The Royal Artificery Society - IC

[WindStruck]

"Alright.." Shandara says a bit reluctantly and with a nod, though she figured she had promised to look over the designs anyway. She also gives a look toward Xavier, of course expecting him to come along too, but half wondering if he had a preference for coffee or the like either.

"So perhaps a permanent spirit world may not be feasible if that ritual of several moments took that much out of you. And perhaps.. if invited over again, we might want to keep the design of what we just did. It.. seems like you could use a bit of energy from me as well?"

"But if you'd still like, I can go over it with you again. I'll show you what I was talking about, and maybe you could try to clear up some things I still don't understand..."

[MrAbdiel]

The Escribano Workshop

Aiden has to slow the wild momentum of his excitement down to a confused crawl, and then settle it to a reasonable simmer. He rubs the back of his head, sheepishly.

"Oh, of course, sure. I'm the same; just caught up in it all. I'll, uh. Well, I'll leave this set here, and head home and get to making the matching model set. I'll drop it over when it's ready, and we'll see where we're up to."

Another round of shaken hands, before the carpenter flops on his hat, and leaves the lads to their rest and other projects. Conspiratorially, he leans into murmur to Ambrose as they head back on the road home: "Of course they have other work, and other projects. I'm a silly duffer, Ambrose. I ought to have a few projects going myself. But maybe... something familiar, first. What do you think? A banjo?"

Spoiler: OOC!

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Aiden's off to complete the rest of the model set. If he completes that and Mieveur and Albert are still puzzling through their ends of the work - which they might, since they need the paired models to do things like make the locking mechanisms - Aiden will start work on a masterwork banjo, one day hopefully to be the string instrument component in a Lyre of Building. But banjo version.

[DeTess]

Coalburner and Hyrsson Clockwork
When Shandara glanced over at Xavier she noticed him slipping away a lens or monocle in a pocket on his belt. At Shandara's questioning look he gave a reassuring smile and shook his head.

Vaigr led the party of four back to the office, where he made a big can of coffee. He poured a big cup for himself and his apprentice, and then offered Shandara and Xavier, who politely declined, a cup of coffee as well.

Once Vaigr and Assama had taken a moment to recover the goliath spoke up. "In case you where wondering why a ritual I've performed before tired us out so much, I don't generally bring in more than a couple spirits at once. With the help of Assama and your modifications I felt confident to try brining them all in at once for a change. This proved to be right at the limit of what we could do, but we pulled it off nonetheless." Vaigr sounded quite proud. "I imagine you might still have some questions, Shandara, and I would like to go over the ritual with you. Even if you're fine with the small defect, I'd still like to understand what caused it."

[WindStruck]

"Of course.. could you retrieve the diagram I showed you before?" Shandara asks.

Spoiler: ooc

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I probably couldn't say why it wasn't working right myself unless I tried to make up some technobabble.

Does the roll I made previously allow Shandara to know the exact cause and explain it?

[WindStruck]

Shandara recalls what she had seen of the ritual in the room where all the spirit crystals were housed, and once the diagram was produced she points out, "You did well when it came to the spaces for yourself and Assama, but it seems there was a bit of guesswork involved for the space I was standing in, seeing as I was not supposed to be contributing to the ritual..."

After peering at the diagram for a moment, she shakes her head and says, "No, I think the problem lies with the entire ritual itself. As it is designed, every participant is expected to contribute something, and in turn they each are able to see and converse with the spirits. I was able to do this, and I could willingly do the same in the future to make things easier."

"But since you asked, I think the entire ritual would need to be reworked to make something more like what you thought. The new ritual would need three distinct parties: the casters, the spirits, and spectators. As you can imagine it would be far more taxing on the caster party because they would not only be expending power to create the spirit world, bring the spirits together, and commune with them, but they would also have to grant more power to the spectators, so that they too could enter the spirit world and commune with the spirits."

[MrAbdiel]

Casa de Sorveaux

Over the next seven days, Aiden spends his time breaking in the workshop in his house in earnest. Much of that time is spent sawing and tacking in the fine miniature wooden planks needed for the total -six- hulls of the ship recovery system. Checking in from time to time with his colleagues, he discovers quickly that the direct and physical nature of his work, specifically the reduced need for a conceptual stage, means he's ahead of the timeline. Thus, the carpenter is free to pursue a passionate subgroup of his primary skill - the art of the luthier. Taking some fine, set-aside cuts of cherry wood, he lovingly spends his rest hours shaping and sanding, measuring and carving; stringing out the process to permit him to add a little indulgent flourish in the instrument: an embossed, stylized tale told in six panels around the curved rim of the banjo's body; with some details picked out in carefully pressed gold and platinum leaf - once the staining is complete, of course.

As he does so, he consults consults a book from his modest library concerning an item of power he should like to recreate - the Lyre of Building. The account of the tome's compiler suggests it is capable, when played proficiently, of replicating the talents of a significant workforce - a very fine tool to have, if he's getting into the ship building business. The detail of the enchantment process still mostly eludes him, but he knows an instrument of superlative quality is required to hold the power of it - that much, he can supply.

"...But it'll have to wait, I'm afraid." He explains this dilemna to a trio of rats, watching him work away in his shop; dashing in to snatch up choice curls of chiseled off cherrywood to add to the colony's nesting. "If this ship-dalliance comes together, we might be able to finance such a tool. But first things first, little friends. Carry that one, will you?" He tucks a long trunk containing one half of the completed models under one arm, and gestures to the other, before heading outside to secure it on hard-working Ambrose's back.

The rats, well used to his sense of humor by now, merely give each other the rodent equivalent of an eyeroll.

A little later in the day, he returns to the Escribano Workshop; hopes high, as ever.

[DeTess]

Coalburner and Hyrsson Clockwork
"Ah, I think I see." Vaigr looks over the schematics a bit more, and then nods to himself. "That would indeed be infeasible if we tried to bring in every spirit as well, at least as things stand now. Well, at least the reason why it didn't go as planned is clear to me now."

"I have to say, Shandara..." Assama spoke up as well. "Those questions of yours for the spirits where interesting. I've practiced this ritual with Vaigr a couple times, bringing in smaller groups of the spirits, so I'm at least somewhat familiar with them. Yet I don't think I've ever seen anything knock them off balance as much as your questions did." the half-orc's tone was not one of admonishment. If anything, she seemed impressed.

Escribano Workshop
When Aiden arrives at the Escribano workshop he finds that the large central room has been rearranged a little to accommodate a very large tub that's slowly being filled with water from a large hose snaking into the central room from elsewhere in the complex.

"Ah, Aiden, over here!" Albert gestures Aiden over to a large table covered in gearwork subassemblies and other, more arcane looking components. "We thought to do final assembly and then an actual test in the water before booking an appointment at the shipyards for a proper demonstration. I assume your models are ready for a trial by water?"

[WindStruck]

Shandara manages a somewhat shy but brief smile, accompanied by a nervous chuckle, equally as faint and cut short.

"Well, it was not my intention to make them uncomfortable. Like I said, I just wanted to try to understand the nature of their existence a bit more, and based off the story Vaigr had told me, I was simply asking some questions that I believed may confirm or deny a theory of mine..."

Shandara on the other hand, goes from looking hesitant to even somewhat mirthful. "So what sort of things do you ask them, then? Weather predictions and fashion advice?"

[DeTess]

Coalburner and Hyrsson Clockwork
"Stories of the old days, insofar as they remember those anyway, and advice on difficult problems, mostly." Assama replied to the Drow's question.

"Even blinded as they are now they also still have a kind of sense for the world around them. They can provide warnings if they sense something is very wrong even if they can't pin down exactly what is going on." Vaigr explained before switching topics. "Could you share that theory of yours, or do you need to do further research first?"

[WindStruck]

"Well, I had already briefly explained the theory while were were talking with the spirits," Shandara says.

"So it seems that parts of one's soul, or at least memories were being transferred into the crystals. Based on the tales each spirit gave of those 'before-memories' it could still be a process that happens at their ancestors' deaths, but there are still many events which are important and are of them not dying.."

Looking between the two, she shrugs. "I still do not know how the process works, or why. Perhaps when one of the creatures in a pact dies, the most important, or at least most pivotal moments, are brought into the crystal. After a number of these pacts, there would be a substantial amount of memories to.. build a framework I suppose."

"You mentioned there was some sort of ritual of awakening as well? To wake the spirits up for the first time?"

[MrAbdiel]

Spoiler: Recap

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Escribano Workshop
When Aiden arrives at the Escribano workshop he finds that the large central room has been rearranged a little to accommodate a very large tub that's slowly being filled with water from a large hose snaking into the central room from elsewhere in the complex.

"Ah, Aiden, over here!" Albert gestures Aiden over to a large table covered in gearwork subassemblies and other, more arcane looking components. "We thought to do final assembly and then an actual test in the water before booking an appointment at the shipyards for a proper demonstration. I assume your models are ready for a trial by water?"

Escribano Workshop

"Ready, ready! The true vessels will need a resin seal, but the models will suffice with the waxing I've given them. I've got to say, putting them all together, and confusing myself about which hulls I'd started to seal and which I hadn't, has taught me we will need to be very clear on any produced vessels about which is which. For purpose of command and coordination between six hulls, four independent floating elements, two compound vessels and one rescue unit. Perhaps differently colored sails, in addition to great big numbers on the hull."

This explains the numbers he has painted on the hulls, now - "1" and "2" on the main twinned operation hulls, and "1A" and "2A" on their counterpart pilot hulls. He lays them out on the workbench, and springs forth to help in the assembly of the complex components wherever he can be useful.

[DeTess]

Coalburner and Hyrsson Clockwork
"Of a sort, yes. It is actually rather similar to the ritual you just participated in." Vaigr explained. "Once the Shaman's judged that a spirit had grown enough, they would be woken up and introduced to their peers to learn. Once they had then matured enough, there would be the moment where they would be brought into the physical world for the first time as well. But the ritual itself does not contribute to their development as far as I know."

"The way it was explained to me it sounds more like the act of delivering a baby." Assama explained. "The baby has already fully grown, the ritual just wakes it from its sleep in the womb and brings it into the world."

Escribano Workshop
It took the three of them a couple hours to fully integrate all components into the ship. Several minute adjustments had to be made during the work, but in the end all hulls sat assembled and ready. One looked like a miniature model of what the actual ship would look like, while the other one had several rather obvious panels set in the decks covered in levers. Mieveur explained that these allowed him to control the clockwork inside to actually operate various functions, such as the raising and lowering of the cranes.

Finally, the moment of truth came, and the two models where carefully lowered into the large tank of water.

"Are they supposed to sit quite that deep?" Albert asked after the two models had stabilized. The ships floated, but they where sitting quite deep in the water.

"Scale models like mien tend to be a bit denser than the actual end product would be, so we'd lose quite a bit of weight when doing this on the full scale." Mieveur looked the two ships over. "We might want to see about losing a bit more weight for the next iteration on the design though, just to be on the safe side."

Apart from that small issue everything seemed to be working fine. The clockwork Mieveur had designed seemed to be ticking along just fine, and the panels he'd built allowed him to easily demonstrate how the ship would go from it's normal sailing mode to its operational mode. The hulls themselves also held up easily on their trial by water, with no signs of any leakage whatsoever.

"I think we're just about ready for a proper demonstration." Mieveur suggested. "I can make the arrangements for tomorrow? I have some contacts at the shipyard, so getting in quickly shouldn't be too difficult."

[WindStruck]

The next question seemed like a pretty obvious one. Looking at Vaigr, Shandara asks, "So how would you go about knowing if the spirit is ready or not?"

[MrAbdiel]

The Escribano Workshop

"Tomorrow works just fine for Ambrose and I. We'll be there with bells on." He answers quickly, though his eyes wander with distraction over the models bobbing in the water. They did sag low, a little. Even through the hulls were arranged like a cruising pleasure craft, they were build as big-bore work hulls, which required a sturdier construction than vessels that were not designed to have operable cranes and clockwork wonder-turbines in them. But of all the parts of the ship, it would always be the hulls that had the most weight. His lips pulled thoughtfully to one side; denied warping downward into a genuine frown, they resort to a lateral move. "I'll be honest, my noodling with ship designs have been mostly around small changes and novel implementations of classic design techniques. But we're doing something pretty radical here. I'll have to think more about how to slim down the hull mass without radically compromising the hull integrity. I'm not sure it's possible... But heck, I'll take another swing. We can move ahead with the demonstration in the meantime, though. If we get backing, the next stage is going to involve getting our hands on a very clever and adaptable captain, and crew. All the crew procedures and training to use the devices will need to be made explicit. Not to mention the maneuvers to detach and reattach pilot hulls, and to lock operation hulls. Lots of 'people components', you know?"

[DeTess]

Coalburner and Hyrsson Clockwork
"You can tell if you're attuned to the spirits." Vaigr answered, before giving an apologetic smile. "I realize that this isn't the answer you where hoping for, but I'm affraid I can't really give a better one than this. It's like the difference between an incredibly lifelike statue of a creauture and an actual living example of the creature. You can sense that one of them is allive, and the other isn't. The same goes for these crystals."

[DeTess]

Streidekker and Sons shipyards
"Hey Aiden, I don't suppose we could trouble you to do the overall presentation?" Albert ask Aiden as the three prospective ship designers where sitting in a large meeting room of the main office of the Streidekker and Sons shipyard.

The center of the room they where in was dominated by a large tub of water, in which the ship models where already floating. There was a large blackboard set at the front of the room as well, and Albert and Mieveur had already sketched out some diagrams to aid with the presentation. They where mostly set up, so all that was left to do now was wait for the representatives from the shipyard to come by. They'd been told to expect several engineers as well as the elder Streidekker himself.

"Me and Mieveur can add in the technical details for our own contributions, but neither of us are what you'd call 'gifted public speakers'." Albert continued. "We're decent enough at explaining the technical stuff, but this is also supposed to be at least a bit of a sales pitch and..."

Albert was interrupted as the door to the room opened and three humans entered, an older man and a man and a woman in what appeared to be their mid thirties. The older man sported aa neatly groomed silver-grey beard and hair and was wearing a well-tailored suit. His younger companions where wearing simpler clothes, with the man carrying a small case with delicate tools and measuring equipment, and the woman carrying a thick notebook and writing supplies.

"I hope we haven't kept you waiting for too long." The older man greeted the three artificers with firm handshakes. "I'm sure I don't need to introduce myself, but for proprieties sake, I am Alfonse Streidekker, the founder of these shipyards. With me are Eduardo Jurado, one of our own ship designers, and Emillie Pascal, from our calculations department. Well then, I've been told you have something interesting to show us?"

As the old man asked for the presentation to begin, both Mieveur and Albert shot Aiden a look. The looks weren't exactly pleading, but definitely something close to that...

[WindStruck]

"Hm. I suppose that makes sense. One would have to be quite familiar with what a living creature is, as well as various ways a statue could be animated to be "life-like" to know the difference?" Shandara shrugs again.

"Well, this whole experience was intriguing to say the least. I am not sure where to go from here, though. Perhaps, on my free time, I could look at some of the other rituals you have for.. um.. 'birthing'. And manifesting a spirit into the real world. But I don't know if I can make any headway."

She sips a little bit of her drink and continues, "I think at the very least, as you said, it's something that requires more shaman. Unless, of course, it's something I could make much more efficient and only the two of you could pull it off. Though I doubt it.. And also, I am not sure if the spirits themselves are ready. Do you think they are?"

[MrAbdiel]

Streidekker and Sons Shipyards

"Heck, are you sure? I mean, we all put in-"

Aiden's self-effacing protestation is cut short by the truncating clacking of the door's lock, and suddenly there was no time to argue. Under most circumstances, most men who happened to be one member of a team project, who suddenly has the talking part thrust on them at the last minute, especially when the stakes are so high, would be very upset at his colleagues. Most men would be caught off guard, offer a flustered excuse, and then try to get on with it, somewhat addled and resentful. Most men would furthermore feel entitled to a more than even share of any success that might come out of a presentation he ended up making mostly himself, and a less than even share of any failure that spun off the same.

But Aiden Sorveaux, lucky for everyone involved, it not most men.

"My good and noble lord Streidekker! It's my pleasure to meet you, and I must say thank you for making the time! I'm sure you'll be glad you came! Mister Jurado, as a student of the discipline I'm honored to meet a master. If you have time for me at the end of this, I'd just love to pick your brain about the craft. Miss Pascal, I'm so pleased to meet you and I think you'll find our presentation to be as impressive at the the level of technical output and investment opportunity as it is at the conceptual stratum. My name is Aiden; you may know my partners, Mieveur and Albert. If you'll all be so kind as to take a seat, we can get straight to it; but kindly angle your boots away from the demonstration table because, boy-howdy, this is gonna knock your socks off."

Aiden gives the arrivals a trio of two-fisted, water-pump handshakes that to the outside observer may seem almost like a helpless effort to discharge some convulsing voltage into stunned victims. Once more he becomes animated to a new degree; moving about as he explains the project with a liveliness that seems just a notch and a half back from being outright dancing. He looks funny as he does so, of course; his hair wetted and combed back but drying slowly and gaining wild, displaced locks as he carries on; clad in what he thinks of as his best clothes, which are the pressed but rustic kind one might expect to see on a bachelor uncle at a country wedding. And now, just as when he whirled into the Escribano Workshop to sweep his two confederates into the vortex of his good natured, furious industry, he is possessed of that outlandish but deeply penetrating likability that almost ensures that all these behaviours, unusual as they are, are counted charitably as contagious whimsy, and not the sign of a mind shaking itself slowly apart.

"My friends, it's like this: my colleagues and I set out to brainstorm a valuable or even revolutionary contribution to the world of sea going vessels; the problem being of course that great and skilled minds have been doing just that for thousands of years and generations within them; and they do so today-", he gestures with a flourish to Eduardo Jurado, "-and the vessels available and the techniques to build them are already highly advanced and tested; the product of collected wisdom. The most prominent weakness of modern ships, if there be any to be considered, is the cost to replace them in the unfortunate event they are lost." His bright and energized eyes contact Emilie Pascal's, anticipating she would most appreciate the actuarial realities. "So we wondered if there might be a way to mitigate fleet losses by a sleeker recovery system, rather than costly replacement. Thus..."

He realizes mid-pitch that they haven't named the project. Inside the fragment of a second, his mind whirls, and hangs on the defining feature of system - the six hulls required for one recovery unit. "...Thus the Hexfold Recovery System is born. A single Hexfold Recovery System consists of two savior units, each consisting of a pilot vessel and operations vessel." He plucks one of the connected savior units out of the water, and tips it forward to displate the top-down arrangement of the connected hulls. Water drizzles over the floor and his shoes; but he blows past that distraction, his project too urgent to consider it. "The pilot vessel is the single central hull with the primary mast, crew quarters, supply, and all the non-active-operations components. The operations vessel is the left and right hulls connected in this catamaran formation, equipped with secondary masts and - importantly - my colleagues' incredible designs for manoeuvring propulsion units and heavy-hauler cranes. My friends, the Hexfold Recovery System brings the drydock with your fleet wherever it goes! Let me show you how it works, and then Albert and Mieveur can explain to you a little extra detail about the all-important mechanical components, designed with all the quality and precision we've all come to expect of an Escribano project."

And demonstrate he does, placing the savior unit back into the water with its companion, demonstrating briefly the forward and back functions of the scaled-down propulsion units, the collapsing secondary masts and the powerful cranes, and the locking mechanism that separates the pilot from the operations vessel. Once the active demonstration is over, he plans to throw to his technically gifted companions to field any lingering questions. But salesmanship is like performance, and like sailing for that matter; in that much depends on momentum when the moment comes that matters most!

"Consider a stricken vessel at see; whether cannon-struck below the waterline or else suffering there result of intentional or unintentional collision. She's taking on water too fast to repair. In nine out of ten cases, the vessel sinks within an hour. Half of those, it's within fifteen minutes. In such a case, the striken vessel, or the fleet commander, sends a signal to the Hexfold, and the crews within spring into action..."

Another dilemma. They have all the model ships for their units... and no demonstration vessel! No mock victim to save from sinking! Quick as a flash, he reaches for the detached pilot vessel of the second saviour unit. "This could be any ship from a fishing vessel to a ship of the line. She's breached, and taking on water." Without so much as looking, he reaches to the side, one handing the model, and cracks the starboard side of its hull against the edge of the demonstration table, as a chef might break an egg. The wood on the model cracks and buckles inward at the point of impact, creating a breach the size of a knucklebone; and then plops it back in the water. Immediately, it begins sagging to one side, and the plup-plup-plup-plup of water slapping through the breach is audible whenever he pauses for breath. But of course, it's not destined to sink. Lacking model-sized crews to pilot the ships in real time, he explains the docking-and-locking procedure surrounding the stricken vessel, the collapsing of masts and engagement of cranes; and within a few minutes, with the breached ship halfway sunk from water spilling up through its decks, its descend is halted entirely. The cranes do their job, fighting and holding back the forces trying to drag the ship down; and for good measure, he demonstrates using the cranes on the port side to pull the ship into a tilt so its breach is above the waterline.

"...And while the operation hulls are saving the wounded ship, the pilot hulls are free to save sailors who might have understandably abandoned ship. Once the crisis is over, normal repair can take place to pump the water out, and get the ship into shape to limp back to port. The ship is saved - and likely the lives of more than a few good seamen and women. Building the true-to-scale Hexfold won't be a small project - naturally, it's a considerably more complex build than, for example, a single hulled warship, or even six individual vessels. But each Hexfold Recovery System represents the capacity to deliver much more than its own cost from destruction and loss at sea. Now, my friends, I'm sure you have questions. About the hull designs, I'll do my best; and my partners can certainly speak for their own innovations."

He gives a little half bow at the terminus of his demonstration, and smooths back maybe eighty percent of his now eccentrically ruffled hair. He glances once to Mieveur and Albert, and gives them an encouraging smile. It's their turn in the spotlight now; but all in all, he seems pretty convinced it's gone very well.

Spoiler: Roll!

Show

I suppose it's appropriate to make a Diplomacy roll to put Aiden's best foot forward here. At a +15, I'm gratified he can't fail so catastrophically that the whole event is unimpressive; and it's definitely the most important thing he'll do today, so he'll throw in the +8 luck bonus for this one. Here 'tis!: DiplomacyPresentation - (1d20+23)[29].

EDIT: Welp, it's a bad roll! Though you might mercifully justify a bonus for Mieveur and Albert assisting with their pertinent knowledge skills, which would kick it over the 30. Even if not, 29's still not terrible!

[DeTess]

Coalburner and Hyrsson Clockwork
"You mean if they're ready to be properly manifested?" Vaigr asked. "You wouldn't have been able to interact with them as you have if they weren't. And you're right about needing more Shaman's to perform it. Generally it was done with five, though it can be done with three if all of them are very strong and experienced."

Streidekker and Sons Shipyards
After Aiden is done with his part of the presentation, Aduardo and Emillie started barraging Albert and Mieveur with questions, ranging from general questions on things like weight, cost and performance to the highly specific regarding obscure technical details. The two engineers seemed to be in their element with this part of the proceedings, and seemed to have little trouble fielding the endless array of questions. Mister Streidekker seemed to be ignoring that part of the proceedings, likely trusting his companions to have this covered. Instead, he was looking over the models with a grin on his face, not unlike what you'd find on the face of a child with a a new toy.

"Well done with that presentation." The elderly shipwright congratulated Aiden quietly while the cross-examination of the engineers continued. "I've had quite a few demonstrations like this recently, often about quite revolutionary concepts, but most artificers lack that spark to make the explanation actually interesting. You managed to keep my attention all throughout the presentation though, which is quite a feat at my age."

Once Streidekker's two companions where done with their questions they took a moment to quietly discuss matters, though it didn't take long for them tor each some form of conclusion.

"I'll start with the goods news." Streidekker took the lead on matters. "I myself am really intrigued by your concept, and my companions think the design is technically quite viable. I could have told them that myself, of course, given that this design comes courtesy of associates of the Escribano workshop, but still. A multi-hull design of this size does come with some new challenges, but nothing we couldn't overcome."

The shipwright takes a moment to let his praise sink in before continuing. "However, Emillie has some doubts about the commercial viability of the design. As much as I would want to build this just to prove we can, I do have a business to run at the end of the day. Emillie is about as honest as they come though, and if she thought there was no chance we'd ever sell a ship like this she'd say as much. As it is I'll do some talking, checking in with some of the larger merchant conglomerates and the navy, see if we can drum up some interest. If we can, I'd love to move forward with making this design a reality, and we would of course want to have the three of you advice in the project in that case. Might I suggest we reconvene a month from now? That should give us enough time to get a better look at the commercial side of things."

[MrAbdiel]

Streidekker and Sons Shipyards

"Mister Streidekker sir, that works just fine for me. I'm sure it'll work fine for my partners; they've plenty of other projects, and I've got a banjo I'm just itching to finish sanding and polishing." He chuckles, and seeks to shake the elder-shipwright's hand for the second time today; casting a glance then to the models bobbing quietly in the water. "And we'll have some time to consider alternative uses for the same design, in that time. There's no reason you can't use the cranes to sink hooks way, way down to a shallow sea floor to recover wrecks, for example, and haul them back up for recovery. But broadly, you're right; it's not a particularly cheap solution unless it's weighed off against a large fleet and the losses that fleet would take over a fairly long time. Which is a little limited, outside of a serious naval conflict - I'm ramblin', now." He laughs at himself, settles his knuckles on his hips, and nods once again as he circles back to Streidekker's encouragement. "But when the time comes to put hammer to nail, I'd love to be doing more than advising, sir. Designing a ship is tricky, I've found; but building them is just another kind of woodwork, give or take a little specialized expertise. I might be able to make the process a little more cost effective, being as it is that I've spent a long time now imagining how I'd be putting it together at scale! I've often wondered if the ship-building process could be refined at all, but I've not had a lot of chance to watch them built, so I can't presume."

[WindStruck]

"Um.. well no. When I said birthing I meant awakening for the first time? Oh well maybe I should have just said that..." Shandara says, slowly trailing off into muttering to herself.

She puts her cup down. "Anyway, I'd like to thank you all for having me over. I wish I could help more. But I do have some other business I need to get back to.. contracted work and all that."

--------

Shandara's Home

After visiting the friends' workshop and spirit guardians, Shandara heads back to her house to set to work on the important piece of equipment needed to operate the SCORP. First she had to start creating a circlet and cutting the jewels and placing them in their settings. Though one particular thing of note was that this was going to be specifically shaped for a dwarf's head, and ideally it would not fall off easily, even if you were to hang upside down. Hmm..

Still, Shandara gets a basic frame in place that she thinks is the right shape. Perhaps she'd have to experiment with Bolten's head a bit to see if she can find the perfect fit.

[Prehysterical]

Shandara's Home

It has been four days since the meeting with Lady Orlof. Overall, the clockwork tick seems to be on-track with the client's expectations. Bolten does feel a bit embarrassed when Lady Orlof points out the flaw of the tick's crystal eyes becoming clouded by fog and mist. A potentially deadly oversight... Perhaps Shandara can help with that. In his excitement, Bolten had also forgotten to camouflage the tick with the proper rocky covering. Despite his dwarven heritage, Bolten has not had that much experience with stoneworking or masonry. Perhaps he and his partner could find a way to make a natural rocky exoskeleton to disguise the smooth, artificial lines of the tick's construction.

Just as well, since Shandara has requested his presence at her house. It seems as though she is running into trouble with the crystals for the control headpiece for the SCORP. Bolten's certainly no jeweler, but he's happy to give his opinion if she asks for it. On his way to Shandara's house, Bolten stops by a market stall and picks up a pair of glazed honey buns for them to split. This is shaping up to be a long night...

At last, Bolten arrives and knocks politely on the door. The dwarf's precise movements should be familiar to Shandara by this point.

[WindStruck]

Shandara was getting a little antsy. She had requested Bolten's presence because she did need him, but also only at a certain point when she could meaningfully contribute more to the SCORP.. so it needed to be somewhat stable as a prototype.

Perhaps she could have filled her time with something else, going outside, visiting an interesting location, or perhaps a library for something entertaining or otherwise superfluous to read. Maybe even a theater? But she didn't know exactly when Bolten would be coming over either, due to her own lack of poor wording.

So she eventually settled with attempting to bond with Elu more, and working on some other jewelry. Perhaps inspired by her owl companion, she was working on making a delicate bracelet of tiny silver feathers when she heard the familiar rapping on her door.

It took a moment for Shandara to get to a good stopping point, but she tried to make up for the delay by moving quickly to her front door. She opened it and squinted out into the daylight. "Bolten. Please come in," she said softly, with a hint of a smile.

"Oh, apologies. I was not sure what exact time you were coming. Would you care for some apple-cinnamon tea today?"

[Prehysterical]

Shandara's Home

At first, Bolten is a little concerned by the delay in answering the door, but he relaxes when he hears the knob turn and he sees Shandara relaxed in her own sanctum. He smiles back at Shandara as she invites him in. His smile expands into an excited grin at her question. "That sounds absolutely lovely! In fact, that will go perfectly with the honey buns that I brought for us to share!"

While Shandara starts the tea to boil, Bolten fishes the clockwork tick out of his backpack. "I know that the SCORP is our biggest concern at the moment, but I need some advice from you on this little fellow. Lady Orlof pointed out that the crystal lenses are vulnerable to fogging up. Is there anything that can be done about that? Also, know any good alchemical recipes for stimulating rock growth on a surface? I've had my mind on other things, but in all my excitement, I forgot that this drone needs some camouflage in the Underdark! She's mostly pleased with the results, but including a twinned listening device with the goggles would make this perfect."

Spoiler: OOC

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Might as well roll the Knowledge checks here for ideas on rock camouflage beyond just gluing it on like a preschool project. It would need to fit in with the natural stonework in the expected mission area.
Know (Arcana): (1d20+12)[18]
Know (Dungeon): (1d20+7)[17]
Know (Engineering): (1d20+12)[32]
Know (Nature): (1d20+11)[15]

Once again, Bolten proves to be an engineer first and foremost.

[WindStruck]

"Hrm.." Shandara mumbles, mulling it over.

"That is tricky. You see, it's not like there is just one type of rock underground.. there are a whole myriad of possibilities, and that's not even considering manufactured environments..."

"Perhaps, if we could just turn the exterior into a dull, neutral grey, that might make it easier to hide, given dim conditions, or even dark vision. Of course, that will definitely affect the clever clock disguise when it is deactivated. What metal is that on the exterior, brass?"

[Prehysterical]

Shandara's Home

Bolten nods his head as he is forced to concede Shandara's point. "Aye, it is brass... It's what's traditionally used. There's no reason that we can't use a stainless steel alloy to help make it waterproof and display a more neutral, natural color. I'd have to scuff it up a bit so that it wouldn't be quite so shiny...

But what about the crystal lenses, though? Is there anything that you can do about that? It's a pretty big flaw for our bug if something as simple as dripping water can render it blind!"

[WindStruck]

Shandara begins to look a little worried over a problem so simple and minor as fogging up lenses or water dripping on them.

"Uhm.. l-let me think..." she says, as she scurries to the kitchen.

Due to the familiar voices, Elu flapped down the stairs to visit with Bolten, as did the lumbering steps of the half-orc bodyguard who made the stairs squeak and groan under pressure with his every step.

Spoiler: ooc

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I mean it's the daytime so I'm assuming Xavier is here too, isn't he? I'll assume he went upstairs to look out the window and identify who was knocking on the door. Or perhaps, he was already expecting Bolten and waiting?

The owl tilts its head at Bolten and then at the weird little contraption set on the table. She peers down at it and walks over, seeming about to give it a little exploratory peck. Xavier must be trying to blend into the background as much as possible. And that is when Shandara returns with a pot of steeping tea. She stops and blinks at the odd situation, once again feeling a bit crowded, but sets the pot down.

"Uh, anyway. What you're concerned about is a fairly natural and potentially common physical phenomenon, depending on the environment... I suppose there's two ways we can go about it. Well, on second thought, maybe only one way, since the first involves keeping the lenses very hot so water simply evaporates quickly, rather than condenses.. but that would not only be potentially dangerous, but expend even more energy we can't afford."

She sits down and says, "I would propose an alchemical layering to coat the lens that repels water.

[MrAbdiel]

Aiden's Workshop

A huge L shaped segment of the lower floor of Aiden's fresh new house is given over to his crafts - and Aiden has more crafts than the average craftsman. But right now, on the evening when he was expecting Misha to visit, his overactive mind had commandeered the room for another purpose again. Past the sawhorses, and the racks of chisels and the pedal-power lathe, and the desks covered in sewing templates and bolts of cloth, and a host of other tools for working metal and stone and leather, a number of benches have been pushed to the far sides of the room to create a void in the middle. This is where Misha finds Aiden - past the door he has left unlocked, at the locus of the sounds of music and commotion, the druid who finds her knocking unheeded is given no choice but to investigate and discover the bizarre scene.

Aiden is prancing about the empty space, orbiting its rim in an energetic circle while plucking wildly away at a very find banjo. In the centre of the room is a square rug, red and a couple of yards long to each side; looking stomped flat from years of service in one shop or another, washed clean, bought at bargain price to keep the chill from coming up under feet. Or in this case, under paws.

"Heel, toe, heel, toe, slide, slide, slide, slide; heel, toe, heel, toe, slide, slide, slide, slide! Right hand clap! Left hand clap! Both hand clap! Knees knees knees! Now swing your partner round, and join back up with the next you've found! Heel, toe - that's it, you're gettin' it - slide, slide..."

Aiden's fantastic rats are arranged in a circle on the dancefloor-rug. Their animal physiology is poorly suited to the dance's commands - their heels and toes are not so distinctly pronounced as they are on humans, being integrated more meticulously into a paw not designed exclusively for upright balance, and the forepaws do not make enough of a seal to really clap. But they seem to be giving it a shot anyway, and perhaps even enjoying the experience. They heel-toe as it's called, then - in pairs standing up on their back paws, they slide-slide sideways toward the middle of the rug making a tighter circle, then out again after the next round of heel-toe. The best they can manage is an awkward, bobbling gallop in that sideways gait; rats are versatile creatures, but their hips are not hinged in a way made for rapid, upright strafing. They do better at the spinning of their partners, swapping 'hands' and directions halfway then peeling off to another partner in sequence to begin again. It's not a professional performance; but perhaps, as is often the case with amateur dancers, the fun is alloyed perfectly with the imperfection of it all. A couple of the more venerable rats watch from the padded seat of an old dining chair Aiden has salvaged from somewhere - a kind of grand balcony, in this context, permitting a commanding view.

Unlike the last time Misha saw them, many of the rats are in part dressed. It's unclear if this is just for the dance or because some have taken a liking to it, but the most popular article are simple vests with single buttons, which do not restrict the movement of paws. Aiden, it seems, has already collided with and advanced past some of the trouble with clothing rats; none of them wear pants, or anything that would confine tails. But there are little white cuffs on some tiny wrists; charming bonnets with baby's breath flowers accenting one side; and a handful of bowties which have the very civilizing virtue of making the rat's neck visually distinct from its shoulders. Though some of the rats must notice Misha's entrance, Aiden certainly doesn't - he's lost in the sacred role of the Caller, at least for the next minute or so.

[DeTess]

Aiden's Workshop
Aiden is eventually made aware by the presence of his guest by the sound of laughter. He finds Misha standing not that far from the dance floor for the rats, clutching her stomach and gasping for air between peals of laughter.

"This is... oh gods, my stomach...pfft... hahaha... Oh, if...." it takes here a little while to get coherent again.

"That must have been one of the funniest things I've seen this year." the young druid said with a grin once she was capable of stringing full sentences together again. "And here auntie was a bit worried you might still see the rats as creatures rather than people."

[MrAbdiel]

Aiden's Workshop

Aiden is characteristically immune to any possible interpretation of this reaction that could be construed as mockery.

"Misha!" He exclaims, throwing his arms wide with banjo still in hand, as if embracing the very idea of her arrival. One of the rats, thinking this is some extra-credit portion of the dance, pops up on its hind legs, spreads is forepaws, and squeaks. Then, self consciously, sets down again.

The Caller himself sets aside the banjo as the rats variously squeak out their greetings to Misha - which she understands, and he does not - and crosses to her with the same cheerful, two-hands taking one of hers handshake he met her with the first time. "Come on, come here, look - I did my best guessing, but I need you to try it on before I make final alterations."

The armor is certainly masterful. He's sunk the time and money into it to make it so. A full set of tunic and breeks, bracers and gorget, gloves and boots. Supple and strong, flexible and free to permit maximum mobility while tough enough to offer a measure of critical resistance to blows. Beyond that, the artistry is impressive in itself; the tunic is embossed with a central icon of a tree whose trunk runs the length from navel to breastbone; after which the branches spider outward with fantastical, mythic profusion just as the roots flood out below. The entire set is crowded with embossed, stylized images of creatures occupying this ecosystem, no more than two of any kind. Parrots and ravens roost in the branches alongside falcons and owls; squirrels, koalas and snakes stake out homes in hollows of the trunk; foxes, bears and dear frolic in idyllic peace at the base. Where the art transitions to the breeks, rabbits and badgers make their burrows beneath the 'surface' of belt height; and deeper still, moles and wombats and digging things populate, if more sparsely, the deeper places of this depicted world. The boots are rimmed with a wave motif, with sharks and seals and fish saluting that nearly forgotten corner of the animal spectrum; the gorget hosts a suggestion of cloud, and high flying ospreys, and swifts. The gloves are a little different; they have artistic flourishes in the borders. On the back panels of the palms are mirror imaged ambiguous humanoid figures; and nested sneakily in the hollow between ring and middle finger of the left hand are a pair of rats, completing the menagerie. The whole ensemble is washed an earthy matt brown; a simplicity of base that accentuates the very fine silver and gold leaf work that pick out the branches, roots and trunk of the tree; and the eyes of all the creatures.

"The leather is all Silvertoe buckskin; the rangers who harvest it do so according to exacting standards, using every part. I haven't known many druids, but I expect that'd be important in some fashion. And I know that you aren't supposed to wear metals; but I figured that meant armor and such that protects, not the aesthetic bits. I've seen druids with earrings, so I think it's alright to have a little gold and silver just to fancy it up, some."

Saying this out loud, he is struck suddenly with a fear that this addition has indeed disqualified it from her use; and his shoulders draw in a little as he asks with diminishing certainty: "...Is that... how it works?"