POV: Heath Dollen.
Date: Þórri 16th, 598 AD. (Alt: 28th January, 599 AD.) Location: Götaland (Ancient Sweden.)
She rested upon her sitting perch, pillow below her and a reactive Drone Golem flying by her to deliver her tea and fruits.
The Drone Golem was a new creation by Heath, similar in process to the hovercopter, it flew with mechanical octopodal tendrils that allowed for grasping, sticking and carrying weights up to 250.0000-kg (≈ 551.1556-lbs.) More than enough for any needs. Also, it is the same size as an average mennskr mann.
In total, there are 10,000,000 Drone golems, the same population as the Auto golems, all were created before even dawn broke through from the refocused factories. Total: 25,000,000 golems against 3,404 sapients, > 7,000 to 1. Everyone came to see Heath's constructs as an everyday facet of life, which the 7 Crow clans themselves are still getting used to. They are separated into a square pie chart, for their populations and those that are followed are divisive from true unification.
It was a peaceful tradeoff, however. The North Crow Clan, which protected the Deer Clan's camping site from Chapter 48, and this collective of like-minded, inquisitive corvids was surrounded by 2 others, the Engineer Crow Clan and the Cataloger Crow Clan.
The Engineers, using their understanding of mechanics and instinctual honing of aerodynamic and tool usage, are in communication with Heath and the other two species in involvement in how to further increase their quality of life. The Cataloger Crow Clan are librarians, scholars and recordkeepers, documenting anything and everything that has occurred and stated with as best unbiased information from multiple sources, helping to jumpstart this version of the Internet's Wikipedia.
The North Crow Clan's Matriarch put her sharp bill upon the rim of the teacup, dunking the end of her beak and using her tongue as a funnel to drink. She thanked the Drone and asked them to put it down by the small side table beside the perch, now resting in a slow bliss.
"*Wuah*It seems our Saviour is quite busy today?" She clicks the end of her beak twice in a show of amusement and confirmation, Heath sitting in front of her in the air and drinking his own small glass of water. He nods, smiling in assent. "I am planning on installing Uni-pods in every household, after all. It all depends on how to fit them upon these treehouse canopies." He looks upon the rustic yet internally reinforced floorboards, wondering where it would be best when each of these circular forest cabanas.
"You do not need to for us, we are -very- comfortable." She purred out the verily in her sentence. Jumping over and tapping him upon his shoulder with her beak before speaking again. "What do you wish us to do?" Paulina asks in hopes of helping.
"I have said we can talk about it later, first, you need to rest, as your sudden body morphology change can be taxing when first learning to fly again." Heath saw she was about to speak again, to ask about her idea of using them as riding mounts.
"We have the flight suits, we do not need mounts." He rolls his eyes, leading to the Crow Matriarch to stomp her left foot in a harrumph. "You and your need to think of everything~.*Click click*" She spoke both in annoyance and something close to a servant's pride in having a good ruler, making Heath think she was aiming for something. "What do you want, then?" He saw her close the nictitating membranes of her eyes in thought, turning her head to then ask. "We want you to stay with us for a moment to show some hospitality!"
She sounded excited in speaking this, afterwards allopreening his beard, scritching his chin in a show of familiar affection. 'First the grooming by the deer, now the preening by the crows, what next, the goats doing a nuzzling to keep me cozy and warm once sapient?' . . .
'Oh well, there is much to do.' "Alright, what do you suggest we do about that? I have made the forest quite uniformly, and I am worried there is little in the way of entertainment." Heath asked her in hopes of understanding how this would be done since they met last night. "*Owoh*Leave that to us, we have done a few renovations on the original deer complex in the centre of the forest, there will be a grand party with many falling to meet you." Her tail feathers vibrated vertically, showing her excitement for the ordeal.
They fly through to the centre, the large earthen walls bannistered with dozens of the crows as guards that watched over the moat. They stepped through, seeing hundreds of the giant avians now bird-piling upon him like a prized seed, preening and jumping around in circles.
It was quite hilarious, really. Heath sees their reaction that it was even worse than how the deer had when first made. 'Must be their biology and need for companionship that is greater than the more traditionally solitary deer.' Heath internally hypothesised. "*Chip-Chip*Sit down here, Saviour. The show will start now that you are here!" Lidia, one of the more energetic females comments aloud, now preparing within the central circle that had been drawn up with a stick upon the ground. He sits upon a softened nest, cosily in place.
Literally the moment he sat, two of the crows, one male and one female, jumped upon him, ruffling their feathers to keep him warm. "You do not need to do this, really!" Heath tried to shift his arms, but they were forced down onto their feathery backs.
"But we do." The male Ilias stated with confidence. Now both straightened out their wings, resting them over his back like a large blanket from under his arms. "-Alright- then." Heath shifted his head to the side in defeat, instead refocusing on the show. With his full attention, they began doing an artistically symmetric dance, using their wings and tails to create patterns of flowers and the flowing of patterns. Somehow, they even started a fire without Heath noticing, now casting shadows from within themselves to also solidify an interpretation.
They began holding themselves up both with flight and with shoulder standing. They made animals, geometric patterns and even a nice reverse pyramid that slowly rotated in coeval. Heath was mighty impressed, even clapping, which the crows puffed out even further in happiness.
"It is good he is enjoying it, is it not, love?" Paulina chatters with a slow blink to her mate-for-life, Iakoros, his reaction the same when looking towards the success of their endeavour. "It is, my feather~." He nuzzled his beak to the crick of the Crow Matriarch's neck, keeping their heads still in this moment of calm. Watching as their theatrics then turn to the shape of a giant bird, flapping its wings of crows in a fluid flapping motion in the direction of Heath, making him cheer from the wind blowing on his face!
This passed for 10 Model minutes, but with the crows not used to their newfound size, they became tired too quickly when they could fly for hours originally. They had a break now, panting and out of breath after showing their demonstration.
"We are sorry for the show ending early. Saviour." Iakoros apologised in their stead. "There is no need to, and I have asked for you to call me by my name. Twice." Heath's comment made no budge from them, but it instead tightened the two's puffiness next to him to a pillowy softness in gratification. "So, to make this a proper theatre, do you wish for me to change this structure?" He asks them, which earned bows of heads but none in agreement, they believed it would be too much when it would take less than an arm wave.
"I see." Heath looks around, seeing that the crow theatrists are now drinking water brought in by the Drone golems. "Is it twue (true) you defeated multiple Gods?" One of the younger teenage crows came in bounding, which led to Heath laughing silently.
"Well, they had God-like powers, but I would not say they are true Deities. Four in total, including the Spiritual Queen now." Heath saw the young one's head twist in confusion, yet with incredible firmness. "I only know of thwee (3)" The child sat down upon his chest, staring into Heath's eyes with half-lidded closeness. "Well, let me tell you once we have time." Heath warped out of the triple-stuffed fluff, now standing with his back tense in full view of the stage for the crowd's seating. He stretches, which, to make it satisfying, he intents where his spine would be to produce popping sounds.
*Pop PᴾOP P-* That rang out for a little time before finally relaxing, scratching his shoulder and reorienting to look towards the crow child the size of a toddler again. "Where is your mother? I remembered you were with her a few moments ago." Heath crouched to his height.
"She went through your portal to the farm to collect bewies (berries!)" It snapped its beak with quiet animation, replicating the movement of chomping down beady food. ". . . Luckily I have warned the others of possible meetings." He stops mumbling to himself. "Anyway, why did she not use her drone to do that?" Heath squinted in wonder. "*Wouh*My mother wanted to twain (train) again. 'I want to spwead (spread) my wings.' She said." He bobs up and down to show his truthfulness, lastly jumping up to then land on Heath's shoulder.
"Alright, I will just wait until she ret-" He hears an incredible shifting weight through the earth, each step a totality in their confidencial strength. The golem 'Goldie' has arrived to check up with his creator, hoping that there has been no harm from the flock surrounding him.
"Oh, hello! Enjoyed being in the real world, have you?" Heath saw him nod, then raising a sidereal part of his monobrow while looking towards all of the flying creatures with pupils turning orange. "It is alright, they are resting after a newly played show. Come, come sit!" He pats the empty seat beside where he had sat, which 'Goldie' gladly took and has indented the floor with his steel buttocks. Heath now sitting down again from the small standing break, which led to the three same crows to land around and ontop of him.
"*Breath in*You 3 are very eager to please." Heath comments through a hidden chortle, a closed smile showing he is happy he is being cared for, but is feeling a little overwhelmed from it all. Ilias and Lidia settle comfortably in feeling their job is successful.
"So, are there other reasons why you came around, Goldie?" Heath asks, seeing unspoken question show up in the back of the golem's mind. "I. . . Want to be. . . Stronger." Goldie spoke in a near monotone, yet highly emotional response, the experiences he had within the game being a drive to help protect others in a real reality. "You have the same magically absorbing stomach as my other children, how else would you wish to grow?" From that, he found that Goldie wished to become larger, and to use the CrCoNi alloy for his shell.
How much larger? ≈ 47.1521-Model m (15.24-m (50-feet)) tall, the same height as the Iron Giant, which was a movie shown the night prior. Heath's face twisted like Jim Carrey's the Grinch, just imagining the sending of a dark warrior looming to step upon enemies.
"Rather than CrCoNi, wait until I grow in power. I may find a way to make your form out of *Dyḗusium. The same material as the Marmot I gifted you for now, while Sterling is still maturing." Heath saw the golem's eyes turn a pure white in delight, bending his arms and raising them up to the sky in a show of celebration. "And about me giving that gun to Sterling, have you any in mind? I trust you better in handling weapons with your greater responsibility." He saw Goldie scratch his tapyric nose in thought.[1]
He points to the same weapon in his hand, showing he actually prefers using a rock-thrower. "Alright, I will create one for you AFTER your size change." That earned a head-bow towards Heath, which he took in stride. "Anything else on your mind?" There was a shaking 'No.'
"Then we rest." He falls further into the feathery chests of the crows, feeling comparisons towards a luxury bed. After the crows rest, they continued the show, making more sights that would compete even against modern circus acts. "How had your people learnt such incredible skill from last night?" Heath asks Paulina, who responds in happiness for such praise. "*Roo*We have always had it, yet never had the intelligence. Now we do, thanks to you." And from that repeated heartfelt note, Ilias and Lidia began preening him.
"Okay, stop, stop~. It tickles!" He pushes their beaks away gently, almost ready to doze off. But no, that would be a bad idea with it only being mid-day. They stay for a little longer under the North Crow Clan Matriarch's pestering.
By the time the second break came around, both Heath and Goldie left with warm leaving badinage, they reach Den höga ormtungan and quickly found a surprising party within the left tower again, being played between mennskr and deer! Drinking and board games old and new, it appeared a fun event. Both new entrees were quickly brought in and joined to all of the many tables, building up greater loyalties between species that had once been the hunters and hunted.
"Go fish!" Yufren slapped down the cards with a loud *Flap* against the tablecloth, making the others around him moan in annoyance at losing again. "I still believe you are cheating, uncle." Valyria lands down her cards with her palm on top of them, questioning her eye's usefulness.
"Skill issue." He pockets all of their cards and places it within the wooden box, instead playing a game of Mexican Train this time. With Yufren putting down the 12:12 Domino to start. They play clockwise, with Eirikr next and placing down a 12:4 next in line. Phoebe puts down a second station, the 3:3 Domino useful in putting the 3:6 railing after. Himlauf was next, staring with trust in his own visible pieces and placing a 4:7 onto the main train line. This continued on, and finally it was neither Yufren or Valyria who won, it was Phoebe!
"Nicely done!" Valyria congratulated the deer by patting her back near where her shoulders were, all now taking bets on a game of Backgammon that is being played on a nearby table between Gorm and Leif, Sigrid watching over them as a referee.
On the other side of the room, where a large empty space surrounds them, the now freed þræll slaves were at a table of their own. Some of them who had not yet finished their service for committing crimes were watched over by the ones who had. They play a traditional game of hnefatafl, a proto-Alea Evangelii version. From the multiple back and forths, it was the central player who won, which was Egill, who was friends with many of these players. "Nicely done, everyone!" He positively encourages the others, enjoying the time.
There were even replays on some TVs of the battles from both Heath's showings, of the Tournament and of movies previously watched for both children and adult's entertainment. It was quite nice and comforting, with thanks to Heath for being the one to bring this for them.
There was also the hovercopter outside, just floating there with Arngunn just resting on the captain's chair, pilot hat covering her eyes and a Drone golem beside her passing drinks when asked. Though, she appeared lonely with how her posture was quite stiff. Heath flew in front of the glass and waved, and with her understanding of his character, she waved back in a jolly hello and goaded him in with a hand pointing towards the open door for ventilation. He walks in, seeing the vehicle kept clean and her enjoying a show on the seat's dash screen.
"Enjoying your prize?" Heath joked, sitting down on the co-pilot's chair and staring towards the tower, the scent of her fruity ciders strong in the air. "It is perfect." She says, slurring now creeping into her tongue.
"I have never had a gift before. Yet the first ever one was this? I could hug you forever." She leaned backwards, the chair's setting automatically adjusting to her movement. "You can, you know. I do not mind." Heath saw her hat snap off as her head jerked forward. "Really?" She asks, hopeful. "Go on, my arms are wide open." He opens them in show, and she quickly enters his hug. Her face was pressed against his neck as he was in his original form. This continued for a while, seeming to follow on her promise.
Heath could feel the joints of her arms tightening due to her muscles' waning from having too many a drink. He patted her back to show she can let go and have a break, but she did not move, keeping it strong. "I can feel you getting tired, it is alright." He states as a matter-of-fact.
She let go, yet her eyes held something as if she expected something more. But Heath could not oblige to it. "Is there anything else you would enjoy up here?" He ignores her eyes full of longing, knowing he is not ready, nor that he should take advantage of her state. She recognises he is hoping to put her down gently, so she takes it in stride, knowing of part of his past. "How about a dance?" She asks, airing the scene from Beauty and the Beast. "Teach me." Now holding out her hand, there was no way to get out of it, could he?
An emphatic bald man and a woman of fierce, Rousseau-like appearance yet of gentle expression dance to the tune of a ballroom, rotating in symmetry and meaning at a slow, emotional pace, even when drunk, she learnt quickly.
A few minutes done, after a final drink, she falls asleep upon her chair now, fully leaned back as a bed. He takes a bed blanket, covers her and leaves. Another day managed well.
[1] From Chapter 48: The best features came at last, however, for Heath has been devising a new material using the same CrCoNi alloy but with a solidified magic to be combined and overwriting its internal structuralisation. Casting an oversaturated grey from within that did the opposite to the copper.The environment around appeared MORE vibrant from this cinereal (cloudy) development. The entirety of this weapon has been made from this 'meta-material' that he shall now dub *Dyḗusium (Sky Metal.) Its durability, tensility and toughness have been enhanced further by more than x100. Where not even Heath can scratch its surface. The only beings Heath knows could damage it are Þórr or Óðinn-adjacent powers, and they are rare in such a world as Twilight of the Gods. (Heath will not give this until Sterling becomes more mature.)