The ship lists lazily into the Taekron docks, practically finding its own way to a dock with just enough space for the ship, and halts its progress there, waiting to be tied down to the aged wood beside it. Around the docks, which smell of salt and body secretions, you can see massive galley ships rocking gently in the ocean, tugging at their restraints. Crew men scramble along the docks, children run about screaming, and dirty women flirting with green sailors. The make up of the people is slightly varied, several gnomes and humans predominantly, along with a mix of elves arguing with the crews. Many of the ships have large crates and boxes stacked up on the docks beside them, men yanking them off the ships themselves and carrying them down. Over all, the place is very busy, with little time for passersby.
Pelle climbed upp the steep steps that led to the ship's deck from its hold. He stretched his arms above his head, the lounds of bone scraping against bone and joints popping clearly audible. The riven sauntered over to the ship's edge, seeing all the dock workers and assorted people scurrying about like busy ants. "I sure hope it slows down by tonite," he said to himself. The patch of face he was forced to replace in Rica was already starting to fall apart, adding more worries about being mobbed by the townsfolk.
Falkrunn sways with the vessel as it enters the docks and finds herself feeling queasy. She tips her head over the side and begins to vomit one last time before heading off to find her comrades. Wringing out her wet robes and wiping what remnants might be hiding in her beard, she spies a somewhat familiar face in the crowds below.
"Golem!", Falkrunn yells in order to be heard over the bustling people. Jumping up and down a little so that she might be seen.
Among the group leaving the ship was Binx. She pulled the hood of her thin cloak up to shield her eyes from the sun before looking over the docks. She seemed no worse off from the journey, partly because traveling by ship didn't bother her but mostly because she'd spent the majority of the trip below decks. She'd only come up a handful of times during the night. She knew a bit about this place, enough to know that there was a forest instead of the blazing sun and obnoxious sand of an island. If there was anything she missed about Jastrey it was the peace and quiet of the cemetery in the woods.
The golem pulls a rope taught, firmly securing it to the docks. With grinding protest the stones in the Rune's legs bring him upright. The blue motes of light that function as the golem's eyes focus on the dwarf, and recognize her from the fiasco on the turtle. Rune moves through the crowd toward the dwarf; his red and white robes whip in the wind, causing the gold trim to shine in the sunlight. The golem towers over the bearded lass, and his blank gaze falls on her. "Dwarf," is all he says in response.
While waiting for the dwarf to respond the golem puts a stone hand out in front one of the dockworkers, as if to stop them. "What town is this?" emits from the golem's stone jaw.
The dock workers warily accepted the golem's assistance in tying down the boat--something so strong was bound to be a blessing in getting the ship tied down, yet had to have magical origins. It made them ever so slightly uneasy.
One of them, a young chit scampering about trying to be helpful, found herself face to face with the golem's stone hand, eyes blinking owlishly. "It's uh. It's. T-taekron. Obv'sly." She muttered the final word, a look of suspicion in her eyes. "Ow did you get 'ere without knowing where your goin'?" There was adrenaline in her eyes as she looked up at him, the first golem she'd ever seen in person. "And where you from, anyhow?" Her voice strengthened a bit, as she glanced about at the others climbing off the ship with pathetic excuses for sea legs.
Rune kneels in an attempt to seem less intimidating to the child. The golem, now eye level with the female, speaks; "This one does not know how his ship operates. The Citizens of Jastrey voted as to where we would take refuge next. We simply asked to come to the Lower Metsar." The golem takes not of the flash of....emotion, that the girl displayed when she first stopped. His docent and 'eyes' pulse gently in unison for a moment before the golem speaks further. "There is no need for alarm, this one was made at the hands of a dwarf." The golem taps his chest, the stone of which opens to expose a large rune covered crystal pulsing with arcane energy, "There is no darkness here, no fear, only the purity of the Aether."
Pushing her way towards Rune, Falkrunn catches a smidgen of the conversation at hand. "Taekron?", she mumbles to herself..."why does that sound so familiar..."
(She was remembering stories of the tainted woods and the necromancy which flows through it.)
Staggering, Falkrunn finally makes it through the crowd, "alright'ya pile'a rocks, seen any stouts come down?"
Coming up to right about the same height as the kid, Falkrunn takes a moment to let that sink in... "Wee lamb, no need to look so green. This rock monster aint gonna' bite". She lets out a hearty laugh with a little snort.
Delvin emerged from the hold sans armor, the bulk of his gear resting in a large satchel slung over one shoulder with his massive blade resting on the other. The burly Dwarf grumbled as he maneuvered through the suddenly crowded deck. He looked to fare a bit better than the other dwarves thus far, the others lookin a lil green behind their whiskers. "Oi, glad to be seein land again" he gave a deep laugh and strolled down the gangplank at a brisk pace, even as a new dwarf he seemed to miss the comfort of thecearth beneath his feet. He soon spied Rune talking to a local girl and cringed before making his way over to them.
"Oi, Rune. Scaring the locals are ye?" He gave a confident laugh as he made to pat the golem on the back in a friendly display that would hopefully ease the young girls nerves. "Aye, His creator made 'im so tall so he could reach the top shelf, yanno, account of us Dwarves bein so short ye see" Delvin gave a chuckle before leaning a bit closer tobthe kneeling golem and whispering, "ye may want ta keep the magic to a bare ninimum lad, the people of this land are a bit on the fearful side" as he leaned back he shot a nod to Falkrunn, "ye be needin' anything lass?"
Rune stands again; the stones that make up his chest begin to close around his Name once more, like a carapace. As the last stone clicks into place, the golem looks at the gathered dwarves. "This one is aware of the stigma surrounding magic." Rune glances down at the child again and speaks; "Whom do you work for?"
The girl frowned, clearly confused. "So ya got a magic ship then, eh? Best not be mouthing off about that to just anyone, stone 'ead. And I ne'er asked how you got made, anyhow, only where you's from." At the sound of the female dwarf telling her not to fear the golem, she scowled, fists immediately on her hips. "I weren't afeared of nothing! He's just a big ole stoney head, anyhow." She groused, her childish pride offended.
Another dwarf showed up, again 'calming' her, as though she were frightened, and she rolled her eyes, resisting the urge to stick out her tongue. Buttheads, the lot of them.
"I don't sees why I should tell ya anything, thinkin all kinds o' rude things o' me, you are." She grumbled again, folding her arms this time.
The golem kneels again, to be at the same level with the girl. "This one would would like to make a deal with you, as an equal. We seek information about this town. What is it that you want, madame?" Rune offers a blank stare, offering no humor or sarcasm, only seriousness.
Delvin couldnt help but chuckle at the little girl, "ah, thisn's got the fire'o'the forge in'er wee heart. I like'er!" He patted the golem again before resting his blade on the ground and fetching a skin of liqour from his belt and tossing it to Falkrunn, "nay, I figger they're still lookin' for their lost supper and mourning the booze they horked o'er the side'o the ship" He laughed deeply and reshouldered his weapon. "We're gonna need provisions if we're to keep sailing soon"
The chit narrowed her eyes at the golem when he offered her a deal, a very open ended one. She spread her hands open before her, a greedy grin on her face. "What cha think I wan', silly? Gold." The red dwarf said something about fire and liking her, and the grin transformed from greedy to proud, she practically raised up on her tip toes. "If ya go on a bit that a way, there are some shops. What kinna provisions you need?" She asked, pointing just beyond the docks.
The golem stands, suddenly having no interest in the chit. Rune's markings and docent glow and flicker, and then he again looks at the child. "This one realizes it only needs a library. Rune's hand goes into a pouch behind his back, and comes back with a few gold pieces between his stone fingers. "Take this one to a library, and these dwarves to the shops they need."
Pelle quickly turns from the ships edge after looking over the docks and heads back down into the ships holds. After several minutes, the riven re-emerges wearing a crude mask of what seems to be burlap that covers his whole face except for the wide tear for his eye holes and a black cloak with a gold elvish pattern along it's edges. He pulled the hood up around his head before finally stepping off the ship.
The golem Rune stands at the bow of the ship, surveying the land as it draws near. The fabric of his robes whip-cracks in the wind as the ship moves into port. As the ship slows and halts, Rune throws ropes connected to the boat onto the docks soes the dock workers can tie the boat down. The golem -teleports- over the gap between the ship and the docks, and attempts to help the dock workers tie the ship down.