Thread: Construct loved by Many Faces(PsionicCuttlefish & Micbunny)

Hardwall continued walking along with Tam at a steady pace as she excused his actions, only giving a nod while he walked. If you say so, Commander. But when she called him out on his being quick to action without warning, Hardwall actually missed a beat in his stride and stumbled slightly with a metallic clatter before he caught himself and returned to a normal walking pace. It was very hard to surprise a warforged clearly he hadn't been expecting a question like that. I... He began, but whatever he was trying to say wouldn't form right for him. It wasn't unheard-of for a warforged to stammer over their words in exceptional circumstances, but it was just that, it didn't happen commonly like with fully organic beings. I saw...how the ruffian continually engaged in physical contact with you despite your clearly obvious displeasure and avoidance. That...angered me. Hardwall kept slowing down with his speech irregularly as he answered, as if he wasn't even entirely certain what he was saying--or rather, he didn't fully understand what he was saying, which wasn't surprising considering how difficult the topic of emotions was for warforged, yet what was surprising was that it was his anger he seemed unsure of. Anger and hatred were the emotions that almost every warforged was familiar with and understood well, as they were the only emotions useful to the people who trained them to be soldiers it was useful to hate the person you were fighting. Hardwall walked the rest of the way to the shop with Tam in silence, though there was something off about his gait, like he wasn't concentrating on walking, though it was unlikely the tipsy Tam noticed. When they reached the door and Tam--now in her human Amy persona--moved to unlock the shop door and started babbling through her alcohol buzz, Hardwall continued to remain silent. This wasn't the first time he had seen her drunk, so he dealt with it as he always had by staying out of Tam's way and just letting her work her buzz out. All he had to do was silently trail behind her and clean up after her. After crossing the threshold after Tam, he smoothly went about stowing everything away about the shop that needed to be stowed for the night, and locking up everything behind him. He noticed she went to her workshop instead of her bedroom, still mumbling and muttering arcane calculations. Hardwall had seen this before too, and it was best to just let her work it out. She didn't do it often, so it wouldn't be too detrimental to her daily activities, and she'd probably pass out over her work soon anyway, after which he'd relocate her to her bed properly. With the entire building locked up and everything properly put away, Hardwall went to his own personal cupboard that contained everything he officially owned for himself. They were all practical items, mostly a few weapons, a repair kit, the salary Tam paid him, and other assorted useful items, but there were two items he was interested in that were more or 'pleasure' than practicality, if it could be called that. Only the most ignorant people didn't know that warforged actually did get bored. Oh, they could spend more time on a singular task than most people could, but eventually they'd want to do something else for awhile, and even warforged don't like standing around doing nothing, they needed something to pass the time. Officially, Hardwall's after-hours job was to be a nightguard for the shop, but with the locks, security wards, and the fact there hadn't been a break-in in over a year, he could do other things while on the watch. With the two items in question, a somewhat thick slip of parchment and a gameboard, Hardwall set up in the main shop where he could listen best to all parts of the building for an intruder as well as Tam in her workshop, or rather, he would notice when he couldn't hear her working anymore. He placed the circular gameboard on the table and set up a series of gamepieces on one side. Though the game could involve two, three, or four players, all the other sides were left empty. He then laid out the sheet of parchment on the table next to the board, retrieved a quill and inkpot, and then wrote out on the parchment in neat warforged writing I have arrived and am ready to play. How many others are present tonight? Hardwall stared at the parchment he had written on for a minute, and then, of it's own accord, the inkwritten words faded away, and new equally-neat words began writing themselves on the parchment before his very eyes. There are seven of us tonight. Whipfist, Toadsticker, Brigade, and Heat are otherwise engaged. We have two newcomers. One has played the game before. Would you like to match him? Hardwall waited for the writing that had been written onto the enchanted parchment that matched his to fade away, before he wrote in his response. Affirmative. Newcomers were unusual, two newcomers was impressive. Hardwall was always pleased to match wits with some he had not before. Hardwall then looked back to the gameboard and pressed his metal thumb to the Eberron dragonshard inset in the center, which glowed softly. A few moments later, ghostly, illusory pieces began appearing on the opposite side of the board, representing the positions of the pieces on the second gameboard that, like the parchment, matched the one in Hardwall's possession. When Hardwall had taken time off for himself once more like Tam insisted point-blank that he take a break and go explore the city some, he had met several other warforged employed throughout the city who had formed a nighttime club when they were not working, as warforged often liked to stick together. They all knew how to play a boardgame that was common around Khorvaire, and they all enjoyed it to match wits against each other and keep their minds sharp. Hardwall visited them in person when he could, but he also insisted himself that he remain in Tam's shop most of the time as her nightguard, as he considered it his duty. While Hardwall didn't often have use for the money Tam paid him, he had commissioned her to create something that would allow him to play with them while remaining here. The result were the two gameboards and two pieces of parchment, which incidentally became one of her shop's more popular items for the rich elite and netted her a tidy profit. Hardwall then glanced back to the parchment. More writing was appearing on it, though it was brief. It merely said I am , and then showed a unique rune. It was the warforged on the other end drawing his ghulra for Hardwall. When the ink faded, Hardwall responded in kind, drawing the rune that was etched into his own forehead, before writing I look forward to seeing how you think. The parchment responded with As do I. You have the first move. Hardwall made his move. OOC Wow that was quite a bit longer than I intended...and I don't even mean it to be a major point, I just wanted to come up with what Hardwall does to pass the time at night. Hope you don't mind I invented something that Tam invented.