To Adventure!...?

With Omni directly administrating the work, the kitchen was quickly retrofitted once again to serve the now octet of golems. Once that was settled, the lively golem began redesigning and carving the new delivery golems. Everything was resolved within two hours, leaving Omni to pack... nothing, it didn't need to take anything with it. With a curt nod from Christoph and a 'be careful' from Valentina, Omni left and went back to the tower to inform Krave that it would venture outside the walls for an indeterminate amount of time.

The old demon frowned, "You're not... running away, are you?" He asks.

The line of doubt elicits a rare chuckle from Omni, "No, I quite like it here, I just need some... fresh air, I guess. Or a fresh perspective, I can't remember the last I wandered in the wild."

Krave nods sagely, then rummages around in his take, producing a small golden hexagon and proffering it to the wistful golem, "Take this, then, it will serve as proof, so you don't have to register at the adventurer's guild."

Omni takes the tiny thing and rolls it over in its hands, "A badge? I assume this identifies me as a member or property of yours or the tower?" It asks with slight disdain.

The demon shakes his head, "I already know you don't like the idea of being 'owned'; it has my magic signature and is simply a voucher of trust. Most guards shouldn't bother you unless you commit a crime with it on," he explains.

The golem seems slightly taken aback, "You would trust me so easily?"

Krave sighs as he eases himself into his seat, "A gut feeling, I suppose. Head to the south gate; I'll let them know to let you through. Try not to break too many rules, eh?"

Omni inspects the badge for a bit longer silently, then incorporates it into its lapel, matching the engravings on the badge with the stone surrounding it.

"It matches, how nice," Krave chuckles.

The golem awkwardly shuffles before turning to leave. Krave waves goodbye and says nothing more.

Walking through the streets with the badge on is an entirely different experience; despite how small the thing is, most people seem to spot it quite fast. Academic-types slow their hurried steps and acknowledge the golem with a nod, and patrolling guards only give a cursory glance before moving on.

After about fifteen minutes of walking, the buildings get smaller, changing from commercial and governmental to residential, with a few small shops dotted in-between. '𝘐 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘺,' Omni realizes before carving a miniature map on the stone surrounding its core.

Another bout of walking and the city walls come into view, roughly fifty feet tall according to Omni's estimation, with the golem surprised and confused on how it didn't see them sooner. The south gate was pretty large with a thick metal portcullis and a heavy drawbridge made of whole trees sanded down on the parts where you walk.

The guards operating the gate are different than those patrolling, looking more like proper knights in their full-plate and intimidating helmets. Most had fairly large builds and wielded bastard swords and longbows with small crossbows and shortswords on their hips.

Thinking about the war, it made sense to Omni that the gates were so heavily kitted and probably just as strict on who is let in or out. As they got closer, they could see that while the line wasn't very long, it was moving at a crawl. The gate guards checked and double-checked cargo, merchandise, and identification.

Just as Omni was internally sighing, one guard noticed it and waved it over. After scrutinizing the badge for a moment, the guard who stood two heads taller than everyone else there nods and grunts, "Old man says 'good luck,' head through that way," he growls, jabbing a thumb in the direction of small passage next to the open gate separated with an iron fence.

Omni decides it's better not to say anything and does as it's told, heading through the passage. Emerging on the other side, the golem is immediately greeted by a relatively deep moat. It follows the narrow path back onto the drawbridge and crosses without issue. A few younger people in the line grumble but are silenced when swatted by older merchants. Apprentices, it seems.

Now outside proper, Omni takes in its surroundings, massive trees almost as tall as the city walls and a mostly flat terrain that it could see. Quite a few trees are home to monstrous birds, but they seem to stay a reasonable distance away from the city. Turning back, the golem could see why. Massive ballistae emplaced every thirty meters or so aimed upwards, ready to shoot down anything without express permission to enter the city.

Omni pauses and starts running some numbers in its head.

'𝘐𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘨𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘤𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦... 𝘢𝘣𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘥, 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘴?'

The golem shook its head and looked further upward to the airships putzing around; perhaps some of those were meant for guarding the city as well.

Turning its attention back to the ground, the golem began to walk into the dense forest. The land may be flat, but the large roots made walking a chore. It could have taken the actual path through the trees, but it deemed that boring.

After ten minutes, Omni was rather annoyed, '𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘧... 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵.'

Omni slapped a hand to its face, the sound of stone on stone resounding through the empty forest before it began to shift its form.

'𝘐𝘧 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘴 𝘪𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦,' it sighed, moulding itself into a canine form with the golden badge decorating its left ear. At a distance, someone could mistake it for a large grey wolf, and maybe even at a closer distance as Omni takes the painstaking and unreasonable effort to simulate shiftable fur. The fact that the effect serves no purpose doesn't even cross its mind; Omni just likes the aesthetic. In its mind, it deems that since it has so much energy, it might as well put it to use.

After a few minutes of getting used to the motor functions of a canine body, Omni begins bounding through the forest with increasing speed, all the while keeping careful track of where it is and mapping out the area.