The Peregrine's Journey

"You realize what will happen when you return, do you not?"

The words were neither a threat nor a warning to the armored golem exiting before her, but as is often the case merely an acknowledgement of circumstances the woman saw around him. That was the simply the nature of the relationship they had, this earthen colossus and the celestial being known as The Caretaker Nocturne. She was Passive, yet incessant in her need to ensure he felt the full weight of his actions since the day he arrived to Dusk Valley, A quaint, yet false world she crafted as a sanctuary of peace. 

The Golem would never admit any feelings of animosity to this acknowledged facade; He had lived in it far longer than any other land he had once called a home after all. Its landscape undoubtedly was breathtaking as the sky bathes everything in deep vibrant orange under the hillside every sundown, and the pleasant and patient lives in ideal if simple routine each day was appreciable in its own charm once he had learned to slow down enough to appreciate it. It was simply a tragedy that by the time the Golem had gotten to truly understand the land he had been living in, he had also realized the sheer empty lifelessness of such a place as well. In this sleepy little valley so carefully built up and filled with smiling carefree faces, The golem could see that the only life here was his and Nocturne's, and thus he was utterly alone. Thus the Caretaker had spoken to him not to dissuade a return to this valley, but to where he could seek to fill this void of companionship. The world he had once poisoned was no longer an option, had he returned it would be like a virus triggering an immune response.

In his youth he was a rather stubborn and combative mind. The kind others kept a distance from lest they be dragged into a fray of one manner or another. He liked to fight, and like a game of chicken the rush he got from rising victorious out of the jaws of ruin that intoxicated the Golem more than anything. Life was merely a game, and while it was true his luck prevented his actions from ever catching up to him; On a certain otherwise typical day that luck that shadowed his every step had seemingly waned if just for a moment. Just long enough that, for the very first time in his life, the Golem gained a newfound realization of what it is like to see the lips of the burrow one had made standing just out of reach.

Stubborn as he was, his headstrong pride refused to accept a solution to be relenting and admit defeat. As his arm failed him, purple and grotesque now coursing with a corruption the golem had no experience dealing with; Nothing short of lunacy would propose that rather than accepting amputation as the costly result of choosing to bet so haphazardly with his life, the Best solution would be cancelling out a snake bite with a viper with an opposing effect, after the limb had been severed no less. The idea of brewing an equally balanced cocktail of toxins would be a suicidal course of action, and had the Golem failed to swallow such a bitter realization so early, it may as well have been.

This is how Nocturne found her soon to be extended guest at her doorstep, A writhing and furious mass of foolish mistakes. To be perfectly honest, to an outside perspective nobody would say for sure if she even noticed anything amiss by her tone to the sorry sight before her.

"Well, let's see what can be done." she said so tiredly as the shambling polluted creature was lead inside as it was just another day like any other. Nocturne was a Caretaker of rare pedigree who took her title seriously both within and beyond the literal definition one could say. A Caretaker is according to the mythos of cultures familiar with them, a being of great power who watch over and regulate the proper flow of time and space. Given her apparent knowledge and skill for her brand of healing, a process in which Nocturne will literally tear out injuries or diseases from the afflicted when possible, or otherwise dampening their effect on the body otherwise, she was a safe bet once the Golem had learned of her.

From conference with the Caretaker years later into his stabilization, The golem had learned a bit about the conditions of the friends and the world he left in his wake. Soon after his arrival Nocturne had immediately begun clean up work on the land he had razed, and furthermore had had contact with those he knew very well. The golem's closest ally, his favorite sparring partner, even the scholar that he had found himself where he was today were surviving to no ill result thankfully. The golem was pleased knowing this, but given her vagueness whenever certain questions came up, "Why can't you bring them here?" "Can we finish this any faster?" "Will it really be like I never left?" She eventually had to lay out her intentions. The Stone beast was to answer for the crisis he had produced; The capacity for ruin that he had achieved would never be reconciled. However, in spite of being a criminal, what Nocturne saw foremost was a dire sickness as the Fraying of the Golem's form was such a danger that taking him anywhere outside of this little bubble was practically an open invitation to more trouble than indefinite quarantine. "There was that luck of mine again" The golem bitterly grinned at the irony.

So began the slow and agonizing road Nocturne and the golem took to stabilizing this blight of a form he had invented. The exact details are of no real use to be noted, but as the treatment went on the title used in this forward to describe this person, the once slimelike and vicious fool thinking they could beat all odds who became a hollow reflection of that past in a shell of stone and ore, the title Golem is a fair fit. Over the course of years of detoxification, decades of the delicate balancing act between Flux and Static, and even centuries of self reflection, The Golem had all but become a new person entirely, something which had Nocturne not personally seen herself would believe as well.

Nearly three hundred years spent inside Dusk Valley, and The Golem was no longer a danger to himself or others encased in his armor of Static Resisting Colostone plating intrinsically laced with the Regenerative Void Metal woven throughout like a fine mesh, two components that when together counteract the effects of both destructive effects of the two coursing humours in due measures, severely hampering the effects on the environment as he passes through. Though functional and well fitting to motion, it was on the plain side as The golem mused before a quick rebuke. "A hazmat suit has no need to be eyecatching as long as it does its duty. If it does not meet your standards by all means consider how to decorate it to your tastes. You'll be using it for quite some time after all."

Those words perhaps said in jest did however confirm to both of them that the job had been done. Nocturne had successfully quelled the Fray and was fully prepared to see that the golem was dealt with. For his part the golem was ready to tackle the issue of his old home again. But despite his longing, he knew well enough what was in store. The second he stepped down in that world it was more that certain he would be fighting tooth and nail not just against Nocturne and whatever Caretaker armada has been set up to detain him, but his former camaraderie as well joining in to protect their home as well. If The golem had the heart to seriously fight those kinds of ranks anymore, his mind had long since taken over to analytical decision making over flight of fancy. Logistically his odds at success are at 0%, The Caretakers have turned the world into a bugtrap while they fix the world, and part of that involves seeing the Golem put somewhere very unpleasant for a very long time.

Knowing all this, the Armored Basin thinks carefully. How can he escape this situation? This begins the tale of his journey.