[Potatoman]

Several months ago:

There was a sudden blast of light, and consiousness abruptly returned to Tsagosh. He tried to move, tried to blink, but could not. There was an upwelling of panic, and Tsagosh retreated into his memories.

He had been surrounded on the sopping battlefield of Minz, hewing down scores of Ulmish Steel Warriors, but their legion was too vast and his position too exposed. He notched his blade taking the head off a warrior's maul, lost his shield to the constant shower of arrows, and lost his leg to a Ulmish greatsword. The victorious warrior stabbed through one of Tsagosh's hearts and charged off to the front, where the Mind Lords had just taken the field, leaving him to die. And then he had been somewhere else, back in Atlantis. It was as though he had returned to time before his adbuction, before his torture and enslavement at the tentacles of the Mind Lords. It was freedom. Then, suddenly, he was here. Paralyzed, helpless, and once again enslaved.

A wave of panic rose again, but Tsagosh drew strength from the memory of Atlantis, and forced himself to look about his surroundings. The room was large and well lit by candles, and the plumes of warm smoke issuing from them pooled beneath the thatch ceiling like the tentacles of a great gray jellyfish. The candles were placed around a dozen or so giant clay figures, laying upon slabs and attended by a wizened old slave witch.

"Ah, Prophet," said the slave "you're awake. I am Xi, the Golem crafter, your servant. Do not be alarmed. You probably have many questions; unfortunately, I may only answer two. The rest, you should save them for your communion with our master, Sijansur."

"Firstly, I know how you got here. Prophets of the true God aren't easy to come by and, fighting at the front lines like you do, the Mind Lords foresaw that his valuable property might become damaged. So he placed a subtle spell upon you- whenever your body dies, your brain reappears here in my lab. In this very jar, in fact." the slave gestured towards a distressingly small glass jar, similar to the kind fishermen use to store bait.

"Whereupon," the slave continued "this humble servant" a curtsy "is ordered to place it within a new body, a fresh engine of destruction for the heathen. And so I have Obeyed."

Tsagosh tried to reply but could not move his lips.

The mage chuckled. "Secondly, do not be worried. It will take time for your brain to adapt to its new vessel. You shall gain full use of your new body in a few weeks, but it will be necessary to re-train it for combat. I am sure that your master can tell you more than I of His plans for you, but he has hired a strange warrior from T'ien Ch'i to train you in their manner of bare-handed fighting. It sounds exciting."

She grinned, then glanced back towards the other unfinished giants.

"But I have my own tasks to accomplish, and my timetable is short. Try to rest, your holiness, if you can."

As the golem crafter returned to her work, Tsagosh returned to the memories of Atlantis. Someday, he would return.