Other than through magical means, of which you haven't seen all that much blatant use, the ship is likely to get to the Azultec before any message could be sent overland, and, as you've already seen, the Zu don't have any ships of the capabilities and certainly not the speed of your ship.

Thus, an ambush at some point isn't too likely, but it's still a remote possibility.

As the ship sails away from Rish, it occurs to you that you've just increased Rish's importance and stature, since you aren't planning on visiting the mainland. No doubt someone will be dispatched to Rish to find out what happened.

And there probably will be some disappointed people on the mainland, too.


Within two hours, you are out of sight of Zu again. Captain Grant suggested heading away from Zu as if you'd received bad news, and then doubling back southward to head for Azultec.

The next couple of days will be routine life aboard ship.

The rest of the day passes uneventfully, and the captain posts an extra watch at night, mostly because the seas your sailing through are known, so unknown shoals and reefs, unknown threats and foes.

With some relief, the night also passes without incident. As dawn begins creeping over the eastern horizon, you can see that the land has undergone a bit of transformation. It has risen up from rocky hills to dark craggy mountains. A few of the peaks appear to have snow on them.

Also, whereas the rocky hills went right down to the water, the mountains have a narrow coastal plain before reaching the sea.

The captain has kept the ship far enough out that it might not be readily spotted from the land, but, through the spyglass, you can see a number of small communities dotting the plains. They appear to be villages of herders, ranchers and some farming. There is nothing that appears to be a city, and no fortresses are visible.

Tealon has been trying to make some healing balms with his alchemy, when lady is once again spotted, he will transform his workshop/wagon back to cloth.

15:13, Today: Tealon Holdron rolled 35 using 1d20+15.  Craft Alchemy- Ansleigh's Wound Seal (Healing Balms) & Corben’s Curative Elixirs.
Wow, natural 20, there's a first time for everything. Also have Maximised Alchemy Feat.

Maybe it's the fresh sea air that promotes his efforts, but he is able to produce twice as many items.

Bosh and Marco were sampling the case of wine that was given to you by the Rishans when Marco realized that the case seemed rather heavy for just some bottles of wine. A sober investigation indicated that the case was deeper than it needed to be, though it was possible that there was a second layer of bottles.

Under the straw that protected the bottles was a 'false' bottom. It wasn't really meant to be secret, and could easily have been intended to hold more bottles, but that's not what is down there.

What is down there is one of the steam guns!

Tealon is below deck having just put his wagon away. Otherwise he would jump at the opportunity to investigate.

Stays out of the way cleaning weapons and checking gear.

In reply to Tealon Holdron (msg # 74):

Ioelenna doesn't care about the ship she wants to continue her mission.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:29, Wed 09 Sept 2015.

Lounging in the rigging while oiling his pistols, Jheridan glances below as he hears a bit of a murmur begin.  Reordering his kit, he moves quickly to the deck and makes his way toward the sound.  Glancing over the shoulder of a fellow onlooker, Jheridan raises an amused eyebrow.

"Now that probably isn't supposed to be there, I would think."

The normal clamour of the ship seems to change and congregate, as though a sighting of some creature or a ship. This brings Tealon back into the world at large and gets him curious. No shouts to the rigging or guns!

He makes his way to the commotion and presses forward to glimpse what everyone el.... Wow, how did that get passed the guards? he thought to himself.

"How did that get onboard?" the questioned seemed almost rhetorical as it was with the wine bottles. It seems Corben is looking favourably on us this journey."

Once Marco and Bosh had summoned her to take a look at wine case, Danyka had come immediately.  Having seen what was in there, she took her tricorne hat off and ran her suede-covered fingers through her hair for a moment.  Once she had reset her ponytail, Tealon had already wandered by.  It looked like the young man would get his wish.

"Mr. Holdron." the Rynnish brunette called out after a thoughtful pause, "Please take this artefact below for study.  We need to know what makes it tick.  Potential strengths and weaknesses."  She gave the arcane mechanik a serious, if slightly grim, expression, "Nothing destructive.  I want it to remain intact and in working order."  Her tone seemed adamant, making her implied meaning apparent: that if was going to take it apart, he'd better be good enough to put it back together.

"If you need assistance," the Llaelese gun mage offered, "let me know."  While Danyka wasn't a slouch when it came to small arms, but she suspected that her knowledge likely paled in comparison to the likes of Tealon.

Tealon bows gracefully and takes the stream gun in hand. I shall take great care of this and ensure it works as good or better when I have finished.

With that said, Tealon goes back to the space he found to do his alchemy, once more brought forth his wagon and tools, then set about understanding the new equipment.

Searching through his notes and knowledge of Mechanika, Tealon set about examining this strange device.
19:29, Today: Tealon Holdron rolled 18 using 1d20+12.  Knowledge (Mechanika).

On examination he could see the similarities for Mechanika stopped with steam and continued with those most precious of commodities, guns.


19:33, Today: Tealon Holdron rolled 30 using 1d20+15.  Craft (Gun smithing) [using his tools, this becomes a 32 as they give a +2 bonus]

Figuring out how the steam gun works it relatively easy. What's not easy is determining the materials being used.

The gun is a standard gun like any normal handgun, with the exception of the front grip and the cylinder.

The front grip is there for stability, since the gun is probably capable of rapid fire.

The cylinder is compartmentalized such that each chamber can hold 3 standard bullets. When the cylinder is rotated, one of the chambers aligns with the barrel and a burst of steam is sent through the chamber, launching the bullet down the barrel just like the explosive in a normal gun.

The steam comes from the pack worn on the back. It is fed through a flexible tube that connects the pack to the gun.

The pack appears to be made of a strong, thin, reasonably-lightweight metal, probably a steel of some sort. The pack has three compartments--top, middle and bottom. The bottom is the smallest, and seems to be made of thicker steel. At least, that's where the most weight is.

The middle chamber holds water. Once you place water in it through a valve, another valve can be manually activated that releases the water into the bottom chamber where it is converted to steam. The steam then rises upward and is stored in the top chamber. It is then released down the hose to the gun.

Considering how small the bottom compartment is, and other tests Tealon and Bosh are to conduct, they are convinced that there is a quantity of celebur in there. They have no idea how much, as the exact properties of celebur are not known.

A wild guess indicates that there is a tube running from the water chamber into the bottom and forms a coil. As the water passes through this coil, the celebur heats it up and turns it  into steam. The celebur would work best if it was in the shape of a rod and the coil was wrapped around it. Five ounces of celebur would probably do the trick.

The entire device does not come apart in any way. All the seams are welded together.

With the information gleaned from his study of the steam gun and conferring with Bosh, Tealon sets about drawing the schematics and preparing notes for the potential of making one of these, or a better one.

Tealon has found a purpose and feels he must continue to experiment and design. Being completely aware of the implications in Danyka's words, he sets the original aside to work on a new one.

Tealon and Bosh, with some assistance from Gorren, study the steam gun mechanism. There's not too much to learn without taking it apart, but some knowledge is learned. The tank is welded together so that there's nowhere for the steam to leak out. There's a ribbed interior bracing to increase the strength of the tank.

Adding water is easy to do. The valve on the gun end can be studied, so that you have a good idea of how to make one.

The only thing you can't figure out is what the internal valve is like.

It'll take about a week to build one of  your own, and then you'd have to come up with some sort of valve, plus a heating source.


It's two days at sea now, and everyone is starting to get more wary, as you should be approaching Azultec lands at any time. Perhaps that's why someone spots the birds.

They are getting larger, which means they are approaching. They are coming from the land, and there are a dozen of them. It doesn't take long for them to get close enough to see through a spyglass that they are people... warriors by the look of them.... with wings. They have to get even closer to realize they are artificial wings.

They carry a quiver with javelins, a crossbow, and a longsword.

In reply to GM StarMaster (msg # 82):

Ioelenna looks at the artificially winged enemy and smiles evilly.


As cold as Nyssar and her season is, my heart is warmed at the thought of target practice.

This message was deleted by the player at 15:30, Tue 22 Sept 2015.

In reply to GM StarMaster (msg # 82):

Tealon thought long and hard, then inspiration arrived on his shoulder, the little clockwork mite he made during his training, that could check the inside of the container, hopefully! Maybe, he said, more to himself than the mite, I should name you one day…

When the call went up about the incoming 'birds men', he considered his options and bidding his fellows excuse him, he mumbled a few words, then vanished.

"I shall have your backs my friends, be assured of that". He then went up on deck, crossbow in hand, the attached box ready with normal bolt but the one loaded was, as he had come to carry since this threat of an attack from another ship, an incendiary bolt. Seems perfect for a winged beast!

Walking over to the Iron Fists leader, he stood over an arms length from the Gun Mage, coughed slighted and spoke "Tealon ready for your orders. I shall watch out ready, just in case."

"That," the thin Rynnish gun mage stated ominously, as she watched the cadre of armed, winged men approach, "looks ominous."  Her brow was furrowed slightly and her lips were pressed into a thin, tight moue as she peered through her extended spyglass at the flying figures.

Part of her was impressed, she'd love to have had the ability to fly.  Part of her dreaded such a meeting, for if it turned violent, the dozen with the third degree of freedom in their movement would have a distinct advantage.  She checked to see the demeanor and disposition of the dozen that were flying towards them.

Hearing the eagerness of some of her other teammates with respect to an armed conflict, Danyka grimaced slightly.  The lithe Llaelese woman held out a gloved hand, palm downwards - a gesture for the others to stand down until she could make her assessment better, "Don't draw until we know they are aggressive.  They could simply be an envoy...."

But she had to concede.  "However," Dany noted with a slight sigh, "if they are out for blood - I want one or more sets of those wings for study."  It was a simple and direct order ... with implications.  Like the battle with the Sahuagin, prisoners were preferable.  And like the interaction with the Rish, intact new tech to study was always a bonus.  She motioned for her fellow Fisters to disperse around the deck and not clump, though she kept close to Rrger, Marco, and the Captain of the Resolute to present group for their counterparts to approach (or target) easily.

Honestly, Danyka hoped that it would not come to blows, but the pit in her gut told her otherwise.  As an Initiate of Morrow, she'd abhored violence; and yet, she found herself consigned to the Iron Fist, all of whose members were chosen for that 'special' duty assignment not for their gentle natures...

"Understood" was the only word 'Blaster' needed to utter. He was of like mind regarding having a set of what ever it was these 'people' were using to be in the air with.

Having figured out the strange guns, he was looking forward to diving into another project of strange , alien technology.

From where he was tending some rope near the mast, Jheridan watches intently as the flyers come closer.  Drawing his pistols and doing a quick inspection before returning them to their holsters was a somewhat redundant gesture as the magelock pistols were connected to his mind and he knew every piece and weld by heart... But it made him feel better.

Marco was also of mixed thoughts towards the flyers. On the one hand, if they were merely envoys, one or two would have been sufficient. A dozen flyers might be justified if the tech behind the wings was at risk, but it looked like a raiding party to Marco.

It would mark him as a target, but he decided to climb the mast to the crow's nest and give himself a better vantage point.

"Perhaps one of them will be foolish enough to fly close enough to get captured," he calls out as he begins to climb. He was mildly glad that this new enemy did not wield firearms.

Once the winged flyers get within striking range, they peel off into three groups of 4 and swerve off in different directions. The central group flies up again to get more elevation and to give the other two groups time to get into position.

Then the leftmost group dives on the ship, followed closely by the right group. They never dive close enough to get within melee range.

The first group sweeps over the ship, but doesn't attack. The second group sweeps over the ship half a minute later, but also doesn't attack. The third, central, group is still hovering out of range.

Watching the aerial display, Jheridan tries to imagine a similar tactic on land.

"Trying to gauge our range...or possibly our intent, I'd wager."

"Aye," Katrin agreed with Jheridan. "And close scouting... to see what we have worth stealing, to estimate our numbers and evaluate our weapons."

"I'm not sure they are familiar with firearms. I would think they'd have at least one if they were. Then again, it may be a weight issue. Guns and ammo are heavy, and it might be hard to reload while flying."

I voice as though coming from the air itself but a familiar voice, Tealon observes "If the only firearms they have are steam, then yes, definitely a weight issue. I've seen predatory birds swoop like that in the hills. They won't know our true number."

Danyka nodded grimly to the others assessment of the potential motives of the birdmen.  But the tall Rynnish brunette held her ground, remaining 'on display' for the flying men to approach.

Her hands were held casually at her side, but her reinforced buff coat remained draped over the pistols at her hips.  She could do nothing - and did nothing - to hide the fact that the thin curved, elvish blade remained at her side as well, the scabbard and hilt of the sword peeking out from that same greatcoat.

She continued to monitor the three groups in the air with the naked eye having returned her collapsible spyglass to her leather pack slung over her shoulder.