Erelmach's Prime

He awoke to the sound of whirring gears, hissing steam and crackling electricity. "There we are, nice and easy now." A nasally voice whispered. As his head turned left to right, scanning the room - his eyes came to rest on a short thing standing on some manner of stepladder, with big eyes and bushy hair over its mouth and chin, and the slightest puffs around the sides of its head. "That's right, take in your surroundings - calm and smooth." The little thing said while it scribbled away furiously at what appeared to be a stack of paper in its hands, mumbling to itself all the while. "Right! Now let's get you up," it called out as it scrambled down and out of sight. A brief sensation of loosening near his ankles, and he felt himself begin to lurch forward. On instinct his right leg flew forward and caught his momentum, the impact of his metal foot nearly cracking the stone floor he landed upon. "Not particularly graceful, but a far cry better than your brothers! Neither of them caught themselves the first time." More scribbling on the paper stack. "Now tell me 3, how do you feel?" Without long enough to think about how he would even begin to respond, he heard his own voice for the first time.

"Who... What...is three?" He asked slowly.

"You are, my boy! Just take a look for yourself." With some manner of hooked metal implement the small furry thing caught his wrist, and thrust a metal hand (his hand?) into view. Inscribed on the back of his left hand was the number 3.

"I am 3." he echoed.

"Yes! 3 is your name, and your number not that the two are mutually exclusive - in fact I've long considered -"

"Forgive me, who - or what - are you then?" 3 asked. It's rant interrupted, the small creature turned and looked up at him - the silence taking a moment to stretch in the early evening sun - before a smile crept onto his face and wrinkled his eyes.

"Not at all my boy, I will answer your questions in order of relevance. As to WHAT I am, I am a gnome- a rock gnome to be precise - as well as a citizen of Seth, capital of the empire. I am a machinist, mechanic, inventor and devoted high priest of Gond the Gearsmith, Wonderbringer and Holy Maker of All things. As to WHO I am, that answer varies uniquely depending on your relationship to the person who is asking. That being said - in this instance - it is far less important for you to know me by WHAT I am, because WHO I am... is your father." 3 was silent a moment, unfamiliar with the word. It suddenly dawned on him that some of the things this gnome had said to him already meant nothing to him, he could not place the significance of the words - while others he understood implicitly. He would have to take time to address that later. Considering the pause he took before saying it, the look in his eyes and on his face when he said it, it seemed to be a word of importance - one worth remembering.

"...Father?" 3 echoed again, trying to feel the weight of the word. He felt nothing when he said it, which evoked a brief feeling of disappointment. "What does that mean exactly?"

"Men have lived countless lifetimes trying to put an answer to that question into words. There are certain assumptions to be made about what it means practically to be a father. You provide for your children, raise them to know right from wrong, but a lot of what it MEANS is speculative in nature. On this rare occasion, however, it feels more appropriate to make a request of you - if you wouldn't begrudge it of me."

3 pondered this for a few moments, wanting to be certain of his response, "I don't suppose I would. What would you ask of me Father?"

The smile on Erelmach's face seemed to grow even wider - and a distinct spark, a new life, came to his eyes. "I would simply ask that you give me the time to show you what it means. I feel that in time your question will be answered sufficiently. Do you find that agreeable?"

"I believe I do. How do we begin? 3 asked, a strange sensation beginning to rise somewhere within him.

"I'm glad you asked my boy! First, you will meet your brothers," He turned and called over his shoulder "One! Two! Come meet your newest brother!" The door behind him practically splintered as it was shoved open with incredible force. Forcing his way through the door frame was another large metal individual, notably larger than 3 with thick solid metal covering what looked to be heavy metal joints. His arms almost reached the floor and every step he took resounded with a heavy clank. Practically gliding through the doorway behind him was a much slighter individual. They immediately stood out to 3 because it appeared that among the metal that covered parts of their body, large sections of them were what looked to be wood and even worked bone in certain areas. As the two of them came to stand before him, Erelmach cleared his throat, "Now then, this great hunk of metal and steam is your oldest brother. You may call him 1."

1 clapped a massive fist to his chest and nodded his head, when he spoke it was slow - deliberate words and his voice had a deep resonance. "It is good to meet you at last, 3."

"And this delightful patchwork is 2. You'll notice he has a very different body type from the two of you, which I found best facilitated the abilities I had hoped for him to learn."

2 clasped his hands behind his back and bowed slightly from the waist. Without the largely metallic bodies of either 1 or 3, his voice came out quieter and lacking resonance, "I look forward to getting to know you 3, you are a most welcome addition to our family."

"These are your brothers 3, and - Gond willing - there will be more of you. While each you of will have different responsibilities, and different capabilities, I nevertheless present you all with a single common mandate. You are always to look after each other. I hypothesize that when the day comes that I am no longer here to guide you, you all will have a great many years left without me. It is my greatest aspiration that when that day comes, you will all be well prepared to carry on. Now off with the two of you, 1 you have training with the soldiers and 2 you have studies to attend to with Azzam."

"Yes father," they replied in unison, turning to leave.

"Father, what is to be my responsibility?" 3 asked as his new brothers closed the door behind them.

"Well first we'll have to put you through some tests and evaluations, but if you can do the things that I believe you to be capable of then I'll present you to Emperor Zidehon Sethi. After that you'll be introduced to a young lad named Kassim - I believe the two of you will get along famously."