Previously on whatever this is...

"Hey Astrid, are you home right now?"

"Aye, I ain't gone nowhere since we dragged that sorry noble back ta Sky Peak. Why? Ya wanna go do somethin' when ya get back?"

For some reason, no response comes to Astrid. Her brow furrows behind her goggles, and she fiddles with the bead in her ear to make sure that it’s working. “Blue? Bluuuuuue?” Still nothing. Weird, maybe the magic of their telepathy hood isn’t working quite right. Or they just absorbed it back within themselves. Astrid shrugs, figuring Blue will be back soon enough if they’re asking if she’s home.

Pulling the lever beside the lightning forge again, bright blue energy streaks down into the metal she’s working with, and she returns to beating the metal plate into shape. As usual, she’s working on a project in her basement workshop. Sometimes she has to make extra plates for Blue’s armor since theirs gets banged up, but because of the way the suit fits together, it’s easy to replace them. When she finishes shaping this plate, she shuts off the forge and takes it over to the grindstone to work some finishing edges into it, then she submerges the metal in a trough full of specially treated water and oil.

Wiping her face on a towel, Astrid pulls the goggles off her eyes and sets them on her head just in front of her horns and heads upstairs for a snack.

Blue landed outside the house and waited for Cronan to get off before transforming back into their humanoid form. It had been hours of flight, getting all the way from Sol City to here, but it had been much less time than if they'd taken a boat and walked or something.

"This is it! Our house. And over there is Sky Peak Village." Blue pointed over to the nearby village excitedly, quickly showing the place to Cronan. They were much more excited to introduce him to Astrid, though. They walked right up to the door and went to turn the handle, but it was locked. "Oh, right." Blue mumbled and a small plate on their palm opened up to let the house key Astrid had given them out into their hand.

Blue threw the door open and called out. "Hey Astrid, I'm back! You'll never guess what I found! Look!"

Blue looked to Cronan and held an arm out, motioning for him to come in.

Cronan dismounted Wolfe and straightened his posture and began following the now-humanoid Wolfe to the door. Cronan quite enjoyed flying. perhaps one day he'll be able to do so under his own volition? That would be interesting.


Cronan looked around the area, finding the sights to be vastly different from Sol City in a pleasant way. No more were buildings towering over the horizon. There still were buildings off to where Wolfe pointed to where Sky Peak Village was, but it felt more open here in a way that Cronan enjoyed immensely.

He didn't miss the fact that Wolfe had said what he found instead of who, which rubbed him the wrong way, but oh well. Mistakes happen.

Walking in the door is a 6'5 figure in a suit of fullplate armor. The steel is Onyx black with golden trim and engravings throughout the entirety of it, however the engravings are focused on the Helmet, Chestpiece and primarily both pauldrons. The engravings don't appear to have any meaning outside the pauldrons. On them, however, are a number of illustrations of a figure akin to Cronan in a number of battles, usually standing over fallen enemies.

Attached to the back of the helmet is something that could only really be described as a Panache, but not really. It's akin to incredibly long hair dyed a rose red tied up in a high ponytail. Under the plates of the armor is chainmail and cloth padding which covers any and all skin, making nothing under the armor visible.

The suit of armor looks more fit for display than for combat, but any armorsmith worth their salt would recognize that it would work beautifully in combat, despite the focus on design.

"Uh, Greetings?" He calls out after Wolfe, intent to simply follow his lead. His voice didn't echo as if he were speaking in a suit, but instead sounded as if it were unimpeded like someone speaking without a helmet on. Cronan would look around the room, taking in as much as he could before Astrid showed up.

The house– well, really it’s a mansion –that Blue lands outside of stands on its own on the outer edge of Sky Peak Village. The yard is expansive, though not lush with green grass like the manors of Sol City. Instead, it’s full of sparse shrubbery and thick natural grasses that occur on the mountains of Dragon’s Cradle. The mountain slopes away from the back of the house. It’s entirely too decadent for its surroundings, and at a glance, it’s easy to see it’s quite a bit newer construction than many of the buildings of Sky Peak some short distance away.

Astrid has only just crossed the foyer back towards the staircase that leads to the basement when Blue opens the door and calls for her. With half a sandwich held in her mouth, she pauses and looks toward the heavy wooden door that Blue’s natural strength lets them open with ease. (Really, out of everyone in their small family, only Cantio struggles with the door.)

The half-dwarf stands almost a full two feet shorter than Cronan, appearing even smaller amongst the wide open foyer that opens to the rest of the house. Her face has smudges of sweat and grease from her work down below, and her thick coveralls are peeled back off her shoulders with the sleeves tied around her waist so she can move freely. Her elbow-length leather gloves are stuffed in her pockets, presumably so she could make herself the sandwich.

Slowly, Astrid takes the sandwich from between her teeth, pretending like she wasn’t just walking around like a hungry gremlin, and looks between Blue and Cronan. “Heeey, B- Wolfe,” she starts slowly, catching herself since there is an unfamiliar guest in a brilliant suit of armor standing in the doorway. “Didja find yerself a new friend?” The ooze really could have given her more details about them coming home.

A plate manifests in Astrid’s hand, and she sets the sandwich on it, then she sets the plate on a side table and wipes her hands on the pants of her coveralls. “If I knew ya were bringin’ a guest, I would’ve cleaned up,” she says, walking over. “Nice ta meet ya, mister,” she says to Cronan, extending a hand to shake. She starts to introduce herself, but quickly corrects it, remembering that Thadda said to remember the title as much as she doesn’t do much to acknowledge it. “I’m As- er, Lady Astrid Stormstone, an’ I really like yer armor!”

Her eyes quickly latch on to the intricate details of this stranger's armor, but she holds herself back from getting too distracted and not looking in the direction of this person's face. Though, she does notice their voice comes through the closed helmet crystal clear. She figures it must be some kind of enchantment, and if they'll let her, she's going to try to copy it. That's for later discussion though. Formalities first.

---

Summon Possession - plate

"Aw, you said what I was gonna say. I found a new friend! His name is Cronan." Blue just said what they'd been planning on saying anyways, pointing both arms toward Cronan as they made their announcement. "I didn't tell you because I wanted it to be a surprise!"

Blue waited for Astrid to approach and introduce herself. They were happy to see she was welcoming, and just like they thought she would, she liked Cronan's armor a lot. Blue didn't even realize they'd completely neglected to formally introduce themself as Lord Wolfe, just calling themself Wolfe when they'd met the man.

Blue turned to Cronan. "Oh right, my bad, I'm Lord Geoffrey Wolfe, nice to meet you." They said quickly before looking to Astrid again.

"I thought you'd want to meet him. We met in Sol City and I knew you'd want to see his fancy armor, and then we talked a little, and he really wanted to meet you too. I told him you made my armor. Oh, and he's not an assassin! Don't worry, I checked. I asked him and he said no." Blue said, giving a thumbs up.

They are Nobles? Cronan thinks as Astri- Lady Stormstone introduces herself, and as Lord Wolfe re-introduces himself. It seems he threw himself down into the deep end, here.

He takes a moment to respond, but soon does. "It is my honor to meet you both formally, Lady Stormstone, Lord Wolfe. I apologize, I appear to have been caught unawares of your status." He says in a measured tone. Cronan is incredibly outside his comfort zone, but he did turn up for a reason, nobles or not. He initially wanted to ask about just how young the Lady is, but that feels rude.

"Lady Stormstone, I have been told by Lord Wolfe that you have an eye for armor. For context-" He pauses, confirming this is the route he wants to walk. "I am a suit of living armor. Not human in the slightest. I do not know who created me and I was hoping you would have some sort of idea. I awoke in the Black Spire in Sol City mere hours before meeting Lord Wolfe, and I want to meet my creator." He speaks awfully quickly, simply wanted to get the words out.

Now, Cronan has never really understood what should and should not be said when it comes to secrets. It's a finnicky line that he has trouble balancing. However, they're Nobles. They must have been given that status for good reasons, correct? They seem trustworthy. At least Wolfe hasn't lied to him.

While Cronan spoke, he hasn't moved an inch. His posture is rock still and perfect, and he hasn't inclined his head whatsoever to look at Astrid. If he hadn't just told them both that he's not even a person, it would have been impossible for a person in the suit to see Astrid or Wolfe. He stands stock still, hands behind his back in a sort of parade rest.

He somehow knows how to address nobles and royalty, which is extremely strange. Thoughts for later.

Okay, Blue didn’t tell their new friend that they’re both nobles. No problem. Astrid doesn’t enjoy all the formalities anyway. But there are other things that have been introduced that she needs to address. Before she can even pull Blue aside to talk about the fact that they agreed they would ask before bringing people over, Blue just outright says that this new person isn’t an assassin. That isn’t too convincing, but honestly, they’d probably have given their cover away if Blue asked as brazenly and without tact as Blue tends to ask those kinds of things.

All of those things process through Astrid’s mind about as fast as they possibly can.

“Erm, it’s alright,” she finally says. “Ya don’t hafta be all that formal. The nobles thin’ is kinda new ta us. Just Astrid is fine with me.”

Of course, her chest puffs out a bit proudly, as any child’s would when their praises are sung, but the smile is quickly replaced by shock. A living…suit of armor..? This is not the kind of thing that she expected someone to just outright admit, so at least Cronan seems comfortable around them enough already to say as much. Astrid’s hands come up to press palm-to-palm in front of her mouth while she just considers the possibilities.

Possibilities considered.

“That’s…so... cool!” she exclaims, childish wonder all over her childish face. Immediately, she starts walking a circle around Cronan. Any attempts not to be rude are thrown out the window. “At least whoever created ya put ya in a real nice suit of armor! This is real spiffy! I’d love ta take a closer look an’ try ta help ya figure out yer general mystery!”

From behind Cronan, Astrid shoots Blue a questioning look, touches the bead in her ear, and projects her voice telepathically to the ooze knight. Does Cronan know yer an ooze?

"Wait, really!?" Blue exclaimed in shock. Blue was even more surprised to hear the news than Astrid, since they hadn't been told or realized it at all even travelling together with the man for several hours straight. Cronan was a living suit of armor this whole time!?

Hearing Astrid's voice in their mind, Blue looked over at her. "Um, no. Should I tell him?" They replied in Astrid's head through their hood.

Considering that Cronan wasn't human either, it didn't seem like keeping their own oozey identity a secret was so important anymore. Actually, their circumstances were quite similar. Two non-humans disguising themselves as a guy in a suit of armor. Cronan was a lot like Blue had been when they'd first come to consciousness. They'd even both started in Sol City. But there was one thing that stood out to Blue as a big difference between them.

"Wait, so you woke up just already knowing how to talk with big words and stuff? _Lucky..."

"Hm. I'm not sure what reaction I was expecting, but it wasn't that, Lad- uh, Astrid." He stood stock still as he was inspected, not entirely sure how to proceed with this interaction. His attention is arrested by Wolfe by his passing comment.

"I am unsure of what you mean by that, Lord Wolfe. I do not know why I have the knowledge that I do, or why it's patchy at best. I simply awoke, left the spire and began wandering before I encountered you, Lord Wolfe." 

To say his memory was patchy was the understatement of the century. He knew the language, and how to operate on a basic level, some formalities and mannerisms to show in the presence of royalty or nobility, and how to fight. Anything outside of that, he's actively learning as he goes along. If he had teeth, he'd be running by the skin of them.

"I appreciate the offer, Astrid. I will try to answer any questions you may have, and do what you request of me." He says, looking down at the actual goddamn child. He's still struggling to understand that one.

Astrid offers Blue a shrug from behind Cronan as if to say that it’s up to them whether they tell Cronan about their oozey situation. It might help the other knight be a bit more comfortable seeing as he’s stiff as a board.

After doing a couple of turns around Cronan, Astrid steps back with a sheepish but still excited smile. “Sorry about that,” she says. “I don’t mean ta be rude, but it’s real neat, ya gotta admit.” She gives Cronan a gap-toothed grin then goes to collect her now-plated sandwich off the side table. “Let’s go ta the workshop downstairs!”

With that, she takes a massive bite of her sandwich and heads to the door which leads to a staircase that descends into her basement workshop. It’s mostly well organized with a few workbenches along one wall, a large table in the middle with some half-finished metal pieces that Blue would recognize as replacement pieces for their armor. Tools hang mostly in their places on hooks on the wall, but the biggest and best feature of the workshop is the pair of forges on the far exterior wall. The one on the right has a pile of firewood and a small crate of coal beside it. The one on the left has a strange lever on the wall beside it and no place to build a fire within.

Astrid clears away the things on the table and sets her plate down, then she finds a couple of stools for them to sit on and looks excitedly at Cronan, taking a pen in hand. “So, ya just woke up in the Spire. How do ya move around? Do ya have any internal bits?”

"Oh, uh, I mean. It's good? You know stuff, so that's better than waking up not knowing anything, right?" Blue shrugged, trying to think of how to properly explain what they meant while also trying to decide whether or not to admit they were an ooze to the living armor while they followed Cronan and Astrid down to the workshop. Their body language was clearly showed they were thinking about something, though their face was still hidden inside their helmet.

Sitting on a stool nearby with their arms crossed in front of them, continuing to think about it while Astrid gathered her tools and prepared for her inspection of the living armor. They decided it might be better to just tell him since he'd admitted his secret, it was only fair. It might also make their conversations a bit less awkward. Hopefully it would also make him more comfortable letting Astrid check him out as well.

"Don't worry, you can trust her, Astrid's pretty much used to having one weird, non-human in armor walking around the house and keeping it a secret." Blue remarked casually as they put a hand on either side of their helmet to pull it off, revealing a blue, smooth, featureless head of blue ooze. "I'm actually an ooze. I woke up not knowing anything at all and just had to learn as I went, so I just thought you were kind of lucky to start off with something. I'm still a bit patchy too. And you can just call me Blue instead of Lord Wolfe."

Blue held their helmet to the side and let blue goo flow out of the gaps in their gauntlet, enveloping the helmet and then retracting back into their gauntlet as if it the helmet hadn't been in their hand at all.

It appears Wol-Blue, has lied to him.

"Hm. It appears you have lied to me, Blue," He says, turning his body to face the Ooze. "I am unsure how to feel about that." He turns back to Astrid, preferring to tackle that particular issue another time and begins answering her questions.

"I am an animated suit of armor. I move via magical means that I do not completely understand. I am also completely hollow on the interior, as I am a suit of animated armor. What I do have is an internal pocket dimension of sorts to store various items. It is currently empty at this time, however." He says in a balanced tone. He cocks his head to the side before speaking once again.

"I am unsure how I know this. I cannot see inside of myself. Interesting."

He turns back to Blue, having puzzled out how he feels about being lied to. "I figured it out. I believe I feel Betrayal. How could you do this to me, Blue?" He says in an even, measured voice that does not match his words in the slightest. His attention is then arrested by the large forges behind Astrid.

"What is that one without the fire? How does it function without heat?" It appears that Cronan has either completely forgiven Blue, or has discarded the subject in it's entirety.

Watching a living suit of armor interact with an ooze using a suit of armor as a disguise is pretty comedic, but it’s enthralling and interesting nonetheless for Astrid. “I hope ya aren’t too upset about Blue hidin’ the fact they’re an ooze from ya,” she says. “Lotsa folks aren’t all that understandin’ about stuff that ain’t familiar ta ‘em. If some people found out Blue’s an ooze, they might try an’ hurt ‘em. I got lotsa flack fer havin’ horns." All her time spent on the street was met with insults and accusations about being devil spawn, and while she did her best to move past this, sometimes it still stings to think about. "People are afraid of stuff they don’t get. Made it real easy fer me ta make friends with Blue, I think.”

Astrid does another round of looking over Cronan. “I’d be careful about tellin’ folks ya ain’t got no insides,” she continues. “I’d be afraid they’d try ta take ya fer a trophy or something.” She doesn’t say this because she’d probably have done the same thing under different circumstances, nooooo. More likely, she’d probably try to construct something similar.

Taking a step back, Astrid crosses her arms while thoughtfully pondering Cronan’s situation. He has memories, at least vague ones, but he doesn’t know why. He’s completely hollow, or at least he says as much. Unlike the Blixtbots^TM, he doesn’t seem to have any directives or programming, and he has a personality like a person. The only thing she can think to explain this away is magic, but what kind?

His question about the forges draws her attention, and Astrid looks over her shoulder. “Oh! That one’s powered by lightnin’!” she says excitedly. Without further prompting, she launches into an explanation of how it works, that lightning rods in the yard collect lightning to store the energy in a sort of silo on the backside of the house, which can then be activated by pulling the lever. “Really puts me name ta good use, I think. Wish I’d invented it meself!”

Looking over Cronan again, Astrid drums her fingers over her lips. “Do ya think I could take a peek at the inside of yer armor? There’s gotta be a safe way ta… Well, open ya up, if ya can store a buncha stuff inside yerself, right?”

"Wha- lied?" Blue started objecting, not really knowing how to respond. They felt hurt. When had they lied? They never actually told Cronan they were human, had they? Everything they'd said to him on the way here was the truth. "I didn't lie! Astrid always says I'm a terrible liar!" Blue crossed their arms in front of them and pouted. "And if you count not telling you I'm an ooze as lying, then you lied to me about not being a living armor." They mumbled.

"An internal pocket dimension!?" Blue repeated with surprise before looking at Astrid. "What's that mean?"

"Betrayal!?" Blue repeated with even more surprise before looking at Astrid again. "What's that mean?"

"Astrid, you are asking me to remove my skin. Not only will that be agonizingly painful, it will most likely kill me. It would be preferred if you refrained from dismantling me." Cronan explains in his confusingly calm voice, despite the subject. Once the subject switches to the forges, Cronan listens intently at the explanation. Not that it's at all visible, but Cronan is completely awed by the explanation. A forge powered by Lightning? Cronan somehow knows that shouldn't be possible.

His attention is arrested by Blues protests as he turns toward the Ooze. "Hm. You told me that your ability to shapeshift was due to a skill with a magical ability, not with an innate ability due to your very being. However, I forgive you." Blue did make some fair arguments, too. He knows that lying by omission was a thing, but was it omission if he simply wasn't asked? The same thing could go for Blue, however, as Cronan never asked about Blues being.

"Betrayal is a Noun. It means to go against the trust, a presumptive contract or confidence in another person for your own gain. And a Pocket Dimension is simply an alternate place that is generally kept with an individual. A Bag of Holding would be considered a Pocket Dimension due to the fact that it holds more than it should otherwise.

"Any more questions?" He asks, holding his hands behind his back. He doesn't mind answering questions, but it feels a bit hit or miss with what he knows.