designs and materials, "It doesn't really matter whether the body is made of wood, metal or stone. The only thing it requires is that it have a 'housing unit', or something which holds the core. It also needs some sort of Aether Well to power it."
They reached the center of the workshop, and Phoma raised her hands, indicating the walls and ceiling, "With that in mind, my odd Husband thought to make this entire space one large 'golem'."
Lyra looked around, confused until Phoma began to point out certain parts of the ceiling, "You can see the lines here, the pictographs and glyphs? These are what make this room into one large construct." Phoma moved her finger over the ceiling, pointing out several places where glowing dragonshards rested surrounded by pictographs, "Those are the Aether Wells, Lures which power everything. These lines here and here lead to the lanterns on the walls there, and you can see this line runs to the door that goes back up to the shop."
As they walked and toured the facility Lyra did not know what to think. Their day of lessons so far had been to cover the overall basics of artificing, and how the various parts of the craft worked together. After Lyra had completed the Core to Phoma's satisfaction she had shown Lyra how she 'trained' a golem, using a simple wooden golem to demonstrate. She had placed it inside what she called the circle of minding, and after just a few minutes she had taught the little golem the basics of how to walk. She then commanded it to do laps around the small table she set it on, and when Lyra glanced back she saw the construct was still continuing its march.
They approached the far wall where the lines of lanterns along the wall were dark. Phoma pressed her hand against the wall, feeling the carved designs that lead to a larger glowing gem at its center. When she touched this gem it's glow intensified slightly, and she pet it almost tenderly.
"This is the Core of this workshop." she nodded down toward where the lanterns along the wall were dark, "As I said before across the street there was an accident. Their entire workshop needs to be rebuilt, but somehow they managed to damage my Husband's work as well. Ever since that day, the lights beyond this point have not worked, and a few other functions are unusable."
"Do you know what it was they did to cause this?"
Phoma shrugged, "A couple of young ones run a shop that mixes alchemy and runeforging in odd ways. I have no idea what they could have done to make my constructs stop working."
Hmming to herself Lyra touched a finger to the Core. It did not react to her touch as it had Phoma's. She then began tracing the pictographs that lead from it toward the lights. Runeforging, she knew, could generate large amounts of ambient aether which can disrupt the flow of aether in schema. She herself had been required to adjust her own designs to compensate for this. It seemed that this weakness was quite common in Kalzasi, something Lyra noted with some amusement. She followed one line that lead toward a stone pillar where another large gem was embedded.
"What is this?" Lyra asked, approaching the pillar.
"Another Core." Phoma said, coming to stand next to Lyra.
"Another?" Lyra asked, looking at Phoma confused, "I though you said that one on the wall was the Core of this construct?"
"It is." Phoma confirmed with a nod. She tapped this core, indicating the lines of glyphs that wrapped the column and ran along the floor, "This is a second core which controls the glow stones that run along the base of the wall. There are a few rooms beyond where the lights have gone dark that are only lit by dimmer lights in the floor instead of the bright lanterns on the wall."
It was then that Lyra realized there were several pillars in the workspace, and inset into each was another Core gem. Following Lyra's gaze Phoma said, "There are several core gems in the workshop, each linked to different parts of the construct. Some control the lights, others work different mechanisms here and in the shop. A few others are unfinished, leftover from projects my Husband was unable to finish." she pointed back toward the Core on the wall, "All of these cores are controlled by that Core on the wall. It is what gives instructions to the rest, telling them to activate or deactivate based on some command my Husband worked in."
Lyra felt her head spinning, and she rest her hand against the pillar as if for balance. Now suddenly she looked around the space as if with new eyes, and what she had thought was complicated before suddenly became so much... more. Her eyes widened as she followed one path after another. Glyphs linking the overhead lanterns to a core set at the top of one pillar, lines that lead to doorward, others that touched on tables or other large metallic constructs set in corners. Lyra turned in circles, seeing more and more with each pass. Her breath caught as she stopped and stared at the core in the Wall. Those glyphs... With a new perspective, she saw it. They were intricate, hidden under a ruse of simplicity. Lines that blended into one another actually linked to different Cores, but more than that this Core even had direct lines to many of the larger mechanisms. This thing, it was the centerpiece of a grand design.
"Your husband," Lyra said softly, still looking at the workshop as if she had never seen it, "He was truly a talented man."
The older woman smiled, "That is kind of you to say. He would have been proud to hear those words, though he had enough confidence to fill three men." Her expression shifted slightly, pain in her eyes before she looked at the workshop, "When it happened I noticed the lights upstairs flicker as well, but they remained working. The constructs beyond this point no longer function and the ones connected to the workbenches near the center of the room do not either."
Lyra nodded, pulling her hair back and using a band to tie her hair in place. From a pocket she pulled a pair of spectacles, placing them on her nose as she looked around the workshop. Through the Aura Glass Lyra confirmed what she suspected. Along the glyphs in the functioning parts of the lab, she could see aether running through pathways. Large knots of aether could be seen at various points, Aether Wells Lyra suspected, though she would need to confirm. As she looked down the darkened parts however the glow of aether seemed to end abruptly. The aether leading from the core seemed to be functionally normal, and even as she looked deeper into the darkened areas Lyra picked out several points of glowing light that indicated other cores.
"Beyond the lights and workbenches, the rest of your workshop works normally?"
"That is correct. I have not been able to figure out what is preventing others from working."
Lyra looked up at the ceiling, tracing the lines with her eyes as she spoke, "Based on what you have shown me, and what I can see from here, it looks like your Core's are all functionally fine."
Stepping toward the main Core in the Wall Lyra traced a few winding lines of a glyph pair, "It looks like your husband took great pains to protect the Cores themselves from damage. These pictographs here, are designed to dissipate aether in an area around the core. This line here is what allows aether to flow from the aether wells connected to the Core."
"Aether... to the Core?" Phoma seemed confused, "But I thought the Core's themselves did not require aether to function."
"Normally they don't." Lyra said, turning and pointing toward the Core in the Pillar, " However, I suspect this connection is part of what allows this Core to communicate with and control the Cores linked to it. It likely requires power to make different cores activate and deactivate."
Phoma nodded slowly, still looking uncertain.
"That said parts of the schema have been broken, and are dark. The cores farther down the line are no longer connected back to this one."
"Can it be fixed?"
Taking off the spectacles, Lyra smiled, "Of course. Your Husband has made my job very simple."
73rd of Ash, 120 AS
They reached the center of the workshop, and Phoma raised her hands, indicating the walls and ceiling, "With that in mind, my odd Husband thought to make this entire space one large 'golem'."
Lyra looked around, confused until Phoma began to point out certain parts of the ceiling, "You can see the lines here, the pictographs and glyphs? These are what make this room into one large construct." Phoma moved her finger over the ceiling, pointing out several places where glowing dragonshards rested surrounded by pictographs, "Those are the Aether Wells, Lures which power everything. These lines here and here lead to the lanterns on the walls there, and you can see this line runs to the door that goes back up to the shop."
As they walked and toured the facility Lyra did not know what to think. Their day of lessons so far had been to cover the overall basics of artificing, and how the various parts of the craft worked together. After Lyra had completed the Core to Phoma's satisfaction she had shown Lyra how she 'trained' a golem, using a simple wooden golem to demonstrate. She had placed it inside what she called the circle of minding, and after just a few minutes she had taught the little golem the basics of how to walk. She then commanded it to do laps around the small table she set it on, and when Lyra glanced back she saw the construct was still continuing its march.
They approached the far wall where the lines of lanterns along the wall were dark. Phoma pressed her hand against the wall, feeling the carved designs that lead to a larger glowing gem at its center. When she touched this gem it's glow intensified slightly, and she pet it almost tenderly.
"This is the Core of this workshop." she nodded down toward where the lanterns along the wall were dark, "As I said before across the street there was an accident. Their entire workshop needs to be rebuilt, but somehow they managed to damage my Husband's work as well. Ever since that day, the lights beyond this point have not worked, and a few other functions are unusable."
"Do you know what it was they did to cause this?"
Phoma shrugged, "A couple of young ones run a shop that mixes alchemy and runeforging in odd ways. I have no idea what they could have done to make my constructs stop working."
Hmming to herself Lyra touched a finger to the Core. It did not react to her touch as it had Phoma's. She then began tracing the pictographs that lead from it toward the lights. Runeforging, she knew, could generate large amounts of ambient aether which can disrupt the flow of aether in schema. She herself had been required to adjust her own designs to compensate for this. It seemed that this weakness was quite common in Kalzasi, something Lyra noted with some amusement. She followed one line that lead toward a stone pillar where another large gem was embedded.
"What is this?" Lyra asked, approaching the pillar.
"Another Core." Phoma said, coming to stand next to Lyra.
"Another?" Lyra asked, looking at Phoma confused, "I though you said that one on the wall was the Core of this construct?"
"It is." Phoma confirmed with a nod. She tapped this core, indicating the lines of glyphs that wrapped the column and ran along the floor, "This is a second core which controls the glow stones that run along the base of the wall. There are a few rooms beyond where the lights have gone dark that are only lit by dimmer lights in the floor instead of the bright lanterns on the wall."
It was then that Lyra realized there were several pillars in the workspace, and inset into each was another Core gem. Following Lyra's gaze Phoma said, "There are several core gems in the workshop, each linked to different parts of the construct. Some control the lights, others work different mechanisms here and in the shop. A few others are unfinished, leftover from projects my Husband was unable to finish." she pointed back toward the Core on the wall, "All of these cores are controlled by that Core on the wall. It is what gives instructions to the rest, telling them to activate or deactivate based on some command my Husband worked in."
Lyra felt her head spinning, and she rest her hand against the pillar as if for balance. Now suddenly she looked around the space as if with new eyes, and what she had thought was complicated before suddenly became so much... more. Her eyes widened as she followed one path after another. Glyphs linking the overhead lanterns to a core set at the top of one pillar, lines that lead to doorward, others that touched on tables or other large metallic constructs set in corners. Lyra turned in circles, seeing more and more with each pass. Her breath caught as she stopped and stared at the core in the Wall. Those glyphs... With a new perspective, she saw it. They were intricate, hidden under a ruse of simplicity. Lines that blended into one another actually linked to different Cores, but more than that this Core even had direct lines to many of the larger mechanisms. This thing, it was the centerpiece of a grand design.
"Your husband," Lyra said softly, still looking at the workshop as if she had never seen it, "He was truly a talented man."
The older woman smiled, "That is kind of you to say. He would have been proud to hear those words, though he had enough confidence to fill three men." Her expression shifted slightly, pain in her eyes before she looked at the workshop, "When it happened I noticed the lights upstairs flicker as well, but they remained working. The constructs beyond this point no longer function and the ones connected to the workbenches near the center of the room do not either."
Lyra nodded, pulling her hair back and using a band to tie her hair in place. From a pocket she pulled a pair of spectacles, placing them on her nose as she looked around the workshop. Through the Aura Glass Lyra confirmed what she suspected. Along the glyphs in the functioning parts of the lab, she could see aether running through pathways. Large knots of aether could be seen at various points, Aether Wells Lyra suspected, though she would need to confirm. As she looked down the darkened parts however the glow of aether seemed to end abruptly. The aether leading from the core seemed to be functionally normal, and even as she looked deeper into the darkened areas Lyra picked out several points of glowing light that indicated other cores.
"Beyond the lights and workbenches, the rest of your workshop works normally?"
"That is correct. I have not been able to figure out what is preventing others from working."
Lyra looked up at the ceiling, tracing the lines with her eyes as she spoke, "Based on what you have shown me, and what I can see from here, it looks like your Core's are all functionally fine."
Stepping toward the main Core in the Wall Lyra traced a few winding lines of a glyph pair, "It looks like your husband took great pains to protect the Cores themselves from damage. These pictographs here, are designed to dissipate aether in an area around the core. This line here is what allows aether to flow from the aether wells connected to the Core."
"Aether... to the Core?" Phoma seemed confused, "But I thought the Core's themselves did not require aether to function."
"Normally they don't." Lyra said, turning and pointing toward the Core in the Pillar, " However, I suspect this connection is part of what allows this Core to communicate with and control the Cores linked to it. It likely requires power to make different cores activate and deactivate."
Phoma nodded slowly, still looking uncertain.
"That said parts of the schema have been broken, and are dark. The cores farther down the line are no longer connected back to this one."
"Can it be fixed?"
Taking off the spectacles, Lyra smiled, "Of course. Your Husband has made my job very simple."
"Lady of Whispers"
