Re: 2 Mirtul DR1368 - 'On the Horse you rode in on'
The Professor stood frozen on the deck, his expression aghast. The area behind him was a ruin, the wheel gone and a huge crater all that remained of the rear decking. Several cables connecting the balloon had been severed and now some of the air compartments were swinging free.
He turned slowly to observe the damage and the cliffs looming agonisingly closer. "Distance and velocity, height and rate of descent". He mumbled something else, but was distracted by Abbas' question.
"Forget that! We need to start shedding weight, now!" he shouted, suddenly springing into action. He unshouldered the metal device that had caused this chain of events and grunted as he heaved it over the gunwale. "Useless weapon!" he cursed as it plummeted towards the Shining Sea waves. "If we ever return to Calimport, never trust Igur Thimblevun, or his Baravar-damned inventions.
That!" he pointed at the ballista, ignoring Jibril's parachute question, "Get rid of it. And the bolts. Anything else that isn't bolted down and looks heavy, over the side, quick - we need altitude!"
Behind him inky smoke started drifting up from the crater. Of Ham and Jens there was no sign...
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 13:30, Sat 03 Dec 2011.