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The Lifegiver is calling. The feeling is like a tugging on the invisible thread that connects it to the other. Normally the connection is welcome, channeling magic to augment its lethality or knit together shattered metal. Now though, it is no longer a boon but a burden; the Lifegiver wishes to call for its aid. Such arrogance on his part cannot be allowed to stand. It can’t allow the mortal to get any ideas about their relationship.
The mechanical goose hops off the window ledge where it had been sunning itself, a loud clanging noise resounding through the building as it hits the ground and starts to run off at a speed far surpassing what its stubby legs should allow. It wedges its beak into the mostly closed door and shoves it open before rushing out into the stairwell. The Lifegiver is coming from down the stairs. Up the stairs it goes then.
“Get back here, Hierophant! We need to start scouting out the auction with our new friends!” The Lifegiver, one Hanse Stefault’s plea is futile. Hierophant reaches the next floor with the journeyman artificer in hot pursuit…
And screeches to a halt, cornered! This is the top floor of the inn with only a handful of rooms on either side of the corridor and nowhere to hide. For a weaker creature, such as, say, the artificer chasing it, this would spell the end of the chase. Hierophant is not such a weakling though. It rears back and hisses then rushes towards one of the doors at full speed, Hanse reaching the top of the stairs just in time to watch in horror as the flimsy wood loses its battle against a creature of steel and spite.
There’s a surprised shriek from the room’s current inhabitant as the goose bursts through the door honking loudly but as much as it would like to, it has no time to waste on exercising its power over them. Shock and the laws of decency won’t hold Hanse for long before he decides that catching the runaway construct outweighs needing to trespass into someone else’s room to do so. Fortune is in its favor though; as one of the more expensive rooms in the establishment, this one has a balcony. The glass door is weak and shatters on impact, shards clanging off its steel feathers and it’s once more in the warmth of the sun. One hop onto the chair, another onto the back of it, and a third brings it onto the railing; beady red eyes staring back at the Lifegiver who has entered the doorway in pursuit. He’s too slow.
Hierophant spreads its wings wide, leaps out into the open sky, and then plummets four stories to the ground under the weight of its entirely metal construction, the ensuing crash resounding through the marketplace. It attempts to rise to its feet and flee the scene but one of its legs isn’t responding, the gear train having become misaligned from the impact. Looking up, it spots a dismayed Lifegiver watching from the balcony with a groan. Magic starts to form around it as Hanse attempts to teleport it back up with a Vortex Warp but Hierophant pushes the magic away, still angry at its creator, and instead starts to crawl towards a nearby fruit cart with its beak and remaining functional leg.
A new plan is in order.
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If this body is insufficient for flight on its own then it shall enlist the help of its natural brethren. As weaker and mortal creatures, they should be honored to assist a being of its renown and status. First though, to gather them to its banner…
Thirty minutes later there are screams of panic from inside the building, flickers of a growing flame visible through one of the windows. A metal goose flees the scene, a sack of birdseed larger than it is being dragged behind in its beak.
It has seen the humans in the park use this tactic before to gather large flocks of birds. The sharpened teeth of its tongue make swift work of the bag and it thrashes around to scatter the seeds. Within minutes, dozens of birds have gathered to eat the bounty with some humans starting to take notice. Sensing that the moment is right, Hierophant hops up on a nearby bench to address its followers.
“The time of man has come to an end! Join me, my brethren. Be my wings and I shall lead you to a glorious new future!”
The flock scatters, frightened by the loud and unintelligible honking of this strange creature.
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A minor setback but one easily solved. If they shall not serve out of loyalty then they shall serve out of fear. The two pelicans it had knocked out earlier are beginning to stir and the leads it had attached to them remain in place. Hierophant lets out a triumphant honk and the two terrified birds take flight, pulling it off the cliff and into the open sky.
It spreads its wings wide to catch the wind then immediately plummets to the earth below as the birds fail to keep its dense metal form aloft. The leads snap as Hierophant slams through a thorn bush and the panicked avians make their escape while the clockwork creature watches in defeat.
It should’ve expected this. It's form might be that of a bird but in terms of nature, it and these creatures are nothing alike. Another plan is needed.
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The clash of swords fills the air along with the crackle of a burning building, spells flashing back and forth, and the roar of dragons as The Tangerine Pirates meet the cultists of the Chromatic Deliverance in battle. Many tales weave together on this battlefield: a continent spanning ritual attempting to free their draconic sovereign from her captivity, the vengeance of a lone survivor who has found new family, and the temporary death of a noble scion turned to the ways of a monk. Hierophant has little time for any of this though.
The leader of the cult has summoned forth a number of red dragons to fight off the intruders and in them, the tiny goose senses kindred spirits. Powerful creatures of the skies forced to fight for their weaker masters in affairs below their notice. They shall make fine allies. As the battle rages on, it clambers up onto the back of one such dragon and perches upon its neck. The dragon takes to the air, raining down fire upon the party and for the first time, Hierophant truly feels the sensation of flight.
Drunk on power, it pecks at the dragon’s neck, seeking to divert it towards Hanse to teach him a lesson for that time he dared to stuff the goose into his backpack. The vast creature doesn’t appear to notice and continues on its path to try to divebomb Canton. This can’t be allowed to stand, the dragon must understand their status as equals if it truly wishes for this partnership to continue. Hierophant reaches out to Hanse through their connection and demands more power, discharging it through its beak as it pecks at the dragon again.
The dragon plummets to the ground, stone dead at Canton’s feet, its badly wounded form having been finished off by the Arcane Jolt. Hierophant hops off of its back indignantly as the party cheers, the tide of battle beginning to turn in their favor. To expect this creature to be its equal had been foolish. This would not be the end.
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A festival fills what was before the lost city of Oricia’s Paradise. After countless years, the will of a missing God and the dream of a fallen comrade have been fulfilled and the followers of the Dealmaker have returned to this ancient refuge for all travelers. Amongst this festive mood though, Hierophant is left to contemplation. Relying on another creature’s help to fly was clearly a fool’s errand. Instead, now was the time for the Lifegiver to pay it back for so much faithful service it had given him.
The young man had set up a contraption at the height of the city and was using it to launch volleys of rockets into the night sky that burst into a thousand brilliant colors. Stealing half a dozen of the fireworks from him had been child's play. Properly sticking them all to its body had been much more difficult but it had been done. Now it stands at the edge of the tallest building in the city, ready to reclaim the heritage of the sky that it had so long been denied.
“Wait! Hierophant, get back here! Those are dangerous!”
The inventor is too late. A surge of borrowed arcane energy rushes through Hierophant, triggering all of the rockets at once and it leaps off of the building, wings spread wide to greet the unknown. It starts to plummet once again but only for a moment before the rockets’ fuses run out and it soars skyward like a shooting star. It looks down smugly upon the people below, finally in its rightful place above them as a halo of light appears to surround it.
The glorious sensation lasts for about six seconds before the fuel runs out and the final stages of the fireworks go off, a new star seeming to be born as a massive explosion blasts Hierophant to pieces. As its consciousness fades, it is not afraid but triumphant. Hanse knows he is too weak without it, it shall be rebuilt in due time.
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Where physical artifice has failed, perhaps the ways of magic shall solve this problem. After all, Hanse is far from the only spellcaster in the party.
Alex, a young half-elf bard is hard at work on her newest song. In truth, she needed something to get her mind off the legal trouble the party had recently gotten itself embroiled in. Something about possibly stealing a dangerous magical artifact from a friendly government archive as well as robbing a shopkeeper before modifying his memory to forget it. Would they really do that? She had joined the party more recently than the others but from what she’d seen, they seemed like heroic individuals looking to improve the world. Well, outside of that time in Eastern Lordaeron with the cursebreakers but-
She’s snapped from her thoughts by a familiar honking sound behind her. She turns around to find Hierophant standing next to her chair, a piece of paper clutched in its beak. It drops the paper to the ground revealing a crudely drawn sketch of what appears to be itself and then an arrow pointing to another drawing of itself but higher up on the page and with its wings spread.
“Excuse me, wha-” Before she can finish her question, the goose waddles off, returning a moment later to drop a fat pouch of gold coins at her feet and stare up at her. Sensing her confusion, it then points its beak at one of the books on the top shelf of the library.
Oh. “Hierophant, you really don’t need to be doing that but if it’ll help then here!” She plays a quick tune on her concertina and the magic of a Fly spell envelops Hierophant. “Just uh- please put that money back where you found it.”
The goose leaves the money behind as it floats off upon an invisible wind.
About an hour later, the rest of the Tangerine Pirates have woken up and gathered to continue on their journey, hurrying to make it back to the capital in time for their appointed court date. As they leave, they can hear a distant commotion. Then they can hear a much closer commotion joined by the sound of honking. Hanse presses his eyes shut and groans as a migraine starts to form. He should’ve known that a missing Hierophant is never a good thing. The goose in question soars towards them, barely ahead of an angry mob.
“It ate my pies!”
“My garden! Not my garden!
“Kill the feathery devil!”
As it flies towards the party, the magic abruptly runs out and he clatters to the ground, his momentum bouncing him forward along the ground to trip Hanse. The Tangerine Pirates exchange wordless glances before scooping up the creature and continuing on their path at a much accelerated pace, Alex tossing the pouch of coins from Hierophant back with a hurried apology and a few extra coins she’d added to it earlier to make up for the inconvenience to its owner.
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Hanse Stefault is alone now with Hierophant. In the face of impending catastrophe at the hands of a circle of Archfae, the Tangerine Pirates have split up to beseech the gods for aid. For Hanse, that means needing to prove himself worthy to Torm through strength at arms, strategy, and mechanical ingenuity. The third of those trials has now lead to him crouching down to sit face to faces with Hierophant, who had gained a second head recently, much to the inventor’s exasperation.
“I know the two of us don’t really see eye to eye and… that’s kind of my own fault.” Hanse admits. “I never try to rebuild you. I just kind of sink into a trance and you well… happen. But despite our differences, we still fight side by side and you’ve saved me and my friends on all sorts of occasions. You’re not an embarrassment or a continued failure on my part, you’re the most impressive thing I’ve ever created and I think it’s time I started acting like it. If you’ll allow it, let me take you apart and put you back together intentionally this time, trying to make real improvements of my own. I’ve got the best materials I could ask for here, a foundry fit for a god, and well, not a lot of time but enough if you’ll just trust me.”
Hierophant stares back at him unblinkingly for a long moment before its glowing eyes fade and its body slumps to the ground as it enters a sleep mode.
Hanse smiles with relief. “Thank you, old friend.”
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When Hierophant wakes again, it finds itself on a stone pillar some forty feet off the ground within the massive forge. Something is off though. It’s body feels stronger, lighter, and full of renewed power. It glances at its exterior, seeing the color of its metallic feathers more vibrant somehow and the craftsmanship more refined. Hanse looks up at it from below with an encouraging look that still fails to hide his nervousness. “Alright Hierophant, take flight!”
The goose seldom follows his orders but for once, their wills are aligned as it spreads its wings wider than they ever did before and leaps into the air. Each wing catches the wind and pushes it downward, lifting the creature into the sky under its own power. Hierophant lets out a triumphant honk as it finally claims the domain that belongs to it by right.