[[First post]]

Kessa-Har sat at the mouth of her home and looked out across the trees. She could see Nova Terra in the distance to the south-east. That's where she wanted to go, to see so many creatures of different races, all going about their lives without a care in the world. So she imagined, anyway. Her knowledge of humanoids was sketchy at best, and all second-hand: stories told by her father and other older dragons, the occasional piece of writing discovered in the Telmar Forest or the Caimen Mountains, and the rare reports of travellers in those areas. She wanted more: she wanted to see these people for herself.

No chance of that, not yet, she told herself. One thing everyone knows about humans is they're scared of dragons. If she went to Terra Nova, she wouldn't see humans and others going about their daily business; she'd see a lot of people running about in panic, and probably trying to kill her. According to her father, anyway. Kessa-Har smiled. He was such a worrier, her father. He was probably exagerating the danger, but all the same he had made her promise not to go to the city.

Kessa-Har tapped one long, dainty front claw against the figure she was carving. It was a wooden, humanoid figure standing about six feet high. Symbols were carved into the wood around the eyes, ears and mouth; further symbols graced the arms and legs. It was almost complete. Kessa-Har carefully traced a final symbol over the golem's chest. The figure glowed faintly for a moment, and suddenly it had the air of no longer being an immobile image, but a moving creature that was currently standing still. Time to test her work. Time to see if the years of studying fragments of old writings had paid off. Kessa-Har settled herself in front of the golem, and closed her eyes. She sought for the link: if this worked, the creature would become an extension of her own eyes and ears. She could send it walking right into the heart of Terra Nova and no-one would bat an eye. If this worked...

She found what she was looking for, and sent the command to the golem: Open eyes.

Kessa-Har saw herself. Her sudden rush of excitement almost broke the link, but she caught herself in time. She walked the golem into the her cave, and practiced controlling the construct's ungainly bipedal gait. She knocked over a table, and had the golem pick it up. She was pleased to notice that she had distinctly heard the crash when the table fell; clearly her golem-ears were working as planned. However, she did not detect any smells. This was as she expected, the fewer senses she had to control on the golem, the less tiring the whole process would be. For her final test, she instructed the golem to speak. It was halting, but she felt sure that it could make itself understood. Kessa-Har had made a point of studying the human language used most widely in Terra-Nova, and was confident that she could make basic conversation through her golem if necessary.

Only one more test now: to see how far away she could send the golem without loosing the link. She turned the creature to face south, and walked it down into the shadows of the Telmar Forest...

[[go to post below]]

((from above post))

Much to Kessa-Har's disappoinment, her golem did not encounter a single sentient being on its first outing; not on its second, nor its third. She sent it out again and again in different directions, each time taking it as far as she could reach without loosing her link with the construct, and each time finding nothing but trees. It became clear that she would not be able to view Terra Nova from the comfort of her own cave. She would have to find somewhere safe in the Forest to sit and send her golem out from there. She changed her goal from finding humanoids to finding a secure hiding place.

One day, she found a likely-looking spot. A collection of abandoned ruins, that looked as if no-one had visited them in many years. She instructed the golem to hide itself, then broke the link and prepared to set out to join it. She packed very little, only her most vital refernce books, and her own journal to record her findings. She linked with the golem again to check that the way was still clear, and set out over the Telmar Forest just as the sunset set the western sky aflame.

((Going to: Telmar Forest -> Lost Ruins))