Day 120: Wealday the 16th, Abadius, 4708
Savah and I woke up early today, getting our four hours of sleep thanks to the enchantment that Faunra had put on the bedroom. I got us dressed and we went into the kitchen to enjoy an hour or so of relaxing breakfast before everyone else was getting up for the day. Niddler reported in to me telepathically, and I thanked him for his diligence. Savah must have been getting a similar dispatch from Bailey, because she asked me how I handled having an additional three voices in my head. I told her that they all had different accents, and that this helped a lot.
Savah asked what Niddler sounded like. I thought about it and I told her that he sounded like he had a bit of a country accent, like a good old country boy from the South back where I was from. I offered that Veronica ended up sounding female and Irish, and Igor sounded somewhat upper class British male. But again, that was based on where I had come from, so it might just be that these are the voice sounds that I associate with them most closely. Savah nodded along to all of this and offered up that Bailey sounded a bit like her brother did when they were growing up.
Savah had not told me much about her family, so I asked her about him. Savah told me that her brother had been slain by a marauding pack of goblins when she was young. I asked her if he was ever avenged and Savah told me that a group of adventurers had done the deed and came back to inform her family that he had been avenged. Savah told me that it had brought her no peace, but she learned to live without her brother. I nodded and told her that I was sorry for her loss. Savah shrugged and said that she had come to terms with it. I told her that we should do this more often, have a custom where we tell the other something that we didn't think that they knew every morning. Savah said that she would like that.
Savah asked me to tell her something that I had not told her, and I thought for a few seconds before telling her about how I had spent the last night I had before entering the military. I had gone bowling (which they apparently had on this world as well), and watched movies. Savah asked if I regretted not doing anything else before joining up. I told her that I did not, and that everything seemed to turn out for the best, since I was here now. Savah smiled and we spent some more time in small talk before the rest of the house woke up.
Oren and Arika were up first, and they came out to a surprise where we had made enough food for everyone. They talked about their plans and how they were going to set up a house on the North side of the road that left the Tanner Bridge. I nodded and asked how it was going for getting the land ready and paid for. Oren said that it would take time, but that they were both picking up extra shifts for watch duty to ensure that they could get it paid off quickly.
Savah offered to help but the both declined, saying that they really wanted to do this together and on their own. I told them that I could respect that, and that if they changed their mind, all they had to do was ask. Oren thanked us and said that they would keep it in mind. Oren asked what the deal was with what we were building and where we were taking it. I told him that we'd be heading to Northern Varisia as soon as the plane was built, we got the exact location from Faunra/Shalelu, and the trip funds from the society.
Oren nodded and asked how long we expected to be gone. Savah spoke up and said that she wouldn't be taking this trip as she wanted to spend a bit more time coaching her staff on running the store before taking another vacation. I smiled and told her that we could take a real vacation after we got done with this Runelord bullshit. Arika laughed before noticing that I was serious. Arika said that the Runelords were from centuries ago. Faunra's voice spoke up from the doorway and corrected her by saying tens of thousands of years.
I smiled and asked her how her trip was. Faunra said that her bike was decently fast, but that teleporting was so much faster. Savah told her that if Faunra wanted, she could sell her bike and get her some cash for it. Faunra shook her head and said that she still loved her bike, it was just that if she needed to get somewhere quick, the bike would have to be packed away. I told her that she'd have to convert to using a portable garage or something like that and the seemed to light up in Faunra's eyes. I think I just gave her an idea.
Faunra shook off the inspiration and said that she'd start with the enchantment while we were finishing up on the installation. I told her that the firearm would not be ready yet, but that everything else would be going in today. Faunra nodded and said that she had not prepared to enchant a weapon, but that she would keep it in mind for later. As if on cue, Vaeren came in to the common room. He was a bit sleepy but managed to make out that Faunra was there. He was very excited when he figured it all out, until he realized that Faunra would be working on her enchantments while we were finishing up on the technological side.
I told him that he could talk more with her if he wanted when she was done, but that she would probably be busy focusing on the enchanting process. Faunra agreed and said that she would make time after for talks and explanations. Vaeren smiled and went to go get ready for his busy day. Faunra plopped down on one of the chairs and used a bit of magical telekinesis to lift up a pastry and bring it over to her. Savah asked her if Shalelu had come with her today and Faunra shook her head, and answered between bites that Shalelu had went off to go deal with the Crying Leaf group.
I asked if Shalelu had driven up there on her own. Faunra said that she had, but that it would be okay, since if she had problems, Shalelu knew to send to her immediately, and Faunra would teleport right to her. I told her that this seemed to be good practice. Faunra said that once the other radios get set up similar to Savah and my pair, and Faunra and Shalelu's pair, we can be a moment away from helping each other. I specified that she could, the rest of us would have to hoof it or ride or bikes or mounts. Faunra nodded and said that the plane might help with that too.
Once that was said, Vaeren came back in, ready for his work day. I told everyone that I'd be checking in with the twins, and then heading out. Savah hugged me and I headed downstairs. Igor was already outside with his group of unseen crafters, working to get every bit of technological equipment installed and functional. I went and checked in on Veronica, whom I could tell was slightly fuming about the fact that her progress was not going as fast as she would like. I noted to her that she was working on this for a very short period of time comparatively, and the higher end of technology that she was working on was a bit more difficult than modifications to already existing technological trees. Veronica telepathically thanked me and I told her that I was still proud of her.
I headed out through the garage to check in all of the projects in the area of the school. The building was coming along nicely. At the rate that it was being constructed, there wouldn't be much time left after the plane was built, left to do for the structure after the enchantments were done for the aircraft. Veronica and Igor could move their workshops into the labs and we could have a whole other large room in the house, maybe even expand Savah's store. I checked in on the school crews first.
The ones who were assigned to create the lumber that was needed to make the walls were still chugging away, while the ones who were doing the grounds work were long disappeared. The ones still working on the structure were still there, and the ones building furniture from other wood were also there. I decided to summon up another crew specifically for collecting rocks for insetting into the flooring. I would end up having to get some of that alchemical cement to help with the flooring and other stonework. I came to the realization that it really wouldn't be a good idea to have the whole X-Mansion courtyard thing here, due to the high water table. I'll create a hanger later.
I went over to the designated work area for the for the Quadjet and summoned up another two batches of the unseen craftsmen to help, one set doing the electrical wiring and another doing the installation of the piping. I had a thought about putting in a hydrogen generator in the vehicle, but thought that it wouldn't be safe in the first iteration. Vaeren came up, along with Faunra, and got to the worksite. Vaeren came up and we went over everything that would be going on. It was a lot of work, but he followed what was needed to be done.
The work went on with the two aspects of the build, with Faunra working on enchantments inside the main cabin. At the end of the eight-hour work day, Vaeren was somewhat mentally drained, but he still had some mental acuity left for talking with Faunra. Faunra seemed happy to answer at least most of his questions. I thanked Vaeren for his assistance and went to go check in on Savah.
Savah was in her store, getting Erica set up with some new changes to the store intended to make things better. I got as sneaky as I could and crept up to her. When I was just outside of her panic zone I asked her how things were going. Savah got spooked and spun around. She yelled at me for like two minutes and chased me out of the store. I apologized the whole time, but I think I pissed her off good. The plane was done, for my part of it, and for Igor's anyway. Veronica would take another four or five days if she was left to work on it by herself. The crafters wouldn't be that much more help, after the grunt work was done.
Since Igor was done with his portion of the plane build, I tasked him with starting to set up the mechanical laboratory in the mechanics wing of the school. He would have a lot more room to work, and he could bust out a whole bunch of odds and ends to help with getting the other parts of the building up to code, so to speak. Igor took to the task and started to slowly move everything over. The unseen craftsmen that I had summoned to assist him in installing the engines had dissolved when their job was no longer needed, and the ones who had done the piping work were done as well. The electrical ones were still finishing up on the last bit of electrical work that I had thought up before summoning them. It wasn't a vital addition, but it was something fun.
I walked back into the garage and realized that I should probably do something nice for Savah after scaring her like that. With there not being that many people who I thought would give me the advice I needed, I went to the one person who I figured would know enough about relationships to know what I should do. I got my bike out and headed to the Southern Bridge, where Rhian and Rip were both there. Rhian was cheerful and waved me through. Rip seemed to just be waiting until the end of his shift. I didn't begrudge him that, and headed to the one person I knew to talk to. Hannah.
When I got there, I parked a respectable distance away and knocked at the door. Hannah came to it and said that she had another person here. I told her that I would be waiting off around the corner to give the person privacy, and that I hoped that it would not be an issue if she got my attention when she was available. Hannah nodded and said that she would. I drove my bike off around the corner like I said that I would, and started reading one of the technical manuals. While I was sitting there, I saw Tuscani ride up on his war-dog.
Tuscani asked me what I was doing here, and I told him that I had screwed up with my wife, and that I was asking the wisest female that I knew that was available to help figure out what the best way to solve this was. Tuscani nodded and said that he didn't envy my situation. I thanked him and asked him how he liked the armor. Tuscani raved about it, saying that it was perfect. Decently protective and still very lightweight. I thanked him for the complement. Tuscani asked if there was a chance that I could arrange that barding be made for his war-hound. I told him that it would be a bit of an issue, as we had a standing order for a LOT of suits that we were going to have to begin working through, but that we could put him on the schedule. Tuscani thanked me and rode off.
After a few more minutes where I was reading about how the shot-spotter technology works and realized that if I did the same thing with a radio wave kind of content, I could create a LPS. If figure out how to reconfigure one of the map programs on my phone, I can try to get it set up to act as the world's first google maps. At a worst case scenario, I know I can just upload some maps and have it do a generalized: you went this direction for this long at this speed. That would put you here. If I can get enough highly detailed maps to cover a large enough area, I can start making a composite image backdrop.
It was just when I was starting to think about writing down the details that I had come up with when Hannah came around the corner to tell me that she was now available. I rushed after her and she set me down in a chair at a table that she had. There was hot tea waiting for me. Hannah asked me to make myself comfortable and tell her what I needed to say. I thought for a moment and then told her how I realized that I had screwed up with Savah by doing what I had done and wanted to figure out the best way to make amends. Hannah listened and asked the proper questions.
When I was done, she talked me through some things, and told me that it might be good to just get her something nice. I thanked her and asked her how much the consultation was. Hannah said that there was no charge, but that she might want to have a chance to study more of the medical techniques from back where I was from at the school that I was building. I told her that I had not initially planned to have a medical school, but that this was an important thing to pass on, if this place could use the information. Hannah said that it was indeed something useful, and that there were those whom she knew of that might even want to send individuals to receive training in such skills. I thanked her for her assessment and told her that I would be trying to train the first group of people to be the teachers probably in the spring or summer, after all of the things that I have to deal with are wrapped up. Hannah smiled and said that she would pass the word along via her contacts.
I thanked her and headed out. I went right up River Street to Undercliff Way, to Risa's and asked if should could make Savah's favorite meal. Risa said that she'd be glad to, and I dropped the payment done on the bar, saying that I had a stop to make but that I would be coming back to pick it up. Risa nodded and said that it should be ready shortly. I thanked her and headed out to my next stop. I down Soggy Alley to get to High Street and then up Church Street to get to my next stop, Rings and Things, to talk to Maver.
When I rode up, the owner's children, Aela and Bazlen, were playing along the side of the building. I decided that they could use some fun, so I conjured up a hacky sack and started practicing where they could see. Aela was the most adventurous, and came over to see what I was doing. I conjured up another one, and handed both of them to Aela, telling her to show her brother how to do it. I added that there was a silver piece in it for each of them if they kept a good eye on my bike and made sure that no one messed with it. Aela smiled and nodded, saying that they would keep it safe. The guard outside the door smiled.
As I walked up, I greeted the guard, a Shoanti, in his native tongue. The Shoanti smiled and said that his name was Tato. I thanked him for telling me and offered up that I was not something to worry about. Tato said that he knew this, that he had seen me on the wall the day that the giants attacked, and heard the bards playing while the fight happened. I laughed and said that the honest thing about it was that I was hoping that the bards were helping the rest of the town to stay brave rather than my group. Tato said that he figured that it was the reason. I added that I did have a video of the whole fight that I could share with him when I was done. Tato smiled and said that he might like seeing that. I showed him my pistol, staying sheathed, and said that I'd be in only a little while. Tato waved me in.
As I got in the store, Maver and Pennae were in the middle of another argument, with her ripping into him. This was a little close to home from back in the long, long ago, so I cleared my throat. Pennae shrilly yelled out what before turning to see it was a customer. Pennae gulped and asked how they could be of service. I thanked them for their time, and asked if I could see Maver's wares. Maver smiled and came over to show me that he had in stock.
Eventually Pennae moved into the back office to deal with some details, and it was just Maver and me. As we looked through his inventory, there was a lot of items there that I just didn't think that Savah might like. Finally, in his last section of the display, he showed me something that I thought she would like. It was a matching set of an amber necklace where the beads were carved with geometric designs and a pair of matching amber combs. They looked like they would go well with the jade beaded belt that I had gotten her in Magnimar that one time too!
I quickly asked him how much he wanted for them. He seemed to do some figuring in his head and made an offer that I just couldn't accept. It wasn't that it was too high, it was that it was too low. I quietly asked him if he was sure about the price. Maver nodded and said that we had done a great service for this town, and this was a way that he could help repay us. I thought about telling him that I couldn't accept that price, that I didn't want to cause him any more strife with his wife but thought better about it. Maver was a good man, if a tad forgetful. I asked him if he could package it up for me and he went straight away to it.
I was just about to leave when I saw that there was an another item that I hadn't even considered. I asked Maver if he could include this item along with the other, and he readily agreed. Apparently it had been a recent addition from a cloaked figure who had wanted to get rid of it. Maver had made the purchase for a decent price before his wife had scolded him for not consulting her. He had Sheriff Hemlock come by and verify that it wasn't stolen, which he did, but wouldn't say anything else about it. Maver said that he was offering it for barely more than he had bought it, because he just wanted to get it out of the store. I told him that I was glad to get it.
With everything packed up, I headed out side. The kids were still looking over the bike, but not touching it. Tato whispered to me in Shoanti that no one touched it, except for the kids themselves, who stopped when he had cleared his throat. I palmed him a few silver coins and thanked him. Tato told me that he was glad that someone stopped the fighting, if only for a little while. I told him that they really do need to chill out when it comes to fighting in front of their kids and Tato agreed. I thanked him again and prepped two coins for the kids. They finally noticed me and asked where I had gotten this bike. I told them that I had made it, and that it was very dangerous, but I also thanked them for watching over it. I flipped them both a silver coin and put my new cargo in the extradimensional saddlebags. The kids seemed jubilant that they had gotten paid, and ran inside to show their parents.
I smiled to Tato again and headed off back towards Undercliff Way. When I got back to Risa's, I ran in and picked up the meal that Risa had prepared. Risa asked if there might be a time when Savah and I come back in for a little while to share some stories with the crowd. I told her that I'd be glad to, once this whole mess is all over. Risa asked me what mess, and I told her that the raid and the earthquake were only a small fraction of what we were trying to get sorted out. Risa asked if I could tell her more, and I told her that honestly, I only knew so much of it myself for certain, but suffice to say, the past does not rest easily here. Risa nodded sagely and agreed. I thanked her again, and told her that I was going to offer her another meal for her restaurant before I headed off to the next place. Risa said that she can't wait, and I wished her a good night before heading back to the house.
When I got back to the house, I parked the bike by the garage and walked over to check in on the build. The engines were installed, the controls were ready, and everything seemed to be okay and ready. The magic enhancements that were installed were the start of the extradimensional hanger section. It would take another two days to finish this off, but it would work to be a hangar for the bikes and any cargo that we might want to store in the plane. After this, Faunra would work on the enchanted reverse ballast. This would give us the ability to basically negate the required lift for the plane itself.
I checked in on the electrician Unseen craftsmen and they were working away on the surprise systems, including the controls for the coil gun and the speakers for the stereo system. It was tradition and thus vital. The eight seats were already installed in their section, with a bit better than regular materials. I didn't think it was good for people to suffer during a long ride after all. The two seats in the cockpit were installed with even comfier conditions. There was a set for controls, which were designed to be as close to the motorcycle controls as possible, to allow for any of us riders to pilot it.
The controls for the coil gun were already wired in to either of the two controls, with a switch to control which set of handles controlled it. I think we are going to have to add a few more weapon systems, but right now, this will be a good way to have at least a way to tell something that we shouldn't be eaten. I think I'm going to have to teach this world about bulletproof glass before I am done, but for now, we should be able to fly at up to sixty miles an hour. Everything seemed good enough for now, so I headed out of the ship and Savah was waiting there for me.
I started to talk, but she shut me up. Savah told me that she was moody right now and that I shocked her. I told her that I really shouldn't have spooked her like that. We hugged and headed back to the house. As we walked back, I told her that I had picked up something for her while I went out to get some clarity. Savah told me that I didn't have to get her anything for this, and I told her that I realized that, but that I still wanted to get her something before I headed out, and that the other thing that I got I needed to get.
We got over to the bike, and I asked her if she wanted what I had gotten her now, or just before I left. Savah said that she thought that it would be good to have it now, so I could have memories of her with it while I was gone. I smiled and pulled out both of the packages. The larger one a very nice mahogany box, with velvet lining and silver flatware inside. Savah looked it over suspiciously and then asked me a very pointed question. Did I steal this? I told her that I did not, that in fact that the set had been pawned at Rings and Things. I bought it fair and square, and sheriff Hemlock had even confirmed it before.
Savah laughed heartily and said that she thanked the thought but that we'd never use them. I agreed and said that I didn't think that it would be ideal for us to use them, but she could always offer them up as a housewarming gift for someone else. Savah smiled and laughed more, and said that this was perfect for my cousin. I agreed and handed her the nicer of the two packages. Savah opened it up and saw the amber jewelry.
Savah smiled and immediately put them on. They matched her jade belt well, and she said she'd wear them while I was gone. I told her that I'd appreciate that and we headed over to the bike and I wheeled it inside. We locked up the garage and headed into the store. Erica was just locking up and asked if Vaeren was done for the day. I told her that Vaeren had finished up with my portion of the plane project, and Savah completed my sentence saying that Faunra had also finished up, and that he was probably up in his room, finishing up his notes for the day. Erica thanked us and ran upstairs.
I smiled to Savah and went back to the garage to get the last package out of the saddlebags. I brought it out and we went up to the common room and ate. I asked her if she wanted to watch some other movie, and she asked if we could watch Ironman, after what Faunra was patterning my armor enhancements off of. I asked her if Faunra had told her specifically that she was doing this and Savah smiled and nodded. I loaded up the film and knocked on the door for Vaeren's room. He opened up the door, and Erica was at the desk while his bed was covered with books. I shrugged and asked if they wanted to see a technology based movie tonight.
Vaeren lit up and readily agreed. Erica seemed a bit reserved, but agreed as well. I loaded up some snacks and drinks from the kitchen and got my phone set up for the show. It was just the four of us tonight, so it didn't need to be nearly as loud. I told everyone that I'd pause it if they wanted, but it really needs to be taken as it is, because it was watched by people who had the same experience with the core subject matter that they all should have by now. They seemed kind of put off with that, but I added that if they had any vital questions, I'd definitely pause and answer them.
We started the movie, and thankfully after a few explanations to start about vehicles and such, and I briefly explained how vehicles were so prevalent in my old world. Then there were cell phones and other bits of technology. I got the basics out of the way, and they all watched with interest, especially the aspects of higher technology. Vaeren asked me to pause it once, and ran into his room to go get a book so that he can start taking notes. I got one of the spares cores for the pens that I had carried to this place with me and gave it to him.
Vaeren started to dip the tip, but I showed him how the ink was already contained inside the cartridge. Vaeren tried to thank me repeatedly, but I told him that it was nothing, that I had dozens more. Vaeren seemed amazed, but passed it off as another oddity of where I was from. I started it back up and Vaeren started taking furious notes about different aspects of everything. When the movie was done, Vaeren asked if Faunra was aware of this movie before she had started working on enchanting my armor.
I told him that she had at least seen the Avengers movie, but not the original. Vaeren said that he could see what she was going for, but that she might like seeing this to get more insights. I told him that I'd like to work on the technology myself. Vaeren said that he could understand that, but that he'd help however he could. I told him that we could discuss this at a later date, as I needed time to work out everything that I needed to get it ready.
We cleaned up the area of food and drinks and the four of us separated for the night. Savah and I went to our room and got changed out. Savah and I relaxed into bed and Savah asked me an important question. She asked me if things went wrong, if I would want to be brought back from the dead. I told her that something like this wasn't a possibility back where I was from so my philosophy wasn't prepared to confront this. I asked her if she would be upset if I slept on it and let her know in the morning. She seemed a bit saddened by that but said that she could understand that. I'm pretty sure I answered that wrong.