Ko'Loss had no objections to her staying at the house. Quite the opposite, he seemed excited to have a woman living in the home again. And Priya was amazed at everything she found. The butlers tended to her every need and the house goblins helped her in the garden. She wasn't much for planting like her father but she knew the basics and was determined to make something grow while she had downtime between jobs.
The Jorgensen family had jumped at the idea of having a family member as a guest of Ko'Loss and The Oracle. Loran and For'Ten had gone and had words with the family heads about her role and why guarding her was important. A short vote was all that was needed to approve her involvement with the forming group of souls.
Ed had made arrangements for Priya to have a room in a wing to herself. It wasn't that he was avoiding her but he thought she might like the privacy after living on the road as a merchant and then staying in a spare room in a storehouse. By comparison, Ko'Loss's mansion was extravagant.
And Priya agreed with that thought privately. She would never say it to Ed's face but she agreed. Any time she saw Ko'Loss walking around the house or working on something she would thank him and express her gratitude. The part of Ko'Loss that still remembered being human had developed what you would call a soft spot for Priya. And he started making her gifts.
At first, it was her very own lady attendant. He had created his first golem in ages and it was designed just for her. It wasn't restricted to the house, it could go everywhere she went. It was part servant, part protector. Ko'Loss mistakenly figured that because Ed had brought her here she must be important in other ways. So assuring her safety became a priority. Priya was important to Ed, just not as he had guessed.
Several other small inventions came and passed while Ed and Loran worked on perfecting their compass method. They would spend days mapping out locations of the dots against maps, trying to get a better idea of the locations of the next soul.
Ko'Loss then created something that astounded them all. In previous times Ko'Loss wife had been carried around town in a custom carriage pulled by beautiful white horses. The carriage was still in the stable but the horses were long gone. Getting horses and feed into this part of the city was next to impossible. The city guards were finally used to the Golems coming and going through the gate. And the area was slowly becoming known as the In-human district.
Ko'Loss had spent a few days formulating a plan to get the humans around safely and quickly. He finally spent a few days collecting items and reagents for an experiment. And after his first small scale success, he moved onto the carriage.
His first success was a small golem mouse that had wheels for feet. The golem could run through the floors and follow directions, It had no thought process, but it was strong enough to pull Loran on a chair. It was proof enough for Ko'Loss.
Several days went by before he created the first un-manned carriage. The goblins had toiled to bring the carriage back up to snuff. Parts had been stolen from other abandoned homes and refurbished for the task. What had once been a beautiful white princes carriage was now a mixture of Dark black wood from the long-gone forest to the north and white ivory salvaged from the first carriage. The seats were black satin taken from an abandoned store across the district that had been remarkably well preserved.
On its maiden voyage, Ko'Loss had given them instructions on use. A standard golem sat at the driver's bench and held reigns. You told him where to go and he was able to propel and navigate without further instructions. He never moved though, and his body had been made of wood instead of clay. This gave him a very artificial look, so the goblins had painted him up to look like a large wooden goblin.
The gate guards, who were already dismissive of the golems, Knights, and Ed were dumbfounded when the haunted carriage rode through the gates one day. It lacked any horses and the polished woods made it shine in the sunlight that bounced off the Glass Capitals towers.
They simply stood back against the walls as it passed. The senior guard looked on as it went through and tipped his head at the windows. He didn't even want to know what unnatural thing was riding around town in that.
The trainee for the gate looked at his commander, "What on earth was that!?"
The commander put his hand over the young man's mouth, "Shut your pie-hole now before you curse us all. Too man bat shit crazy things are happening since the golems awoke. I don't even want to know who or what is in that carriage. That is above our paygrade. Just shut up and salute and let it pass."
The young trainee nodded understanding before the Commander lowered his hand. "What the hell, this really is the In-human district. First, we have golems, now we have the dead riding around town? I am getting too old for this crap."
For those in the carriage, they laughed as they went past the gate. They looked ahead and rode in comfort. Loran was already making plans for how to use this in their travels. Ed had protested that this was to protect those at the house and allow them to move around town.
Their trip took them to the capitol building where they met For'Ten to show him the creation. He laughed at the device, knowing that it was going to drive the centaur races mad. No longer needing people to pull carriages would bankrupt a business. Thankfully for everyone involved this carriage was a one-off design. The parts and skills needed to make one only lived with Ko'Loss. The carriage would be the only one of its kind for a very long time.
Loran and Ed went into the Capitol with For'Ten while Priya went to work at the warehouse. She wanted to show the Le'Liss family her new means of travel. It was only safe to use in town. The minute it went out of town it would become a target for thieves. But for now, she still wanted to work. This carriage just made her life significantly easier.