Ferrum
strode up the steps onto the colossal auditorium’s great raised speaking
platform. He had gathered every available member of Imperium Cleptarum into
this one enormous room for this occasion. In the crowd were many familiar faces,
including Mable, Ted, Smitty, Stabby, Raven, and Cloud. Ferrum could hear a
cacophony of murmurings and whispers.
The
changeling silenced the room with a purposeful clearing of his throat. “Thank
you all for coming here today. As you already know, I have some very important
announcements to make,” he began. “I regret to inform you that we, the top
ranks, have been lying to you.” Dead silence. “I am not this guild’s
real leader. I am merely the right hand.”
Ferrum
spoke, projecting his voice for all to hear with the confidence and skill of a
master speaker. “Now I would like to introduce you to your real leader.” He
finished with a dramatic pause. After a few moments, the room was filled with a
clamor of voices as the low ranks discussed this news among themselves. This
noise was soon cut short as a large section of the wall at the back of the
speaking platform disintegrated. Out of the gaping hole in the wall drifted
Blex the beholder, his opalescent, red skin starkly contrasted against the
white marble of the auditorium. Ferrum stepped aside, allowing the Imperium
Cleptarum’s true leader to take center stage.
“Hello
my minions! I am Blex, your true leader! I am sure you are wondering why you
were lied to. The lie that Ferrum was the guild leader was perpetuated for
guild security. However, given my current plans, it will be better for you to
know who your future king will be. Yes, king! You see, I intend to take over
the kingdom of Argen, starting with the invasion of its capital, Argopolis, the
very city that this complex is hidden beneath. To that end, I have made many
preparations, one of the most important being a construct factory. With this
factory, we can create an endless supply of construct soldiers to bolster our
ranks!” Blex imperiously monologed.
“Now,
there are a few people I would like to introduce you all to.” After a short
pause, the audience began to hear a faint, metallic clanking sound. This sound
continued for several seconds, growing slightly louder as it approached. In a
moment, two figures stepped into the room through the hole that Blex had made
during his grand entrance. On the left was a suit of platemail armor emitting a
faint buzzing sound. The armor had a greatsword strapped to its back, and a
those looking closely could see the occasional bee flitting around the suit.
On
the right was some kind of construct forged from mithril. He stood well over
six feet tall and had a vaguely skeletal, humanoid form. His feet were claw-like
and made menacing clanking sounds as he marched in. His six-fingered hands were
clasped formally behind his back. His face resembled a skull-like, flanged mask
with a narrow slit for a mouth and a few tiny adamantine bars resembling teeth.
Two orange lights glowed from within his eye sockets. On his left shoulder was
an engraving of a dagger lying diagonally across a book, the symbol of Imperium
Cleptarum. On his other shoulder was an engraving of a gear with two swords
crossed behind it, an emblem that would soon be feared as the symbol of Blex’s
construct army. The figure wore a red cape with gold trim, which concealed four
longswords sheathed in crisscrossed scabbards mounted to his back. On his black
leather belt hung four holsters, each containing a pistol of some sort.
The
two figures stopped, one of them on each side of Blex. “Please welcome two
members of the guild’s inner circle that will soon become familiar faces at HQ!
On my left is Sir Beesalot! He is a Swarmforged, or in layman’s terms, a suit
of armor controlled from within by a hive of bees. He has been my trusted,
personal bodyguard for a number of years. And on my right, we have Commander
Grave! He is an extremely advanced Warforged that I have crafted to lead my
construct army. Now that the announcements are over with, all members of the
inner circle will come with me for a tour of the construct factory! And the
rest of you report to your supervisors to begin training for war!” the guild
master bellowed excitedly.
With that, Ferrum, Mable, Ted, Smitty, Commander Grave,
and Sir Beesalot followed Blex through the gaping hole in the wall. They passed
through several hallways before descending a staircase into the lowest levels
of the complex. After traversing one final hallway, the group arrived at a
massive steel door with no visible opening mechanism. After a moment, Blex
levitated over to the door and shouted a password in a strange, alien language.
In a few seconds, the door slid up and into the ceiling, allowing the group to
proceed. “Behold my construct factory!” Blex shouted gleefully.
Through
the doorway was a huge room full of conveyor belts and the sounds of machinery.
The group watched as numerus mechanical body parts and pieces of weapons
traveled down the belts before being assembled by a series of engineers. The
finished constructs then continued down the conveyers and into the next room.
“Well,
Blex, I think you’ve outdone yourself with this one. We’ll soon have enough
forces to conquer Argopolis, and just in time for tea at that.” Mable
complimented with a chuckle.
“Yes,
it really is quite impressive, but might I ask how you got it built so
quickly?” Ferrum questioned.
“Builders
work much faster when you threaten to disintegrate them,” Blex casually
explained. “But what I really want to show you is the finished product. Now
follow me.” The squad followed him through a path between the conveyors and
through a large double door labeled “Construct Storage Facility”. In this room,
numerus racks hung from the ceiling, each with several yet-to-be-activated
constructs hanging from them. “Commander Grave would you please do the
honors?” The beholder requested.
“Of
course,” the mechanical commander stated formally. With loud clanking footsteps
that echoed throughout the room, Grave marched to a control panel set into one
wall and began pressing buttons with veiled eagerness. The room was soon filled
with mechanical whirs as several constructs began activating and detaching from
their racks. Once enough of them were active, they started forming up into
several organized lines in front of the guild high-ups. The majority of the
army was comprised of standard Warforged Infantry, which resembled humanoids,
but were made from wood, stone, and metal with built-in armor. Each was armed
with a steel buckler and a retractable blade built into their opposite arm. In
addition, their backs each had a slot with a crossbow fitted into it.
Behind
them stood the towering Destroyer Golems. They were 10 feet tall and made of
steel and alchemically-reinforced wood. Built into each of their arms was a
retractable greatsword and a revolver that could fire out of a hatch in the
palm of their hand.
On
the sides of the formation were several intimidating Pyroforged. They looked
much like the basic infantry but with heavier and heat-resistant armor, as well
as large steel canisters attached to their backs, each with a picture of a
flaming skull on it. In one of their arms was an extendable blade, and in the
other was a hose that sprayed alchemist’s fire, a sticky substance that ignites
when exposed to air.
Commander
Grave moved to stand at the head of the army and was flanked by a handful of
the elite Eye Guards. They were comprised of alchemically-reinforced wood and
gold-trimmed steel. Each wore a black cape with a design of a golden eye on it
and held a double-bladed scimitar. They were also equipped with built in
battery packs and strange clockwork pistols that were capable of firing small
lightning blasts.
“Behold
our new army! With it, all of Argen will soon be within our grasp! All that’s
left now is to train and wait for more constructs to be built!” Blex
triumphantly bellowed.
“I
see that some of those constructs have double-bladed scimitars. Weren’t those
the ancestral weapons of those pesky wood elves that we helped the bee kingdom
drive out of Fool’s Wood a few years ago?” Ferrum wondered aloud.
“Why
yes, they are! You see, when we fought those elves, I thought their weapons
where pretty neat, so I stole a few from the corpses for later use. I decided
they would be the perfect weapons for my Eye Guards, so I used the ones I had
as a blueprint to forge a whole arsenal.” the guild master reminisced.
“What
training do you have in mind?” Commander Grave queried.
“I’m
glad you asked!” Blex enthusiastically responded. “I would like you, Cloud,
Stabby, and Raven to have a friendly tournament so I can assess your skills. In
addition, I intend for Smitty to give personal training to our best assassins,
and Ferrum, Sir Beesalot and Mable to do the same for our best warriors. The
rank and file will train with their supervisors. Finally, Ted I want you to get
to work preparing poisons and potions,” the beholder imperiously finished.
“We
shall begin right away, Sir,” Ferrum assured him, amused as always at Blex’s haughty
and exuberant speeches.
“And
as for that tournament, don’t be surprised when I win.” Grave confidently
stated.
“We shall see,” Blex thoughtfully answered.
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