Chapter 25: Side Chapter 3- Setting the Stage

In this lesson, we will be examining the phenomenon known by the system as Clockwork Hives. As we have covered in previous lessons, Clockworks are an army. They use grand strategy and work in tandem with each other. Therefore, they will occasionally invade an inhabited area. In the cases where the invasion is successful, a Clockwork Hive will be established. A Forgeheart will be planted and a growing hive of steel devoted to the sole purpose of creating more Clockworks.

As they are actively creating armies of Clockworks, it is imperative that they are destroyed as soon as possible. The destruction of a Hive requires the full military might of multiple cities or a fleet of hunters to deal with. The specifics of how a Hive works, what it does, and how to eliminate it are written in your books. Open to chapter 6 and we can begin to dissect these wonderfully terrifying creatures.

-Introduction of Ul’gard the Orc-kin’s lecture about Clockwork Hives in the University of Mount Averus

 

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“Come on, we’re almost there,” a man said. The wide, sand-filled landscape, backed by tall mountains spread out in front of them. The man was the largest one there, armed with nothing but an axe. The moon was climbing into the sky, chasing the sun away and giving their small party reprieve from the all seeing eyes of the Clockworks. “Just over this hill…” His words were caught in his throat as they crested the sandy dune and gazed upon the Aekan Pass. A veritable fortress had grown out of the rocky mountain, towers topped with massive cannons climbing from the walls like mountains in and of themselves.

“No…” a chimeric woman muttered, her plumes of feathers rustling with her words, “They… shouldn’t have gotten this far…” 

An old man in the group, skin wrinkled from age and scarred by war, sighed, “That’s the point. It’s a trap,” he said, “We’re trapped. There’s no getting out of here. Unless… How many of you know about the mountains around here?”

The majority of them shook their heads, looking fearful. The largest man among them, however, nodded, “Do you know a path through?”

“Aye, I do,” the old man replied, “I used to work with Eaner, you know? We were taught a bunch of ways out of this little basin. One of ‘em isn’t so far from us. Come on, I’ll show you,” the man offered, walking off to the west, to the left of the Aekan Pass. The group, twenty in all, followed him as he told stories from long ago, “-then, the pirate captain, this orcish woman called Helga, surrendered. She was so awed by Ductur’s magic that she joined him! It was hilarious! Haha!” he laughed.

“Quiet down, man,” an insectoid buzzed, “They’re gonna to hear us!” 

The man clicked his tongue, “Calm down, buzzie. They don’t have very sensitive hearing. Most of ‘em anyway. As long as I don’t shout, we’ll be fine.” The group shrugged, following him as he continued telling his stories, “Anyway, I’m pretty sure he left port about a week ago, oddly enough.”

“Wait,” the insectoid buzzed again, “You’re sayin’ he left on the same day as when the Clockworks arrived?” he asked just as the ground became solid rock from the sandy dunes.

“You’re really getting some use outta that Trait, aren’t you?” the man said, “Though, he did leave on the same day as the invasion. Anyway, follow me; we’re almost there.” They climbed up steep slopes, down steep cliffs, and through narrow paths along the sides of mountains. After a long night of treacherous travel, they arrived on the other side of the Aekan Mountains. They stared out into the open dunes of the Vast Dust as the sun shined its first rays of light onto the world.

Murmurs of relief pass through the small group, widows and widowers weapt, friends and family grieved and prayed, and they all looked forward to the next leg of their journey. Suddenly, a slow ticking made itself known, coming from an alcove hidden from the sun’s light. Steps bearing the burden of immense weight slowly rang out. A scraping sound followed, trailing barely visible sparks along the stone of the mountains. The Clockwork revealed itself, standing tall in the sunlight behind them. A ten foot tall, lanky humanoid figure with a grappling hook attached to one arm and a battle axe to the other stood tall and stared at them. It exploded with movement, leaping forward and holding the axe high. The old man stepped forward and held a small sheet of stone in his hand. A rune flared and blocked the blow, sending the Clockwork sprawling backwards with recoil. 

“Gods dammit!” the man shouted, “Get out of here! That’s an Occupier! An upgraded one too! You can’t take it on!” He pulled out another slate and held it next to the first, sending a ball of water forward. The Occupier dodged the ball, wary of its opponent. “I said run!” 

The refugees sprinted off into the desert, leaving the man to fight off the occupier. The Clockwork moved to hunt them down, but was blocked by another barrier. It surrounded them like an arena, leaving no way out. The Clockwork hissed in frustration, slamming its axe onto the barrier that surrounded the old man. The man smiled, lowering the slate and pulling up another, “Marie… I’m coming, my love.” An earth shattering explosion ripped through the failing barrier, crushing the Clockwork against the outer barrier and flattening it. The arena-barrier fell soon after, letting the thunderous blast loose on the mountain and sand.

The refugees stared back at the explosion, barely out of its wrath, and prayed. After the fire and quakes died down, they turned and marched into the desert, fleeing fallen Aekan.

 

*=====*

 

A skiff plowed through the desert on a mission. It cut through the sand like a knife through butter, eating the ground beneath it and spitting it out behind it. It made good time, reaching within a hundred miles of Aekan within the few days they were given. Their speed was miraculous, only possible through the constant effort of a dozen aeromancers, geomancers, and aquamancers putting their entire effort into speeding their travel. They were finally within mana linking distance. The captain of the ship, an orcish mage, brought the crystal ball to the front of the ship and channeled mana through it, setting it to the wavelength of Aekan’s capital link. 

Nothing but static came through, making the mage growl. At that moment, an orcish woman ran up behind him, “Captain, our scouts found something!”

“Hrm? What is it?” he barked.

The woman shied away under his glare, but stood firm after a moment, “A group of refugees from Aekan. Just over the horizon!” she reported.

The orc nodded, “Then let’s get going! We’ve got to figure out what happened,” he growled. The woman nodded, running to the back of the ship. The skiff lurched, then sped towards the rising sun. After a few minutes of travel, the captain could see the group, ragged men and women of many species devouring the rations given to the aerial scouts. It took at most a word to get the group to board, and even less to get them talking. They explained how a fleet of Clockworks invaded Aekan’s capital, creatively called Aekan, and laid waste to every army, hunter, or weapon sent to stop them. They were only able to escape due to the sacrifice of an old man, taking an occupier with him. 

The captain did not even need to order his crew to make haste for Green Oasis. Their multi-day journey turned into a single-day one, with his crew working entirely off of panic. When he was within range of the closest village, he relayed his information to the communications officer there. As the connection cut, he knew that the fury of the desert was about to come alive. The rage of the Vast’s people was something he would never wish on his worst of enemies, but he was thankful that it was about to be pointed at the Hive in Aekan.

 

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Rutli stumbled through the door, nearly tripping over his own once-frozen feet. In the room he entered, his boss, Cecilia, sat on a couch. In her arms was a bone white bird, cawing at its master’s attention. Cecilia peered up from her bird and glared at Rutli. She was not a native of Green Oasis, hailing from the crime pit called Nolus. She was a lizardman, with the fewest reptilian features Rutli had ever seen on one. The only things showing her lineage were the red scales around her eyes and the vertical slit pupil that was her eye. Apart from her eyes, her body was that of a human, with tanned skin, flowing red hair, and short stature compared to Rutli. 

“What the hell happened?” she asked icily, “You go out for some fun, something you shouldn’t be doing as my right hand, and get your legs frozen. For what? Just because you wanted to beat up some poor sap in the docks?” 

Her tone was so low, so cold, that the orc did not know what to say. He simply nodded, “Y-Yeah… What n-now?” he asked.

She growled at him, “Now? Now, we make a statement. We’re going to butcher the little bitch you were too incompitent to. After all, if I want an organization to be feared, then we’ll have to make sure people know what happens when you fuck with us. Did you at least get the ship she came in on?” she asked.

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Rutli nodded, “Yeah! Of course! It’s some beat-up, piece-of-junk ship. Doesn’t look that much, to be honest.”

“And how many people are on her ship?” 

“Not many. She’s obviously new to travel, so there won’t be many crewmates.”

Cecilia nodded, “Alright then. We attack tonight. With everyone. How many do we have?”

Rutli thought for a moment, “Um… something like twenty five. I think.”

She shrugged, “Good enough. Alright, let’s get going; we have no time to waste,” she said, walking out of the room, her bird perched on her shoulder.

 

*=====*

 

A group of people sat around a wooden table, eighty nine in all. They were obviously uncomfortable, shifting their weight constantly. Some of them stared blankly at the setting sun, casting deep reds and pinks into the sky. After a while of awkward staring, a man stood at the front of the table and coughed, catching everyone’s attention.”Alright, is this everyone?” he asked. Slowly, nods were passed around and he smiled, “Good. Let’s begin. As some of you know, my name is Philip Peterson and I was the first of us to wake up. Should we go around and do introductions or should we just get into the main topic?” Murmurs, most wanting to begin the meeting, rose from the people stood and sat around the table. “Alright, we’ll just get on with it, then. I can assume you’ve all read the welcome message from the system? Good. Then you know, basically, where we stand. We’re in a world we have never heard of, surrounded by mana and magic, and with a system that changes our very bodies and souls. Any questions?”

Hands shot up and people began talking over each other. Speaking turned to yelling, which turned to screaming, furious men and women glaring at each other. Soon, a man slammed his hand on the table, “Enough!” he shouted, “We’re here to consider our options, not argue about speculations! Now, Does anyone have any real questions?”

Philip nodded to the man, the once-pilot of the plane they crashed in, turning to one of the few hands still raised. The woman was petite, with dark skin and curly black hair. She nodded to him and stood, “Do they know why we were sent here?” she asked, sitting back down.

Philip shrugged, “Apparently, it’s a natural thing that happens sometimes. It is pretty rare, though, so we won’t find many, if any, other people from other dimensions here. Anyone else?”

Another person, a man with olive-colored skin and a shaved head stood, “Do we know if we’re even alive right now? This is all just… too ridiculous.”

They all nodded, Philip nodding with them, “Yeah, I know it’s odd, but it’d be more odd if we were all thrown into the same afterlife just because we were in the same plane crash. Besides that, why wouldn’t… Jack be here,” he muttered. A man sitting next to him patted him on the shoulder. He smiled and nodded, “I’m fine… I’m fine. He was just… a really good friend. Anyway, anyone else?” he asked. None of them raised their hands. “Good then. Right now, we need to come up with a plan for what we’re going to do.” Murmurs began once again, but he raised a hand, silencing them after a while, “I spoke with the captain of the fleet we were saved by and he offered us jobs as crewmates of his skiff fleet.”

A young man, in his late teens or early twenties, stood, “I woke up earlier today, so I wanted to ask, what’s a skiff?”

A woman standing in the corner of the room stepped forward, “It’s like a boat, but it goes over sand and dirt. Sometimes rock for the well-made ones. It uses either magic or mechanical power to move, but most are powered by cells or dynamos.”

The young man nodded, sitting down. Philip got their attention once more, “Alright, thank you… uh…”

“Bella.”

He nodded, “Thank you Bella. Has anyone found another way of making ends meet or are we all in agreement that we should join the fleet?” Some voices of distrust flew, but they quickly faded as they tried to think of another option.

Eventually, a man with black hair stepped forward, “Is there any other option? We all know that we’re just fundamentally less desirable workers and employees than normal adults, so what other option do we have?”

They all nodded, feeling downcast, before Philip shook his head, “While that is true, think about it like this: we have our first Trait slot right now. That means we can choose our Traits while already knowing what we want to do and be good at. Or most of us do, anyway. It just means we won’t be stuck with Traits chosen during childhood that may not be what we want now,” Philip explained. 

The people around the room looked up and began to regain a sense of hope as Bella stepped from the corner, “Actually, they can already do that,” she said. Questioning remarks shot from the others, and she shrugged, “The Shrines. Apparently, you can un-choose some Traits there in exchange for lowering your level by one.” They all sighed in relief at the idea of being able to choose new Traits, but Bella shook her head, “Don’t be so thankful. Choosing Traits are pretty painful, let alone un-choosing them, so… remember that.”

Philip raised an eyebrow, “Did you already choose your Traits?” he asked.

Bella smiled, “Yep. [Stealth Affinity] and [Enhanced Hearing].”

“Why those two?” the young man asked, “Wouldn’t you do better with something else?”

Bella’s smile widened “Nope. I like being sneaky. You wouldn’t believe how useful being able to hear things people think you can’t is.”

Some nodded while others gave the woman an odd look. Philip sighed and coughed, “Alright, so we’re joining them?” Nods and quiet agreements rose from the group, “Then that’s decided. I’m going to be talking to Ductur tomorrow, let’s meet here for that.” 

They all nodded, most getting ready to leave, when someone called out, “Hey guys! The dock is lighting up!” They turned and looked out the window, some squinting to see out into the darkness. The dock was no longer bathed in dull light, but was wreathed in sparking light.

Bella sighed, “That’s gunfire. Not decorations.”

“Then why are there a bunch of lights over there?” the man asked.

“Because there’s a gunfight going on? I don’t know,” Bella said.

“Oh.”

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