Terrence's earholes prick up at the mention of immortality*, although it does its best to hide the reaction. It uses three of its arms to install the farseeing glass in one of the sockets and don its new armor, while a fourth shooes the messenger away."PLEASE RELAY MY MOST SINCERE THANKS TO YOUR MASTER- THIS PIECE FAR EXCEEDS EVEN MY HIGHEST EXPECTATIONS. YOUR KIND MUST BE TRULY EXCEPTIONAL BY BIPEDAL STANDARDS."
It then turns back to the alchemist. "...POINT TAKEN. I WOULD LIKE TO EXAMINE YOUR WARES, BUT ONLY AFTER YOU HAVE HAD TIME TO IDENTIFY AND APPRAISE THE ITEMS. I TRUST THAT YOU WILL BE HONEST IN YOUR ASSESSMENT, AND THAT YOU WILL NOT ATTEMPT TO SWITCH OUT OR DILUTE ANY OF THOSE VIALS IN MY ABSENCE.
OH, AND BY THE WAY- YOU WOULD NOT HAPPEN TO HAVE ANY EXPERIENCE IDENTIFYING MAGICAL STONES, WOULD YOU?"
Dismiss the delivery guy. Give the alchemist some time to test the vials (as well as one of each of the rocks, if he's interested). While I'm waiting, find a nearby location where I can assume boulder form for a while. Periodically check in on the alchemist via farseeing, just to make sure he doesn't try to cheat me out of anything.
*((Speaking of mortality, that reminds me- I never sent you that info on Terrapodes you wanted. I'll get on that.))
the alchemist looks at the rocks briefly. "Those four look like power stones. Channels for some kind of specific spell type. I have no idea about the other two. neither look to be of use for me. To be honest, the vials wold be more useful to an apocathery, too. I'll pass these on to him. Oh don't worry, he's reliab .. well he's honest. At least as honest as any of us. Anyway, you'll need a mage to decipher your stones, I think. unless you want to try them yourself."
The other guy doesn't dismiss. You turn to go, and bump into him. he picks up a large club he had leaning against the wall of the canyon. "But ... we haven't stress tested your new equipment" he says, winding up to swing.
To the quartermaster:
"Statement: The timepiece must tell the time, preferably down to seconds. It should be small enough to hold with one hand. It also needs a switch to stop the timepiece's functions, until either the switch is released or pressed a second time. Other than that, anything goes."
To the gnomes and alchemists:
"Statement: This one will take the independant bot."
Say above to people. Count how many bees I've got, and if the bees/spider have some sort of limited self-awareness.
"easy peasy" the qm says, leaving for a bit. He returns with a watch on a chain. it requires winding daily, and has a lever to pause the motion, as well as one to adjust the time.
You have four bees. They are interlinked in their programming, and operate as a unit, rather than as independent scouts. The closer together they are, the more information they can gather about their immediate surroundings, while the farther apart you spread them, the less detailed but broader the picture becomes. they are capable of flight up to about fifty feet high, can crawl on walls and ceilings, and can operate at about five hundred yards from your person. they have no self awareness, and can only follow simple commands. they have to be 'active' in order to operate. Internal power is limited, giving them about an hour's use in good weather before needing to return and recharge for a day.
The spider is eightlegged, and about the size of a medium dog. it follows automatically and can follw a few simple commands without being 'activated.' Commands like 'follow,' 'stay,' 'move there,' or 'hide.' This one also has no self awareness, but the programming is deeper, and it has potential to be developed more. Internal power will allow this one to act for an entire day before needing plugged in, say, sixteen hours of activity and eight of charging. it is not particularly cumbersome and you can act fairly normally while it is plugged in, as it will climb onto your torso and wrap its legs around your chest region for the process.
"I'll be fine for now. Are you willing to give me something to help with necromancy? Directions to a doctor and an alchemist would be nice as well."
Trade in orc armor, receive directions.
"Useful for necromancy? like what? Corpses?" Anyway, you get directions and a scrip good for "one heavy orc armor."