Form

[22:33] Armand exclaims, "Oh! Mr. Valero!"

[22:33] The young teen was just relaxing at the moment, leaning over the table in the center of Theria! Where seeing the approach of the stranger, he just waved to him, in order to greet him.
(Anlaufr)
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[22:33] Armand asks, "It has been quite a while. How have you been?"
[22:36] Pulling the bottle away from his mouth, as herculean a task as it was, the man would look to they who had waved to him.

"Hello boy, how do the times treat you?" He was either feeling poetic and mystical, or he was somewhat drunk. The two often blur together.
(Jaxxun)
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[22:40] Valero Task says, "-Ah. Sorry, I zoned out for a moment there."
[22:40] Valero Task asks, "I've been well... How about ya'?"
[22:40] Armand exclaims, "Hah!"
[22:40] Armand says, "It is of no consequence, it was just a few seconds."
[22:40] Armand asks, "I've been fairly well, I must say! Would you mind escorting me to your family's factory?"
[22:41] Valero Task says, "Hm? Sure. I can do that."
[22:41] Armand exclaims, "Ah! Fantastic!"
[22:41] Armand says, "Say -"
[22:42] Valero Task says, "Here ya' are."
[22:42] Armand asks, "There is something I must use your workplace for. Will you keep me company as I build it?"
[22:42] Valero Task says, "I suppose I can."
[22:42] Armand says, "Splendid! To the forge, then."

[22:47] "I must say I have been looking forward to putting my hands on all this - there is quite no place or workshop like this one."

An immense assortment of metals, gears and gems were dragged all the way across the Task Factory's underground levels. Despite Armand's naturally enhanced physique as a magi, though, it is evident he is having quite the hard time hauling it - such is its quality and bulk.

"Tell me, Mr. Valero," An extensive arrangement of tools of magitech is promptly spread across the workbench beside the redheaded knight, spanning from corkscrews to arm-sized blowtorches. "What have you witnessed your siblings make? Although I hold great admiration for them, I have never been struck by news of their feats."

Or anyone's, for that matter. Armand was an evidently fresh face.

"They are quite the source of inspiration to me, but only in the ambits of determination and ingenuity - I have yet to be acquainted to the fruits of this spectacular complex."
(Armand)
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[22:53] "There really ain't. Though y'know, this factor wasn't made by my family originally. It was named by a woman named Apep, but she... Went on a rather extended vacation, so my father gave the workshop to Hades, and Bea."

A nod follows, as he makes his way over towards one of the nearby chairs within the foundry level of the factory. "I'll be real honest with you. I have no idea what Revan's been up to, so I couldn't for the life of me tell you what he's done."

The Warlord would shrug as he lowered himself down onto the seat, a curious smile on his face, as he shifted his gaze back over towards Armand.

"But, Hades is quite the accomplished alchemist. From what I recall he's managed to create a cure for Slyavanum, as well as... Probably being capable of making it."
(Valero Task)
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[23:01] "A shame - then let us debut it, shall we?"

An array of metals of all sorts, grades and densities were, chunk by chunk, drawn from the enormous parcel the inventor had towed barehanded to the site. Some of them, namely tyrium and its peers, were of no impressive caliber, but would be enough to fulfill whatever minute roles they were given.

"I am quite sure they will come to enjoy my project to a very personal level. Revan, you said? I will introduce myself to that one when the time comes."

It is not too long after that the furnace begins its work, rendering metal into units of soft, overheating ingots, kept separate only by distance and the molds of brass they were kept in.

"Do tell - are you at all curious about what this whole ordeal entails?"

The forge's maw lids open, and it spits the liquidized metals it had been offered. The principle.
(Armand)
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[23:08] Armand's initial words get a nod from Valero, as he leans back a bit in his seat. His gaze would linger on the butler for a few more moments, until his attention is caught by the plethora of magitech tools, and Armond's ores.

"Will they now?" He asks, as he quirks a brow. Whatever Armand's plans were, Valero was rather curious now. Though... "Bah. Revan's a scumbag. No need to introduce yourself to him."

In fact, the Warlord didn't even consider the man a brother anymore, but there was no need to go into detail about that now. There were more pressing matters to attend to.

"-But." He starts, before stopping himself, his attention once more getting caught by something else. This time it would be the forge.

"Yes. I am rather curious about your project."
(Valero Task)
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[23:16] "Ah. I won't intrude in your family feuds, it would be quite rude of me. And yes! I am most definitely sure they will enjoy it."

Despite Armand's concealed, boundless malice, there was an intense sincerity laced in every syllable he spat out. He aimed for uncharted, miraculous goals, the means to grant humanity the means for true self-reliance.

"Life, Mr. Valero. I am designing the means to create life itself."

From certain perspectives, that would be an understatement, and to other point of views, an exaggeration. Between the sections of silence that wove the parts of his discourse together, Armand centers his attention and the exercise of his manual dexterity on his work.

"Humanity has relied for so long in things allegedly greater than itself, don't you think?" A prod. He knew what Valero's malevolent power comprised of - but was yet unsure if the warlord was particularly attuned to a religion or creed.

"Dark lords, draconic sovereigns and deities of light. Heralds of impossible powers that do little but divide or oppress us."

Several whacks of a hammer shape now malleable units of molten metal, and as time passes, the enormous efficacy of his tools shows. They were no mere instruments of common work, but specialized utensils with unparalleled effectiveness - at least, to his knowledge.

Soonish enough, their targets were given various forms. Paws, digitigrade hind legs and spiked jaws, brassy in their complexion but held together by alloys of a dozen other colorations.

"Rather than strive for the means to become our own gods, we relied on those that already reigned over us. Underambitious, wouldn't you say?"
(Armand)
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[23:26] "Life?"

Now out of everything he had expected to hear come from the butler, that was towards the bottom of the list. Armor, weapons or even an amulet. Those were expected. Yet, Armond hadn't said either of those. Perhaps there was more to this butler than he had initially expected.

That sentiment would be proven the more he listened to the man before him speak. A wry smile spread across his face, as he leaned a bit back in his seat, wordlessly watching the man work his magic on the ores.

"Despite my father leading the fireblooded, I've never been religious. Far from it, I think people latch themselves onto a higher power, and focus on serving them, instead of progressing humanity."

It seems the duo were in agreement about that.

"Though... I didn't come to that belief on my own." He says with a bit of a nod, as his one eyed gaze drifted over towards the fruits of the butler's labor, studying them each carefully.

To him at least, it appeared as if the man was attempting to create some form of metallic beast. Perhaps a wolf, or something of a similar nature.

"It was thanks to my brother Hades, that I saw the light." The wry smile shifted towards a far more genuine one, and with all the sincerity the occultist could muster, which wasn't a lot, he spoke once more.

"I'm happy there's someone else like us out there."
(Valero Task)
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[23:40] "Yes, life."

Heating, shaping, cooling - the basis of the forge, the bellows and the bench. The inventor had adopted this as a personal, internalized mantra too long ago, acquired through osmosis, derived from his seniors, and repetition, which in turn stemmed from the toil of his own hands.

"I am glad to learn this, Mr. Valero. Religion is... troublesome. Only the grandiose of progress and inventiveness sets us apart from beasts, no?"

Valero's assumptions would be correct, Armand had been giving form to a beast of metal, so mightsome in its standing it could as well rival demonkind, if not overcome its power. But it was not only one.

"As a tinkerer, I have always found my work to be considered... unfeasible. Impractical. But this is simply because anything is impossible when most have never strived for it."

Soon, it becomes apparent that more than one kind of monstrosity would be birthed there. Those were clockwork fiends of every sort, occupying half of the Factory's free space so large their components were.

"Quite like you indeed."

Their shapes were wolven, feline and beyond, standing quite similar to woodland beasts, but others were as alien and strange as gargoyles, with discrepant proportions and strange semblances.
(Armand)
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[23:57] There was something mesmerizing about watching the inventor, and not butler, at work. Perhaps it was the heat of the forge, but for a moment he had forgotten who he was dealing with here..

Whoops?

Anyways...

One by one, Valero would witness the creation of several metallic monstrosities. Each one was unique in their own right, and before he knew it most of the free space within the factory had been filled with the metallic beasts.

He couldn't quite put to words how impressed he was right now. Valero's own father was a tinkerer, so perhaps that's where his respect for the craft comes from.

"That's what it means to be human. To take what others say are impossible, laugh in their face, do it anyways, and succeed."

A slow nod of his head follows.

"Strive to achieve what people consider to be impossible. Such as..." His claw-like hand would move towards Armand. "The rather impressive task of creating life. Well, from metal that is."

His hand would drop back down towards his side, as he once more glanced over Armand's work.

"Seriously though. This shit is real fuckin' impressive."
(Valero Task)
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[00:07] "I like the way you think!"

And that, in itself, might have been an euphemism. Likeminded personalities were hard to come by, to Armand, and acquainting himself to someone who admired his brilliance was... revitalizing. It seemed that much like the remainder of his family, Valero discriminated only stagnation.

"I do enjoy getting a good laugh, as you say, out of those clueless enough to think of themselves permanently in control." Armand's wording stood as a piece of evidence that denounced much, but Armand seemed to care little about hiding behind morals and values that were not his.

That could be saved for his softer sponsors.

"If this pays off or not, we will find out briefly. This is form, but it is the advent of function that will tell me how successful I am."

Fortunately, though, he treaded towards his endgame with large, wide-pacing steps. Little by little, the seeds of a bright, or potentially disastrous future were sown.

Which came to be fruition would only depend on the inventor's true intentions.

"I am glad you are impressed nonetheless, my friend."

The enormous mishmash of animalistic modules and parts he had crafted, however, would be not easy to assemble and lug the site of its delivery unto a triumphant finale: Myllenoris. This would take time and effort, but in the following hours, it would eventually be handled without much ado.

"I promise to put a good show on for you."

(Armand)
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[00:17] "I'm sure my father has a saying about always striving towards something, but for the life of me I can't remember it." He shrugs. "Oh well."

Slowly, the Warlord would rise from his seat, as one of his claw-like fingers would drift towards his chin, idly prodding at it for a few moments as he inched closer towards the metallic beasts. This time he would view the creations up close.

To say the least, he was impressed.

"What's not to be impressed with? You intend to brin' to life some fuckin' metal statues. It's real fuckin' impressive."

A nod follows, as he takes a step back.

"A promise is it? Then sure. I'll hold ya' to that. I expect one Hel of a fuckin' show, but-" He pauses, for a moment as he moves to assist Armand with transferring the beasts from Theria to Myllenoris. "Let me fuckin' help with that."
(Valero Task)
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