Kazan paid attention to the mage with quiet contemplation, he'd never really heard of them working this way, in fact he didn't even know if Varstradt had crystal mines of their own, but the fact that they only ever produced the black crystals confused him even further. He looked about at the many colored ones, then frowned a little, placing a hand on his hip, the other rubbing at his chin as he focused for a little while before looking at the mage again,
"What do you know of black crystals? Do they hold a particular element as well?" He asked. It was a fair question on his part because he wasn't aware of how unnatural they were. Though he froze and looked over his shoulder, almost out of instinct, or perhaps it was a different familiar feeling.

Naraya was standing there, quiet, calm, that odd smile on her face, one that judged and accepted all at once. She was standing quite perfectly still behind Grant, though reached out gently to touch his shoulder, if anyone was used to her doing that, it was probably Grant. She smiled gently at her son, then looked to Robyn and Kazan,
"The debate is over, although it took a little verbal bludgeoning to get through their old skulls and their old ways." She folded her arms, leaning slightly to her right, "They think the idea is.. Acceptable.."
Naraya looked over at Grant, grinning a little,
"Although they would still like one of us to oversee the project. Grant, as you brought them forth; I'm appointing you to watch, and assist where you can." She looked towards their guests, adjusting her stance,
"You will receive some additional funds to aid in your work. It is not as much as I would have suggested but it is better than receiving no peripheral support at all."

The two stone mages looked at each other, puzzled, and then back to Kazan. The one who had been speaking shook his head.

"We've never seen black crystals before," he said. "I can't imagine where they would come from. You can see for yourself the kinds that come out of this mine, and they're the same as what would come out of any other mine."

"Black ones couldn't possibly be a natural occurrence," his partner said. She shuddered a bit. "Wherever you saw these black crystals you spoke of, I can't imagine that the location or the excavation process is all that pleasant."

Robyn glanced at Kazan. She knew what he was talking about. He'd shown her the black crystals that came out of his handguns. She remembered him telling her that they were unstable, even with precautions. These colored crystals on the table, they were active, but she wouldn't call them unstable at all. To her, that meant that the black ones must have been unnatural, somehow. Maybe something was done to them? She didn't have a chance to ponder it further, because Naraya had arrived.

Grant didn't even flinch when his mother seemed to come out of nowhere. She'd always done that, as far back as he could remember, so it didn't even faze him anymore. What did surprise him was when she appointed him to oversee the project.

"Are you certain?" he asked her. "You don't want someone with more seniority than me?" Although it did make a little sense. She was right, he was the one who had brought them to see the council, but he'd thought that they would hand them over to someone with similar talents.

"In the principles of magic as a technology, the most qualified person in this entire town is right there," Naraya pointed out Robyn with a smile, placing her hand on her hip and sighing, "It's simply a matter of principle, this weapon is an investment and we want some-one there to assure it is functioning. You report back, simple things, observation techniques, you understand all of this already. While some of the others think I am showing favouritism because you are my son, I override them with irrefutable logic; you deserve a chance to prove you're capable of overseeing greater tasks, and this, I would point out, is extremely important, considering what it will do for our fair town. And, I would imagine, Mr. Leinfauld and Ms. Carpenter probably trust you more than some random official."

Kazan nodded silently, almost unconsciously, he did trust Grant, enough to have revealed the truth, and that was a hard thing, plus this woman seemed to be going very far out of her way to help, he couldn't the type of kindness it took to stretch some-one that far. If Grant was related to her, then how could he not trust?
Naraya did have a reputation of liking strange new ideas and notions and they always succeeded when she took interest, yet she never once said out loud that she ever believed any of it would work, it was all a gamble, a little chaos to make life interesting, instead of the dull, droning Order that kept their day to day lives so.. Uninteresting.

The only person she'd ever admitted this out loud to was Grant, he could probably recognize that glint in her eye that said she was gaining personal amusement from all this. Teasing the older mage's and making their life difficult was a joy she partook in because she could, the doddery old fools needed to wake up to the fact that the world was advancing even if they wanted to stay exactly where they were.
Installing that massive door, O'brien's masterpiece, had certainly taken a lot of petitioning and political bludgeoning. This thought occurred to her and she looked at Robyn then,
"Oh, Ms. Carpenter. While you are working on this weapon, would you also take some time to examine the council chambers' door? It is old and might require your expert touch to make sure it is all in working order." She asked calmly, "You will be paid time and a half, after all, it is one of a kind and only you have the ability to examine and assure its condition is at its peak. It is not a priority, but I would like to see that O'briens work lives on."

Robyn couldn't help but blush a bit as Naraya complimented her skills. It embarrassed her a bit, she didn't think she was as good as she was being made out to be. Still... She was being given the chance to look at the mechanical doors, that would be a invaluable experience. To be able to go through the mechanics of the doors and see how her master had put them together... She would be able to learn so much from it. Of course, she would clean and tune everything up to the best of her ability.

"I would be honored to take a look at the doors," she said, nodding. "As soon as I possibly can."

Grant could see the glint in his mother's eyes clearly. She was interested in the project, and was interested in the people involved, as well. Giving him the chance to obtain experience in overseeing a major project was only half of what motivated her to give him the assignment. If he knew her, she would want his observations on Robyn and Kazan as well as on the project itself. Chances were, the council didn't like the idea of such inexperienced mages working on the project any more than they really liked the idea of the project itself. His mother had verbally beaten them into submission, which was pretty typical. People tended to listen to his mother, even if it took a bit of persuasion. He nodded when she explained her reasoning, accepting the assignment she'd given him.

"It will take a little while to fill out the paperwork, Ms. Carpenter, but once I have tackled that issue you may get to work.." Oh the joys of paperwork, a sadly necessary evil that even she had difficulty avoiding at times. But she still needed to show she wasn't just taking liberties in her work, she looked at Kazan then, he seemed a little nervous, not unsurprising really, he was in what could once have been considered the heart of enemy territory, so many mage's surrounding him, but perhaps it was something else...

Yes, he was probably curious about his own magic but was struggling to put forward the words necessary to inquire. Naraya chuckled as she turned on her heel, but looked over her shoulder at the three of them,
"Once you're done with the crystals, come to the council chambers, collect your works, then Grant; bring them to my personal chambers so we might discover the true nature of our friend's capabilities." She instructed, leaving calmly and quietly, her footsteps barely even registered on the floor, her clothes practically gliding along behind her as though they were akin to spider-silk.

Kazan sighed a little softly, but then looked towards Robyn,
"Fire and ice.." He stated suddenly, "They could cause a great deal of damage if they work like I think they will. The rapid changes in temperature should weaken the armor of a target greatly. The other thought I had was lightning, a steel battalion tank is essentially one large conductor. What do you think?"

Grant nodded to his mother. It probably wouldn't take too much longer to finish up in the mine, and then he could take them back to get their things from the council.

Robyn thought for a moment as Kazan was going over some uses for the elemental crystals. Once she was sure that the elementally neutral ones would work in the guns, she would see about getting the ones he liked.

"It would depend," she said when he got to the bit about the lightning crystals. "Could be that it would work just like lightning striking a car; it would go right through the outer panels and ground itself out without ever touching what was inside. I mean, if something was touching the outside at that exact moment, then yeah, it would work to fry that something, but otherwise..." She trailed off, thinking. "You would need some way to get the electric energy actually inside the outer steel shell for it to do much of anything." The fire and ice, though, that was a good idea. Metal didn't like being taken to such extremes. It expanded and contracted with changes in temperature, but if those changes were too extreme, or if one section was drastically changed while another wasn't, then the metal would break. It might even break dramatically and with a lot of force.

While the two were talking, one of the stone mages tapped Grant on the shoulder.

"We found you that size fourteen earth crystal you requested," she said to him. "We weren't sure when you would be back, so we had it boxed and sent to your quarters."

"Thanks," Grant replied. He grinned. "My garden will really appreciate it."

"Well either way, the bullets will pierce the hull and discharge their energy as they go, at least if my theory is correct, which means the once protected interior becomes a conductor. The lightning will go through, into the tank, and if so much as a stray spark sets off even a single explosive shell inside, as a friend of mine once so concisely put it," He raised a fist in front of himself, between him and Robyn before spreading his fingers out, "Boom." he remarked afterwards, though dropped his hand for a moment, seeming to think on it. After a little while he frowned then shook his head,
"But still.. Fire and Ice.. I think that would work if we're looking to give them a chance to flee.."
He'd realised once more he was going up against his own people, and as much as he disagreed with them, they were still his people and he couldn't just lightly kill them without good reason. A distant, rumbling anger inside him approved of the very idea of killing them, an arrogant creature that liked to prove it could kill anyone, even its own, that it had the ability to, the skill.

He knew he had the skill, it was always lurking there in the back of his mind. Combat was an art, shooting a gun was practically second nature to him. He sunk his hand sinto his pockets and looked over at Grant for a moment, listening to what the man had said about a garden and earth crystals.. How interesting..
If Kazan could have any kind of life away from all this kind of mess, it would have been a quaint little out-of-the-way home, surrounded by a nice forest with a lovely little garden.. But the tactical appraisal for such a place suggested it would be hardly defensible, plenty of cover for enemy attackers between the trees.. Too much open space..

"Lets go get the plans," He spoke finally, tilting his head towards the exit, "And.. When we're done here.. I want to go see how Ridley is.."

"Just like they give us the chance to get away?" Robyn replied before she could stop herself. She couldn't help but remember what he had told her about what 'should' have happened at the church. She looked down, but didn't retract what she said. She only felt bad about saying it because it might have hurt Kazan. She didn't feel bad about it otherwise. "Come on," she said softly. "Let's go get those sketches back, and then finish up here. The guild knows how to contact me once those crystals I want are available. I'm sure Ridley will be glad to see you when we get back home."

Grant listened to their conversation, although he didn't say anything. It really wasn't his business what issues the two of them needed to work out, and it was clear that there were some issues.

"I can take you back to the council to get your plans back," he offered. "And don't forget, my mother wanted to see you afterwards."

"Remember who you are, Robyn." Kazan replied gently, smiling at her, in a pained way, yes, her words did hurt, but she understood her, why she could say that, why she deserved to, but still.. "You're not like them.. You aren't one of them, if we can make some of them live to regret their mistakes for the remainder of their life, is it not a more fitting punishment than stooping to their level?" The man placed his hand on her shoulder, forcing away the slight hurt in his mind and smiled more,
"You are better than a simple executioner."

Kazan lead the two, returning his hand to his pocket as he looked over his shoulder at Grant, smiling slightly,
"I haven't forgotten, I dont intend to leave until she evaluates me as she said she would. I would like to know more about what I can do." He chuckled a little, "I like learning new things, learning magic properly is certainly something I'd want to do." Kazan added, making his way out of the mines and heading for the council chambers.

There were still some of the elders admiring the work, others quarrelling among themselves about the ethics and problems, the troubles they had with a new idea and so on and so forth, but they fell pretty silent on the return of their guests and Grant. Naraya wasn't there, probably waiting in her quarters, which lay beyond the council chambers just as did the other elders quarters.
Kazan's priority was retrieving the gun but he made sure it was empty and that the weapon was not tampered with before wrapping it up as before. The plans had been placed on a table, but Kazan figured Robyn would retrieve those.

He looked to Grant then, for guidance as to where they would go next

Robyn hesitated for a moment, not wanting to draw attention to herself, but after a moment she decided that she couldn't have any more attention at the moment if she tried, so she steeled herself and went to go retrieve the plans from the table. Once she had them, she folded them carefully and put them into a pocket on her belt. Her tool belt was a comforting weight on her hips, it was familiar and set her a bit more at ease. She went back over to stand with Kazan.

Grant watched the two as they did what they needed to. For now, all he was really doing was acting as an escort, which he was fine with. He was kind of hoping his mother would need them for a while, though, so he could go back to his own quarters and work on his garden for a bit. He was looking forward to putting the crystal into the garden. It would definitely help improve the overall health of the plants, and would help support them through the dry season, when water had to be used carefully.

"Come on," he said to them. "My mother's quarters are this way." He gestured to the door on the other end of the room. "It's not far."

Kazan nodded towards Grant on his beckoning, following the apparent gardener, covered gun in his hands, though he looked at it for a while. It was a sudden flash, a strange craving, the thought of loading the gun and just.. Shooting at something.. The nearest thing, the nearest person.. He froze and placed a hand on his head, gritting his teeth for a second.. Why had he thought of that so suddenly? He had no reason to.. There was no-one here he wanted to harm, not that he even had the desire to harm, combat, death, it was a choice not a requirement.

He took a deep breath then sighed, looking at Grant and Robyn. He knew he was acting odd, but the first time he could at least have explained it off thanks to Grant's mother, but then.. Even she was surprised that he'd somehow sensed her presence..
He was barely aware as they entered Naraya's personal quarters. They were surprisingly lavished in appearance, but it wa sonly because she'd chosen to decorate with deep and shimmering reds, yellow embroidery in cloth looked almost like gold in the dim lights. There was two full bookshelves covering divinations, fortune telling, the tools of the seers, and various other arcane books that laid beyond the knowledge of common folk, in both language and concept.

The floor was a mosaic, perfectly aligned, every single piece cut and placed in what would have looked an almost seamless pattern if it wasn't for the faintest little lines between every little nail-sized piece. The grey stone was contrasted with black runic circles and symbols, complex and vast, practically dizzying to stare at, runes carved into very specific spots, perfectly placed apart.
No-one had ever seen her use it, except for Grant, and that time it had only glowed beneath her as she meditated upon it, the lights rising form it faintly, more perfect than the shattered appearance the miniature dividing lines made.

Naraya sat across from it in a wooden chair, red backing and cushion, another across from her, the two chairs werent across from eachother, but rather rested on the same side of the semi-circular table, placed at an almost forty-five degree angle. A similarly style bench rested against the wall opposite the books, not a single thing in the room was allowed to disturb the magic circles, though walking across it did nothing.
"Come, Mr Leinfauld." She instructed, motioning to the other seat, then looked to Robyn and Grant, pointing to the bench, "Please, relax, this will take but a moment."

Kazan made his way over to her and sat down slowly, almost cautiously, putting the weapon down on the desk before he had another bizarre thought. Nara reached forward and took his wrists gently, holding them up and close, noticing the slight tremble in his hands. She could detect the faint odour of magic salve, definitely Grant's.. She shot him an odd sort of smile, something she always did when she approved of something he did, she'd done the very same thing ever since his childhood.
He probably knew exactly what she was proud of too.
Now.. She needed to concentrate, and feel the magic inside Kazan, reach out with her mind and touch that energy within him. While any mage could learn to sense magic, feeling its true nature, the absolute depth behind it, was far different.. It was this ability that made her most valuable, she could assess the potential of a candidate and place them in the right classes, have them taught the right things..

And one day she would pass these same gifts of hers to Grant.. He would need them one day.. One day.. But not now..

Grant had seen his mother's quarters many times before, so he was comfortable enough sitting down on the bench and waiting for her to finish with Kazan. He was comfortable enough to even walk across the complex circle on the floor. He didn't understand all of the runes and signs yet, but he was slowly learning them. His mother had given him a book to study, and he'd been working on it. In some ways, he was just as much of an apprentice as Robyn was.

Robyn herself was hesitant to touch anything in the room. Everything seemed so much more elegant and expensive than anything she'd ever seen in her life, and she was kind of afraid that she would somehow break something or mess something up by touching it. It took her a moment to sit down on the bench, even when Naraya gestured for her and Grant to sit. She felt completely out of place in the room. Give her her workshop over this any day. Someone who spent her day up to her elbows in metal and grease didn't belong in a room that had a massive magic circle in the middle of it. Even the mosaic seemed to be almost too impressive for Robyn to look at. She would stay until Kazan was ready to leave, though.

Naraya gazed at his hands for a while, silent, unmoving, trying to understand the strangeness of his energy.. Kazan wasn't ordinary, no ordinary soldier, for certain, and certainly no ordinary man. But the dept of realization was much, much deeper than she had imagined. The inner workings of a persons spirit were undefineable by any logical manner, so instead it had to be interpreted into a form she could see and understand. Just as signs and portents for the future could reveal the many possibilities, she had to interpret his soul into a tangible idea.

But what she saw within Kazan made her come to a halt. It was beyond anything she'd ever experienced, the image reflected within her mind.. Both terrifying and breathtaking, and the odd loneliness.. What looked like chains that held tight, ready to snap, one dark claw reaching out, trying to find the intruder, another, pale white hand grasping it and pulling it back into the void.
And the red energy that danced around the voids and dark places, illuminating shadows she'd rather wished she'd not seen..

Naraya stood suddenly, backing away and taking a sharp gasp, her face stern, but pale. Kazan stared at her in confusion, the kind of look that proved to her that he wasn't even aware of himself, at least not the strange complexity within. And that red energy.. She recognized it.. At best she was sure she recognized the theory behind it.
She walked away from him, leaving him still-confused, the blood rushing back to her features as she reached the book case, beginning to thumb past the many volumes.. It was there somewhere.. She needed to confirm something, figure out if her suspicions were correct..

The woman looked back towards Kazan, then to Robyn and Grant,
"I'm afraid his powers are a bit.. Foreign to me.." She stated, it was partially a lie, but she really didn't want to risk tampering with Kazan, "I need to research a little, I will have an answer later." She added, finally stopping on one. It looked relatively older than most of the books, but it was in good condition, However it had no writing or inscriptions on it to reveal what it was,
"You needn't stay here, I'm sure you have much to keep you busy now."

Kazan seemed as confused as eh was stunned. Was he really so different that this woman didn't know exactly how to teach him? He looked at Grant, not sure exactly why, maybe he had some kind of answer? But the truth was Naraya had never done this before, at least not to anybody's knowledge.
But the truth was something she obviously wanted to keep sealed for now.. Something about Kazan had frightened and confused her, she didn't show it, but she was obviously a little shaken. She'd never seen that before.. Not once..
Three fragments.. Not once had she seen a soul split in such a way, yet still exist within a body.. There was more to this.

Grant looked over when his mother practically jumped up. She looked pale and shaken, which concerned him. She was usually so unshakable that he had honestly thought that nothing that could shock her anymore. But there she was, looking honestly scared.

"Mother...?" he asked standing up as well. He reached out to put a hand on her shoulder. "Are you alright?" To most people, she looked like she'd regained her composure, but he'd known her longer than just about anyone. He could tell she was still shaken.

Robyn was worried as well, but for a bit of a different reason. She wasn't worried about Naraya so much as she was about Kazan. Clearly, it was something about Kazan that had frightened Naraya so much, and Kazan still looked worried. Getting up, Robyn went over to him and touched his arm.

"Are you alright?" she asked. He looked stunned, and she didn't blame him. She was still a bit worried about him, though.

"Nothing a warm cup of tea wont be able to fix.." Nara smiled at Grant, turning to him but keeping the book shut as she placed her hand on his cheek, "Did I ever tell you that you look remarkably like your father?" She questioned softly, "If he were here I'd even have imagined you were nearly twins.." The woman smiled, patting him on the shoulder,
"Don't worry.. I just never expected there to be such a difference.. No offence to the young man but he comes from a violent culture, so the.. Conflicted nature of his soul was a little startling. I've never dealt with such a one, so I must.. Gain an understanding before I can help him further.." Again she spoke half-truths.. She'd examined some from Varstradt before, at a distance, or as they slept, and even they weren't as unusual as Kazan..

Kazan stared at the mage and his mother, listening to them. Violent culture..? He really couldn't deny that, though on Robyn's question he looked at her, quiet, sombre even, before he smiled, nodding. Naraya was determined to help him, so it sounded, that was good enough for him.. Some-one with her position.. And her clout.. Wanting to help him.. It made him feel better, in some odd way, about himself, about the possibilities for the future.
He got up off the seat and wrapped his arms around Robyn suddenly, a simple hug, not unlike when she'd granted his request before. Touching Robyn.. Holding her.. it made even his concerns wither away,
"Lets go, Robyn, it seems we all have work to do. Bear has probably gathered up the materials we need."

"You dont mean Clay Bear Peterson..?" Naraya asked suddenly, resting her hand on her hip with an inquisitive look, Kazan nodded softly, "Does he still laugh the entire house down?" Kazan nodded again and the woman simply rolled her eyes, "That rowdy oaf and O'brien were a menace when we were young, always playing their tricks.. And Bear with those hugs of his, he doesn't realize he lacks the softness and blubber of a fat man, he's a walking ox of muscle and bone!"
"Oh believe me I know.." Kazan replied, rubbing his side softly for a moment, he remembered that first day.. The very idea still hurt.

"You've told me that before, Mother," Grant said softly when his mother mentioned his father. He touched her hand gently. "I could make you that tea if you like. I got a good batch from my garden lately, it should be dry enough by now." He might have seemed like he was trying to take care of her, but he was just worried. He'd never seen her react that way about anything before.

Even though the hug was unexpected, Robyn couldn't help but relax in Kazan's arms. Something about him made her feel safe, and she felt comfortable in his arms, rather than in the room.

"I wouldn't mind going home," she said softly. She grinned a bit. "Get back into the workshop and all that." She didn't mention how uncomfortable she felt at the guilt hall itself. She felt like her talents were put to better use back home, rather than here where it seemed like everyone would look down on her for being an apprentice at her age. She looked over when Naraya asked about Bear and nodded.

"Yeah, he's still like that," she replied with a bit of a smile. She couldn't help it. "He's been very kind... I think he's tried to unofficially adopt me or something."

"Sounds perfect, dear." Grant's mother replied, watching Kazan and Robyn for a moment. It really was strange.. A man whose soul was in pieces wouldn't be capable of acting so.. Normally.. At least what could be considered normal behaviour. He wasn't mad, he wasn't in any kind of psychologically induced pain.. Whilst she could sense some deeper issues within him, it was not enough to measure up to the true nature.
The scene itself was quite nice however. Kazan had a stabilizing force in Robyn, Naraya could see he'd anchored to the mechanic in a way that made her almost vital in a way to his living. It probably made sense since they lived together, but a wry smirk on her face once again suggested she could see more..

"It's good to know Bear has stayed the same.. While he's strong as a devil he's still a kind hearted fellow." She commented, nodding to herself, "I could see that even when we were young." She motioned to the door calmly with a smile, "Now off with you two.. And get in doors soon as you can, it's going to rain later. We've a lot of work ahead of us in the next couple of weeks, we dont need either of you sick."

Kazan nodded towards Naraya, then looked to Robyn again, smiling. He let go after a moment, seeming hesitant to do so, but he had to retrieve the gun before he could walk with Robyn. Being in the mages guild had definitely been the most interesting experience of his life, but too much of a confusing thing could dizzy one.
He stopped for just a moment, looking back to Grant,
"You know where we live, right?"

Grant nodded.

"I'll be able to find it," he replied to Kazan. "Don't worry, I'll be there in the next couple of days. You should go on home and relax." There was no way to see the sky from inside the room, but Grant knew his mother was right about the rain coming. He would have to make sure his garden was braced against it if it turned into a storm, but a good soft rain would be good for the plants. He turned to his mother. "I'll walk them out, and then make you that tea." It would be rude not to walk their guests out, and he knew his mother would want them taken care of.

Robyn reluctantly let go of Kazan, but she knew she had to. He probably didn't like her clinging to him, anyways. She was looking forward to getting home... If it was going to rain, Bear probably had a good hot stew waiting, and if she stopped on the way back to get some bread, maybe he'd share with them.

"We'll start on that project right away," she said. "It'll be done as soon as possible. When should I take a look at the door?" She didn't want to neglect that project, either, and she still wanted to take some commissions on the side so she had enough money to stay afloat. She didn't expect to get paid for the cannon or the door at all.

"Once you have assessed how much time you need to work on the turret, simply set aside some spare time to work on the door." Naraya replied, placing the books he'd chosen on the table and making her way over to Robyn, she looked down on the younger lady with an odd sort of smile before placing her arms around Robyn's shoulders in a gently hug, a simple, short one, drawing back but placing her arms on Robyn's shoulders,
"There is a question in the back of your mind.. But you needn't ask it.. O'Brien would be very proud of you, I can certainly know of no better a person to follow his work. You have an advantage in that while he worked a long time to learn the many tricks that he ultimately was able to teach you, you have the chance to take all that you learned and surpass him a dozen times over. You man not want to believe it, but you are near enough his equal." She cupped the side of Robyn's cheek, giving her the same proud look a mother could give their child,
"Just do not forget, if you need help, we are here. And I am here. Bear is right to want to adopt you as he does, treating those in the web of our lives as family is important. The strands that tied me to O'brien and still to Bear, make me equally as responsible for you, obligated to help you, for their sake and for mine."

She let go of Robyn, turning her gaze to Kazan with an odd sort of wry smile,
"This encircles you as well.." She sighed, looking toward Robyn, hand rested on her hip, "Now, off with you, children." She stated, making a faint shooing motion with her other hand. She turned back to where here desk was, gliding over to it with her soft steps and sitting down once more.
Kazan was staring at the mage woman for a good while, but he simply smiled afterwards. It was an odd sort of feeling, but he rather liked this woman, she was probably one of the most pleasant human beings in existence.. Grant was quite lucky to have a mother like that, though he still liked his own.
The soldier made his way out of the door, though kept his pace slow until he and Robyn were both on their way. They'd all be pretty busy in the coming weeks, he would be helping bear melt down the Varstradt Metals, forming moulds, fixing up the turret with Robyn, helping around the town.. At least there would be no shortage of work..

There were a variety of small, nagging thoughts in the back of his mind though, he knew they needed every edge they could get in the coming battle so there may indeed have been more to do than he initially wanted. he would have to knuckle down on everything with military precision and discipline if he wanted to get it all running smoothly..

Robyn couldn't help but blush slightly and look down when Naraya managed to hit upon what Robyn herself was too afraid to ask about. She'd managed to convince herself it wasn't important at all and wasn't going to ask, afraid that she would be told that she could never measure up.

"Thanks," she said softly. She really did appreciate what Naraya had said. Turning, she took a few jogging steps to catch up to Kazan. She was more than ready to get back into the workshop now... She needed all the time she could get to work on the turret. She needed to figure out every detail and make sure everything was right even before she started building, and that might take some time. Then she needed to figure in the time to look at the mechanical door... She was going to be very busy for a while.

Grant walked with them out of the council chamber, and out to the gates of the guild hall.

"I'll come and find you in a few days," he said. "To check in on the work and everything. I doubt my particular set of skills will be helpful in the project, but I'll do what I can to help."

The days that followed seemed to blur together. Bear and Kazan spent the first couple of days breaking down the metals from the tanks into usable materials, melting down the metal, preparing it for use, but Kazan would keep up to date with Robyn as they finalized the design plans, getting everything ready down to the last detail. He'd never worked on anyhting major like this. Sure he'd had certain battles in the past where he and his squad had to prepare a major plan of attack but this was far different.
This time it was to defend.

He hadn't heard back from Naraya about his magic.. It made some kind of sense he supposed, magic was as complicated as it seemed simple, there was more to it all. In fact Naraya had been quite busy with her research, as each day passed, the reference books and texts piled upon her desk, a sort of obsession with her work. Whatever was bothering her was linked to Kazan as she sifted through old texts, new theories. Sometimes she even spoke to herself out loud, agreeing with herself, arguing, thinking aloud, almost oblivious to the world half the time.

As the workload got larger though, things were bound to get messier before they got better, a day didn't go by where he or Robyn ended up getting greasy, but this became a point of strange fun, in their attempts to clean it off as they worked, they would just smudge themselves further. It was good to laugh about these things, it certainly helped Kazan relax. And then came the more careful moments.. Hugging Robyn, but taking the opportune moment to use a clean cloth and wipe away some of the oil.
They'd been so close so many times now that.. He wanted to kiss her.. He didn't care about the risk of a little taste of oil between their lips. The smell of it had become sort of natural, it certainly wouldn't harm them.. But he would restrain himself, joke, and continue to work.

Within a week, the last of the molds had been completed, Bear had begun producing the last major parts, especially the outer shell and chassis, these major parts would give the weapon its shape and form. They wouldn't have a lot of time to test it, but Kazan was confident that it would succeed.. Reports would start coming in of Varstradt soldiers on the move.. They had to be ready.
With his wounds healed and his determination set, Kazan felt ready, more than ever, to defend the town of Lucina, the people there, and Robyn.. She was the most important of all. He would let nothing pass if it ever intended to harm her.

In truth, the days were starting to blur together for Robyn, as well. She found herself working long hours, much longer than she was used to. There were times when she would work through the night and into the next day, even without meaning to, and she couldn't remember how many times she'd fallen asleep in the workshop with one of her tools still in her hand. And she was grateful to Grant for making burn salve; she found her fingers tingling at the end of a particularly long day, and woke up the next 'morning' with a legitimate magic burn in her fingers.

Most of all, though, she always enjoyed the times when Kazan was able to help her out in the workshop. He always found some way to brighten her day, and she found that she looked forward to the times he would pop into the workshop for one reason or another. He was quickly becoming the one person she couldn't live without, and more than once, she found herself daydreaming about what it would be like if she was a normal girl instead of a technosage. She wondered if Kazan would ever think of her as more than just a friend. As soon as she realized what she was thinking, however, she banished the thoughts and very firmly reminded herself that she wasn't marriage material. Still, though... Every so often, she would wonder what it would be like to kiss him.

Grant was in and out of the workshop almost as often as Kazan was. He found that he ended up going back and forth between the forge and the workshop, as sort of an unofficial messenger. He didn't mind, though, as it got him the most information and gave him a chance to observe both places. He would be able to watch the goings-on in the forge, and then see what happened to the pieces made there when he was sent to the workshop.

On one of his trips back from the mage guild, he manage to bring back the crystals that Robyn had asked for, both for the turret, and the mysterious side-project she had mentioned. All he knew was that the crystals were set aside until they were needed. And he got the feeling they would be needed soon... He had heard the reports of soldiers from Varstradt on the move, just as Kazan had, although his information came via the mage guild.

Please.. Listen to me.. You must be made aware of the situation..
What situation..? Kazan stared out across the blank hollow within his mind, within his dreams. The world felts as though it was spinning, yet it stayed perfectly still. Something wrenched at him as he stared across the wide, blank plains, unobstructed.. His sight caught onto a mirror image of himself.
At least.. It almost looked like him.. The hair was different, longer, swept back, golden blonde, deep-set sapphire eyes, a saddened expression as it reached out toward him,
Kazan.. Please..
The image seemed to distort.. No something else was there, how had he not seen it before..? Something black, dark.. Crawling along the flesh, a pair of gleaming red eyes opening slowly before glaring at Kazan. In that instant he could feel his inner terror rise, the same feeling one would get when panicked, frightened.

He yelled within the dream, and awoke with the same sudden shout, sitting up and staring into the dim light of the rising morning. His face was hot, beads of sweat rolled down his form, he'd been feverish almost all night. Unable to awaken.
He gasped slightly, not entirely quietly, but took a couple of sharp breaths, still stunned, still terrified. It was far too unreal to be a premonition, but he'd still never felt internal horror like that before.. That face.. Not the one of the other individual.. But the one that appeared on the arm, the red eyes.. It was his own again, but.. Monstrous.. stretching out off the flesh, threatening to devour that which it latched upon.

The metaphor was getting strangely thick.. It was Varstradt, wasn't it..? Threatening to consume Lastdvell.. Hell-bent on it, no thought to the damage it was causing, practically enjoying it..
Kazan turned to look at the creation set in the middle of the room. The turret gleamed with an odd sort of pride, nearly fully complete, various attachments and necessary nuts and bolts littered a nearby table, but once all of that was in place it was ready. They'd tested it a couple of times already.. Two inch-thick plates behind the house stood as testimony to its power, pierced through by the mighty force of the thunderous cannon's firepower..

The neighbors were so shocked by the sound that they though the town was under attack again. Keeping the weapon under wraps was difficult when you were making noise like that.. But they couldn't risk taking it out of town, hell, moving it about could easily have resulted in some-one spotting it. It was a sad realization but not everyone could be trusted..


Meanwhile, Naraya had gotten so lost in her work that the apparent mess of her study had gotten possibly worse. She'd been bringing in books from the Mages library, the advanced sections mostly, she was deprived of sleep, having obsessed over it all for the past two weeks.. It wasn't some irrational fear that drove her, but a great concern.. The more she read into the theories and ideas behind Kazan, the more she worried as to what could be wrong with him..
Was there a chance this could be used against him? Against 'them'..? Would it destroy the kind man she could see within him? If it did, what would happen to Robyn? She couldn't let something go wrong..
The answer was coming, she knew it.. But when..? How..? She could only pray it would come before it was all far too late...

Robyn jumped when she heard Kazan's shout. She'd been in the workshop, working on her side-project; the two handguns were almost done. There were a few fine-tuning issues to work out here and there, and she still had to install the two crystals she'd requested, but they were almost done. She hadn't been able to sleep, so she decided to use the time while the house was quiet to start on etching the old prayers into the metal of the guns. She'd discovered a while back that she could do etching with her magic far more easily and neatly than she could with her hands, but it took concentration.

Getting up from her work table, Robyn covered the handguns with a bit of cloth. Call her paranoid, but she didn't want anyone to see them until they were finished and she could give them to Kazan. Then she went to the door of the workshop and looked in to the main room.

"Is everything alright?" she asked softly. She hadn't turned on the light, so the room was dark enough that she could only just barely see Kazan's silhouette on the couch, but she could tell he was awake. The little bit of light from her lamp in the workshop didn't do much at all to illuminate the main room.

Kazan shifted so he was sitting up more properly, placing his feet on the ground, resting his arms upon his knees, though he turned his head when he heard Robyn's voice. It took him a moment, but he eventually looked forward again,
"Yeah.. Just a bad dream.." He replied, raising an arm to wipe at his brow, now that he wasn't covered he could feel a faint flow of air cooling his body, washing over the sweat. In some way it chilled him, but it felt like a reprieve from being overly hot. The man eventually pushed himself to a stand, uneasy at first, he felt dizzy, perhaps a little sickly.

His arms were a little sore, after all, the most repetitive task had been finished just yesterday.. They had acquired a loading bench from the rebels, Bear literally strong armed a few idiot youths that had been selling bullets on the street. Kazan ended up filling two cases with ammunition, he could do it like it was second nature, he was quick and the actions were extremely familiar to him. Bear had done a good job of fashioning bullets, though the shells were obviously a little more tricky, they were lucky Kazan was so used to it all.

All that was left now was to load the ammo chambers completely, fill two extra drums for certainty. Since the cannon consisted of two barrels it twook two separate drums with independant ammo loads. By all rights it was two guns side by side, but the mechanisms that worked either side were shared down the centre.
In all his life he'd never actually seen anything quite like it in Varstradt. As much as they loved to be more technologically advanced a certain sense of pride made them stop when they thought they were completely superior, new technologies were either stolen, or considered as and when something was to occur. This was going to completely blow their minds once it was reported back to the capital..

Kazan moved closer to it, placing his hand on the cold, solid exterior. It was all constructed with Varstradt metals just as he'd wanted it to be. It was a little piece of home, he supposed.
Even if they didn't win, Varstradt would be hurting from the sheer retaliatory force of this weapon. In some ways it was interesting to think he had the power to slap them in the face like this and maybe force them to think straight..
"You went to check on that door for the mages guild yesterday, right? How was it?"