Day 38: Fireday the 26th, Lamashan, 4707
I woke in the middle of the night with a distinct memory of the visions that I had received after falling asleep last night. I was working on another motorcycle in the workshop. I was cranking the basic models out as fast as Vaeren could provide the continual heat rocks. I had acquired a way to generate a magical force that was called an unseen servant, and after enough experimentation, had found a way to get it working at roughly the same rate I had been. It wasn't manufacturing, but it was so much faster than what would have been accessible in this era and this world.
Savah was splitting her time between being a proprietor of a chain of stores that focused on moving goods quickly (and non-magically) from one town to another, using technology that I had adapted from the radios to set up a distribution network that minimized the need for any individual store to stock a lot of a specific item. Each store also had one of Jonathan's Bolting Barghest restaurants positioned right at the place, to allow people to eat while they wait for their order to be processed. They really worked well together. We didn't have a good place for Dame Rebekah and Chelger, except for Chelger to focus on the aesthetic aspects of the buildings and Dame Rebekah acting as our moral compass to keep us from going astray.
Faunra was focused around getting our supplies from point A to point B. Everyone else had a grand destiny in this dream, and I was just satisfied with working in a workshop, building things. A tall man in a cloak with one eye constantly shrouded. I instantly knew who it was and that the dream portion of this vision was over. The man looked over the bike that the unseen force was building with a mixture of approval and disappointment. He asked me if I thought that this was a suitable way to deal with magic. I told him that without any indication of where I needed to go, joining technology with magic seemed to be the best thing to fulfill his requirements.
The Wanderer thought for a second and told me that I was going to have to step it up, that this (the dream) wasn't what was going to happen if we didn't figure out how to stop the machinations of the main villain that was behind all of this. He told me that everything that had happened so far was just the beginning of this mess. He then told me to accept the offer of the Tokage's, and study their book once I got my own copy made. He added that there were some things that would happen later that could put me in danger, but that if I made my way through it, I would be that much stronger for it. He continued with telling me to focus on the gifts that I had brought with me, and that I shouldn't sire any children during the month named after a goddess that I had upset.
I thanked him for his advice and said that I would do my best to focus on it going forward. Chieftain nodded and told me that he was certain that I would remember this. I asked him if this future could happen if I did end up stopping this overarching threat. Chieftain told me that this could happen, but that there are other things that will open up that I did not know about that might change my hopes for the future. I nodded and said that I will keep my plans open. He nodded and looked around for a minute before asking if I had anything to drink. I slammed my palm into my forehead and asked him to follow me to the break room. We went and I got a bottle of the raspberry wine. I focused on using my prestidigitation powers to chill the mead and handed him a glass of it.
He took a drink and said that he appreciated the effort. I thanked him for his compliment and told him that it was nice to received such a compliment from the "Best Host". The Best Host told me that it was fine, that I was doing a decent job at the Armory, but that I was going to have to find a better place to be a host than the Armory. I told him that I would look into finding another place, and he told me that this was a good plan, as the needs that I would have in the future would outstrip this place's ability to fulfill my needs, in addition, getting the glassworks up and running again would be vital.
I thanked him for telling me this. He went to leave and I walked him out. He exited the door and I saw him stand to a full height, which was taller than any building in my line of sight. I asked him before he left why I was so good at killing the undead. He puzzled over the word for a minute and told me that putting things right with the cycle was indeed a necessary duty of a psychopomp. He turned to leave, but thought better and he turned back to tell me one more thing. He told me that it was dangerous for him to access my mind this way, as there was a deity here that controlled dreams, and that I needed to figure out a better way myself. He snapped his fingers and I woke up with a start. I wasn't in the bedroom. I was in the round room where I used to sleep. My tablet was right next to me, so I turned it on and started writing everything out.
I had gotten everything written down, and took the long walk back to the break room. When I got to the area that we walled off, it was still walled off again. I checked for any loose stones or anything but couldn't find any. I made my way back to where we found the goblin's secret entrance to the tunnels and found my way out to the cave. I stepped out of the secret door and was immediately between a pair of goblins that had been sitting around the door. They looked at me, and I looked at them. I reached for my machete, but I realized that I didn't have my armor or weapons. All I had on me was that tablet, and I wasn't about to use that as a weapon. The goblins jumped up from where they were sitting and circled me to strike.
I took the opportunity to punch the first one that got into my reach. It tried to take a stab at me as I punched but I avoided it deftly. Not deftly enough to miss the one sneaking up on me from behind, jabbing at my thigh and opening up a deep gash in my thigh. I may have been stabbed by that little bastard, but I knocked that first one the fuck out. I wheeled around to face the one that stabbed me. I went for another punch and it tried to stab me again. I dodged out of the way and knocked the second goblin out like the first one.
A third goblin came back with a dead dog in its hand. An arrow was sticking out of the dog. The poor dog. The Goblin had a sick grin on its face. I picked up the sword that had stabbed me and charged the thing. It didn't have a chance to react before I ran the pilfered sword into its neck. I looked around to see if there were any other goblins around before stopping to take an assessment of myself and the situation.
As I looked over the bodies of the dying goblins, I felt the blood running down my back. I stripped down one of the goblins and used my prestidigitation powers to clean the cloth as much as I could. I then used my prestidigitation power to unravel the thread and then create a needle. I used the needle, thread, and a piece of metal from their equipment shined to be a mirror to stitch up the wound. I stitched up the wound pretty good, but it was going to take a while to heal. Well, that or some kind of magical healing.
After a few seconds I noticed that the goblin was slyly trying to get away. I walked over to it with one of their shortswords in hand. I told it to stop moving or I would kill it. It spat at me and reached for a knife. I stabbed it. Remarkably, it seemed to still be alive, but very unconscious. I looked at the various goblins and decided that I would look through their things to see if I could figure out anything about them. To my surprise I must have remembered a lot about the goblins from when Shalelu told us everything.
These goblins seemed to be from the Seven Tooth Tribe, about an hour's walk into the woods to the east of town. The weapons that they were armed with looked to be a lot more like actual weapons than trash. I'd bet that the weapons and armor could actually be sold for rather than just scrapped, as long as they were sufficiently cleaned. There were also twelve waterproofed sacks. Most of them were filled of various foods and skins. One sack even had three firepelt cougar pelts. They seemed to be fairly well done, so I might be able to get Lars to finish up the processing to get the vests done for the weddings. Another bag had a mixture of mink and ermine pelts that could probably be used for some other purpose for the weddings.
Two more of the bags were full of four, a total of twenty pounds' worth. The rest of the bags had differing amounts of mixed nuts (six), turnips (five), beans (four), oranges (three), and potatoes (two). The last two sacks were empty, and could probably be used for carrying the gear of the goblins. On the goblins themselves, I had found a total of two gold pieces, six silver pieces, and seven copper pieces. Each of the goblins had a small quartz and the archer had a small bloodstone on him. There was a small clay pot on the archer that had some kind of magic liquid in it. I guessed it was such because it sparkled and glittered. I gathered up everything, into one of the two bags that were remaining.
I took the remaining sack and made a travois out of it with two of the short-bows. When everything was ready to go, I checked the goblins to see if they were still alive. The two that had flanked me were dead. I guess I ended up killing both of the goblins with one punch each. Man, never thought I could do that.
The last one, the one I had stabbed twice, was actually alive. I'm guessing the potion that I have isn't one of healing, because I would have expected the goblin to have used the potion if it was. I wondered what I should do with the bodies of the dead. I mean, it was likely that they would just be considered trash, and they weren't exactly considered to be citizens or even anything more than cannibalistic pests. I'm pretty sure that they wouldn't bury the bodies either. I decided to take the ears, as it seemed the common thing to do, and toss the bodies into the ocean, as far as I could.
I whistled a bit, in the hopes of some predator to come and get them. To my surprise a head popped up and I thought I recognized it as a relative of the bunyip from Thistletop. I went back to the cave and loaded everything, including the still living goblin, onto the travois and decided that I would start heading up to the beach to find my way to the Garrison. It's still storming, so I decided to pack my tablet away in the bag with the ermine and mink furs.
I had picked my way up the embankment when I was close to The Old Light, using an old trail that I was certain had been taken by many a young teenager in the past. I got up to just behind Brodert's house and pulled my way to Tower Street. I made my way to the Garrison and knocked on the door. Sheriff Hemlock saw me, in my night clothes, bloodied, carrying a D.I.Y. travois that had a disabled, bound goblin. He pulled me inside and asked me what all of this was about.
I told him that I had woken up in those catacombs below the town that we had dealt with. I told him that I tried to make my way back to the glassworks, but that the way into the basement was still blocked up, so I traced my way back to where there was a secret door and a cave on the cliff front. I told him that I exited out from the door and was immediately flanked by two goblins. I killed the first one with a punch, and got stabbed by the second one. I wheeled around and killed the second one with a punch. A third one had come around the corner with a dead dog in its hands. I stabbed it twice, but it still lived, pointing to the one who was on the travois with me. I finished with telling Sheriff Hemlock that I had gathered up all of the things that were in the cave, because I didn't know who they belonged to.
Sheriff Hemlock looked at me blankly, then over the bags, and then back to me to say that they belong to me now. He added that they had likely belongs to a travelling merchant that had been killed and eaten by the goblins. The fact that the bags were unlabeled and unmarked means that there is no proof of who they might belong to. He added that I really needed to talk to the rest of my group about the business of adventuring and how it really works. I thanked him and noted that I had to head back to the Armory to let Savah know that I was alive and well.
Sheriff Hemlock told me that she had come by and said that I had just disappeared in the middle of the night. He added that his guards had searched the house but had found no evidence of me leaving or anyone abducting me. He then told me that he would be sending, looking in at the break room, sending Fumi and Naru with me to make sure that there are no issues with anything or anyone jumping me. I thanked him and he summoned both them and Vachedi. Vachedi got to the door first, and collected the goblin from me. He smiled and said that they would work to get any information that they could from him. I noted that he was from the Seven Tooth Tribe, but that was most of what I had known from their outfits.
Fumi and Naru both came out next and flanked me as we walked back. I was pulling my impromptu travois as we walked. Naru asked me if it was true that I had killed two goblins just by punching them. I told him that I had punched them so hard that they dropped to the ground. When I checked them after I dealt with the third one and stitched my leg up, they were dead. Naru nodded and Fumi asked if she could see the wound. I had mended up my pants, so I borrowed a knife from her to slit the pant legs. She looked at the stitched up wound and said that this was a good job stitching. I thanked her and mended the pants again.
Fumi asked me if I was still willing to copy their hereditary book. I told her that I was, and that if they could get it to me today some time, I should be done making the copies by tomorrow morning. We finished up our trek to the Armory and Savah was waiting in the shop absolutely panicked. Arika, Oren, Chelger, Dame Rebekah, Faunra, Jonathan, Shayliss, and Vaeren were all there with her. Fumi and Naru asked if this was good and I said it was.
Savah came rushing over and yelled at me to tell her what I had done and why had I left her in the middle of the night. I told her that I had no idea what had happened, but that I woke up in the round room. I told them all that I had walked back to the area where we had built up the wall and it was still standing. I told them that I went back to the area where the secret door was and went out into the cave. I added that there were two goblins around the secret door and they attacked me. I told them that I had knocked two goblins out with a single punch each. A third one came around the corner and I ran it down with one of the dropped goblin's swords.
I told them all that I had gathered up all of the things that were in the cave and the only surviving goblin and brought everything to the Garrison. I told them that I informed Garrison of everything and Sheriff Hemlock sent the two guards back with me to ensure that no one was planning anything untoward against me. Dame Rebekah came over and asked where I was wounded. I took a handy knife and slit my pants again and showed her where I had the stitched wound. She channeled her divine energy and the wound sealed up.
Savah asked what all I had gotten from the cave. I told them all what was in all of the bags. When I pulled out the clay pot, Faunra came forward and inspected it. Savah took a look over the weapons and Armor and started to sort things out. I pulled out my tablet and put it on one of the tables and showed everyone the various skins, gems, and coins that were in the bags. Everyone grabbed a bag of the food and took it all over to the pantry. Dame Rebekah spent some of her divine power purifying it all as we put it in.
Since we were all together, I asked if everyone was on board with leaving tomorrow morning. Faunra said that she could still be ready for an early morning start if I would be. I told everyone that I should be ready. Shayliss said that she was going to sit this trip out, as she needed to be available for her parents. Chelger said that he would have to give this trip a pass as well, as all of the priests of the Cathedral were being tasked with joining on the patrols of the farmlands to help deal with ghouls and such. Savah said that she would be heading out with us, as she had set up Vaeren and Oren for taking care of the shop.
Dame Rebekah and Chelger both noted that they would have to be heading out to deal with some things. Jonathan and Shayliss said that they had to head back to The Bolting Barghest. I quipped to them, asking if we were going to pick up to go meals for our running and riding tomorrow. Jonathan thought about it for a second and said that it would be a great idea, as we could decrease our amount of time spent stopping on the road. Faunra said that she had to get to work, and Oren and Arika told me likewise the same. Vaeren took the hint and asked if he should start getting the frames ready and I told him sure. That left just Savah and myself.
Savah looked at me and asked if it was another vision. I told her that it was and I went through all of it with her, leaving nothing out. She was kind of amused by my vision of a good life had everyone else having success and me just being happy to help everyone do better. She said that she had started drinking her tea since she figured that Lamashan would be a bad time for her to get pregnant, but that after that, she'd be going back off it. I nodded and said that was the smart thing to do.
Savah hugged me as fiercely as she ever had and said that she was certain that I had not just left her in the middle of the night. I told her that I had absolutely no reason to. She smiled and said that I should get back to work. I agreed and said that her bike wasn't going to build itself, at least not until I got the unseen servant spell. She smiled and said that would give us a lot more time together. I said that I would work towards that and try to figure out how to make it work. I walked off to our bedroom to change and she slapped my ass as I went. I'm glad that I didn't give her any long term scares about me leaving her.
Vaeren had started to form up one bike frame by the time I had gotten in to the workshop. He was very focused on measurements and making things precise. I got out my tape measure and my calipers from my tool bag and showed him how to use them. He was fascinated by the both of them and asked if I would help him make copies. I told him sure, and that we could work on that when I get back from Magnimar. He accepted that and used the new tools to help get the bikes to be precise. I got the material ready for making the strips and dipping them in the cement mixture like plaster of Paris. It wouldn't be as thick, but it should use less of the material.
With the both of us working, and me focusing on busting them out as quickly as I could, we managed to get the frames of both of them done and drying by the time we would need to break for lunch. Vaeren said that he had to go talk to Ilsoari about something, and I asked him if he could pick something up. He looked at me for a second, and I counted out forty-five gold. I told him that I would need him to get me three blank books, so that I could get him an engineering book done up and get another pair of books made for someone else. Vaeren nodded and said that he would be back.
I took another look over the bikes and realized that we had gotten a LOT of work done on the two of them. If we pushed ourselves, we should be able to do some wondrous things and get them done in record time. The engines were already put together, the wheels needed to be picked up from Bilivar, but we had most everything else in place. The main problem now was waiting for the concrete to dry. It was taking a lot longer today, maybe that double wrap really did help. While I was waiting, I started to do up my wedding gifts to every one of the couples that would be taking place in the ceremony.
I managed to actually get one done before Savah brought Naru and Fumi in. They had with them their old family book. I asked them if they were sure, and they said that they were. I asked them why it had not had a copy made yet of it, and they said that it could not be copied by a wizard as a specific enchantment had been placed upon it that prevented all manner of Arcane and Divine Spell-casters from being able to read the text to prevent them from accessing the type of information that was contained therein. I thanked them for the opportunity to peruse the book, and gently took it from them.
I opened it up and it seemed like fairly normal writing, but the writing was archaic. It was definitely at least understandable, but would definitely take some time to pour through it. As an experiment, I tried to snap a picture of it using my tablet. I opened up the picture and it worked out just fine. No change in the images or the text. I asked them if they were okay with me taking pictures of the book to try to copy it. Fumi shrugged and said that they needed a copy so that the book could be passed on to further generations when it came to that. I told them that I would work on this and have it ready for them tomorrow before we left. Fumi and Naru both said that they could agree with that and left.
Savah escorted them back and came back in after they left. She asked me if this was the book that my vision had told me that I needed to study. I told her that it indeed was, and that I would be making a physical and digital copy of it to make sure that it was safe, to make sure that I always would have a copy whenever and wherever I needed it. Savah said that this was a very logical thing and asked what I was working on when they got here. I told Savah that it was one of the betrothal gifts for the ceremonies.
She told me that she had to go back to the shop, so I spent the time that I had left before Vaeren was to come back take pictures of all of the pages in order so that I could combine them into one document later. As I was going through it, I shit you not, there were renditions of the Gun Kata from Equilibrium among other martial arts styles. There seemed to be a lot of discussion about magical theory and what the various requirements for spells to take effect. It was a fascinating work, and if it was true, I had every intention of following through with the lessons it showed, especially since I recognized some of them from works from my old world.
I cautioned myself to be extremely careful in the turning of the pages. The book was extremely old and not protected from harm by magic, so it was fairly fragile. I resolved myself to try a mending effect when I was done making the copies of the book and trying to make a second copy for the Tokage's. Vaeren came in with the books that I had asked and looked over my shoulder. He asked what I was doing with an old blank book. I looked at him and realized what they meant by not allowing an arcane or divine spellcaster to access the book.
I told him that I was trying to see what the interaction was with my tablet and the books, to see if I could make a copy of the books on my tablet and then reproduce the book from my device. I told him that the best way to start that is by looking for as many details of the background as possible. He nodded and said that he guessed that this made sense. I know that I lied to him using technobabble, but it was better than him knowing that I had a book that was specifically designed to hunt people with his abilities. He asked me if we had more to do with the bikes at the moment, and I told him that since we had the power plants done, and it was taking longer than before with the alchemical cement, that all we could do now was wait, but that I would get working on his copy of an engineering and science book if he was willing to wait until I was done copying this book.
Vaeren said that he would go talk to Savah to get some information about what her plans were for him running the store. I nodded and told him that he should probably talk to Faunra to see if she might be willing to let him use her artificer lab downstairs while we are gone. He lit up and said that he would do just that after talking to Savah. I got done taking the photographs and hoped that Vaeren wasn't asking Savah about the book I was working on currently. I looked through my inventory of PDF's to see what I had easy access to for him.
I had a couple of books from some middle school science level stuff, a lot of self-directed experiment stuff, so I grouped them all into one of the repurposed spellbooks and started blasting away. After nearly two hours, I was finished. Sometime during that period, Vaeren had come in and asked if I was working on his book, and I told him that I was. He thanked me and I told him that it was no issue, but that I needed to find a way to make books as cheap as they were where I was from. Vaeren asked me if I had any books on that. I thought for a minute and said that I would check on that after I was done filling the books that I had designated into his book.
I filled up the books and included a brief section on how to make paper from hemp, as I did have that included in a hemp research paper that I had previously downloaded. I figured that this might intrigue him enough to look into it and maybe spark a bit of thought. I added one more thing to the front, which was a brief description of the scientific method and how it worked. I figured that this alone would be advancing the scientific thought at least three hundred years by just teaching him that. With his book finished I went to check the alchemical cement. It was still drying and looked like it would be another two hours, so I decided to try copying the book that the Tokage's had entrusted to me, the Grimoire Serpentis Ferra.
It seemed to go fairly well and I got it copied fairly quickly. When it was done, the cover of the formerly blank book got an inlay of a steel snake, just like the one that had been on the cover of their book. I went back to the first one and decided to try a mending effect on it. Age seemed to wear away, and the various scars and scratches of use faded away. I flipped through the pages and they seemed to be newer. The Serpent on the cover looked to shine with it being free of the rust of age. I had two perfectly good copies in front of me now. I took them to the bedroom and locked them up. When I got back to the Workshop, Vaeren was back and checking the cement. It looked about dry, so we started installing components. Having two (and a half, Vaeren had summoned an unseen servant to help out where it could) people working on this got things moving fairly well.
By the time the workday was done, we had two new bikes, ready to run as soon as we got wheels on them. They didn't have all of the upgrades that my bike did, and as such could not go as fast, but we filled them both up and tried out the engines. They both turned just as well and I noted that all we needed to do now was hook up the wheels from Bilivar's. Then I noticed that there was only one skull left. I mentioned that we would need to find another headlight for his bike, and Vaeren brushed me off, saying that he would figure what he wanted as his head light tonight, and that he could easily handle it. I told him that he might be a little bit busy tonight, as he might want to start reading the book that I had just finished for him.
Vaeren asked when he could see the book, and I told him that I would give it to him after we finished up the bikes. He asked me what more needed to be done, and I told him that we needed to head to Bilivar's to pick up the wheels. He asked me if I wanted him to go get them, and I told him that I would go head there if he wanted to do the double checks and make sure that everything was right. I walked over to the Loading Area after loading up my tablet into the waterproof pocket of my armor. I got into the room and wheeled my bike around.
I took a look over the bike and made sure that everything was good. I unlocked the doors, wheeled the bike out, and locked it up behind me. I drove off in the pouring rain, with my goggles on to keep my ability to see. I made my way down the various streets among the absolute lack of people walking around. I got over to Wheen's Wheels and pulled my bike into Bilivar's Workshop. Bilivar was there getting yelled at by some woman when I pulled in.
The lady yelled at him for a good minute before noticing me. She yelled at me asking what this monstrosity was and why I was in here. I got off the bike and took my glasses off. I looked over at the woman and told her that I had business with her husband, and that while I didn't want to intrude in on their domestic squabble, I really didn't have the time for her verbally assaulting a craftsman such as Bilivar. Bilivar's wife started trying to go in on me and I just ignored her. I asked Bilivar if he had gotten the two pair of wheels done yet, and he told me that he had. I paid him the remainder of what would be needed and got them from him.
Bilivar's wife was standing aghast at me ignoring her tantrum, and walked off in a huff. Bilivar noted that she would be insufferable tonight, but that it wasn't my fault. I told him that I hated seeing anyone in a state of marital dismay, and told him that if he wanted, I could try to figure out something to help him out. He shook his head and that he would just have to deal with it. I told him that if he wanted, he could take his family out to The Bolting Barghest and tell Jonathan that I had sent him, and that their dinner would be covered. He thanked me for the offer again but said that his wife wouldn't appreciate it.
I apologized and said that all else failing, he could always talk to me, as I had been through it before. Bilivar's eyes lit up and asked me how I changed it. I told him that my ex finally got pissed off at me and admitted that the kid wasn't mine, after she thought that I had ran off. I joked and said that I honestly didn't recommend it, especially as this place most definitely had easier ways to determine paternity through a spell or something, and unless he was certain that it was a possibility, counselling would be the better option.
Bilivar said that his wife was just going through a rough patch since they had lost a kid in the mill pond she was just being overprotective of her other kids and part of that was ensuring that they were taken care of. I told him that this was terrible and reiterated that he could talk to me later. Bilivar thanked me and said that he would keep it in mind. I told him that if he thought that his wife would be okay with it, she could always talk to Savah as well. Bilivar said that he would consider passing that on, but that she probably wouldn't want to talk to an outsider about it.
I told him that I can understand that. I thanked him again for all his hard work on the wheels, and updated him on when I would need more and how many. He smiled and said that he would plan for it. I wheeled the bike around and told him goodbye before heading back to the Armory. I went through some back alleys to try to keep my mind focused on reacting quickly to changing circumstances. I got through the roads and alleys to get back to the Armory. I opened up the Loading Room doors, slowly wheeled the bike in before shutting and locking the doors behind me.
I pulled out the heat rock and drained out the engine. It seemed to take about as long as brushing down a horse might, so I could see this not being an inconvenience when it comes to the end of the travel day activities. I wheeled the bike around to be in the position to roll out. I figured that tomorrow would be an early day, so I wanted to be ready. I got the wheels for the two new bikes and headed into the workshop. Vaeren was doing some calculations on the chalkboard when I came in. He heard the door open and turned around to see me. He told me that Savah had come in to check on me, and he told her that I had run out to get the wheels for their vehicles. I asked him if she needed anything, and he told me that she was hoping to talk to me before the trip tomorrow.
I asked him if he was willing to put the wheels onto both of the chassis, Vaeren told me that he should be fine, and I left the wheels with him and went to see what Savah needed. Savah looked to be closing down the shop for the day when I came in. She saw me and came over to give me a hug. I thanked her and asked her what it was that she needed. Savah told me that she didn't know if she could ride one of these vehicles by herself.
I told her that I believed that she could, but that if she didn't should could ride on mine behind me. I asked her if she could at least try it tomorrow morning, when the weather will be better. Savah said that she would try it at least. I added that we would only need to go as fast as the slowest member of the group, which could be either Jonathan's, Faunra's, or Dame Rebekah's horse, which goes much slower over long distances that the speed I rode at. That, and I wanted to make sure that we had the chance to bring everything along with us that she would need to bring.
I hugged her again and said that I needed to do the last few things that would get her bike up to what I considered drivable standards. I told her that if we needed, we could just garage her bike for the trip. I asked her if she would be okay with the skull headlight like mine, and she said that she would be okay with it since it matched mine. She asked if I had thought about lights on the back of the bikes, and I remembered the eternal candles that we had gotten from Thistletop. I told her that I would mount one to the back of each, and that it was a good idea. She smiled and went back to work on getting everything set up for the store for however long we needed Oren and Vaeren to cover for her.
When I got back into the workshop, Vaeren had gotten the front wheels on both of the bikes. I pitched right in and helped get the rear wheels on each. We got the chains in place and tensioned correctly, and put some chain guards over each. With the rear wheel propped up, I put the heat stone in Savah's bike, filled it with water, and tested the functionality. Everything worked as expected, barring a few minor adjustments that would need to be made when Savah was trying it out. I was satisfied enough with hers, and took the power source out to try Vaeren's. His needed a few more adjustments, that he demanded to make. I gave him leave to adjust his bike as needed.
I spent the rest of the time making minor fixes to both Savah's and my bikes to make them road worthy. As a last minute upgrade, I added a luggage rack over the rear wheel fenders. We'd need to lift the rear of the bike completely to replace the rear wheel but that would be expected anyway. Now we could have rear saddlebags and increase out cargo capacity. I figured that we could get the saddlebags from Daviren at The Goblin Squash Stables tomorrow morning. I made sure to include a pair of the eternal candles on the back of each bike, and rigged up a cover that was removed whenever the brake was applied to one of them.
Satisfied with my work, I went back into the workshop, to see Vaeren studying the bike intensely. I took the book out of my enhanced backpack and gave it to him, I gave it a look and I could see the struggle between his current focus and the book. I noted to him that he could always look through the book tomorrow, after we headed out, especially since we would need the second heat stone to power Savah's bike. He nodded and asked what I thought would work for his bike. I told him that there were some chemical ways to produce heat, but that if he really needed, I could set him up with a quick gas burner that could provide heat to the boiler.
Vaeren thought for a minute and asked if I planned on bringing back another heat rock. I told him that if I could, I would bring back a scroll, so that he could scribe it into a spellbook. His eyes lit up, and said that he could suffer for a few days without his newest prize. I thanked him for his help, and he said that he would likely be very busy with trying to figure out everything in his new book. I told him that the first and last sections were probably the most important, and that the middle sections would help to reinforce the first lesson. Vaeren said that he would try to keep that in mind.
I asked him to make sure that his engine was emptied before he went to bed, as running steam through the engine when it wasn't being used would just wear out the equipment needlessly. He asked if mending might repair the issues. I told him that it might, but that it didn't do to damage the equipment when it wasn't in use. Vaeren nodded and continued making small modifications.
I went back to the break room and Savah was there. She seemed anxious, so I asked her if she wanted something to eat. She nodded and I made up a quick meal with the sausages and the new potatoes that we got from the goblins. Everything seemed good, and Savah was okay with it. It was a kind of soup with some greens and dairy included. It certainly wasn't my best work, but I needed to invent refrigeration to get me back to my normal level. We retired without much else to discuss and I assuaged her worries about the bike, as even if she crashed it completely, Jonathan could probably lift the whole thing up and keep us moving at a normal clip. Savah nodded and said that she would try to ride tomorrow. I gave her a massage to help her relax. We settled down for the night and I updated all of my notes for the day.