#and smith

Down below deck, well out of earshot from the scrap happening up above, the other half of the party was much more relaxed. Smith leaning back against a wall, idly fidgeting with a set of nuts and bolts, while occasionally looking up at the artificer at a desk and deep in concentration. "Okay, can you turn it a little to the left, please?" Randus asked a small mechanical crab-like creature that was holding a small ring for him, letting him keep his hands free to switch lenses on some magnifying goggles. The surprisingly dexterous Assistant complied, letting him copy the last few characters of the inscription. "Okay, got it. Different from the other ones again. Any change in weight from the rest?" Smith sat up as the Assistant printed out a small strip of ticker tape, Randus taking it and jotting down a few more notes before leaning back in his chair and pushing his goggles back up onto his forehead. "Well?" "Honestly? I didn't get anything useful. All of the different inscriptions are in a language I don't even recognize, let alone read. They all weigh the same despite being different sizes and made from what I can only presume is the same metal. And they nearly melted my hand off when I tried channeling an arcane circuit through them." "That's... not exactly useful," Smith sighed. "I could try deconstructing them, see if I can get a better understanding of their material that way. But I don't know where to even start. These things are sturdy enough I doubt even Torq could chip one if he hit it with his axe." "Probably break the axe." Randus couldn't help but chuckle at that thought as Smith walked up the desk and took the ring from Assistant, slipping it back onto his finger. "You sure you want to wear those?" "If I don't, I might end up growing another set. And I'd rather not. It kinda hurt." "Sorry." Randus winced, momentarily flashing back to the sight of his friend with blood coating his hands where he'd torn them open. "I'll be so much happier when weird things stop coming out of me." "We'll figure something out. Might have somewhere to start too. I might not be able to read the inscription on the rings but I'm pretty sure there's something about this kind of script in the book Orem's got. I might be able to cross reference them and figure something out." Smith noticeably brightened at that. Even his ears seemed to perk up slightly, and Randus had the slight suspicion that if he'd had a tail it would have been wagging. "I heard him go up top a while ago," he beckoned, practically dragging Randus up from his seat and towards the door. "Okay, okay! I'm coming." The enthusiasm seemed to vanish as the two approached the stairs leading up onto the deck. Randus was alarmed when he saw Smith reach for his dagger, more so when he started hearing the sounds of combat coming from up there. He barked a command for his crossbow, Assistant dropping it into his hands as the two raced up. They both stopped dead in their tracks at the sight in front of them. Rather than a hoard of lunar monstrosities like they'd expected, instead what was before them was the other half of their party engaged in what looked like a brawl. Smith glanced at Randus, Randus glanced at Smith, they both looked back in time to see Orem duck under a right hook from Torq and straight into a knee to the jaw. "Okay, did not see that coming." Randus lowered his crossbow. "Surprised this hadn't happened already." Smith deadpanned, remembering more than a few occasions when Orem'd been asking for a smack in the face.