At the forest edge, the construct shudders in the vines. Its saws grind with a shrill, steady rhythm, and one green tendril snaps, then another.
The Woodcutter
It’s learning your bind, fairy. If it keeps that pace, it’ll tear loose.
Sawdust drifts through the clearing as the machine jerks against its prison, dragging its bound frame toward the next standing trunk. The felled trees lie around it like broken ribs.
The Woodcutter
I can’t hold it alone. If you can stop that rhythm, I can wedge the joints and keep it down.
&
The vines are failing where the grinding is strongest.
The construct surges once more, hard enough to shake loose a spray of bark. Beyond it, the living trees bow and rustle, as if warning her where the next blow will land.
✓ Quest Accepted
Keep the construct bound
“Summon more vines and roots to further bind the robot.”
SUCCESS (Fair Arcana, rolled -1)
& lifts her wand and the ground answers. Fresh roots spear up through the bark chips, threading into the old vine net and cinching hard around the construct's limbs.
The machine jerks, but the new growth catches its saw arm before it can swing. A loud crack of wood and iron rings across the clearing.
The Woodcutter
That’s it, hold it there. I’ve got the lower joint.
He drives a splintered wedge into the bind with both hands, forcing the frame lower. The vines bite deeper, and the construct's shudder turns into a trapped tremor.
A sharp pulse runs through &'s spellwork as the backlash pricks her palm and the wand tip flashes hot. The cost makes her spell wobble, but it still holds.
For a heartbeat, the clearing goes still except for the saws grinding against roots they cannot cut. No pilot appears, no command answers the machine, only the strain of the binding and the Woodcutter waiting for her next move.
Quest Complete
Keep the construct bound