The five of them appeared at the small antechamber with the door leading into the workshop. They entered to find nothing had changed. The magical sconces were still glowing.

Lamruil looked around and immediately saw the desiccated vampires near the table.

The elf said with a half chuckle, "Well, this is cozy. All your needs are met except food. " He walked over behind the sitting area and picked up a bottle of liquor. A light coating of dust covered much of the lower workshop.

Tad had unconsciously reached up and touched the Torque around his neck when he saw Leana. He didn't know what to make of the place, but he had agreed to let Maximilianus investigate it. Perhaps he will get some insight from him.

Tad moved closer to the coffin and Leana, "Leana, this is Maximilianus. He is interested in talking to you and examining the room. Is that agreeable? "

Leana had a cheery voice, "Certainly, I see no harm in that. Please refrain from removing books without discussing them with me first. " She looked at Maximilianus for a long time. Both of these creatures appeared to be made of metal, and Tad could feel how different they were with his soulmancy.

Tad moved away from the two as they started talking, and he went to Nico, who was looking at the work tables.

"Nico, could you stay here for a while and watch Maximilianus? I don't want to leave him here without someone watching his activities. I need to do a few things back in the city. I will be back in two hours if you are good with this. " Tad said.

"I can do that. Two hours isn't a big deal. Don't be gone too long, though, I don't want to look like those vamps over there when you get back, " said Nico with a smile and nodding towards the sitting area.

"Yea, that won't happen. You're the first priority if something happens, I'll come back here first to get you. Thank you. " Tad waved to Lamruil and Zanna.

***

The three of them were back at the city ruins in a few moments.

Tad reached into his pouch and pulled out Libby's coin. Lamruil put his hand on Tad's arm while Zanna went off to look at some of the local plants that had white flowers on them.

"Libby, I need someone that knows about constructs. I want to release these spirits, and I need to understand what that means," said Tad.

Libby's viewing room came into existence again, " Certainly, Thaddius. One moment while I summon Aigneis, she should be able to help you if anyone can here."

It took five minutes but then another poof, and Aigneis was standing next to Tad. She was a metallic woman with a medium build wearing a long robe that looked like it might also be a dress. Her metallic arms were bare, and Tad thought she might have been cute if she wasn't made of metal with small gears whirling where skin should be.

"How may I help you, Thaddius? " asked Aigneis in a melodic woman's voice.

"I would like to understand constructs and if it is possible to release the spirits empowering them. I need some advice."

"Certainly, a release is possible. If you have the control device or spell used to create them, then you can simply ask the spirit controlling the contruct if they would like to be released," said Aigneis.

"Yes, good, but I need to understand a few things first. Since I put this Torque on, I can see an aura around the constructs that I couldn't see with my magic sight, and I also do not know what they will do once released," said Tad.

"Oh, you can see their aura's? Interesting, " said Aigneis, then she tilted her head to the side as if consulting with someone else. Tad should ask about that, Libby did it several times, and he just didn't know if it was polite.

"The aura indicates their current… well, it's a magical matrix, but you can probably think of it as their feelings or perhaps how unhappy they are. The spirits will most likely leave you alone once you free them. Wild Free spirits, which are commonly used for constructs, come into being when major mana flows touch one another. Over time large flows such as this one on the island could generate any number of free spirits. Most will wander off and disappear. Some become aware to some degree and can be seen around the world if you know when and where to look. They are, for many, a pure expression of magic. Do you want to know the differences between construct creation? It might be pertinent to understanding a free spirit's intentions." asked Aigneis.

"Yes, please," said Tad.

"When making a construct, the magic-user or artificer as they are called will first have to find a free spirit willing to inhabit the construct. The free spirit needs to be aware enough to understand basic commands or even complete sentences. It would also have to be willing to enter into an agreement that would give the spirit a physical form. Not many would want to do this, but once one is found and is strong enough or has the right inclinations for the construct. Then the spells can be cast to bind them to the material at hand. Now that is the normal way it is done, but an evil artificer could construct the spell to force an unwilling spirit into the material without an agreement. This is slavery by any definition of the word. This can cause an angry spirit to become resentful, and then it could change, making the creature very dangerous. It is not uncommon for one to break the bonds holding it and destroy the artificer or those around it. " Aigneis sighed after stating that last part.

Tad frowned, looking at the island cathedral, "I have it on good authority that some if not all of these constructs might be in that last group. I wasn't involved in making them, but I will be involved in unmaking them. "

"Good on you then, Master Rockgrip. It would be my pleasure to help you find and free these spirits if you let me. I'm assuming you intend to do this immediately? " asked Aigneis.

Tad was not going to tell her about the quest, but he could certainly use some assistance, " I do intend to do what I can today and tomorrow if I can't find them all."

"Good, then let's proceed," said Aigneis.

Tad looked at Lamruil and Zanna, "If you two have other things to do, this is the time. I'm going back down into the tunnel room to first look at the broken constructs. "

Lamruil nodded, "I will start a fire and straighten some of those shafts, then I'll be in front of the Temple if you need anything. "

"I'll come. I am interested in seeing how these spirits react, " said Zanna.

Tad gestured towards the city as the group proceeded to the stairway down to the room of broken constructs.

Tad didn't see or sense any gretchics along the way. The door to the construct chamber was closed, and Tad could hear the clunking of the constructs on the other side. He could also sense them in the room through the Torque.

He pushed the door open and sent his light through before proceeding into the chamber. To the right, the construct that had been trying to assemble the broken pieces stopped. All the other constructs stopped moving and turned towards him as he entered.

The Torque allowed Tad to see the aura's around the constructs. This time he could also hear a few of them in his mind. They were giving reports about work or the past war. Most just sat there doing nothing, waiting for him.

The aura's around many of them were orange or yellow; one or two of the more broken ones were red. The single construct that was green in the room was the one trying to fix the broken one at the table. It also gave a mental message.

"Master these constructs can not be fixed," the construct by the table projected through the Torque. Tad wondered if the Torque was the only way to hear them.

Tad was shocked at how much feeling he saw in the aura's now that he knew what they indicated.

He paused. Tad didn't know what he should be saying to them, so he just said what he felt he would want to hear.

"You constructs, you spirits, I have come to offer a deal to you. I will release you today if you wish. I will also do my best to fix the mobility if you want to stay and help me and this city grow. I will only release those who agree not to harm anyone or this city. You will be free, but you must agree to this. No one here was involved in your creation or with the city at the time you were created. Your cries for vengeance have already been met out, and you should rest assured if others are responsible, I'll find them if they exist here. " After Tad said this, the aura's around several of the golems flickered. Some took on a neutral greenish tone, but most remained yellow or orange. One even went red after he spoke.

Well, here we go, thought Tad. He walked over to the first one near him with a yellow aura and one working arm on a busted body. He placed his hand upon the construct and mentally asked if it wanted to be free.

There was a short surge of magic around the Torque, and the golem's arm stopped moving half pointed up at him, and Tad saw a pulsing yellow free spirit, a smaller version of what Bubbles looked like, shoot off through the doorway and down the hall out of sight. It looked about the size of his thumbnail.

Aigneis was looking at a few of the other golems. All of them were broken and could hardly move their bodies. Tad thought perhaps these were victims of the Pantheon war. He couldn't imagine what damaged so many of them.

"That went well. Let's hope the rest are so simple," said Aigneis.

Tad moved around the chamber. The number of spirits trapped against their will was a lot for him to take in. He could see why Bubbles had reacted so violently to it. He swore to himself no matter what, he would destroy the Torque and the workshop if he ever thought it would be used to create more of these constructs, using spirits against their own will. Tad left the red aura constructs for last. There were three left. They were broken smaller statues like those in the Temple's lower chamber to guard the tunnel doorway.

Tad tried to talk to these before releasing them. With each, he asked the same, "Do you agree not to harm anyone when I set you free?" Two of them agreed in a non-verbal mental pulse. The third one was quiet, and it didn't respond at all. Well, that's not good thought Tad. He looked over at the construct next to the table.

"Come here, please. " The only standing Construct in the room walked over to Tad. He could see the green aura around the creature, which he thought meant the free spirit animating it was content with its role in life.

"Do you know why this construct is so angry? " Tad asked the construct. The construct just stared blankly at Tad with it's stone face, and said nothing.

"Fine. " Tad looked back at the broken construct on the floor. "I am going to set you free, but understand I defeated this Torque spirit. If you want to exist beyond this room, I hope you make the correct choice and just leave or go back to the mana flow. I will not tolerate you harming anyone. " Tad followed up by projecting what he just said through the Torque and followed that up with a direct soulmancy projection carrying the same stern instructions.

Tad asked if the spirit would be free, and the spirit pulsing red light floated out of the head of the construct and hovered above the now inanimate broken statue. It pulsed a few more times at different brightnesses and floated across the room, repeating the light show. Then it slowly moved toward the open door into the corridor and pulsed there. The three of them watched as the angry spirit moved across the chamber, pausing now and then. It pulsed wildly at one point, and then it continued making its way out.

"Well, that is all of them here. " Tad looked at the standing helper construct and the three broken constructs still on the floor that had been green. None of these were very large, possibly working constructs as one had a specialty hand like the farmer construct they saw a few days ago. None of them had wanted to leave their contruct bodies.

"I take it you're a repair or artificer helper. Please try to repair these three with the parts in this room. I'll be back to check on your progress. Thank you for your work. " Tad nodded to the construct, who turned and picked up one of the three and placed it on the table. Then it wandered into the room, looking at the other stilled statues.

Tad looked at Zanna, "This won't happen again if I have anything to say about it. Forcing these spirits into servitude is not something.., " he paused, trying to find the words to express what he was feeling, "that I agree with. If for some reason you ever see it happening again, please take this Torque and throw it into the deepest part of the deepest ocean."

She nodded to him.

Tad then spoke to Aigneis, "I'd like to check the temple chamber statues, and then we can look at the city and fields on this side of the lake. We can save the other side for later when the Carniv-" he paused for a moment then continued, "When my people and their wagons get here." They were his people. He no longer thought of the Carnival as a ragtag group of people that came and went at random. They were his people, and he would protect them.

It took another few hours, but Tad only had two yellow auras, and they both accepted release. He was happy that the two of the three farming constructs and all the city guard constructs decided to continue existing in their current form. He had no idea what motivated free spirits, but he felt like he would be losing valuable assistance in the future if they all decided to quit their current forms. He lost one of the Temple chamber constructs, which he released.

The oddest one he had found was crushed and looked like rubble in the city. The Torque led him to the last construct in an almost completely broken building. Tad wasn't sure what could crush stone to rubble, but it might have been a giant foot, given the imprinted shape around the building's broken walls. It was a huge indent on the tiled floors. He could see it through the dust and sand.

Aigneis spoke when they were walking back towards the bridge, "Well, I am happy that you did that. Thank you for letting me watch. It's not every day one sees old wrongs righted. " She curtsied to him then, which Tad didn't expect. Aigneis nodded to Zanna. She gave Tad a metallic smile, and then she turned bright white and was gone. There was another puff as air moved to fill the space she had occupied.

"Well, Ok then. Let's retrieve Nico and Max. Then we eat. I'm starving. " said Tad.

He held out his hand again, this time palm up for Zanna's hand, and in a few seconds, he squeezed it slightly, then they appeared in the Artificers workshop. Tad let go of her hand and pushed his way past the doorway to see that Nico had taken a seat next to three mummified vampires in their frilly dresses. The desiccated vampires were posed as if they were chatting and drinking with him. He held a glass that had some liqueur from the bottle on the table.

"A toast to the returning and very late hero," said Nico. He clinked his glass to the one held by the desiccated form of Synethaes, whose Tiara looked like it sat crooked on her emaciated skull.

"Hmmm… Yea, sorry about that. It took longer than I thought. Hey, you know that's a Mistress Vampire, right? " asked Tad. Nico might want to show her some respect.

"Oh, you know your late, right? I ran out of things to look at hours ago. It's not like she is going to wake up unless you feed her some blood anyway. Besides this, Liquior is great, and she didn't seem to mind!" said Nico raising his glass again toasting her, swirling the liquid around and drinking the last of it.

"Well, I'm here now. Let's get back. I'd like to explore the cathedral a bit more, and I need Maximilianus to look at the cursed crystal in the shield back where we fought Dammit," said Tad as he turned back to Maximilianus and Leana. He was looking at her with some sort of glass tool, which he looked through while moving it around Leana on the coffin lid. Tad could see the magic of the item, and it looked like it had quite a bit of energia coursing through it.

"Well, are you ready to go, Maximilianus? I have one more thing I'd like to do before it gets dark," said Tad.

"Yes, certainly, Thaddius, did you realize Leana here is actually the room? This is just the animated part. She is actually in the entirety of the room all the way from top to bottom. I've never heard of that before. Quite interesting, and she is fascinating to talk to. " said Maximilianus as he turned back to Leana. "It's been a pleasure to make your acquaintance Leana, and I look forward to my next visit. Oh, and before I forget, one for your collection. " Maximilianus waved his right hand, which opened a small portal in front of him. Similar to the one Tad had seen long ago created by Samphire.

"A gift from my library to yours. " he reached in and pulled out a book.

Tad glanced at the cover briefly before Maximilianus handed it to Leana. The title was interesting; Fashion and Hats of the Grand Bazaar.

Maximilianus tilted forward before offering it to Leana, "I believe this is up to date as of one year ago. It has some of the best illustrations. "

"Thank you, Maximilianus, for this unexpected gift. I've not received such a gift in ages. Please stop by any time. " said Leana smiling.

Maximilianus smiled back and nodded to Leana, then turned back to Tad. Tad was watching their interaction with interest.

Tad put out his hand, and the three touched his arm, and then they were back where he had left, only a few steps from the bridge to the Temple island.

Tad talked to Maximilianus while they crossed, "Maximilianus, did you find out anything else about Leana? "

Maximilianus was looking at the billowing sand curtain above the cliffs and the lower rays of light from the setting sun coming through it. " She isn't a Free spirit. She was once a person, well, not just a person. She was the first wife of Nola, the creator of the workshop. She died in childbirth. She convinced him to help her raise their child while she was dying. So he bound her spirit to the room which was initially a nursery, and his magic tower. It was a sad yet interesting story. She was able to raise her child and see her grow up. She even had a chance to play with her grandkids. Somewhere along the way, Nola moved his workshop into the tower there so he could keep her company. Towards the end, he realized he was getting old and added a bit of magic that allowed Leana to sleep when nobody was in the tower, so she didn't have to stay there lonely the whole time. I am sure I'll have to write the story's details down when I get back. It is a story of love, loss, and wonder. Also, don't let her open the tower to the Astral. Things are living on the outside, nesting. You don't want them on the inside. "

"How do you know there are things outside? " asked Tad.

"I can sense them there. I think she might have invited them to nest there. It is probably to guard the workshop on the outside. I didn't ask, and I don't believe she wanted me to know. I asked about the outside, and she changed the subject." said Maximilianus.

Tad nodded, so it wasn't an idle threat she had made to Tad earlier.

"I need your advice on the cursed crystal below the Temple. I don't know if I should remove it or leave it. Right now, it could be providing me protection with the sand storms, and I have no idea what will happen if I remove or counter the magic in it. If I understood the maps correctly, it feeds the undead near the river that runs below the waterfall from the lake to the sea. It's siphoning off mana and corrupting it with necrotic energia and a curse. " said Tad.

"Yes, I saw that when you were fighting the Imp, and I will look at it for you. Perhaps it has some divine implications I can use in my studies," said Maximilianus.

***