Helka's Notes

Helka's Notes

Giant Mechanical Monster A mostly grey-white machine capable of flexibly changing its shape. It glows when active, and has a varied set of attacks. They say that its proper name is "Secret Source Automaton: Configuration Device," and that it is not a creation of the Natlanese, but rather a surviving relic of more ancient times. The patterns on its outer casing are quite familiar. I've seen relics of a similar style in Nod-Krai. Perhaps the little island we live on is like a big ship, and was once linked to Natlan, only to be dragged off northward by some gargantuan deep sea creature with its fins, claws, or tentacles... or something, which might explain why the area in which we can find similar things is so tiny. (This must be kept secret from Katya, alright? When I get back, and you get a bit better, we'll go to the island of the Frostmoon Scions and compare the relics there to my pictures of this giant device. We'll see how similar they are then... and of course, we'll have to find a good alibi to present to Katya, alright?) Giant Centaur Statue A stone sculpture known as the Legatus Golem. It stands with its head held high, a shield in its left hand and a sword in its right, like a forgotten work of art in an ancient castle that has suddenly come to life. He (or perhaps "it"?) tramples his base in a cloud of shattered stone and dust, but it waits for the dust to settle before it starts attacking — an honorable opponent indeed. Its moves are also very different from those of your average mechanical monster. Sometimes, you can almost imagine it giving orders to charge like a military commander, and at others, it almost seems to be playing a melody. I'm no good at music, though, so if there was any significance to the tune, I wouldn't hear it anyway. I've heard that there are ruins of sunken Remuria in still deeper regions of the sea. Though I wasn't able to visit them this time, I did collect quite a number of legends and related texts, which I'll have to find the time to commission a merchant caravan to bring back. I know you've always loved stories of these ancient kingdoms, and I hope you'll enjoy these. Giant Ball of Water The Hydro Tulpa is a humanoid creature formed through the coalescence of water. It has neither a fish tail nor legs, very different from the purewater spirits that Katya's told stories about, but its upper limbs and head are human-like, while the latter and its joints are covered in a blue-white shell that resembles armor. In combat, it summons smaller balls of water, miniature versions of itself, to assist it, and will sometimes swallow those smaller water-balls to enhance its own strength. I've heard that Fontaine's waters are very special, which is why it can birth Oceanids capable of speech. But it seems that the Hydro Tulpa cannot speak, or does not wish to. Or perhaps we just don't understand its words... Giant Crab A giant crab with the cool title, "Emperor of Fire and Iron." Legend has it that, being an Armored Crab, it habitually searches for suitable shells to wear as armor as it grows, and that if it is not stopped, it might grow indefinitely, even to the point that it could someday wear the Palais Mermonia (the biggest structure in Fontaine City, a place where every building is huge!). But it seems that at some point in time, someone named Basil Elton defeated it, which might explain how its inexorable growth was brought to a halt. I think it's big enough as it is, to be perfectly honest. One wonders whether it or the hypothetical deep sea beast is larger, though my bet would be on the latter, considering how it could drag a whole island around (assuming my island drift hypothesis holds water, of course)!