Day 143: Fireday the 8th, Calistril, 4708
Today started off a bit like previous days, and a bit unlike the previous days. I mean, we had two new people who would be travelling with us, and the Desnans came back to head to Janderhoff with the Dwarves, who had been keeping to the background for the most part. When she woke me up, Faunra had told me that they (the Dwarves) had apparently appreciated the steam works of the engines, but were upset when she told them that it had not been a dwarf or a gnome that had designed or built them. Faunra apparently told me this when I got up to prepare me in case they became too insistent and needed to talk to me, because they had gotten to the point in their questions where she couldn't provide easy answers.
I had been woken up up early enough to see our new passengers getting a good meal from Jonathan. Jared exclaimed that this was the best food he had had since before he left for basic. Daniel would have agreed but he was too busy actually eating the food. Jonathan saw me and telekinetically lifted me over a plate and I sat down with everyone to dig in. I knew that I was going to have to set him up with a kitchenette with a chill box and a hot plate on the plane to allow him his work surfaces if he was going to insist on making culinary marvels.
Faunra was in her stewardess outfit again, helping the Desnans and the Dwarves to their seats, showing them their new accommodations. Dame Rebekah was saying her goodbyes to Vachedi and his sons, and offered them a satchel with what I guessed were a whole bunch of potions. Eh. We didn't need them nearly as much as they might in the future, and having access to healing and other effects would be very useful to their cause. Also, the kind of "game" that we were playing was not the kind that we could really stop and take five minutes. We struck hard, fast, and with little time to take a breather for either side.
I got into my armor and went back to my position in the cockpit. I took a look at the log of repairs and got the preflight inspections done. Apparently, Uri had made it back to get his flight. Faunra escorted him to a seat and he patiently waited for takeoff, his kite kit in the cargo area. When Faunra came over the radio to tell me that everyone was seat belted in, I thanked her and then started my spiel about the total travel time, what to expect from the flight, and today's selection of music. I warned everyone that the takeoff would be shortly and we would be starting the taxiing process shortly. Yeah, what taxiing process? It was literally just turning around.
Since I needed to be able to see out of the plane to fly, my area was not covered by the Private Sanctum spell, but Faunra had declared that I was basically a non-entity for the most part, so I didn't worry too much about the scrying. Also, Faunra had told me that the scrying sensor could only move about fifteen miles an hour, so I didn't think it was too much to hope that even if they did end up scrying me, we would fly on past it VERY quickly. I loaded up the playlist, and started the process of lifting us up and then goosed it up to power to reach our flying altitude. Uri was excited and ran back to the hatch to jump out. I saw him glide away on his kite as we started acceleration towards our destination.
The flight would have been peaceful, except for an event that helped me determine that Jared would be a suitable co-pilot. There had been a knock at the door and I flicked the lock open to allow Faunra to enter. She had asked me if Jared would be allowed to come in, and I told her yes. Jared came in and sat down in the co-pilot seat and Faunra shut the door. Jared looked around the cockpit for a minute and laughed.
I asked him what was funny, and he told me that EVERYTHING was wrong in here. Jared told me that it looked like someone who only had a second hand idea about what flying had entailed had designed this. I laughed in response to him and said that this was because it was exactly that, that I had designed everything I could to be as minimally tech based as possible to allow for other people to eventually fly it. Jared nodded, but noted that he didn't understand how we could be flying at the speed we were with the engines that we had. I told him that Faunra had enchanted the plane to have a weight offset, so that it was basically weightless and the engines were only to provide thrust.
Jared was quiet for a bit after that just looking over everything and he asked me if this was what I had "planned" for him. I was about to tell him that I didn't have anything specially planned for him when he pointed out that there was some monster swooping down to attack a band of travelers. I saw them and asked how good his aim was. Jared told me that he was Expeditionary Warfare Specialist qualified and I tossed him the targeting lens. I told him to put it over his eye and grab the controls on his side of the plane.
Jared asked me what it was, and I told him that it was a kinetic projectile weapon and that he should target the Manticore. Jared lined up his shot and pulled the trigger. The boom from the railgun shook the plane a little as the Manticore got hit directly in the back of the head, causing it to flop out of the sky, a good distance to the left of where it was intending to dive. Safely away from the people who it was diving towards. Jared looked at me oddly and asked what he had just fired. I told him that it was a railgun, and that it was good that he was a decent shot with it, because it takes a few seconds to charge up for a second one.
Jared stared at me and asked why we had just shot the Manticore. I told him that they were usually evil, and that he had identified it as flying towards a group of travelers. Jared asked me what I would have done if he had not been here. I told him that I'd have likely asked Faunra to come up so that she can hold the wheel while I targeted and shot it. Jared mulled that over, and asked if there was room for him to be a pilot in my organization. I told him that there was, but that there were other things that he could do if he wanted a safer path, but that we could easily discuss it when we got back to Sandpoint.
Jared thanked me for the opportunity, and headed back to the passenger compartments. Before he left, he asked me why I had decided to go so heavy on the Jimmy Buffet. I told him that most of this world was not ready for the heavier stuff on my playlist, but that after we dropped off the rest of the passengers in Janderhoff and were heading on to the next location, there would be a vote where we could listen to the heavier stuff or have an inflight movie. Jared smiled and shook his head, noting that I was mixing so much stuff up he didn't know where to criticize first.
We landed a bit away from Janderhoff, as none of the Dwarves had any special holdings that would permit them to just land somewhere in the city. Faunra and I got our bikes out and Dame Rebekah summoned her steed. I asked Jared and Daniel if they wanted to head into the city, but they indicated that they wanted to talk a bit about what they had been offered. I told them that we would be back soon, and that if they didn't want to continue, I would personally take the detour to get them back to the City of Strangers.
They might have been a bit amazed at the fact that Dame Rebekah and Faunra had worked together to build a "runway" over a patch of scrub land that looked unsuitable for cultivation without some expansive remediation. It was close enough to see the city, but far enough away from any kind of "action" they might take, so about five miles. It was still close enough to clearly see the massive iron walls and spires. When we had gotten here the first time, with the dwarves of the Pallgreaves clan, we didn't spend any time outside of the city, and didn't honestly spend all that much time in the city at that.
On the ride over, I hoped that we still had an "in" with the Pallgreaves clan. At least enough to not get too much of the business at the gate. I wasn't wrong on either aspect. We rode up at full speed to within five hundred feet of the gate and then slowed down to a reasonable speed to get the last hundred feet. We stopped about fifty feet out when the guards yelled at us to do so.
One of the dwarves got out of Faunra's sidecar and slowly walked up to the guard. There was a brief conversation and the guard yelled for us to approach slowly, one vehicle or steed at a time. Faunra and Jonathan discussed it and sent Dame Rebekah first. She rode up and got talked to by the guard while another guard looked on from a few feet away. The Desnan who was riding with her got off of the horse and answered some questions as well.
The guard waved on the next person, who Jonathan and Faunra decided was to be Jonathan. He slowly walked up with Cytheria on his shoulder. There was a bit more of a heated debate and Jonathan turned around and walked back to us. He told Faunra, loud enough that so that I could hear, that he was not to be allowed into the town because his morals contradicted those of the residents. Faunra nodded and said that this was unfortunate. Faunra told Jonathan that she was going to head up next and then summon her construct.
Jonathan snickered and noted that her construct might cause just as much trouble. He told her that he would wait to see what happened before heading back to the plane. Faunra rode up and discharged her other Dwarf passenger. There was a brief discussion and the dwarf was allowed in. I could tell that there was tension, but Faunra was allowed in as well.
The guard waved me forward but I wisely didn't move. Faunra said something to the guard, and then keyed her mic secretly before telling me to bring my passengers forward. I did so in a less than fluid motion and the Desnans who had been riding with me discharged. They talked to the passengers for a bit, ignoring me. Then the guard asked Faunra what my capabilities were. Faunra smiled and point to a tree about six hundred feet away and asked me to cut down that tree and bring it back.
I dismounted the bike and ran over to the tree. I pulled out my chainsword and revved it. The tree was felled quickly with my chainsword as I held onto it with my twice burning gauntlet. I sheathed my chainsword, hefted the tree with one arm, and jumped back to the bike, landing just short of where I jumped from. Faunra told me to set the tree in place, and I did, jamming it into the ground. The guard that I was standing in front of sputtered and said that I was too dangerous to be allowed inside.
Faunra sighed and told me to head back to the ship. I robot walked my way back to the bike, turned it around and headed to Jonathan. Jonathan got on the back of the bike when I made it to him and he flipped the dwarves the bird when we rode off at speed. Faunra coincidentally left her mic open when we rode off, saying that she didn't control the monk. I heard a dwarf say that he never heard of a chaotic monk as we rode out of the line of sight. I heard a different dwarf exclaim a statement about him being one of Calistria at that.
Jonathan and I got back to the plane and checked in on Daniel and Jared. They were talking amongst themselves and asked why we were back when the others were not. Jonathan told them that, apparently, Calistrian monks and deadly lumberjack constructs were not allowed in Janderhoff. I scoffed and told them that we were just dropping people off anyway, no real point to staying in the underground city of the Dwarves.
While we were milling around, I asked everyone if they wanted to watch a movie. I floated what I had access to, and the choice was made. Jonathan cooked up a meal and I conjured up a new set of unseen craftsmen to work on the engines. I asked the two vets if they had wanted anything for the remainder of the flight, and they noted that they'd just like to relax for a bit. I summoned up the second batch of unseen craftsmen to go a once over on the airport runway that we had made, and make sure that it would be in good condition.
When everything was ready, I loaded up Captain America. They had not seen any kind of movie, aside from the Avengers film last night, in over a decade, so when they both chose that one I voted with them. When Jonathan's food was ready, we got set up in one of the (now) spare passenger compartments. I received a message over the radio that Faunra and Dame Rebekah would be on their way back in about two hours. We watched the movie, with the expectation that it would be done before they two of them got back here.
The two vets seemed to appreciate the movie, probably a good analogy for what they went through. I didn't have the heart to tell them what all had happened in the interim since they had left. I figure that a lot of that would be able to be talked about when we got done with this, current project. The movie ended as Faunra and Dame Rebekah entered into the ship. I got up and told everyone that I'd talk to them to see what was up. The vets talked with Jonathan a bit about some foods that they would like to try to have him make, as they had missed it from back on earth.
Fauna and Dame Rebekah explained that they had gotten into contact with our contact in this city, Korbyn Pallgreaves, and that he had passed on to them that he had heard of the Vekker's ill-fated trip, and offered us up a bit of advice in the way of ensuring that we had enough food for the trip. When Faunra told him that we would be there by tomorrow morning, Korbyn laughed and said that if anyone was crazy enough to do it, it would be us. Korbyn told them that if we did find a way to get to Xin Shalast, that the dwarves of Clan Pallgreaves would pay extremely well for this information. Dame Rebekah told us that she had told him that we'd talk about it.
Faunra asked me if we had any plans on staying here for the rest of the day. I shrugged, saying that the crew were working over the plane to make sure it was ready for the long flight. Faunra asked if it would be best to head back first. I shrugged again, saying that it would likely be a six plus hour flight from Sandpoint. I asked Faunra what was up. Faunra indicated that Shalelu had dropped back into Sandpoint and was hoping to say good luck before Faunra had left.
I sighed and asked her why she didn't just teleport. Faunra explained that she didn't have another casting of that in her today. I shrugged, and asked her if she wanted to use her "Star-flies" to have them bring her. Faunra smiled with the remembering that she always had that spell on access, and asked the two vets if they would like to head to Sandpoint with her. They looked to me and I told Faunra to set them up with a month in the Rusty Dragon. Faunra said that she'd do more than that, and told them that they had a few minutes to get their gear ready, and that she would summon up the Star-Flies and they all would jump into the bag of holding to get transported.
Daniel and Jared looked at each other oddly for a minute while Faunra literally skipped off. They looked to me and I told them that I had gone through this in the past, and that it didn't hurt, and all they were expected to do was hold their breath until they were taken out of the bag. I smiled when I recollected and I added that I had actually had to be teleported into Janderhoff before using this method. Jared asked what the Rusty Dragon was. I told them that it one of the two Inns in the town, and that I'd get them sorted out for that when I got back, but that we'd make sure that they at the very least had a month each, meals and lodging to cover until we got back.
Jared asked about what they could be doing while they were waiting for us to get back. Jonathan shrugged, and said that they'd be welcome to eat every day at his restaurant, and Dame Rebekah offered up that if they need a change of scenery they could spend some time at her hostel. The two of them looked at me oddly and asked if I was the only one without a business. Faunra popped her head back in to laugh, and told them that I was the most mercantile of any of us. Daniel and Jared looked at me, and I sighed before telling them that I had a firearms manufactory, armorer, steam cycle vendor, and was building up the school.
Jared asked me why. Daniel just looked at me like he was perplexed. I told them that I had been "informed" that I was not going to be able to get back to Earth fairly early on when I got here, and resolved to leapfrog this place's technology, responsibly. Jared asked me why I was planning that. I told him that the reactor in the Council of Truth was the purest reason. I added that this world didn't need nuclear power or nuclear bombs, or any of the problems that we had on earth, but that specific science always had a bit of a negative end result.
Jared seemed a bit miffed by that, and asked why I thought that I had the right to force science on this world. Dame Rebekah stuck up for me, saying that I had done a lot of good for the town without even counting the defense of Sandpoint. Daniel asked what she meant about the defense of Sandpoint. I sighed as Jonathan and Dame Rebekah looked at me. Faunra came running out and jumped into the chair next to me before chastising me to not play the music video without her there.
I sighed and pulled up the video, and told them to watch. I made sure that the volume was good, and the song started playing while we were on the tower. They watched it for the entire thing and looked at me like I was an idiot. I asked them if they had ever noticed that a Bard's music can inspire people to do more than they normally could. Daniel nodded in acknowledgement. Jared seemed a bit miffed but not against the notion. I told them that we had found five bards who were working together to inspire not just us but all of the people in town.
Jared spoke up, and asked if I thought that this was what war was. I sighed and told him no, that this was pulling out whatever tricks we could think of to help the town defend itself, because I was fairly certain that we would not be enough. And the bards were in little danger. Jared seemed disgusted and noted that it would probably be best for him to go with Faunra back to Sandpoint. Daniel nodded and said that he'd join him. Faunra shrugged and said that she'd finish up her ritual and get the Star-Flies to take the three of them back to Sandpoint, and that she'd be back her after a few hours.
I looked to Jonathan and Dame Rebekah and asked what they wanted to do for a few hours. Dame Rebekah noted that she'd be busy working on discussing issues with Chelger via their enchanted radios. Jonathan offered up that he'd be talking with Shayliss about the new town residents. I sighed and figured that I could try to tease out a few more tricks from the books that we've gotten from the Council of Truth and all of the other groups that we've dealt with. There were definitely things that they had figured out that I had not had the chance to puzzle.
When it came time for lunch, Jonathan dropped by with some absolutely great salted pork and ale. Apparently Dame Rebekah and Faunra had managed to get some tavern fare for takeout. I thanked him and asked how things were going for him and Shayliss. Jonathan sat down and asked me if I thought that we were definitely going to make it back. I shrugged, and told him that I knew that there were ways to make sure that we could at least be resurrected, and that we had taken those measures as best we could. Jonathan nodded, but added that he wouldn't feel right if he failed in his quest for vengeance.
It was my turn to nod, and I did so, telling him that I could understand that at least, and I was hopeful that we would get his vengeance. Jonathan asked me why I didn't consult my runes to see what they would say. I smacked my head, and set down my book to do just that. I asked him what he wanted to know, and he asked me if he was going to be facing those responsible for his being cast down. The runes came up a slightly enigmatic, "if you continue with your current path, you will get your chance."
Jonathan seemed more than a bit happy with that answer, and went off to go about his business. I smiled to myself. Here in a world where there was actual magic, the main way that prognostication was done was still the old classics. That got me wondering if the real issue wasn't that Earth had no magic. The story about the Efreeti answering a wish and transporting the strike team to be elsewhere tracked with legends. If the Efreeti could still perform that, then it couldn't be that magic just couldn't exist. Maybe it was that there was just so little of it available on Earth, but then again, from what I knew about wishes is that they are very powerful magic, not lending to a decreased amount of magic.
I looked through the various spellbooks and Council of Truth's experiment books and ledgers. There was starting to get a lot more interaction than what I had initially thought. I kept studying for a few hours before I heard my radio perk up. I checked it and there was a message from Savah. Apparently, Faunra had teleported to the school with the two vets and introduced them. Savah was as civil as she could be, and talked to the both of them while one of them seemed a bit more negative about me than the other.
Savah added that she had talked to them a sufficient amount to get the gist behind them. I told her that I had wanted to offer both of them positions at the school. Savah told me that the one guy with the odder accent somewhat similar to mine would do well working with Hannah, and she had sent a page to go tell Hannah to meet up with him at the Rusty Dragon. Savah was a bit more reluctant to talk about the other one, until I told her that he had taken to the firing of the railgun quite well, and that he could be a good co-pilot if he came around to it. Savah sent back that she didn't expect that he would, but that she figured that he could do well with the town guard.
I told her that this was likely an accurate assessment, and that I'd be asking her to give me a full assessment of their behavior in town when I get back. Savah said that she'd be okay with that, and asked if I wanted Niddler to keep an eye on them. I told her no, that it would be better to hear the rumors than have him tailing them. Savah sent back that she could understand that, and asked if there was anyone who I would want to send their way to talk. I sent back that Sheriff Hemlock would be a good choice, and maybe Father Zantus.
Savah said that she would and we got to talking about what Kaer Maga was like and what we were expecting next. I told her that we would be heading into the Kodar Mountains for the next part of our trip, but that we would be keeping them as up to date as possible. Savah told me that from what she had heard, the Kodar Mountains were very tall, so that might be an issue. I thanked her for the information and told her that I'd brief everyone when Faunra got back.
We finished up our conversation and said our good byes. It wasn't time to sleep, and we could get back in touch at a moment's notice, but Savah had things to deal with running her shop, and I had my books. I continued my studies until Jonathan announced that it was dinner time. I headed from where I was studying to the room that Jonathan had set aside for a kitchen. Faunra's extradimensional stacking of rooms was nothing short of masterful. The accesses were even hidden!
Jonathan, Faunra, and Dame Rebekah were all there. Faunra spoke up when I got there, saying that I seemed to have struck nerve with Jared. I nodded saying that I figured that I would, but that I hoped that we could eventually get past it. Faunra looked a bit skeptical, but added that Daniel seemed okay with me. She then said that she had set them both up at the Dragon for a month, with the ability to check in with either Savah, Shayliss, Chelger, or Shalelu if they needed further funds. Hannah did end up catching up with Daniel, and the three of them were having a talk when Faunra left.
I told the group that I had asked Savah to try to arrange meetings with Sheriff Hemlock and Father Zantus with the two, just to see if it would help. Dame Rebekah nodded and said that this was a good move. I relayed the little information that Savah had given me about the Kodar Mountains. I added that it was likely that we were going to have a long trip tomorrow, so that we should plan to get an early start. Everyone agreed, and since I no longer have to sleep stupid amounts of time (thanks to Faunra adding further enhancements to my ring) we could start off very early in the day. Everyone agreed, and we had another decent meal from Jonathan's works.
Since the entire passenger compartment was warded from scrying, it was safe to talk and plan in the rooms. The cockpit was the only place of worry now, and that was because it couldn't be warded as such and still have windows to the outside. We talked about whatever plans we could. I sighed and noted that Jared's expertise would have been great, as he was a former operator. They looked oddly at me and I just shook my head. We didn't have the floorplan or anything, and Faunra said that there was something of an issue with scrying like what we have now with our plane. I quipped back that at least we were on equal ground now.
Faunra and Dame Rebekah nodded sagely. I didn't think that I had given some sage wisdom, but I guess that there was some truth to it after all. We figured out what we would do for preparation spells and other enhancements, and who would have access to what items to maximize their effects on the group. We, as a group, figured that we would have to deal with a fair amount of cold or electrical based attacks, for some reason so Dame Rebekah offered up that she'd handle the protection for us. Faunra indicated that she'd enhance our arrows like we always would. Jonathan would keep us breathing and focus on getting himself protected.
I was the one who changed the most. Apparently, the modifications that had been made to my armor by Faunra and myself allowed for a few distinct options to be activated. One of them was a predator mode, where through some magical adaptive camouflage, I'd be difficult to see, even if I attack. This couldn't last long, so we designated that we'd use it to our benefit as a sneak tactic. I'd activate it just before we jump in somewhere and split off away from the group. With my weapons silenced, my boots turned to stealthy, me being invisible, AND proof against magical divinations, it'd be a good chance that I didn't get noticed and the benefit would be at its highest.
We wrapped up our plans and decided to head to sleep for our brief, two hour naps. Jonathan murmured something about not being able to get extra time to study or relax anymore. Faunra indicated that the rest of us would still need some time to refresh, meditate, and what not. They also indicated that they'd be getting some time in lessons in flying the plane during the several hour trip. If only to ensure that any one of us could get the rest of us out, should the situation require it of us. Dame Rebekah also explained that she'd have a backup plan as well. We all said good night to each other and took up our individual hammocks.