"Oy Ferrick get your midget arse in gear and fix this damn golem! It's spilling the bean juice everywhere again!" Shouts the guard on duty as the gnome rushes into the room and see's a small humanoid robot sparking as it sloshes bean juice all over the kitchen. Sighing and whispering a spell of deactivation the golem sputters before falling onto its face, the juice pooling underneath it as Ferrick crawls on top of it and opens the paneling before replacing the random clockwork within.
"Damn kitchen help, told them a million damn times not to spray these things with liquids or polish them! It causes build up and it breaks their damn programming." Mutters the gnome under his breath as a small mousekin woman enters the room and gasps at the mess.
"Sir Ferrick! I'm so sorry for this I've relayed your warnings numerous times to the staff but they refuse to listen! Please allow me to clean this up and let me get you a change of uniform as well!" Squeaks the woman as she rushes out the room flustered leaving the gnome to stare in amusement at the closing door.
"Sweet girl, shame she ended up a castle maid instead of something more. But at least she's safe here. Not like outside this damn castle anymore." Ferrick whispers as he slams the panels shut and hops off the golem before casting a reactivation spell and watching as the clockwork golem stands back up and fluidly begins doing its chores once more. Smiling at the machinery he freezes as ice slides down his spine and a wrongness fills the room everything seeming to slow down as something whispers to him.
"Ah Ferrick the Mechanist. Impressive as he is short. They don't appreciate your craft you know, they just want to use your skills and once they learn them you'll be tossed away. Poor, foolish, expendable Ferrick. But I would never betray you. You should join me and be a master among mortals." Whispers a voice like honey and silk wrapped in smoke and fire. It's words dripping with sincerity but somehow feeling wrong on every level as the gnome closes his eyes and breathes deeply trying to remember what the clergy told him.
"Sir Ferrick? Are you alright sir? Do you need me to retrieve a cleric or get a guards help? Asks a gentle voice as he opens his eyes and see's the concerned face of Della, a fresh mechanist uniform with Gotyr's royal crest in her hands as she wrings it nervously.
"No need for that dear just a head ache is all. Working to hard for to long, hopefully I'll get some leave soon and I can take a trip back to Lonfoggen for the festival. I should be going though, thank you for the change of clothes." He says happily as he darts from the room, sweat chilling his back as he remembers the whispered voice.
"Yea can you believe it? That matron in the slums turned out to be a damn man eater! Some kind of spider demon or something, would've never imagined seeing as she was so sweet to the people there but we did get reports of some of the meaner nobles going missing. Must be it right?" Says a guard loudly as Ferrick stops in surprise remembering Miss Tevu from his last trip to the slums where he'd make basic wood golems to help keep the place clean and patrol the streets.
"Yea they have her in the dungeons now. Heard they plan to behead her soon but they're waiting for that circus troupe to head out first. Wanna sell seats to the execution but need to let the people save up more coin first." Another guard can be heard saying as both laugh and continue gossiping.
Thinking about it quickly, Ferrick nods his head and begins marching around the corner and down the stairs stopping at a bolted door with two guards on either side. Each of the humans look down at the gnomish man with disdain before he pulls out a blue badge and they become nervous before opening the door and allowing entry.
"So sorry Sir Ferrick. We didn't realize who you were without your magitech armor. Feel free to stay in the dungeons as long as you'd like but just a warning, they captured a jade today and apparently they eat noble men and heroes." Says the guard as Ferrick gruffly grunts in affirmation before making his way intro the decrepit bowels of the castle. The first floor contains petty criminals, slave labor until their debts are paid. Second floor are violent men and women, rapists and murderers all. Looking into a cell Ferrick can see the relaxed form of Silent Jack, the serial killer and cannibal as the man winks and shifts into the shadows.
"Should kill every damn creature on this floor, would do the world a load of good." Mutters Ferrick as he makes it to the bottom floor where they keep magical or supernatural prisoners. One cage holds a three headed goat man, its eyes following him as its hands carve symbols in the dirt. In another a towering hellaphant chants rhythmically as a sense of peace emanates off his body.
Walking past the cells he finally finds himself in front of one housing the woman he knew as Tevu, her face and body the same except for the ghostly spider half starting at her waist. Staring at the woman in front of him he takes in the random bits of rot still staining her body. Several wounds litter her shoulders and a black eye is beginning to appear as well as swelling on the right side of her face.
"You didn't fight back, why?" he asks as the jade smiles and lets out a sad chuckle for the gnome.
"I've done horrible things Sir Ferrick. Helping those poor souls was my way of making up for them. I'm a monster, a man-eater, a killer. I can't change that but I tried to change the type that I was. I targeted those who nobody else could, the men and women who acted like monsters and ruined lives for coin or fun. Somebody found out though and traded my life for some coin. I still deserve this though, I once ruined lives as well." She answers sadly as the gnome nods once and turns to walk away before pausing.
"Real monsters don't feel the need to pay for their actions Miss Tevu. Real monsters keep killing without being picky about targets. They kill and lie about it and when finally confronted they try to take everyone with them. I hope you escape somehow Miss Tevu, I don't believe your a real monster." He says seriously with a smile as tears fall from the jades eyes and she nods before scuttering backwards.
Making his way back upstairs Ferrick freezes as a human starts making his way down, a look of hatred and disdain staining his handsome face as a silken cape dangles off one shoulder. Moving to the side Ferrick kneels for the crown prince as the man moves past him without even glancing at the gnome, his scowl engrained on his features as he throws something into one of the cells and smiles as a howl of pain emerges. As Ferrick moves to stand he could swear he saw a bulbous creature floating near the princes shoulder but just shakes his head, the memory lost as the gnome continue out of the dungeon and towards his home in the market district as a memory nags at the back of his mind.