Galdimere
Safeguard Galdimere
As a gnome, Galdimere has made his way in the world surviving in the wilds. Most of his life has been dedicated to the understanding of Tek, though of late his interests have been expanding.
His background in understanding the Ancients and their technology is actually about on par with any expert. Though his methods of implementing scraps are unique and surprisingly effective. His inventions rely heavily on his innate connection to the Elder Dream, creating wondrous effects from previously dormant pieces of tek.
Physical Description
General Physical Condition
Half the size of a human, this bizarre creature requires a moment to fully inventory. His lavender colored skin seems to have a hardened quality to it, not unlike chitin. A healthy tuft of mint colored hair is oddly the most normal thing about him.
Body Features
After determining that this creature is indeed humanoid, it's obvious that the strange machinations of the land have had its toll on him. Despite the chitinous skin, his fingers, hands and legs betray a decent level of agility as he endlessly tinkers with miscellaneous tek. Fine paths of bronze metal crawl up his arms, intermingling with Ironflesh that sparks harmlessly in sync with the tek he carries. Six foot long spindly spider legs errupt from the back of his torso, neatly folded when he is standing or supporting his weight in their full height.
Facial Features
There is little left of this gnome's original face that hasn't been replaced with metal or bizarre mutation. Two stalks replace his eyes that protrude out from his face and gravitate towards whatever has caught his attention in this moment. The rest of his face is replaced with the cold metal of Ironflesh (description pending).
Identifying Characteristics
Though not exactly uncommon, he always seems to be covered in a layer of dust. Close inspection reveals it to be Drit, though all the same it looks as though he has recently been rolling around in it.
Physical quirks
He is constantly twisting his eye stalks and looking intently away. He seems to manage this even when focused on a task without the habit impeding his progress. His spider legs occasionally hug around his midriff when he is thinking
Special abilities
Odd. Once per Long Rest, you have the ability to spend an hour and a DC 12 Knowledge (Arcana) check to produce an oddity. This item is found through scavenging the surrounding area, piecing it together from bits of drit or broken tek, pulling it from another dimension, or even manifest it from a dream. This oddity ceases to function, either breaking apart, dissolving back where it came from, or otherwise just disappearing after 24 hours unless (unless you spend 1 hour maintaining it to keep the device functioning and a part of your reality), or when you use your action to dismantle it. You can have one such device active at a time.
Mutations
Eyes on stalks: Your eyes are on stalks and can move in any direction, independently of each other. You can peek around corners without exposing yourself to danger. You add your proficiency bonus to initiative rolls and Wisdom (Perception) checks.
Piercing resistance: You have resistance against piercing damage.
Suggestive voice: Your voice is perfectly modulated for speech. You gain proficiency in Deception and Persuasion.
Spider Legs from Torso: In addition to your normal limbs, six spider-like legs, each 6 feet long, extend from your sides. You add your proficiency bonus to Strength and Dexterity checks and saves that involve running, climbing, remaining on your feet, and resisting being moved.
Adhesion pads: Your hands and feet have naturally adhesive pads. Climbing doesn’t cost you extra movement and you add your proficiency bonus to Strength (Athletics) checks for climbing.
Apparel & Accessories
The gnome carries little that can be recognized immediately on his person. His studded leather armor and shield are simple enough, but they hardly draw the eye as straps, bandoleers and magnetic strips haphazardly strap a multitude of tek wonders that may inspire caution in the common folk who know better than to clump assorted tek together.
Specialized Equipment
Galdimere always seems to be tinkering on an odd looking contraption. It appears to be a clay circle with a number of tek attachments that look like the spindly legs of a spider. When it is "closed" the legs fold in within the circle, connecting together in a pattern not unlike a spider's web. Despite certainly being made of some kind of clay, the circular core adjusts with incredible flexibility, allowing the legs to move in complex ways.
Mental characteristics
Personal history
Galdimere grew up with a reverence for Old Tek. His village was situated in the wilds of the western continent. The settlement was constantly shrouded in a violet mist; a result of his ancestor's tinkering of an abandoned Old Tek artifact. The mist didn't seem to affect the gnomes much so they established Lavender Bloom, an outpost where traveling gnomes would stay before heading back into the wilds.
In truth, although a constant gnome population was maintained, the only permanent residents were Galdimere's family. They raised generations of devout attendees to the device that generates the mist. Galdimere was well on his way to becoming an acolyte in his own right, but inevitably grew fascinated with the tales of travelers.
The longer he stayed, the more his dreams became less and less inspired. He began to tinker with rejected offerings to Lavender Bloom and before long began neglecting his duties to his family. The distance between him and his family grew until they began to treat him like a traveler.
So he left.
His travels began rather typically for a gnome. He spent decades exploring ruins, though most of what he found was already plundered.
(TBC)
Education
Galdimere grew up learning about tek with his family's collections of offerings. Additional lessons came in the form of anecdotes of passing gnomes. Though most formative of his current knowledge was the time he spent comparing and learning among the Arkists.
Accomplishments & Achievements
Galdimere and friends successfully destroyed a sentience seeking to control the Singing Monolith. They became attuned to the Monolith themselves and were rewarded by the Exultist Church with sovereignty over the Crooked Hills area surrounding Caracara.
Galdimere used his Dream Melder to create a gnomish town outside the ruins of Arkormine, west of Caracara. The budding town took on the name Violet Flash and has caused gnomes to begin to traverse the Crooked Hills.
Failures & Embarrassments
Though working with a half torn machine, Galdimere failed to stop the rise of the Singing Monolith. He took the final lever that he pulled off of the machine.
In pushing himself too far trying to modify tek that he didn't fully understand, he destroyed the battery of a containment unit that held the sylvan entity known as Alaverthera. They tore apart their acquaintance, Malrubeus, and disappeared into the world. Galdimere kept Malrubeus' arm.
Personality Characteristics
Motivation
Now intrinsically tied to the Singing Monolith, Galdimere is quite curious about the capabilities of all of the other Monoliths.
He has never banded with companions as long as he has with the other members of Safeguard (Pending), and feels a fierce loyalty for them.
He has established the town of Violet Flash as part of his power as sovereign of the Crooked Hills. He is still grappling with the concept that his deeds and position make him somewhat of a leader of others.
A deep part of him is still achingly curious about the Arkivist's goals of leaving the planet for a Promised Lands out beyond the void. Is there a place beyond the reach of the Ancients?
It is not very obvious that Galdimere is a mere gnome. His self-preservation is heavily outweighed with the thrill of discovery and change. He has allowed his body to shift in the hopes that it will help in his quest for tek.
View Character Profile
Age
73
Birthplace
Central Falen
Children
Current Residence
Singing Monolith, Caracara, Violet Flash
Gender
Male
Eyes
Topaz
Hair
Mint Green
Skin Tone/Pigmentation
Lavender
Height
3'4"
Weight
38 lbs.
Kuno - An Update
It's been awhile since we've seen you, in the physical sense, of course. I have to ask, did the temporal shift affect you as well or was the six month discrepancy when we returned to Caracara only accounted for in the travel? How has prolonged existence within the monolith affected your perception of time and space? I mean, its an extension of the Elder Dream after all, but since you aren't as connected as I, I wonder how you've faired. Make sure to be extra mindful of ledges when you return!
There was a bunch of things that were settled within Caracara when we returned. I think there is a report somewhere, but frankly, with all that's been going on in the Ragged Valley, most of it has slipped my mind. We did pick up a representative from Baz! Aegis is a construct that has come to entreat us to help them out. We were going to go to the Monolith of Assembly--not really because of Aegis, more because...I mean, a structure of the Ancients designed to create things, need I say more?--but people from Naldonia started doing things and Avin got really angry, carrying a corpse across town.
We found Dunben! He's been hanging out with a bunch of tek-backwards tribesmen. He was originally looking for Marta, who was looking for the elven lady who tore Malrubeus apart. But there is a whole megastructure beneath the Ragged Valley that's crawling with Chaos Frogmen and Naldonian Mindcontrollers...and those are only the recent additions! From what I can tell, the megastructure is a containment unit from somewhere out where your people came from. Or maybe where the elves came from. Out beyond the crumbling ruin where we found the Proto-gnome souls.
Raelyn and Maul-Moir seem a bit concerned that I may be running a settlement without fully understanding "relations between people" so I've been trying to pay extra attention out here. I mentioned a couple groups before, but the total count seems to be the Tribesmen, the Monikans, the Naldonians, and the Chaos Frogmen.
You remember the Naldonians, right? The lady who woke the Monoliths was one, Malrubeus is one, there is also that automaton-looking guy who tried to kill us in Caracara--wait, you weren't there for that. Anyway, they seem to be doing some kind of mind control thing with the towers that the local humans use. Those are the Monikans, haven't actually met any yet, so if you're curious you can ask Avin. Avin could probably tell you a lot about this region, he's actually from here. Well, kinda, he lived here a lot after escaping from some...exultists? But they might have been fake. Not actually clear on those details.
The Chaos Frogmen are...frog people from the void. They seem similar to things that you seemed worried about, but I don't really remember what all that was. They sacrifice people. Not sure what for, they've got this weird 'magic' that does not abide by the laws of tek. Maul-Moir seemed to make some discovery about their bite, but if the Stone can abolish their marks then we're probably in good shape. I've create a couple devices that spatially displace them.
The Tribesmen are the tek-backwards folk that Dunben fell in with. They don't like anyone it seems, but they dislike the Monikans the least...maybe? They are willing to help us take the Monolith if we help get rid of the Chaos Frogmen or the Naldonian influence on the Monikans. They've got giants that they just follow around, so I'm not sure how much help they'll be anyway.
Of course I have designed the solution to our problems, though! Something that will deal a blow to both the Naldonians and the Chaos Frogmen. The towers that transmit the Naldonian mind control are placed throughout the region, with a central hub that just so happens to be close by to a large rift where the Frogmen are spawning. With Dunben providing an unnecessary grounded perspective, I've modified the plans he designed to seal the rift left by Avin's temporal impossibility. Using the broadcasting powers of the towers, I can counter or maybe even replace the mind control frequency with Dunben's rift sealing equation. We'll be able to slow down the Chaos Frogs and disrupt whatever the Naldonians are trying to do and it should be easier to get passed them all to get to the Monolith of Thought. Dunben did make a weird face when we went over the long term effects of this interference, but that just means we gotta secure the Monolith fast and then put everything back--really shouldn't be a problem.
That's about the gist of what we've done in the Ragged Valley. Right now we are heading to the Megastructure entrance closest to where we can disrupt the signal. Dunben gave us an extremely mobile device, nothing like our snail, but serviceable. I think Aegis has taken to it more than any of us. I'm trying to help Aegis understand what its like to be 'squishy,' but I think maybe I should take a step in the other direction first. I've just finished the plans for a new set of lungs. I should be able to implant them myself, but I think I'll invite Maul-Moir, just in case.
Scattered Entries
...Pancreator is one of them? Certainly it is credible, if half of what the priests say is within their power. It is mainly a human faith, so maybe they just confused a piece of old tek and made their doctrines around that and whatever they brought with them. I should ask Raelyn...no maybe I should start with Maul-Moir. The way he talks about his faith and how many times I've frustrated him during my study with him, he'd probably have a better grip on how she would take it. Because if the Pancreator were one of the Ancients...would that make Raelyn and I distant family!? I wonder if I could look at their books without them preaching at me....
*A stack of pages haphazardly bound together. The majority are marred with crosses, corrections, and scribbles. Many are ruined to the point of illegibility.*
I believe I finally understand why my people are considered so strange and unfathomable to those that are disconnected from the Elder Dream. I don't.... The lives they live are so.... To only wake to one reality. To only have one sense of self. To burden one life with your expression, your worries, your cares, your passion, needs, wants, fears, hopes...dreams. Dreams are just a distraction to them. They are an OPTIONAL and UNCONTROLLABLE phenomenon meant to fill the space in the blackness of sleep. That...endless black.
*Player Note: I missed a couple of opportunities to write out full journal entries so this is my response. In the wake of his near insanity from the modified Calm Emotions tek, Galdi's journals became scrambled and mismatched. Some pages were lost while others were "written" in his lab notes in the Elder Dream (and thus not accessible here). When they returned to Caracara, Galdimere attempted to reorganize his notes. While slightly successful, some of his more recent entries on their success in the Monolith of Understanding got mixed up and lost as well.
The Value of a Reward
I must be sure to write frequently in this journal. Consequent uses of this Dream Melder is blending the line of realities especially well. I found a frequency that seems to work well with the residual energies of the Thinker's old home, though, so I don't have to worry about this thing blowing from the overload.
I wasn't expecting so many Dreamwalkers to answer the call I sent out. It doesn't appear that any of the others of my kin have had much luck investigating the Monoliths though, so our efforts have been rather astounding in caparison. Meryl and her squad have already taken up a bunker and made plans to scout the Ruins. I've gotten the whispers through the dreams that others are on their way as well, so I'll need to crank the Melder as far as I can to prepare.
Avin asked me to task those who come into Violet Flash (as the settlement has come to be called) to better the lives of the whole region. He seemed to be issuing it as a challenge--certainly it would be--but I wasn't entirely certain that such a challenge would go over well with my people. I believe they would try (they seemed to bend their ear to me more than others in the town) but from our experience I don't believe the people of Caracara would approve of changes my brethren would deem improvements. Indeed, they were truly plagued by the endless rain that altered their crops, but such a thing would be quite nice for my people. I know that he has been spending his days talking to the people of Caracara about the things they want and how they could oversee themselves, I may need some gnomes to serve as...what do they call them...ambassadors, perhaps, to find out how my people can offer services that would benefit the people of Caracara.
Kuno was much more direct in asking for aid, and he managed to get some of the more earthen-minded gnomes to aid him on his farms. Once again, I found myself in a position where the gnomes were more inclined to provide aid because I vouched for it. Its a strange feeling, kind of like how I've designed my devices to be able to provide aid to my companions in the heat of battle, but I find myself drawn to create something that will help those I've drawn here.
I wandered into the dream of the Priest, Funar. I guess he's an Arch-Bishop, which is a tier of command for the Exultists. I got to get a good feeling for him and decided to try and reach out to him to look out for my kin while I was gone, but he started talking more about his religion. The dream began to flair around us and I could tell he was getting quite excited, though he isn't the type to show it. I quickly made my exit; the gnomes would be fine with what I've set up with thus far. Maybe when we return I can see if they haven't moved on from Violet Flash and try and organize them more. Raelyn seemed to have some head for that sort of thing.
Changes All Around
It was quite refreshing to experience the Elder Dream with some friends again! More importantly, it is fascinating that they weren't gnomes! However it only stands to reason that these constructs left by the Ancients reformed all of our bodies in a grander state. The bronze additions to our bodies is clearly their mark. It is only a bit saddening that this experience lends to the theory that, left to our own devices, the design of gnomes must have deteriorated with the passing of time. But even a handful of drit retains the Ancient's Spark, so I'm not to worried for my people.
I tried not to pry too much, but it is cute how disorganized their dreams were. I was impressed at how quickly Maul-Moir was able to procure knowledge from his kin's libraries and how Kuno conjured up a stone that he still has with him. It must be due to the deeper connection we had to the Ancients by using the Monolith. If only the temporal anomaly wasn't baring our way, I feel as though we would have been able to connect with Arkveil and I could see how they are doing.
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It appears as though some time has passed in the world since we defeated Passmind. The people of Caracara are, I guess, now a part of a new nation? Though they haven't moved, at least not all of them. Evidently not Arkveil, since nobody seemed to know anything about the goings on there. New buildings in old places, old buildings starting to resemble Children's Sites. Hopefully we can find Dunben and we could work on a solution to what's interfering with the Monolith. I never took him for a outlander, but he'd do well for himself to see the Sites if he truly wants to understand tek. I just hope all this talk about leaving because of disagreements with Shawn isn't true. He did seem prone to frustration, but that shouldn't be enough for a true tek worker to leave the site of a functioning marvel such as the Monolith!
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So I might as well replace the coupling within the tool arm. The containment unit SAID the preservation fluids were harmless, but I suppose I shouldn't rely on a container to recognize the structural integrity of a neighboring unit...they are so introspective. Other than that, I honestly don't need much more supplies. I'll need to pick up some parts to replace what I was forced to smash, of course. I was so sure that I'd be able to figure out the command sequence before the boot up completed. Well anyway, the construct is holding up with my drit components, so maybe I can whip up a cypher while "looking for parts" that'll help decrypt the Study Focus algorithm.
Missed Opportunities and Progress!
I amaze myself sometimes with my foresight. This notebook has been a suitable anchor so that I know whether I am in the Dream or not. We just used a number of portals and doorways that led to places I could imagine in the Elder Dream. The Void Ruins were particularly exciting even if I never found out how these tools get used. And I'm quite certain the Thinker's Core works off properties of the Elder Dream. I wonder if I can dig into its mechanics for a bit. The Thinker wouldn't mind, as it is quite inoperable at the moment.
I believe I'm becoming quite proficient at understanding and modifying the refuse of the Ancients' tek. Even biological creatures offer fantastic opportunities. A monstrosity that siphons heat inspired a neat little explosive that emits a gel that temporarily carries the same quality. If only I was able to work on the pesky evaporation, I'd be able to permanently chill something (and think of the experiments with that kind of implement)! I even got to inspect Kuno's person, though those notes are still be transferred to the lab.
Another fascinating find of late was a collection of what could only have been Proto-gnomes! I didn't get much time to examine them, the ruins were flooded with jellyfish and constructs and debris was causing it to fall apart. I'm more than a bit jealous that Kuno's experiments yielded some results, though they were pretty simple. He just charged a matter replicator and made a couple of bars of currency. A bit safe for my tastes, but I can hardly compete. I might have been able to attach one of the souls to Thought if I just focused their core to the appropriate attunement....
They must of been used to power something, but we couldn't stay around to figure out what. This could be proof that Gnome kind was made as a power source for the Ancients machines...I wonder if I could tap into that source to power tek. Do modern gnomes still have that capacity? Better write down what I can remember of that device, maybe these tools will come in handy after all.
Oh and we've successfully collected two of the Obelisks keys. The last one was claimed by the force that controls the volatile gem creatures...quite an effective design so long that it can maintain the resources. But it is getting rather tiresome, can't it create organics that PRODUCE these crystals and lob them? Our lives are significantly beneath the designs of the Ancients, but it surely wouldn't take much effort to tinker a bit. I imagine that is why Gnomes were given access to the Dream; these machines can't hope to mimic our minds.
The Song Awakens
I should have known! No good comes from involuntary Dreams. I don't know how the others stand it, being unable to experience the Elder Dream. And I had another just the other night! As far as premonitions go, this one was hardly worth the intrusion. That Kathra lady had already beheaded a creature with red crystals for a brain by the time the Interweb discharged its currant for the week.
I'm getting ahead of myself. First: Where am I? Well it certainly isn't my lab and this journal seems to be made of a simple parchment. Looking out the window tells me I'm at the inn in Caracara. I'll draw a picture on this page so I know this journal isn't apart of the Elder Dream....
There. I never could get the likeness correct in this reality. Or maybe I just forgot my mother's face...come to think of it, were the tendrils something she grew right before I left...?
Well anyway, a lot has been going on lately and I've been falling into the "bad habits of my obsession" as the Speaker put it. I've started traveling with some people so I figured it'd be a good time to put this journal to use. I still am not sure which bits are the "insanity that regular people don't understand" so I'll keep an eye out for the social cues like yawning or mouth agape in horror, which are sometimes hard to tell apart.
The intruding vision showed me an eldritch machine that was being tampered with by a woman with numerous limbs. I tailed behind a small group of deadly people who seemed unperturbed by my arrival and were actually fairly supportive of my tagging along. I laid low, like the Speaker told me to do, but it was difficult with so much amazing tek around us! If I'm rereading this, don't be disturbed by the lack of notes, I put them under the enlightenment next to the explosion I was working on.
The details get a bit hazy; I guess I should visit this journal as much as my notes. There were people--or maybe corpses--infused with tek, though the connections were unbelievably brutish. Maybe the Kuno fellow would let me test some reenactments of the technique.
Ah yes, the companions! There were three of them--wait no five people in their party. Kuno is one of those common species, uh the human. He has some mastery over a technique I believe is called psionics. I haven't met a practitioner before, at least not one of his caliber. Raelyn also seemed like one of the common ones, but I'm pretty sure she had wings for a bit. Might just have to ask her. Her dancing must be inspired by the Ancients somehow...everything about her confuses me as to which reality I'm in. Maul-Moir is one of the sturdy folk. I watched him talk to bones. He's probably the hardest for me to understand. I guess practical might be the right word. Use right angles around him.
There was also a lady with a sword and a man with interesting techniques for his effects...I'm not sure what happened to them. The lady went with Kuno and Urulay. I think the man escaped with us? I was hardly paying attention. Who designs a makeshift Ancients Calibration Acceleration Device without a safeguard? Multilimbed humans that can't work around a life source requirement or a team of ruin delvers, that's who. It's a wonder I was able to adjust the shoddy craftsmanship to the right frequency before the dang lever broke.
Although it was the lever to the Alternating Cylindric Pulses...I don't think anyone recognized my blunder. I'd be laughed out of the Bloom Boom if that got out.
Anyway, it hasn't stopped raining with the UFL. It is comforting because it reminds me of the evening pour back in the Bloom, but I guess it's killing Caracara's crops. We helped the town fend off the red crystal horde, and soon we are going to go find some Ancients Facilities. The old human with the disgusting food thinks we should start in the forest and I'm inclined to agree. These crystal heads weren't pushovers and if we start at the old ruins, we'd have to go there and back through the migration. Maybe we'll learn a bit more about the obelisk and can manipulate the crystal force besides decapitation.
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