The Winds of Oblivion

[Pent]

Zeph smiles warmly.

But inside he's so confused.

His experiment indeed returned the best kind of result, the unexpected kind! Apparently long times are the goal. But the captain had said that no one remembers what the initiation consists of. So, either they have been told what happened behind the door, or they just decided its some kind of endurance test without ever knowing what's really happening. Sailors applying any meaning to the unknown just to give it a frame of reference is practically maritime law, so Zeph is hoping that's all he's seeing here.

The opposite means what despite all his questions he still didn't learn what's happening...

Unless...

There are ranks in the order. Maybe he'll learn what happens during the initiation when he reaches a higher rank. This is another acceptable explanation, in his mind. And the fake smile he had on while he pondered turned into a real smile.

[AlphaLuke]

The meal tastes better with friendly faces, and all the officers take their turn congratulating their two new mates in their own way. Even Mournholdt gives a firm handshake to each man and a nod to the lion. When the food is finished, Alessia sends most of the officers to bed, only asking Mournholdt, Zeph, and Storms to stay awake for the first duty shift.

"Zephyr, I need you to take a look as some of the charts of this area. What we have, at least. They aren't well explored. That's part of why you're on first shift. We need you rested in the morning so you can take a quick glance of the nearby islands. Archie and the Captain tell me you're comfortable in the air, so we're going to need you scouting at altitude. Let us know if you find anything notable. Resources, settlements, hazards, etc. The more knowledge the better."

"Storms, I need you and handsome," she smiles warmly at Scar-eye, "to disembark and scout the immediate area. I know it's dark, but that should provide you the cover you need to move slowly and quietly. Let us us know if you spot or smell anything nearby. If you run into trouble, send up some sort of signal light with your spellwork. Got it?"

Alessia entertains any questions the two might have before dismissing them to their tasks.

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Zeph, I need Knw Geography tonight and Fly and Perception checks in the morning.

Storms, I'll need Survival, Stealth, and Perception checks from both you and the kitteh.

[Pent]

Zeph quickly examines the maps. At first he was going to ask how far out he'd have to search, but he realizes that its a stupid question. It's a not a distance question. It's a velocity question. How much ground can he cover in his short flight span? 6 minutes a day isn't a whole lot.

He thanks Alessia, retires to his cabin, where he plots out the most efficient route island hopping, estimating how much ground he can cover in his short time tomorrow.

Then he falls asleep in his hammock.

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I'll get all 3 checks out of the way now.
Knw Geography (1d20+8)[18]
Fly (1d20+22)[40]
Perception (1d20+15)[26]

[DeathbyFlossing]

”Yes, Sir,”Storms says as he snaps off a salute. “Come on Scar, let’s go take a look around.”

Storms makes sure all his gear is where it should be and walks down onto the beach.

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skill checks for Storms: Perception (1d20+11)[16], Stealth (1d20-8)[7], and Survival (1d20+9)[25], skill checks for Scar-Eye Perception (1d20+7)[27], Stealth (1d20)[19], and Survival (1d20+7)[23]

[DeathbyFlossing]

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Also, have my spell points and stuff reset from the rest I had in the infirmary?

[AlphaLuke]

Zeph does the calculations, thinking over and over how would be the best way to see the most land with his limited flying time. The speed at which he can move, while useful in combat, is not suited for long soaring. He falls asleep slightly uneasy about the task ahead of him, but excited for the morning.

Storms and Scar-eye make their way off the ship and into the dark of the island. As Scar-eye prowls ahead, his chuffs and growls alert Storms to any potential pitfalls or hazards in the way. The lion moves like a shadow, barely disturbing the grass he walks through. Storms, however, moves like he's strapped windchimes to his arse. Vaguely, he wonders if he should have removed his armor before coming on this mission, but just saunters on noisily through the wilderness anyway. In his scouting, he finds a smooth pool of seemingly fresh water, several rocky outcrops, and a complete lack of habitation.

When Storms returns, he reports his findings to Alessia (the officer on duty) and makes his way to his new officer's cabin in the mid-deck.

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Storms, you had the size of your character still at large. That's why you were at a -8 Stealth. Next time, just remember to turn off the buffs after combat.

You had not regained your spell points in the infirmary, but will the following night.

As you all sleep, something very important happens. You gain a level!!!

Zeph, I'll let you keep that prodigious Fly check, but you can ask anyone you like for advice or help extending your flight time.

[DeathbyFlossing]

Storms-As-He-Walks sleeps. In his dream, he stands at the mouth of a cave. Behind him, his clan- Owl Caller, Grin Eyes, Blood Rider, Hearth Tender, and all the others- shelter, while before him waves of enemies assault him, trying to breach past Storms’ guard to reach the people he loves. But he stands as a mountain, upon which they break. He defends them. He is a hero.

... The moment when he awakes and realizes it was just a dream, and they are all still dead, breaks his heart in half all over again. But this dream is not uncommon, and he is getting used to it. And he thinks he may be starting to learn something from it...

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Storms had expanded his facility with the Guardian Sphere upon level up. I had forgotten how many cool abilities he had hopefully now i’ll remember to actually use them.

[Pent]

Zeph wakes, and prepares his spells for the morning. While studying his spellbook and other arcane texts, he realizes he can better understand and make use of text he had saved in an archive. Outstanding!

Once complete he examines his maps of the area again, and the plans he had made last night. After a night's sleep he's accepted that he doesn't have the skills to accomplish his mission as he is at the moment. He needs much more than a handful of minutes worth of flight. He hopes that Archie's habits have left him in a favorable state to answer some aviation questions.

He also decides to ask Throki if he's capable of making a glider. Some sails and thin wood would give Zeph all he needs to extend his flight time exponentially.

Zeph heads to the mess hall for breakfast and hopes to run into Archie.

[AlphaLuke]

Zeph, Storms, and Scar-eye make it out of their cabins to the mess for breakfast. Gent peeks out from the galley and gives them a hearty "Ho!" as they sit down at the officer's table next to a bleary-eyed Alessia, a slightly hungover Archie, and a crisp and awake Kalinda. Alessia nurses a steaming clay cup of pungent liquid that Zeph and Storms recognized as Kahve: a spiced, creamy, and sweet coffee. Kalinda sips from a cup of strong, dark tea from a plain porcelain cup, while Archie only has a pewter mug filled high with water in front of him. Gregor comes out shortly and places five plates down filled with generous portions of sausages, fried eggs, toast, beans, and tomatoes. Archie looks at his plate grimly. Gent asks each man what they'd like to drink.

[Pent]

Zeph takes a long deep sniff and practically drools. "That Kahve...., please." he responds with desire.

Once the order is placed Zeph turns his attention to Archie. He remembers (just in time) to lower the volume of his voice to keep from irritating him. Zeph is no stranger to hungover sailors.

"Remember that time I asked for flying lessons? I may need them sooner rather than later. You see - I have lots of ground to cover for my reconnaissance trip today and I just- here". Zeph begins to take his maps out across the table. People sound upset as their delicious smelling breakfast is now a topographical drawing. And Zeph forgets to re-attenuate his voice in his excitement. "I can only fly for a few minutes per day, at my top seed in only 7 or 8 minutes I'll never be able to scout out all this area! Do you have any advice for me?"

[DeathbyFlossing]

Turning to Kalinda, Storms says, ”So, um, sir, before we were so rudely interrupted yesterday by the whole nearly dying of blood loss thing and... the rest-“Storms fingers his ring meaningfully... “-I was suggesting that here might be some good timber on the island, that we could replace the stuff we use from the spares with.” Actually, Storms has been suggesting that they just use the timber from the island, but he’d belatedly realized that you need to age and dry the wood first, so that won’t work, so this was the next best thing he could think of. “Should we maybe ask Zeph to keep an eye out for good wood while he’s scouting? I’d be happy to lead a logging party if we find any.”

[AlphaLuke]

Archie glares at Zeph. "Advice? Aye. I have some advice. Keep your voice at a bloody civilized volume you half-cracked bint."

"Archelos!" Kalinda scolds mildly.

Archie looks only the slightest bit contrite. "Sorry, lad. Just nursing a headache s'all." He looks at the maps. "Can you soar? This islands should have some kind of thermal updrafts once the sun begins to cook the rocks."

Zeph shakes his head. "No wings. I'd fall like a stone once the magic wore off."

Archie puzzles over the maps for a few minutes while Gent brings Zeph his Khave. "In the short term, I'd ask Throki for a wand to keep you moving. In the long term, he might have the ability to build you a wingsuit. That'll let you use updrafts and thermal currents to stretch your travel between period of propulsion. It'll be silly looking and unwieldy in combat, but it should allow you to soar." He winces as he moves his wing. "I'd do it, but doc doesn't want me flying for a few more days yet. I wouldn't bother Throki about the wingsuit today either. He's still trying to get us flying and adding one more project to his list might send him into one of his tirades. Last one had him speaking exclusively in dwarvish for a week. Couldn't understand a bleeding word." Archie rolls the map back up and hands it to Zeph.

. . .

Kalinda nods to Storms' suggestion. "Normally, I'd agree with you, Mr. Storms. But I'm not in charge of repairs. I would suggest you coordinate with the Chief Engineer regarding all architectural requirements. He might send you out to gather materials."

[Pent]

Zeph thanks Archie, finishes his breakfast, and heads towards Engineering to find Throki. The Dwarf was already on his list. Though, Zeph feels foolish that he hadn't thought of crafting a fly wand himself.

[DeathbyFlossing]

Storms calls out to Zeph, ”Hey, are you heading to Engineering now? Mind if I tag along? I’d like to talk to Throki about my idea.”

[Pent]

"Absolutely. So, is the App what you imagined when you saw the wanted posters back in town?"

[DeathbyFlossing]

”Don’t really know what I imagined other than ‘boat that flies’, now that I think about it.”

[Pent]

Zeph nods. "I at first figured it was a maybe a long-range merchant ship, with a heavy focus on protecting its goods. But it turns out to be on this important, necessary mission. A mission with a real, good, goal. I like it. A chance for us to make a real difference in the world. Make it a better place."

[AlphaLuke]

The two men make their way down the ladder to the lower deck and are greeted by a half dozen shouted dwarven words that Zeph's fairly certain are curses.

The Chief Engineer is at his workbench, pouring over a glowing crystal apparatus that levitates over a copper plate. The crystal glows too brightly to look at directly, and waves of heat shimmer leak off the entire area around it. Throki has his goggles down and flicks through a dozen different lense settings while tweaking the structure with a short copper prod. The lower deck is surprisingly warm and the scent of ionized ozone presses heavily on the air.

Throki doesn't look away from his work, but speaks to the room. "Blasted thing's leaking heat like whore in summer! Can't get the diffusers to work with these slapshod materials. Zephyr, Storms, Scar, what can I do for you? As should be abundantly clear, I'm busy." His copper prod hits something volatile and a spark jumps from the glowing gemstone, shocking the dwarf and causing his to curse under his breath. He shakes his head, clearly frustrated, and turns to his visitors. He lifts his goggles to look at the two, leaving a -not clean, but slightly-less-dirty mask where they covered his face.

Storms and Zeph both notice the heavy bags under the dwarf's eyes and the sweat-streaked grime covering his face and clothes. He hasn't slept. Upon further examination, the detritus of stimulant tonics and half-drunk burnt coffee mugs litter the lower deck.

[Pent]

Zeph looks over to Storms, who motions to Zeph to go first.

"Throki, I've been tasked with scouting out the area via aerial reconnaissance. But my natural flight abilities only last a handful of minutes. I need a way to fly for at least an hour. More if you can manage it. A wand of Fly would probably be the simplest solution, but I don't have the ability to craft it myself. If you have a better solution, or a way for me to help, please let me know."

[AlphaLuke]

Throki nods, and turns to a cabinet without any ceremony. The squat wooden thing looks like one of the card catalogues that the librarians in the Arcanamirium used to track the thousands of tomes in the university archive, with dozens of small, but long drawers. Zeph notices that Throki's labeling system is extremely arcane, but very efficient. All in runes, each drawer is labels with descriptors like "Copper, Ductile, Conductive", "Porcelain, Strong, Insulator", and "Liquid, Combustive, Oxidizing". Nowhere does Zeph see the rune for "Danger", though many of the drawers undoubtedly contain very dangerous materials. Presumably, Throki already known what is dangerous. Still, it could be catastrophic if some untrained sailor went rummaging around. Throki opens a drawer label with the runes for "Air", "Glass", and "Magic" and pulls out an icicle-like shape formed from poured glass. The entire wand is about the length of Zeph's forearm . . . perhaps slightly shorter.

"Glasssteel, so dannae worry about breaking it. Cored with the hair off a pegasus' arse. It has - " Throki holds the wand up to his ear as if listening for a hum, "twenty-three charges. Should give you one-point-nine-two hours of flight . . . " he pauses with a slight smirk. "rounding up, of course."

He hands the wand to Zeph. Zeph knew that the Chief Engineer was a smart man, but now, for the first time, he sees the intense focus and burning intelligence behind the dwarf's eyes.

[Pent]

"One point nine two hours," Zeph repeats. "Thank you Throki!" Zeph then finds a work space and pulls out the maps he had before. He recalculates a flight plan. This time he picks a circuit that should be completed in one point five hours. There's wisdom in leaving wiggle room.

Once he has the flight plan set, he jots down the heading and duration of each maneuver in the plan on a simple piece of paper in series. The piece of paper is stored at the top of a pouch. The same numbers are also written down in ink on his forearm. Both will be quickly accessible up in the skies.

Last, he shares his plan with First Officer Kalinda. If Zeph isn't back in an hour and a half, she knows where he might be.

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If she doesn't have any other comments, he will take off.

[Pent]

"Be back in one point five hours sir," Zeph says with a salute. He falls off the rail of the ship before he casts fly using hte wand, checks the heading from his forearm, and begins his run.

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Skill checks for the mission that I rolled the other day:

"I'll get all 3 checks out of the way now.
Knw Geography (1d20+8)[18]
Fly (1d20+22)[40]
Perception (1d20+15)[26]"

[AlphaLuke]

Zeph kicks up a cloud of dust and sand as he catches himself right before he hits the beach. Rocketing into the air, the ship and her crew quickly fade to naught but dots on a picturesque island landscape.

Zeph flies as easily as a fish swims. As easily as a deer runs. The currents and eddies of invisible, intangible air are as clear and navigable as bright colored threads in a magnificent tapestry. He sees the entire island stretched before him and realizes that it's actually quite small. Working in his predetermined circuit, he heads east, then northwest. The spell in the wand has an interesting feature that helps him keep track of his time in the air. When the Fly spell wears off, one doesn't simply plummet to the earth, but instead begins to float down gently. This way, Zeph is able to recast the spell without worrying about wasting charges with overlap.

As he soars several hundred feet above the crashing waves, he spots one of the larger islands in the chain. It's the first island of any significant size he's come across, and upon survey looks to be uninhabited. A large mountain dominates most of the land mass, with stubborn and leafless trees covering its sides. The barren island bears no signs of life, and so, Zeph flies on.

After a long while of nothing, thin trails of chimney smoke tendril their way into the sky. Looking up, Zeph spots another sizable island. He remembers this island marked as "Thell" on the map and makes a note of the structures and people he can see from this altitude. Thell looks to be a small fishing village, with a small dock and three fishing boats in the waters nearby. The dozen-or-so houses are made of simple thatch and clay, and the people go about their business around a communal well. There looks to be very small garden patches at several houses, but no larger farms or fields. A small herd of sheep can be seen grazing at the west side of the island.

Continuing on, Zeph flies over three more boats with nets cast into the churning waters. Then, heading northwest, he flies over a large island that rises sharply out of the sea with no apparent beachhead. Like a mesa in the midst of the ocean, the flat top of the island is covered in massive worked stone blocks and pillars. Ruins. Ruins of buildings and monuments that, during their time, could have rivaled some of the wonders in Absalom. Suddenly, the wind shifts, and Zeph is forced to do some fancy aerobatics to stay on course. Turbulence, perhaps caused by the strange island's shape, nearly knocks him from the sky and he has a precarious few moments where his stomach leaps into his throat. Eventually, Zeph rights himself and adjusts his course to fly around the island, rather than directly over it. He makes an adjustment with his compass and hopes this diversion didn't cost him too much flight time. Seeing no trees and no people on the island and noting its peculiarity, he moves on.

After a short time, Zeph see more telltale signs of civilization. Dozens of chimneys sputter dozens of lines of smoke into the sky. He stops counting fishing boats after twenty, and shortly thereafter sees the port where they must make berth. Marked on the map as "Boatswain's Rest" this settlement has surpassed "village" and walked squarely into "town" status. Muddy streets and thickly clogged houses casually make way to more roomy yards and allotments the further inland they go. Even at this height, Zeph gets the distinct odor of fish, sweat, piss, and livestock on the wind. The town has at least one meeting hall, long and thin, and one church which rises above the height of the nearby buildings and is made of quarried stone. Zeph sees a large lake further inland bearing several canals that feed into the town. They have fresh water. Continuing in flight, he notes lush and verdant trees in a middling-sized forest on the northwest side of the island. Small logging operations can be seen below, but nothing on an industrial scale. He also sees rows of saplings where the loggers are presumably replenishing their crop. Content with the brief survey of the island, and not wanting to draw too much attention to himself, Zeph hooks south for the last leg of his journey.

The remaining islands are mostly small, hilly things. Some of them bear scrubgrass or scant life, but very few have any mark of civilization. A colony of puffins has splattered one of the islands nearly wholly white. Another island bears a single wooden cottage, a small expanse of tan grass, and over five dozen sheep grazing lazily.

Just when Zeph was beginning to wonder about the journey and his timing, he spots the Apparition in Time and lands lightly on her foredeck. Kalinda looks up to him and checks her pocket watch. "Three minutes late, Mr. Leornian. I'll expect you to be more prompt in the future." The rebuke has no teeth, and Zeph can see the distinct hint of a smile as the First Officer speaks it. "If you would, please join me in the Captain's ready room for your report."

[DeathbyFlossing]

As Zeph walks out of the room Storms clears his throat and asks,”So,um, Throki, I was thinking of taking a team out and getting some timber to help with the repairs, or at least replace what we use from the spares. Problem is, I don’t know what type of wood goes well with an airship. What should we look for?”

[AlphaLuke]

Throki nods, "Aye lad, tha's a good idea. I have some spare yew ribs in the quartermaster's hold, and some spare cedar planking for the deck. The hardest thing will be replacing the damnable foremast." He curses in dwarvish. "From what you reported of your survey of the island, there's naught to do about it now. We dannea carry spare masts. But I could use your help. You've got a strong arm and I've been working straight through the night. I'll put you to use hauling materials between the three decks. It'll give my aching back a rest. You up for it?"

The next hour and a half is grueling physical labor, but Storms is happy to be useful.

[Pent]

Zeph falls in step with Kalinda on the way to the Captain's ready room. On their way they run into Storms hauling wood. Zeph briefly explains that the're meeting and Storms should come.

[AlphaLuke]

Kalinda, Storms, and Zeph all enter the Captain's ready room and close the door behind them. The room is much improved from its earlier . . . "exploded" state. The walls and table have been patched with bits of loose planking and the debris has been neatly swept. After a few short seconds, the Captain exits his cabin and nods to Zeph. "Mr. Leornian. Report."

[Pent]

"Sir, my first visit was to one of the largest islands in this chain. It is barren and lifeless save for a few leafless trees.

The next destination was the island Thell. Its a small fishing village. Probably where we want to go to investigate the missing fishermen that were shanghaied into monsters.

My next destination was very interesting. A mesa in the midst of the ocean. The flat top of the island was covered in ruins. Ruins of buildings and monuments that, during their time, could have rivaled some of the wonders in Absalom. Though it was also barren of either trees or people, or any other life I could see.

Last was the small town of Boatswain's Rest. They have livestock, fresh water, and logging operations if we need to resupply the Apparition.

No other islands showed significant signs of civilization."

[AlphaLuke]

The Captain listens and nods, watching Zeph's hands as they glide over the map on the table.

"Our first priority is to get the Apparition up and running again. If we can't fly, we can't do much else. We'll head to Boatswain's Rest, get some good timber to fix the foremast and lateral wings, then we can see if we have time to investigate the fishermen."

His tone isn't quite an order, but it is a command. He's the Captain, and based upon the information provided to him, he's made a decision.

"Mr. Leornian, Mr. Storms. I'll have you helping our Chief Engineer in any capacity he needs. Get us airborne again. Any questions?"

[Pent]

"Sir with your leave (and Throki's agreement once main duties are completed on repairing the ship), I'd like to investigate the mesa with the ruins on it. Something about it..." something clicks in his brain. He practically gasps "if the cultists are abducting locals, and otherwise staying hidden, they might be using those ruins as a base!"