Chapter 4: The Clockwork Tower

Upon closer inspection the tower was not just any tower, it was an unfinished skeleton of a tower filled with whirring gears and springs. One day it would be a massive clock-tower by the look of things, at the moment however, it just looked like someone had piled a load of clockwork together and hoped it would stay upright.

As Aira and Bab-Lin came nearer, they could see all kinds of materials laying about. Most curious however were the Cone-like spires made from the black snow. The spires were about the same height as Bab-Lin, though a little wider than Aira. They were somewhat familiar to Bab-Lin, but before he could consider further a small voice whispered from nowhere!

“woah, woah you think you can just waltz in here? there is procedures and stuff, gotta make sure you aren’t gonna cause trouble and the like, you know, be ye friend or foe and all that noise”

Bab-Lin readied his walking-club, taking an odd hunched stance.

“Careful Kid, this place must be haunted by something, you do still have possession wards on you right?”

Aira looked about with as much worry a being with no face can muster.

“Nervous; This unit has not checked”

“typical, oh ‘i can’t see anyone, must be some sort of spirit’ discrimination against wee folk i tell you, eyes down here, tincan and bug, just because i’m small doesn’t mean i don’t exist, its people like you that walk on other people’s homes!”

Then Bab-Lin remembered why the spires looked familiar, they were gnomehomes, he looked down, and there sure enough was a blue gnome in little brown boots, standing on a tiny watchpost.

Gnomes, or as some call them cone-people are one of the smallest races in Kigan and Awarth. They consist of a Cone, two little black beedy eyes, two little feet and a mouth that cannot be seen when closed. They are about the size of clenched fist. They come in many colours. Normally they have a quite reasonable cowardice.

Now Gnomes have a curious attribute to them. All gnomes have a magical ethereal limb with which they manipulate and move things. This limb can combine with other gnomes limbs. A gnome all alone is quite weak, having trouble lifting anything bigger than itself. Many Gnomes together however can throw massive boulders like one would a snowball, that is; sloppily and inaccurately. Sadly for the gnomes, in spite of the fact that they would be able to deal with any threat if they banded together, they tend to panic and scatter when faced with danger.

Gnomes take well to the learning and execution of magic, what with their ethereal limb serving as a natural channel.

Bab-Lin was a little shocked, gnomes with such attitude as this one were a rarity, there was something vaguely absurd about it to his mind.

“right, right, now that i have your attention state your names and business please”

Bab-Lin stared at the gnome, smoke billowing out his eye sockets.

“Ok, I’m Bab-Lin Goldshadow, golem here is Cyh’Aira, we kind of got lost, I mean I lost my locusfinder and we saw that tower in the distance so we followed it, I suppose you don’t have any navigation equipment for sale do you?”

The gnome looked at them askance, as if calculating something, then beamed widely.

“Well, well lured here by our great lord doolytter’s magnificent tower?, even though it is yet unfinished!, well welcome noble travellers to the forming city of Talvharn, as for your navigation troubles, i believe my magnanimous lord may be able to do something for you, if you would just follow me good travellers, i am sure he’ll grant you an audience, oh my apologies you may refer to me as Udalwut”

“Well, this is suspiciously good fortune” Bab-Lin commented to Aira as they followed Udalwut through the spires to the tower. Aira nodded its head, the name of of the city seemed familiar, so it was a bit distracted.

By the looks of things, Talvharn was home to gnomes and none else. Interestingly the streets between the Spires were however wide enough for Bab-Lin and Aira. Now that the watchkeeper had let them through, the other gnomes were out and about. Some were gawking at the two odd travellers, but most were going about their business. Some gnomes were hawking their little wares, boots, hats and things for the home, others were carting chopped up root vegetables and mushrooms from underground farms.

The greatest amount of activity seemed to be about the unfinished tower. Many gnomes were working together following the directions of serious looking cones with hard hats. Stone was brought in huge chunks from a quarry that masses of gnomes worked at. Various groups of gnomes worked at boiling forges of differing sizes, apparently producing gears, springs and other parts without end, magicians calling fire and summoning minor spirits for the work.

Industry.

All the gnomes worked tirelessly with smiles on their faces to build the great tower. Aira wondered what sort of person this Lord Doolytter was to have inspired such industry among these folk. Bab-Lin had never seen such unity of purpose among gnomes, usually they were kept down by fear of pretty much everything. The tower was not being built on the scale of gnomes however. It was not even being built on the scale of beings like Aira and Bab-Lin.

It was on a scale of grandeur. Bab-Lin couldn’t help but admire it, that it was being made by gnomes just made it more amazing. Aira noticed something about it, it was not finished, but already odd mechanisms were moving in the tower. Aira’s crystal eyeball detected that the tower was producing a large quantity of ordered magic.

Even Bab-Lin noticed it, and being a resident of Awarth, he knew what its purpose was. Kigan has a far greater influence on Awarth than Awarth has on Kigan. If a city is built in Kigan, a shadow of it will appear in Awarth. Things made in Awarth that are not shadows, or reflections of something in Kigan have a hard time staying in existence.

Awarth being a non-physical world is one prone to flux and change, to have a settlement that isn’t pushed about by every little change in Kigan, a stabilizer is needed. The tower was clearly partly for that purpose, though Bab-Lin assumed that it probably had other functions, regardless, it was quite ambitious. This Lord Doolytter clearly intended to have Talvharn to stick around.

Udalwut stopped in front the tower, two great imposing doors were before them. The door was made up of a collection of gears and cogs, shining brightly in the gloom of Awarth. Being the lowest level this part of the tower was complete. Each gleaming white brick of the tower was carved with stylized depictions of machinery, though some had little carvings of events on them, the size of the gnomes was an aid here, as they were supremely detailed. An image that appeared often was a face with gears for eyes. Here and there there was bricks transformed by magic to be transparent, and through these one could see the actual mechanisms whirling about inside.

Udalwut sang out to the tower doors, It was a quiet strange wordless song, that sounded like the pounding of little hammers and the clicking of small gears. Aira felt its own parts hum in response to the song. When Udalwut finished, a gong resounded from the doors, and gears spinning the doors smoothly slid apart. So Udalwut led them inside the tower. Bab-Lin involuntarily let out a gasp, smoke slipping out. The soft ticking and tocking of clockworks surrounded them.

“behold”Udalwut spoke“the glory of talvharnian clockwork”

The floor beneath them was clear crystal, and beneath the floor was the movements of bluish bronze arcane clockwork. Aira felt that it could have stared and the graceful movements forever. It had no idea what the exact function of the clockworks were, but they were beautiful and ever shifting. That was however, just the floor.

Huge Pillars of turning gears flanked a grand stair who’s azure steps moved upward on one side and down on another, there was even at both sides a pair of smaller stairs for the gnome-sized.

“Moving stairs…” Bab-Lin whispered in wonder.

Hanging between the pillars were billowing banners, white with a cyan stripe down the middle, and a grey gear at the centre, presumably the Flag of Talvharn. A nation and a city, quite the ambition.

The walls were not the same as outside. They were clear walls, carved with images and the swirling mysterious mechanisms were visible behind them. Set into the high vaulted ceiling was a multitude of glowing ornate clock-faces. It was clear that the clocks measured different things, those on the outside span faster than the eye, measuring the time between seconds, and the ones beyond them, seconds, then minutes, then hours, then days. Aira wondered if the world would last till the hands on the clock on the centre of the ceiling moved.

Bab-Lin instead wondered what the rest of the tower would be like if this was the entrance.

Ubalwut chuckled softly and led them to the moving stairs. The second floor was of course unfinished. Gnomes wizzed here and there, gears, springs, metal, bricks and magic following after them, pulled about by their ethereal limbs. Each piece was etched with runes. Though the tower was unfinished, Aira and Bab-Lin could feel the growing power in it. A weight of time and strength of motion.

“Curious; what kind of turnkey is used here?”

“six eternal turnkeys, one of each of the prime elements, their presence and arrangement brings forth a seventh master turnkey of pure motion, that is to say, magic” Udalwut answered casually.

Bab-Lin spluttered smoke and sparks.

“You say that as if it is nothing unusual! An eternal turnkey of any kind is a treasure, but you say this place has SIX? Not only that, ALL OF THEM OF THE PRIME-ELEMENTS?”

Smoke and gouts of flame flew from Bab-Lin’s mouth, a few gnomes dropped what they were holding and panicked a little.

“How did you get a hold of such? No more than that, what kind of mainspring could hold that power?”

Bab’Lin’s eyes glowed with a fervour quite different from the flames in his throat.

Even Udalwut, who seemed a gnome with unnaturally strong mettle, was a bit unnerved by the sight of an excited Bab-Lin, but then, considering Bab-Lin was a orange skeletal looking being with smoke and flame coming from his head, it would be strange not to lose one’s cool. Even other Loughin would be perturbed, it was really the belching black smoke that gave him the look.

Aira did not understand the fuss, it knew that the turnkeys were amazing, but Bab-Lin’s reaction seemed unnecessary to it. The emotions of a golem are a subdued thing.

Udalwut gave a little cough and composed himself.

“i understand your excitement, but please, contain yourself, you are frightening the workers”

“Huh?” Bab-Lin turned to look at the shivering gnomes, a few fainted.

“Ah, sorry, but you must tell me, this is simply too amazing, if it is true”

“well, before our lord doolytter came to us, he was questing for these turnkeys, for he knew that he would need them for his great vision, so in his trials and tribulations, lord doolytter acquired them, I’m afraid it would take much too long to tell of his deeds. as for the spring, we gnomes made it, it is the physical expression of our trust in lord doolytter, a coil of unbreakable will, loyalty and love, it holds the hearts of our…”

Udalwut waffled on about the spring as he lead Aira and Bab-Lin onwards. Bab-Lin tired to follow what Udalwut was saying, but he couldn’t pierce the sea of superlatives. Aira had decided that there were in fact no words coming out of Udalwut’s mouth, it refused to qualify the blabber as information. It got worse as it went along, so much so that Bab-Lin and Aira failed to notice that Udalwut had led them to the top, and into a place that was far bigger than possible, a distorted space.

Aira and Bab-Lin stared at what was before them. The whole room was an orrery, a scale model of Kigan, or in this case Awarth. A globe of Awarth was in the middle, with the great anchor tree sprouting from it. The room was a sphere made from the branches of the model of the grand tree. Awarth was made all in some greyish metal, and the tree and its branches were made from a lustrous black metal. Behind the branches was more ticking clockworks, red and black in colour emulating the skies of Awarth.

In orbit of Awarth was the twin grand fruits of the Anchor tree Yaibggael, the pure sun; Ollan and the serene moon; Nanlach. Of Kigan’s other moon and sun, the realm of torment Relhs and the realm of paradise Vlahros, nothing was to be seen, for that moon and sun do not appear in Awarth.

Shining like gems on the leafless branches, were the lesser fruits of the anchor tree, the stars.

It was quite the impressive and artistic model, its scale certainly made it seem very grand. Aira and Bab-Lin could even look below their feet. There seemed to be no floor, it was as if they were standing mid-air in the great sphere.

“…and that was how we made it, quite clever yes? well in any case, we are at the highest level. his

lordship should be here”

Aira and Bab-Lin’s amazement at the orrery had cost them dearly, Bab-Lin got the distinct feeling he was never going to find out what the spring was made from.

“Ah yes, we are now at the highest level, however, this is not the correct room” Udalwut said, and began that curious mechanical song again.

The orrery, as much as could be described, folded away with the whirring of mechanisms; revealing another room. This room was largely unfinished, parts and pieces strewn about, and part assembled clockwork everywhere. The main focus however, was the back of a huge clockface, which would be seen from the outside. As it was, inside the clock, it was see-through, the landscape of Awarth and a few gnome spire-homes stretching out far below.

The sounds of someone working away on something or another dominated the strewn chaos.

“my lord, you have guests, travellers” Udalwut called out.

Even though his voice was small, the lord of Talvharn heard, and stood up.

So did Aira and Bab-Lin come face to face with the Damyne of Clockworks, Fram Doolytter.