In reply to Danyka Ydrasyl (msg # 369):

Considering Danyka's words, left a dry mouth for the Arcane Mechanik.

Danyka, if we helped the Prince with a revolt, we may get so embroiled in the politics that we don't get to have fun. However, our friends on Rish would surely like another visit but we would have to be even more careful, surely they deserve warning of what is occuring on that island we have just been to.

He enjoyed the leader of Rish's company and his present, the steam gun, what he wasn't so sure of because of what seemed to be going on in the background, was if they would still be welcomed, especially if it had gotten out about the steam gun.  The translation amulet had come in very handy too.

He was sure the upgrades were done and the wings had been maintained.

Your orders Danyka?

In reply to Tealon Holdron (msg # 370):

Ioelenna stands comfortably nearby listening.

"So, no secret orders then," Nicollo spoke up. "Doesn't surprise me. We were a test case... to see if we could be trusted... could succeed."

"We can and we did, so the surprise will be all theirs."

"As for your idea, Dany... it's not as far-fetched as you seem to think. Remember, the Sea Cutter is a very successful trade ship. It's been bringing back rich cargo for a few years now, which is why we were sent to find it."

"We now know what happened to it, and we know why. There's still trade to be done, but it may not go any better the next time than it did this time. Yeah, they can send more than one ship, with more guards, but that just means our Promaxim will have to up his game."

"What I'm saying is... taking out this Promaxim will keep the trade ship safe."

"Sure, we weren't specifically told to do that, but we also weren't told to leave well enough alone. If we'd been regular military, someone would have been given extensive orders to do things just like that. Keep the ship safe, rescue the crew, and stop any opposition to the trade. There's no way command could have anticipated this situation."

"It's almost amusing that Captain Flagg didn't bother giving us any such orders."

"I'm in no hurry to go back, so whatever you want to do is golden with me."

Having been a few days since leaving the island where the other crew had been captive, Tealon looked over the work he had been doing in the mean time. He wasn't sure if The Resolute had changed course or continued home, he wasn't sure if The Seacutter had gone its own way either, the Arcane Mechanik had almost locked himself in the hold with his wagon and his 'toys', not having a need to 'stretch his wings' he smirks to himself at the thought as no one had taken him up on the offer to practice, he put it down to being at see instead of land.

Venturing back on deck, steam gun in hand,  wings and steam tank on his back, he found a space, a space wide enough to take flight. Time to practice with both inventions. The tank was lighter than the original and had a few other improvements, he'd sorted most of that before rescuing the crew.

Danyka pursed her lips lightly as she surveyed the others.  She'd been quite quiet during Nicollo's speech about what their orders could be interpreted as and more importantly what their duty might be.  A slightly bemused smile touched her lips, as she noted casually, "You'll all become proper conspirators in time..."  The issue being, of course, that the young Llaelese gentlewoman had already been convicted of treason in her homeland.  There'd been a reason that she'd was on the lam and trying to sneak her way to Corvus, when she'd been swept up in a raid and effectively press-ganged into the Iron Fist.  The gallows hadn't been in her plans; so, Dany wanted to keep her neck out of the noose.

But here she was.  Contemplating throwing her lot (and the rest of the Iron Fisters) into another fray in this land far from home.  The thin Rynnish gun mage turned to look out over the rolling waves for a moment.  Standing on the deck of the Seacutter with the ocean spray upon her face, Dany closed her eyes and contemplated, Is it as simple as Nicollo makes it?

She took in a deep breath, which caused her slight frame to shudder and her black woolen travel cloak ripple in the breeze.  "Okay."  Danyka breathed out with some finality, "I ... I have little desire to return to our superiors at this time; I suspect that they will simply send us out on another mission - though perhaps one closer to home.  But, I also recognize that we may be venturing outside of our explicitly stated mandate ..." and she glanced in the direction of Nicollo, "despite the assurance of our Thurian colleague."

Up until now, Dany's expression had been genial enough, but it grew more serious, "He is correct that the Seacutter should not return empty-handed, if possible.  And that the protection of the major assets which are both seafaring vessels and their technologies is part of our orders."  Her deep green eyes fell upon each of her companions in turn, as well as the assembled command crews of two vessels, "Both ships need to resupply for any long term action.  I propose that we open discussions with the Rish, Khuno Manco and her people, and the Prince concerning supplies and further trade; this will need to be done quietly and quickly."

"The Seacutter will go to the Rish, both as proof of our prowess and our word." Dany noted, "And in preparation to return to Immoren."  She let that latter sink in, then pushed on, "Anyone that has any qualms about what we are embarking on should return with them and report back our progress.  Returning home, will mean a promotion given the success of this part of the mission.  You can even report on our plans here; I will make them clear.  Some of us will remain to ensure the continued safety of our people and ourselves.  I don't have the authority to pardon or release any of you from the Iron Fist; I can only offer you the chance to leave now - you will be given safe passage back to Immoren.  If you remain in Zu, you will continue to remain under my command and subject to my interpretation of our orders."

Another thoughtful, deep breath followed as she measured her words, "Have no doubt, if you remain, you will be required to engage in an actions that could - nay, probably will - get you killed.  Think hard, for I only want those committed to remain - we cannot afford dissenters or deserters; our presence here requires us to cover each others backs.  If you are harboring ideas of setting up your own pocket empire far from home, get over it.  Do it somewhere else.  Because we can't afford you as a liability."  Her lips pressed thin as she paused for a moment, before continuing with a harsh, hushed intensity, "And know that we are, in no uncertain terms, already plotting the overthrow of one despot."  The implication being, anyone else that became an issue would be blacklisted as well; they just couldn't afford that type of insubordination or dissension in the ranks.

"The Resolute will remain here, near the promaxim, to work with Manco's people and the Prince."  Dany then proposed, "We'll need to get up to speed quickly on the lay of the land.  Only then can we decide on a decisive plan of action.  But, rest assured:  we will act."  Her expression was a touch troubled, for it lay in teh back of her mind that niggling sense that she was never to see Llael again.  She'd been resigned to that fact all those years ago when that frightened girl had first fled into the dark and perilous night.  But, there was something that felt much more final (perhaps even fatal) here.

"That is all for now." and Dany adjourned the meeting and turned back to stare out at the open ocean once more, resolving to meet with everyone individual to discuss matters both personal and professional within the next day or two.  She needed personal commitments here, not mob rule.

---

The thin Llaelese gun mage was up early the next morning.  Wearing little more than her dark woolen breeches, light silken tunic, and her tailored, padded fencing vest and gloves, Dany had been practicing with her curved Elven fencing blade for more than an hour before the sun came up.  The blade whipped back and forth in an accelerating dance of burnished silver and steel.  The morning air was crisp with salty tang, but it had a slight oily odor from the thin protective coating Danyka had applied to prevent oxidation.  The perspiration glistened upon her brow as she moved with a measure and tightly controlled precision through a common set of technical movements; she'd done them hundreds of times before almost without thought.  The drills helped her focus.  The drills molded her resolve.  The drills gave everything that she did (and was) an edge.

Danyka knew the score.  She'd spoken to a number of the crew already and they would be losing some people.  The wounded and injured.  The homesick.  The untrustworthy.  The thin Rynnish brunette had expected it; it only remained to see what final numbers would be; she'd never asked for the job.  But, she'd still see it done to the best of her abilities...

Listening to Danyka reminded Tealon of one of the reasons he was part of the Iron Fist.

"Danyka, the Resolute will need more fuel to keep going, my reckoning is there is just enough fuel to get back not including what I brought with me. We will need to negotiate for supplies."

Looking around at the ship, at least there were some methods of moving, this was used on this journey already.

"There are posibilities but they will need working on"

"I don't think we were ever expected to survive our stint in the Iron Fists," Nicollo replied, "so danger is a way of life for us now."

"What about using the lightning gun?" he then asked Tealon. "That's power to run the ship's engines, right?"

Sometimes I must be so focusedd on a project that I forget about other things. There is a posibility that something can be worked.

Tealon collects his thoughts and does the inventory of new equipment and how they have been modified.

Thinking of the Steam Gun, the Thurian considered whether he could replicate the power system to a larger version in order to power the Resolute as Nicollo suggested.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:14, Sat 27 Jan 2018.

At Danyka's words, Khuno Manco smiles.

"Do you intend to assassinate the promaxim?" she asks. "Or are you planning a political campaign against him?"

"He has many allies, and much power. Not enough to overthrow our ruler, but with your ship and its secrets, he may have had that."

"I am sorry that your fellow countryman had to be killed to keep him from divulging secrets to Verlo. Verlo's ambition currently exceeds his grasp, but, if he lived long enough, he would have conquered us, the neighboring nations, and probably would have tried to conquer your homeland. Even then, I doubt if he would have been satisfied, and would have looked for even more things to conquer."

"If he has a weakness, it is his love of playing the political game. Pulling strings, manipulating people, political machinations... it is all a gigantic chess game to him."

"However, I caution you that he is very good at it. He has spies everywhere."

She glances around for a moment before her smile returns.

"Except here. I also suspect that you working as a team might be able to best him at his game, for he only sees a single opponent because he would never trust anyone to be his partner... would not accept anyone as his equal, and certainly not acknowledge that anyone is his superior."

"It is the main reason he wants to be ruler. He believes he is better qualified to rule."

Whilst the conversation continues between Khuno and Danyka, Tealon works on the steam gun. Feeling as though he could get the weapon improved greatly as he was in the process of doing, he also felt that by taking the steam engine out, he could better understand it and thus make further improvements given enough resources.

Finally plucking up the gumption to take the gun apart, laying each bit aside seperately on an exploded diagram map, he knew he could put it all back together again and better.

Working with the ships engineer, the Arcane Mechanic worked to incorporate the steam engine with the ship, taking measurements, calculations and drawings as he went.

When one of the Iron Fist walks passed and looks quizzically at him, he exclaims We don't need the gun as much as we need the power for the ship hoping this would explain enough.

"I've encountered men like this promaxim before," Jheridan quips up. "Never had to deal with him directly, but saw friends of mine get destroyed."

"The trick to besting him is to let him think he's always got the upper hand, which he expects, until the very end, and that's when you pull the rug out from under him."

"Your words are wise, Master Jheridan," Khuno responds, "but doing as you suggest is easier said than done."

"It is true that you have this marvelous ship, but I do not see how you can use it to do what you say."

"He is unapproachable in his fortress, and has far too many guards with him when he leaves. Had I known you would take such an action, I would have encouraged you to so act while we were there."

"He will be doubly on guard now."

"Your course of action is... strange... to me, to anyone that lives here. Yes, we have tales of heroes, but they are old tales of times long gone. No one would think of such an action in these times. They would run away as far and as fast as they can. Or else they just stay and put up with it."

Tealon, with some helpful input from Gorren before he left on the other ship, realizes that the power source from the steam gun can be used to power the ship, but at no point will it be able to generate enough power to get a lot of speed out of the ship. On the other hand, it won't run out of 'coal' any time soon.

There is a slight work-around: a secondary boiler. What this would do is allow the steam to be generated (and maintained) in the second boiler while still running the ship. Then, should more power or speed be needed suddenly, the secondary boiler can be deployed.

In reply to GM StarMaster (msg # 383):

Tealon gets on with configuring the necessary modifications.

Over the next few days to a week, little is seen of Tealon on deck unless he is carrying some connective piping or containers from below.  Taking his work very seriously, he formulates, checks and double checks all his schematics before starting and then amends as he goes along.

If anyone would like to give me a hand, learn or just keep me company, please feel free to join me whilst I work.  Shouldn't take to long if I get some help, besides, it'll also mean I can explain how the steam gun, wings and the new engine system will work so if it needs tweaking when I'm asleep, I can stay asleep.  He says the last part with a twinckle in his eye.

"I can give you a hand," Nicollo offers, "and maybe learn something in the process."

"I know the bodgers kept a pile of scrap metal on the ship, but is that going to be enough to make that secondary boiler? I like the idea of being able to get an unexpected burst of speed when we need it."

"How do you plan on handling the controls? Got something in mind to connect it to the bridge, or will we need to keep someone down here to throw the switch?"

In reply to Nicollo Baldino (msg # 386):

Thank you Nicollo, I was thinking of a lever or switch. There should be enough good metal to make a decent sized boiler. There are enough pipes to create the connections.

There are always workers by the engines for the coal, as long as the same connections and process are used, it shouldn't change much. Need to top up the water now and again

Tealon worked and showed Nicollo and a couple of engine workers how things worked, what the process would be, eventually it all came together.

"If it is permitted, I should like to learn," Khuno also offers. "If this is sacred or secret lore that you cannot share with an outsider, I understand. Temple mysteries are not for the initiates."

"I would be interested in hearing how you came by the Wings of Waundu, if that is not a secret, too."

In reply to Khuno Manco (msg # 388):

Looking over at Khuno, the Arcane Mechanik considered her request, unsure if this additional knowledge may throw the balance in these lands so far to the South. There was something he could talk about though.

The wings! Oh, is that what they are called, what do you know of them?

Making the boilers would not be out of order for you to learn, not so sure of the connections and power source though, not that I know lots about them, I just know my stuff.

The wings though! Came to us a good few days before we encountered you in the town, we were attacked by a little over a handful of land people all wearing these, these "Wings of Waundu", we managed t aquire a few sets. I've been practicing lots as well as researching them. he tried to sense her motives as she watched him and Nicollo work.

"That is what the Kinzata call the wings," Khuno replies. "The Kinzata are the people of the mountain, and Waundu is deity they worship."

"Rumor has it that a wise man once studied the flight of the condors for 17 years before he figured out how to make wings that let him do the same."

"They are very skilled at flying with them, and no one has been able to capture a pair of wings before. They never come down from the mountains. I wonder why they attacked you?"

In reply to Khuno Manco (msg # 390):

Surprised us a bit too, we thought they were birds first and then that the wings were attached. Have you studied these people? They attacked with spears.

"Although the Promaxim did not seem to be aware of your coming," Khuno said, "the only explanation I can think of is that he had some sort of arrangement with the Kinzata. He may have promised them something in return, or convinced them that you had much treasure."

"If you can navigate by night, I would suggest you sail away out of sight of all the places around here, and then return after dark. The village of Coslok on the other side of the Promaxim's fortress might be an option. They have suffered much at his hands, so would be prone to aid you, but there's always the possibility of someone turning you in."

"Another option would be the village of Manarwen just up the coast here. They would probably help you, but are less likely to betray you."

In reply to Khuno Manco (msg # 392):

Interesting, what's everyone else think?

In reply to Tealon Holdron (msg # 393):

" Hmm, coast sounds cool. "

Ioelenna shrugs.