The Royal Artificery Society - IC

[WindStruck]

"I guess salmon sounds alright," Isaera says, eying the menu. Yes there did seem to be a nice salmon entree that came with some sides.

"Hm. Or perhaps some crayfish. Is that the one that comes in buckets?"

Spoiler: ooc

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(1d2)[1] salmon it is

"Anyway, I'm glad we could get a spot here. Thank you, Ulrik..."

The competition had brought some eclectic strangers together, and conversation around their creation and design certainly kept things going. But now there seemed to be.. void.

"Um.. do you have other family into ship building or whatnot? I get the feeling that, with your brother-in-law owning this restaurant, perhaps there are more family members with trades related to the sea."

[DeTess]

"I actually hail from a family of sailors and ship's officers." Ulrik replies. "My brother is an officer in the imperial navy, and my sister started out running a small fishing boat. She doesn't go out on the seas herself anymore, but she owns three fishing boats now. Most of what they serve here is brought in by her boats. My parents own a large trading ship and spend their time travelling the world and brining exotic goods back here." Ulrik's fingers comb to his beard for a moment, then he continues. "If you're wondering why I went into shipbuilding instead of becoming a sailor like the rest of my family... Well, I got unlucky and for some reason suffer from the worst sea sickness you've ever seen." The big man shrugs, then grins. "When listening to stories from my parents or my brother I do miss being able to go out and travel the oceans, but honestly, I can think of very little that beats the pride of launching a ship that you were responsible for putting together."

[WindStruck]

"It's a shame you have such sea sickness," Shandara says. "Hopefully, a remedy for that could be possible.. in any case, I suppose you have something else to be proud of from today, mm? Some may downplay your role in the project, but without the structural support and overall design.. well, we'd have a mishmash of useful components, but nothing to keep them all together, and a mess."

[Prehysterical]

From what Bolten has heard, salmon is the most meat-like out of all fish. He decides to skip on the sea cow, wanting to see one of the creatures for himself before being served one on his table.

After thanking Ulrik, Bolten listens with surprising attention to the man's description of his family history. One can almost see the cogs turning behind his eyes as he... well, not so much ignores Ulrik as sees an opportunity spring up before him.

When presented with a moment in the conversation, Bolten butts in. "So, Ulrik, if your family travels the waters so much, have they ever seen a..." Bolten stops for a moment, looking side to side as if paranoid that someone is listening in.

"...A bronze dragon," he finishes in a low voice that's barely heard above the chatter of the restaurant. The dwarf's eyes regard the man with fierce intensity, not threatening but unnerving, perhaps.

[DeTess]

"That's actually part of my day job as well." Ulrik replied to Shandara's praise. "Modern ships tend to have a lot of new features, what with the Artificery Society and the shipping guilds continually innovating, and part of my job is making sure it all actually fits together."

"They have never mentioned stories of a bronze dragon, sorry." Ulrik replied to Bolten's question. "Though my parents have mentioned visiting a far away country that is being ruled by a dragon emperor, though an unusual one. They actually witnessed one of its offspring flying by during their stay, and they described it as looking more like a silver snake, and it was flying without actually having wings."

[WindStruck]

Shandara let out a quiet and reserved chuckle. "Well then, I do think we all picked the perfect man for the job."

Then Shandara looked at Bolten curiously. The sudden enthusiasm for bronze dragons was unbecoming of him, and odd in her opinion. But then again, it's not like she knew Bolten all that well in the first place.

"Why are you so interested in dragons all of a sudden, Bolten?"

[Prehysterical]

Bolten visibly deflates as Ulrik unknowingly bursts his bubble. He looks down at the table and runs a fingertip to trace a whorl pattern in the wood.

"Oh, er, well..." Bolten's words came out as an almost begrudging murmur or grumble. "Not so much dragons in general as specific ones... I've had this... project that I have been brainstorming for a while now. A new clockwork design. In order to provide enough power, though, I need something stronger than standard electricity. I need something with an elemental connection, something that will help give the design life. Dragon's breath is very powerful in its applications and there are few very kinds that can breathe lightning. Blues can be very dangerous- well, all dragons are dangerous- but I figured that a bronze would be my best bet."

[WindStruck]

Shandara ponders the explanation briefly, then says, "Mmm. Well I can't say I have met or even knowingly seen any dragons myself. Though I hear their personalities are diverse and may as well be fickle. Seems you would be looking to bargain with and be at the mercy of an entity far more powerful than any person..."

[DeTess]

"Hmmm, when next my parents pull into port, I can ask them about their dragon encounters. I can't promise anything, but maybe they've seen or heard something that could be of use to you, Bolten." Ulrik responds. "I am curious about something though. Why did you pick clockwork as you are area of expertise? It's clearly something you're very passionate about."

[Prehysterical]

Bolten reminds Shandara, "Yes, dragons can be dangerous, but so can Imperial nobles be when someone crosses them. Dragons, like anyone else, have their price."

To Ulrik, Bolten answers, "My mother owned a clock shop on the outskirts of one of the holds. I probably heard the tick-tock of the clock in my crib. Mother didn't like me playing with the other dwarf children, so I had plenty of time to practice making pieces and putting them together. She was only interested in making clocks, but I was constantly experimenting with different ways to design mechanisms for different tasks." The information came slowly, almost reluctantly, as if Bolten rarely spoke to anyone about his past.

[DeTess]

"You where raised with clockwork from birth then. Hmmm, in some ways we're not so different then, I think." Ulrik remarks, just as a waitress stops by the table to get everyone's orders.

Urlik settles on the Salmon for his main dish, while Ash orders the sea cow. "And what can I get the two of you?" the young woman adresses Shandara and Bolten.

[WindStruck]

Shandara says, "I'll have the Salmon dinner as well, with the mashed potatoes and spinach, please." When it came to drinks, there appeared to be many imported beers and wines available that she was unfamiliar with, but she decided to try a glass of some elven kind or another, and have some tea with it, or if that was unavailable, water.

After the waitress had left, Shandara said, "It's not all that uncommon to take up the profession of one's parents. My father, for instance, used to be in the jewelry trade, himself.."

[Prehysterical]

"Salmon for me as well, please," Bolten asks. "I'd like that served with a baked potato, carrots, broccoli, and I'll try some of those cheddar biscuits." Deciding to play it safe, Bolten also orders a dwarven ale.

His eyebrows rose as Shandara revealed more about her family. She never wanted to talk about that, at least in the time that Bolten had known her.

"Really? I'm sure he was really good at it! Competition is fierce between the various merchants and craftsmen where you're from, isn't it?"

[WindStruck]

Shandara looked at Bolten a little hesitantly and said, "Uh. Yes, you could say that.. Dare I say, it's even cutthroat. Sometimes quite literally..."

She shifted uncomfortably in her chair, bringing her hands holding each other to her face, and looked away.

[DeTess]

Ash opened their mouth to ask Shandara something in response to the Elf's mention of her past, but after a moment the alchemist reconsidered. "So, how did you end up with the society? Did you start as a student here, or get recruited or something for your skills?" They asked instead.

"Technically, I don't think I count as a member of the artificery society." Ulrik admitted. "I studied here, but I lacked the creativity compared to many others to truly come up with radical new inventions. I'm good at turning a heap of ideas someone else came up with into something that actually all fits together, but I'm first and foremost a builder, not a dreamer."

[WindStruck]

"Did you mean me? I came to Vaungate nearly two years ago. I found some work in the back of some stingy old dwarf's shop, crafting and repairing jewelry for him. Never really went out much, and it's about all I did for some months, until Giles Glitterbanger happened to stumble upon me. He was already with the society and thought I had some talent, and so.." she shrugged, "Here I am."

Looking at Ulrik, she comments, "About that. If you weren't with the society.. Hm. I suppose just about any competent artisan was welcome to join that competition?"

Though it was probably too late to quibble or have second thoughts about everything now. They had already completed their project, and won!

[Prehysterical]

Bolten looks aside, feeling a little guilty. He had only meant to spark conversation about Shandara's family, not reopen old wounds.

Fortunately, Ulrik's admission gives him something else to talk about. "There's nothing wrong with being mechanically competent. I have often seen people who have wonderful ideas but lack either the skill or the will to turn their designs into reality. The Society has great need of men like Ulrik here."

Turning to Ash, Bolten asks, "What about you? Was your introduction to alchemy pretty formulaic, or was it more... reactionary?" The dwarf snickers at the bad puns. In any other space, Bolten would have been self-conscious, but he felt comfortable in this moment.

[DeTess]

"Yeah, the competition's open for everyone with a bit of skill." Ashe replies to Shandara's question before Ulrik can.

The alchemist replies to Bolten's puns with a grin. "I'd say reactionary. I started out with architecture on my parent's insistence, but you could say I don't really mix well with that craft. Alchemy suits me very well though, and as long as my brews work no one will tell me that I used the wrong style of arches or that there should have been more natural lighting in the north-facing bed-room or other such nonsense." Ash shrugs. "I always like tinkering with stuff and just trying things out, but if you do that with buildings, they tend to fall down. Just throwing stuff in a pot to see if it works, worst case scenario it turns into useless gunk and you need to scrub the pot out. Best-case scenario, you get something entirely new no one could have predicted."

[WindStruck]

Shandara shrugs. "That's true enough. With the proper safety precautions, even a small explosion or noxious fumes can be contained.. but yes, I do agree. If I am going to be entering any of your 'buildings' up here, I wouldn't want them liable to fall on my head."

"I suppose that, perhaps one could try to be creative with architecture. But that architect would need to be an expert in engineering and physical materials to know the limits of what they are doing. And extensive experimentation would be welcome, I imagine."

"Well, Ash, it does appear you are well-suited and happy in your field, so I guess this is all for the best."

[Prehysterical]

"I would say that people are at their most creative when under constraints," Bolten ventures with a shrug. "It's only when people have to find ways around a problem that true innovation happens. When I was designing that drill for the sewers project, my first thought was for it to have just a single giant drill bit made of adamantine. Given the shortages of adamantine at the time, that would have simply costed too much to be viable. I had to get creative to do the same job while minimizing the amount of adamantine in the design."

[DeTess]

"It's good you keep that kind of thing in mind." Ulrik replied to Bolton. "A good design doesn't just solve an issue, but does it in a way that won't cost a king's ransom."

"Or consume the entire yearly crop of a very rare herb." Ashe added with a smile. "A fellow student once came up with a concoction that he claimed would serve as a cure-all, protecting against every disease and poison and keeping that protection intact for years. it was all theoretical stuff of course. He was probably right, but it was physically impossible to get all the ingredients he needed for even a single dose, let alone the millions he envisioned. That makes me curious though. Suppose we ignore with stuff like budgets and material availability and stuff like that. If you could create any one thing free from real-world constraints, what would it be?" The half-elf addressed the rest of the table with her question.

[WindStruck]

Shandara blinks incredulously at Ash's story. "How could that student's idea be so impractical that he couldn't even produce one dose?" She shook her head at how outlandish and farcical it must have been.

Though she seems to take Ash's next question more seriously, if not, cautiously. "Hm. I don't know, Ash. When you say free from real-world constraints, that both could make the answer very vague, and also truly ridiculous. For example.. the power to do whatever you want, whenever you want, with just a thought, indefinitely? I imagine it may have something or another to do with harnessing the power of djinni, dragons, gods, and any other horrors too unspeakable to mention. But if we're totally free of real-world constraints, one might not even need to go through those avenues as justification?"

After an awkward pause she adds, "Or maybe I am misunderstanding something?"

[DeTess]

"No, I mean like..." Ash takes a moment to think it through. "Let's say you had the full backing of the entire empire to make whatever you want. Whatever you need, you can get, but you're still constrained by what's actually possible to make and your own creativity, you know?"

[WindStruck]

"Ah.." Shandara expresses some comprehension, though quickly becomes lost in thought.

It was hard to say what she even wanted. Or if she should even say. Murky thoughts from her past and tentative self-reflection seemed to be coming up dry. What did she want?

Rubbing a temple, she begins, "I.. I don't.."

Then with a sigh she says, "I suppose it's not one thing, but.. I've always liked the idea of having a shop, where I could experiment with and create some wonders people could buy and share. And a grand library, cataloguing it all.. and a school.. though, I admit there is still plenty more to learn, and there is already the Society for that..."

One of her fingers was absentmindedly drawing out some irregular, amorphous shape on the table they sat at.

[Prehysterical]

Bolten admits awkwardly, "Well... I'd be doing just what I was talking about earlier... except it would be a lot easier. The amount of clockwork parts this is going to take is going to be enormous... There's also some other magic involved that I'm not sure how to incorporate yet, so having mages to help me out would be grand... Like I said, this is something that I have been wanting to do for a while now. I have been saving the commissions from my projects, slowly building up enough money to make that dream a reality."

He smiles at Shandara's confession. "I think a library and shop would be a wonderful idea. Maybe with a little tea cafe in some dim lighting," Bolten suggests.

[DeTess]

"I'd probably combine every trick and design I've seen so far into a ship truly unrivalled in speed and endurance." Ulrik muses in response to Ash's question. "I've seen a couple designs for propelling ships without propulsion even, though those where generally not practical enough for use on a large ship, but I'd love to see a design like that put into practice."

"Those are all nice ideas." Ash nods. "Personally, I'd want to develop a potion that allows people to change how they look so that it's exactly how they want to be, permanently." The alchemist shrugs. "It might seem like a small thing compared to your dreams, but I think a lot of people would be a lot happier that way."

[DeTess]

The rest of the evening passed with pleasant conversation and good food. Ulrik's praise of his brother-in-law's restaurant had not been misplaced, and though the food was simpler than what was served in places like the Mushroom Garden, it was nonetheless very tasty.

All good things must eventually come to an end though, and eventually the food was done, the drinks had been drunk and the conversation slowly made way for silence. After sorting out he little matter of payment for the meal, which came out to an affordable 11 silver pieces per person, the time had come for the members of the victorious team Sprocket to go their own way. For now, at least.

[Prehysterical]

Patting his now burgeoning stomach, Bolten gives his compliments. "Well, Ulrik, you've convinced me. That salmon was delicious... The butter and garlic was a nice touch. Those cheddar biscuits are dangerous." He chuckles wryly before standing with a grunt. "Well, it was very nice to meet you both. Many thanks for your contribution to the competition today. I'd like to think that none of us could have done it alone." Bolten looks to Shandara and gives a slight bow. "I don't know about you, but after a meal like that, I am ready for bed. Some serious excitement we had today! See you tomorrow, some time?"

[WindStruck]

Shandara bids the others farewell. Perhaps they would meet again, or at least recognize each other in the future, though she did somewhat doubt she would randomly cross pass with Ulrik. Maybe next year, at the same competition!

She looks at Bolten, "Well, even though my schedule was interrupted, I think I will make it through the night. You remember I don't sleep during the night, right?" In any case, she had other plans that didn't involve sleeping.

---

She buys a nice small fish or a raw fillet from someone on her way home. She'd endeavor again to befriend this owl. She would attempt a slightly different tactic...

After preparing the meat and making sure there weren't any bones in it, Shandara kept it chilled, and only warmed it up once it was about time to try again.

This time, after playing the enchanted flute to try to attract the owl, she gently pets its head and then gets it to perch on a gloved hand while the music still held its effect. Soon the magic would have worn off. However, the position of it standing on her hand was the same, before and after...

While Shandara made no sudden movements or much of a sound at all, it may have understandably been a surprising position for the owl to find itself in. But still, in her other hand, was a small plate of warm fish. If it wanted to sample some of that meat, it would have to do it without an enchantment clouding its memories or judgement.

[DeTess]

As the effect of the flute wears off the owl becomes a bit more agitated, its talons digging deeper into Shandara's gloved hand. Then it spots the food. The bird seems conflicted for a moment, then it darts forward quickly to grab and gobble up one of the pieces of fish. The owl then tenses for a moment, seemingly preparing to quickly fly away. When nothing happens though, the bird calms down again, and carefully starts eating the rest of the offered meal.