Day 151: Starday the 16th, Calistril, 4708
It is amazing how much of a difference a day makes in regard to governmental progress. NOT. Jonathan woke me up after he had been awake for a good two hours. It wasn't like he needed more than that, and he just figured that he could get some stuff done in the interim. We all got the life bubble treatment after everyone awoke, and he even took the time to refill the air cannister in our suits. It might not seem like much, but five minutes of air can be the difference between getting out of a situation and having your story end there.
This time, there was no daringly planned predawn raid on our compound. Likely because we had taken out the remainder of the Rune Giants. Jonathan confirmed that the deceased Rune Giants were ready to be disposed of, permanently. I asked him what he meant. He told me that it was great that I had the capability to completely remove non-living matter, as that was what was needed with the Rune Giants. And the various wizards, lamia, and other entities that we destroyed that were of a malevolent nature.
I looked at him dumbfounded for a minute before realizing that he was asking me to do. I noted that the most that I could do would be to get rid of everything in a ten-foot cube. Jonathan nodded and said that Faunra had explained as much to him, and that the Rune giants were packed in ten-foot cubes as much as possible. I told him that I could only get rid of maybe five sections of giant a day, if I was lucky and they were compacted correctly. I added that we would take damn near four spells to get each one.
Jonathan smiled and handed me the rod that we used for the wall spells. I realized what he was getting at. This would change it to twenty feet by twenty feet by twenty feet cube. And he added that he had already "finessed" the bodies into those conditions. So instead of taking over four months, it was looking like it might take a week or so of my daily attentions. He offered up that Faunra would do the same, if needed, albeit without the rod, and that we could get through the lot of them in much less than that.
I noted that this was a great improvement in the time it would take, but that seven days was still a lot. Jonathan smiled and noted that the giants had been manipulated in such a way that they were all one big object, so chunks can be whittled away. I asked him to take me to the location. He did as I had requested, immediately. I was immediately glad that I had not yet eaten breakfast yet.
It was… nothing that any decent person should see. Various limbs jammed into other bodies. He handed me the rod, which had recovered the charges that I had used the day before and said that it was best to just not focus too much on everything, and just to get it done. I sighed, collected my stomach, and cast the first, enhanced disintegrate. A twenty-foot cube at the top-most corner of the… assembly… went away. With a squelch.
I followed it up with another four repetitions, as soon as the scene was vacant. Occasionally Jonathan would have to go and reposition bodies to accommodate the changes in composition. My last disintegrate did manage to get rid of the vast majority of the bodies in such a way. Jonathan offered up that Faunra would swing by to finish up the remaining pieces. What a way to get rid of bodies.
Since it was morning, and I was awake and aware, especially after that grisly business, Jonathan led me back to the hangar where he said that he would get breakfast prepared. Dame Rebekah and Ayruzi were just getting ready to pray for their miracles. Faunra was studying her new spellbook to regain her spells. She had taken over Karzoug's former spellbook, and apparently it was helping her greatly.
Jonathan noted that he'd get breakfast ready and went off to work on food. I shrugged and went to go reference my own books. After an hour or so, Jonathan dropped back by and told me that breakfast was now ready. I looked up and noticed that an hour had passed. I guess I too can get wrapped up in my books, even if they are digital.
I got up and went to the cabin, where the rest of the group were already seated. Ayruzi even was there. I sat down and Jonathan came out in his new robe, Karzoug's former robe, telekinetically carrying the different meals. He set them each down in front of us and sat down with us. It was quite interesting to see everyone have a different plate, each of which was specifically designated for the person for whom it was intended.
During breakfast, Faunra indicated that she wanted to head back to Sandpoint as soon as possible. I knew why but indicated that we definitely needed to have this city be ready to take care of itself. Faunra indicated that we could come back quickly enough with her teleports. I nodded but noted that we still needed to have this place be ready for getting set up. I sighed and offered up that I can print out something of a rough blueprint of a government, but they will need to modify it for their current scheme.
Dame Rebekah dropped her fork and looked at me. She asked if I had had a government in my bag this whole time. I smiled, and said no, it was in my tablet, and that it wouldn't exactly work for them, but they could use it as a launching board for what they put together, and we can reference back to it, so that we can see what they had desired to change. Jonathan said that he'd be glad to see what I can offer. I told them that it would take about three minutes and some paper.
Faunra produced a blank book, and I went over to set up the copying process. After it was set up, I went back to listen to the rest of them. They asked me what I was doing. I told them that I had set up the copying, and that it would be done shortly. Ayruzi asked if I could make multiple copies. I offered up that I could, if I was provided with more blank books and ink.
Faunra got another four blank books, and I set up them to copy, one after another, after the previous one was finished. We continued talking for a bit, with me less engrossed than the rest. When the first book was done, I got up and brought it back to Dame Rebekah. She started reading it and answering questions that the others posed. After the second copy was completed, I passed it off to Faunra, who had wanted the copy the most.
Jonathan was kind of silent, while Ayruzi was the one asking the most questions. Faunra was silently reading in the corner. When the third copy was done, I offered it up to Jonathan. He took it and started reading. The final one would be for Ayruzi to read. Each of the books had about a score of pages left, so addendums could be added. It wasn't the full United States Legal Code, obviously, but it was a start.
I offered up to everyone that I had to hit the head, so to speak, so I would be back. I secretly wanted to give them all time to digest without asking me questions. Meanwhile, I did go and do my business, but I spent most of my time thinking over what I was going to have to do for an ASVAB for Morgiv. I thought about what was going to be best to be in this test for those of this world. I mean, I could remember what the different categories were from back home, but I don't think that outside of my school, that Electrical Knowledge would be all that vital.
I briefly resolved to have it set up to have ten categories, just like the ASVAB of old. I'd keep, but modify the general science, arithmetic reasoning, word knowledge, paragraph comprehension, and mathematics knowledge categories. I figure that I'd replace the Electronics Information, Auto Information, Shop Information, Mechanical Comprehension, and Assembling Objects categories with something like Arcane Knowledge, Liturgical Comprehension, Natural Information, Alchemical Studies, and Craftsman Training. It wasn't perfect, and it was something that can be worked on over time, but at the very least, that the test could help people learn where they might have some innate talents. Honestly, I'd push for them to make sure that the people who take the test get explained the results carefully.
I made my way back and Faunra was already completed with her version. She smiled at me as I entered back in. The final copy had been finished and had been passed on Ayruzi, who was quickly reading it. Dame Rebekah was rereading her version, and Jonathan was carefully perusing his own version. Faunra stepped up to me and quietly asked if I thought it was a good idea to link even more of my country with this world. I told her that when there was only one of me, I wouldn't have considered it. Now that there was at a minimum three, it was obvious that the two worlds were linked. Faunra looked at me oddly, and I replied that once is an occurrence, twice is a coincidence, thrice is enemy action.
That got her thinking. Faunra indicated that she could honestly see my logic, especially since the story from the group that had been sent here declared that they had been sent by the equivalent of an Efreeti, a malevolent entity that granted wishes. I asked her if there was a way to get wishes that would not be perverted, thinking back to the same thing that we had encountered in Kaer Maga. Faunra said that she had heard about something back in her travels, but that she'd have to ask Toth Bhreacher to be sure. I asked if she was planning on asking that if we won the Golemwalk March. Faunra nodded and I told her that I would put forth my best effort today to get more of the planning done.
Faunra smiled and said that she would plan on getting her materials together for the construct enchanting. I muttered that I hoped that they wouldn't truly need something to be the biggest or strongest golem to succeed. Faunra shrugged, saying that no matter, what, it would get us into the running. We both walked back to where everyone else was wrapping up with their reading. Dame Rebekah asked me if this was the summation of the laws where I was from.
I couldn't help it. I laughed. I laughed for a good long time. When I recovered, they were all staring at me. I told them that what I had made copies of was less than eight thousand words. The legal code by which I was formerly restricted was over twenty-two million words. Even Ayruzi looked at me like I was insane.
Dame Rebekah asked me how anyone could do anything, and it be legal. I chuckled and said that they couldn't. I added that this was only in the overarching government, that there was even more for the specific country, county, city, and business that I worked for. I added that I had specific rules dictated to me because of former positions that I had held, and even more because of me choosing to drive a vehicle back where I was from. Then there was the tax code, which had to have specific people trained to deal with it.
Jonathan asked how one could live there. I replied that it wasn't really all that easy, but that it had all started with only those eight thousand or so words. Good intention, but after two hundred plus years, people kept adding more and more laws until it is at the point that it was before I was taken. Ayruzi noted that even this level of lawful behavior seemed over the top. I smiled and noted that I wouldn't recommend their people go to the world in question, as it would likely be that they got put in jail for providing false cures to people in need.
Ayruzi sounded very offended when they said that their people could ACTUALLY cure those that they tried to help. I nodded and said that I knew that they could, but that since the cure wasn't documented or tested by the Center for Disease Control or The National Institute of Health, it would at best be regarded as prayer healing and at worst, medical fraud and they would be locked up. Ayruzi's jaw dropped. It's not everyday that you can stun an entity of pure Law with the amount of stupid Legalese in a place.
Ayruzi recovered and asked what would be required. I thought about it and said that the act of being able to heal someone was almost incidental to the legal requirements and strictures, so, maybe an eight-year degree, a rock-solid legal team, and an actual outpatient center that prevents people from talking about how they were cured. Maybe a Geas that prevents them from actually communicating about it, actively or passively. Ayruzi looked horrified. I told them that I would not bring them to my old world unless it was absolutely imperative.
Jonathan looked at me, and I told him that even though there were no rules regarding telekinetic weaponry, a lot of the rules on weapons were open ended, assault with intent to inflict grievous bodily injury was still very illegal. Also, without knowing exactly how magic interacts with everything on my old world, he might be left with just his considerable pugilistic powers. I added that my firearms did not produce the kind of pyrokinetic fury on the old world like they do here, so that is something to keep in mind. I offered up that I honestly had no plans to go there, and that I hoped that there would be no more people from my area to come to this world. In any event, three is enough.
When we were done discussing what was being handed off to the newly formed council, we got fully geared up and headed to where we expected them to be. Oddly enough, there were no surprise attacks or ambushes on our way. Maybe this place was getting a bit calmer. We made our way to the big building that was being used as the new government's official building. It was the former lair of Ghlorofaex, converted back to be the government building.
There was bickering and complaining from the four different groups. Three Giants and one Skulk were the main character in this conflict, with their supporters behind them, supporting them in various ways. The bickering stopped when they heard the (cough cough) resounding steps of us entering the building. The Storm Giant welcomed us into the room, and the Cloud and Stone Giants accepted us as well. I asked if there had been any progress made with the foundation of the new city.
Some bickering back and forth about who was holding things up. I offered up that they should all pause, and that they can all read what I am presenting to them as a starting point. I produced the four books I had copied earlier and offered up one of each to them. They took them, and I offered up that they should each retire to their own camps and present them to each of their bases and see what they each feel is unacceptable. The groups all looked at each other and there was kind of a subliminal shrug, before they all got back to their groups and headed out.
With absolutely nothing solved or even the hint that it was, we all looked at each other. Ayruzi voiced that they were annoyed with the fact that they were doing mostly nothing to help others. I offered up that each of us could go about our days doing whatever we felt was best, and that we could reconvene when we got back. Jonathan told us that he had more classes for the giants who were learning to cook from him. Faunra indicated that she had a little bit of cleanup to do, referring back to that... mass... of rune giant corpses, but that she'd be looking into making a way for the city leaders to contact us.
I perked up at the mention of this and Faunra noticed it. She told me that we'd be able to have a five-minute conversation once a day, as long as they ping us a few minutes in advance. I nodded and asked who would be responsible for this. She told me that for the first few weeks, it would be scheduled for a specific time of the day, like just after noon, and our mirror would be in the hands of whomever was on duty that day. After that time, it would be presented to Town of Sandpoint, as a far away ally, who could come to help if the time was dire, and could maybe work as a trading partner, if we work out a sufficient way to get trade to and from in a decent timeframe.
I nodded and noted that we'd need to possibly set up a rotation or something, for who among us are on call. Faunra nodded and looked to the rest of the group. Everyone else in the group was just sitting there, but then each nodded when she stared at them, oddly enough, even Ayruzi. I noted that we could easily be a response unit for either town, provided that there is enough time. Faunra nodded to that as well and said that she'd keep her teleportation spells memorized so that we could all get here quickly.
Dame Rebekah was the next to volunteer, and she noted that she was going to be working with Ayruzi to do some decent deeds around town, doublechecking for anyone who might be ensorcelled, and removing that condition as well. Faunra told them that this was a really nice thing to do, and really noble. Ayruzi thanked her and asked the rest of us if we thought that it would be wise for temples to be created here. I thought about it while everyone else gave their thoughts. My advice was that I didn't think that it would be a bad thing, but that it might be difficult for us to have the safety guaranteed for any worshipers who might decide to reside in the area.
Ayruzi suggested that they could pray for another Planetar to be summoned here to provide council and leadership to those who might need it. I asked if that would upset the war between Heaven and the Hells. Ayruzi looked at me with shock and asked how I knew of that. I shrugged and said that there is always a war between Heaven and Hell, not matter what world you live on. Ayruzi noted that they can make a general call to whomever might be available for such an assignment, being much more forthright about it, than the person who called them.
I shrugged, noting that between the two of them, they should be able to construct a fairly simple shrine to their deities, and maybe they can create a decent setup over a few days. Dame Rebekah said that it would go a lot quicker if they could use the Rods. I kind of hemmed, but Jonathan answered for me that we had used them to dispose of most of the Rune Giant's bodies.
Dame Rebekah sighed, noting that she had wanted to use them to get a good head start on the churches. Faunra offered up that there was one with one usage remaining today, so that she could at least get the foundation started. I joined in with offering up that I had not utilized any of the walls of stone that I could conjure, and that I'd be glad to offer up whatever assistance I could provide. Dame Rebekah thanked me but noted that her and Ayruzi should still be able to complete whatever they were planning. I wished them well and hemmed for a minute while everyone was looking to me.
I offered up that I'd be trying out all of my new abilities. Everyone seemed content with my extremely brief choice for an explanation. Everyone eventually went out to do their own things, while I hemmed away in my room, studying what all I might want to do. I went to talk with Faunra and asked if we had a way to get a LOT of twine. Faunra's eyes brightened and said that she had a robe that she had been planning on providing me with as an additional enchantment to my duster, but she could give it to me right now and add the enchantment later.
She handed me a very finely made almost silken robe. I put it on and found that there was a loose string. I started tugging on it and noticed that the string, while I continued to pull it, it didn't cause any real damage. Faunra cautioned me that it could do some damage to the robe if I pull too quickly. I nodded and continued walking while I was pulling the string.
I had spent an hour pulling twine from the robe, with no appreciable decrease in the thread of robe. I love magic sometimes. I was going to have to figure out some way to have thread pulled all day, every day. I took this twine and set it aside. I took the twine and transmuted it to copper. I now had an extremely long amount of copper winding wire, which I then hardened via the spell that Faunra had provided evidence of.
I focused on this wire and on more of the silk material to make the wiring that I would need to start running the communications. If I can do about two miles of copper wire every time I transmute this, I will be able to make my own Wardenclyffe in no time. This wire was actually specifically for the controls for each of the individual motors in the "Legs" for the future construct. Actually, it would control the solenoid valves that I was creating for those, because I was going back to the Magic-Steam Hybrid engines that seemed to work so well.
When I had enough of this set up, I moved to some of the materials that were actually just available in Jotunburg to make those four solenoid valves. I wanted each turbine to be powered independently, just so that they can't all be stopped by one being destroyed. I'll be hardening each set of components individually, just to make sure that the prisoner transport was not fragile enough to be taken out easily. That will have to wait until later. I had a thought that could make things more interesting, I'll check with Faunra to see if it is a possibility.
I had a little bit left of what I can transmogrify, but I needed to do something first. I got the four strongest igneous rocks that would work and hit each of them with the continual heat spell for them. I'd have to get with Faunra to get the enchanted water creation for the engines. I went to the steel that I had scrounged up and I used it to make the tanks and placed the continual heat rocks inside. I knew that I had to get rocks hardened, along with the tanks, but that would come tomorrow.
My thoughts on the plans are that we can make the prisoner carrying area to split up to have the legs be long. I had the plans for the frame, but that of course would require a LOT of Boron Carbide. I'd have to the kids work on that as much as they can get away with. It will be a lot of material that I will need for all of this. Steel and other similar materials will also be needed, so I can try to have Savah arrange a bit of that from what I can't get on the way.
I decided that I wanted to do an experiment. I looked around and found another pair of spare blank books. I had a developed an ability to generate an effect that could gather information from the books around the world. I had realized this, this morning and decided that I would give it a try, with another spell. I thought about the best things that I could look up.
I brought about the effect with the focus of the Glaive. I focused on what might be able to redeem it. The first book immediately started filling up with details about the glaive. I started up my scrivener's chant effect. It started up transferring to the second book. After a minute, the second book had about ten pages worth of information on artifacts and redemption of them. The first book's words emptied after another minute.
I touched the book with another ability that I had developed after that last fight, and instant had an excellent grasp on those then pages. Damn this would have been an excellent ability to have back when I was studying for my nuke tests. Unfortunately, while some enchanted items can be redeemed, even those that do possess an intelligence, artifacts are inviolate, and can only be destroyed. That means that the glaive is stuck being a force of evil forever. That left me with even more questions than answers.
I keyed up the first ability with the blank book again, this time to find out all information on the glaive that I could. Again, I focused the second spell to copy the words. Again, after a minute, all I had were ten more pages. They were all on the subject of the Alara'quin, or the seven weapons of the Runelords of Thassilon. They were made by an ancient emperor named Xin, and each was meant to embody the virtues of the associated school of magic.
The Glaive ended up being twisted to only seek out the acquisition of riches and the protecting of the current Runelord's riches. Huh, I guess that is why it was furiously trying to get me to accept the title, especially after I showed some kind of Arcane Prowess. It HATES non-spellcasters. Like deep hatred. Deeper than the kind of hatred that people have for their political opponents.
There is also a legend about how it might be destroyed. The Runelord of Greed once summoned a dangerous entity to attack another Runelord's forces. This caused massive devastation to the surrounding areas even after the fight. In turn, it appears that this creature caused the glaive to have a fatal flaw, that if the glaive was placed under it's feet, the creature would crush it, and it would be destroyed, but only so long as there was no Runelord for the glaive to be attuned to.
Sneaky… very sneaky. The Glaive was trying to push itself on me, so that I could be the Runelord, even if in only name only, until it could betray me when someone better came along. We would have to find a way to get this glaive underneath the feet of that creature, the Oliphant of Jandelay. I would have to research more on that, including Jandalay itself. Faunra might be the best to look into that, but right now she's busy crafting.
I fired up the first ability again, firstly to provide a primer on Jandelay. I fired up the second spell to automatically copy the first spells. This was going to be a great way to get more knowledge about the world in general. I didn't even try to study more about this plane, because it was Faunra's forte and I didn't think that I could get even close to the information that she could pick out of it. I fired up the first spell a second time to get more information on the Oliphant, and did the same thing.
All of this in less than ten minutes. That was when it hit me. The Internet. This spell replicated the search function of the internet. Sure, it was very specific, in that it was more like bare bones Wikipedia search, but I know that I'll have to work with Faunra to get a super version of this spell made into an item. Now that the Library of Thassilon has been recovered in Jorgenfist, and all of the books that were recovered here in the Former Xin-Shalast, we can start getting an actual library set up in the school.
An ACTUAL library, not just what was considered a library here. I mean one thousand books in a non-religious or municipal collection is almost universally considered astounding here. My elementary school library alone had more than five thousand books. I'm sure it has only grown since I left. We can have a very decent reference section with all of this. Maybe with a card catalogue that automatically informs whoever touches it with a full idea of what all is in there. Like the other spell I know.
I'll note all of this for later. I placed a sending to Savah to ask her to have the kids work on making some extra Boron Carbide if they get the chance, and that I would let her know when we would be heading home. I noted that it should not be all that long, as we needed to get back with enough time to work on the golem for Faunra's entry. Savah sent back that it is good to hear from me, and that she will pass along the message. We sent back and forth a bit more, updating each other on the goings on. Savah seemed a bit amused that I was passing up on the opportunity to be a ruler, but when I explained that there was an evil artifact that would constantly be trying to tempt me to be evil, she declared that I had been right in my decision. We went back and forth about more and less important matters until she had to help a customer. We said our goodbyes and I left the radio in condition to
I pondered a bit for what else I could do with my day. I decided that I wanted to have a little bit of fun. I went outside the plane, and then the hangar, and summoned up as many groups of unseen crafters as I could. I had all of them work on building up a straight runway to go away from where the hangar was, off to the side of the mountain. I figured from my rough calculations, that they should be able to get it done before they run out of time. If it looks like I'm wrong, it will just be another wonder of modern architecture for people to scoff over.
With all of the loud masonry and stone carving going on, one of the Wardens of Thunder, who had been approaching the compound anyway, got intrigued and came over. He asked me, without even introducing himself, what I thought that I was doing. I looked contemplative for a minute and told him that I was looking to create a way to increase trade for their fledgling city. The giant asked if that was what the two in the city were doing.
I told the giant that what those in the city were doing was their own business, and if he had issues with them, that he should take it up with them. I added that all I was doing was utilizing the naturally occurring igneous formations from the obvious lava flow that occurred centuries ago, to create a sturdy structure to all for planes such as mine to land without issue. He next asked if there were more planes like mine. I smiled and looked back at him before saying that there were more planes on order, and that we would be finishing them, and other airports, before the end of the year.
This giant looked a bit upset, so I consoled him with noting that the only governments that I would be putting in contact with them would be that of Sandpoint and Magnimar. If they wanted nothing to do with them, then it would only be that. I was creating this to offer up the ability to have actual trade, rather than rely on other things or to exploit the giants. I added that I had already gotten jobs for a pair of Stone Giants who had been forced to attack our town, and they were most acceptable for the remuneration for labor.
The Warden of Thunder looked a bit contemplative himself at this and asked how I forced the Stone Giants to submit to this. I laughed and asked him to walk with me away from the noise, and we could talk. We did so, at his surprisingly slower pace, until we found a decent place to sit. I offered up a bottle of whiskey that I had been carrying around, and he downed it in one gulp. He smirked at that and noted that this was good.
I asked him if he thought that I was native to this area. The Giant shook his head and said that it was fairly obvious that I wasn't, as I didn't seek the power that was likely offered to me. I nodded and said that he was right. I added that I was also the person who had provided the documents for his people to study to come to accords over. The Warden nodded and noted that he was waiting his chance to read them. I sighed, pulled out that first blank book that I had been using to act as an intermediary and then thought better. I pulled up the text on my tablet, in two-page mode, and reproduced the screen via an illusion, just making it extremely large.
The giant told me when he was finished, and I went and adjusted to the next two pages. This went on for a few minutes, until we got to the end of the document. The Storm Giant was nodding at times, and mummering at other times, but seemed to take it fairly well. When I told him that this was the end of the document, he asked if that was really all that there was. I told him that it was a backbone, a foundation to build off of, and that it was to all of his people to build what they could.
The Warden scoffed and said that the Cloud Giants were hardly kin to him, the Stone Giants even less so. The Skulks were not even giants. I nodded along and asked him if he knew what they did all have in common. The Storm Giant looked at me and asked me what. I told him that they had several things in common. They all had to breath, to drink, to eat, to have shelter, and that they had all suffered under the rule of Karzoug. I offered to him that he could try to join together with them all under the banner of their similarities, rather than be stuck apart from their differences.
The Storm Giant looked contemplative for a moment and asked what good each would do to the other. I noted that the Cloud Giants were contemporaries with the Storm Giants, from what I knew. I offered up that the Stone Giants knew their mediums better than anyone else, and the Skulks can access areas that no one of the giants can, just to begin. I added that each smaller member of a project can create finer and finer details by virtue of their inherent focus being smaller. They could all work on a project with each passing it off to the next when they get to their own limits, and the project would be that much better for it.
The Warden nodded along, seemingly following along with this logic, and asked if we would be staying much longer. I told him that we were planning on leaving soon, but that one of us was working on a device to allow communication between us and their city, at a set time every day. I added that after a period of time, we would be turning this device, on our end, over to the government of Sandpoint, to a positioned that would be stationed all day every day, for emergency calls. The Storm Giant listened while I explained this and waited until I stopped and asked how Magnimar got into this.
I told him that Magnimar was the de facto founding government for Sandpoint, and so they had a controlling interest in the governance of Sandpoint. I pointed out that I was NOT suggesting or recommending that they place themselves underneath the jurisdiction of Magnimar, but I could easily recommend that an alliance would be a positive thing for both of the cities. The Storm Giant responded that it was to the town council to decide, and I agreed wholeheartedly, saying that it definitely was up to them. I was merely stating that it would be something that Magnimar and Sandpoint might both be interested in, if the city was.
The Storm Giant said that he could understand the possibilities of trade, but that it would have to be decided by the council. I agreed and said that this was the whole point of the bridge. If trade was desired, the best one to do it would be one of those areas, and if the city needed assistance from the group, and it needed to be more than just us four, it would be best if we had a landing strip for the plane. The Warden nodded and said that he could see the logic of that. I added that Faunra was laying claim to a part of the complex up the hill, so we might need to travel back to there from time to time. The Giant nodded with that and said that this was now understandable.
There was a lull in the conversation, so I asked him why he had come up here in the first place. The Warden snapped back and said that he had came up here because he had wanted to see if we had any other copies of the document, which I had provided. I smiled and noted that since we had dealt with that, I asked if there was anything else. He said that this was sufficient, and thanked me for the talk. I told him that it was fine to talk to him, and that I'd be working on trying to get a better form of communication set up myself later on, so maybe this could help out with any other questions that the people might have.
The Storm Giant got up and went to leave. Before he left, he turned around and told me that his name if Beng, Beng A'Min. I stifled a laugh and said that I was glad to meet him. He looked at me, obviously noting my mirth, and asked why his name was funny. I told him that his name sounded a lot like a pioneer in the study of electricity, who supposedly caught lightning in a bottle, whose name was Benjamin Franklin. I told Beng that he was also one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, which was the first document for the country whose Constitution I had provided.
Beng looked thoughtful and asked me if there was anything else about this Benjamin that I could tell him. I told him that he was a known inventor, someone of a profound amount of common sense, and somewhat of a libertine when the situation demanded it of him. Beng nodded and asked if he was a good man. I scoffed and said that of course he was. I wasn't like he was a Benedict Arnold or anything. Beng looked a bit confused but nodded along.
I sighed and just told him that Benjamin Franklin was a good man for his times. Beng nodded and thanked me for the clarification. I wished him well, and told him that if his name tracked, I could see interesting times for him as an ambassador. Beng said his goodbyes and went back to the rest of Jotunburg. I shrugged and ensured that all of the groups of unseen crafters were doing what they needed to.
Once I was certain that they were aligned in what they were required to do, I went back to the plane. I felt that I had accomplish much of what I could do via the spells and effects that I could produce, so I could mostly just spend my time planning. When I got back to my room, I ditched the armor and weapons, and started just working on the plans for the new vehicle. Since each individual wheel was going to have their own "fuel tank" and everything, there wasn't a need for a fuel train or even a transmission. There was going to be a LOT of storage space in this vehicle since there was nothing of this sort, and no battery pack.
Faunra was going to get the lighting done for it, including the flashing lights, so I wouldn't need to work about that either, just get the motive force for it. I'll just slap a tiny motor on it. That does seem to be my answer to everything anymore. Well, it works, so I'll look into some other option later.
Going over everything else, I realized that I was going to have the main build of this thing done within days, once we got back. With the knowledge of how to make what needs to be made and being able to do it much faster via the new ability, this was one build that was going to be a breeze. Which is lucky, because I think I'm going to have to start training some other people in the way of science. Another thing, I need to offload all of the "Dangerous Knowledge" into a thumb drive and put that into the secure space that I can have the tablet in. If I can search the world's books, I'm pretty sure that my books count as well.
We don't need the world having access to certain formulas just yet. Or certain concepts. At least until I can verify that either the tablet and phone do not count as books (unlikely) or that they can't be accessed (unlikely). So, a private dimension for those. I mean, extradimensional space would probably work too, right? I'll have to talk with Faunra to find out. For now, I'll be keeping them on a thumb drive in a lead lined box.
I topped off the power on all of the group's armors and ensured that the Railgun's battery bank was fully charged. I was struggling to find other things to make myself useful with, so I figured that I'd just grab the tablet and start writing what I could figure for questions for the "JoSVAB" (Jotunburg Spared Vocational Aptitude Battery). I decided that I would get the modifications done, since that would be fairly quick and getting them done would get me halfway there. A good running start anyway.
After a few more hours, I had gotten those five categories rewritten. I stopped when I realized that I had not eaten. I decided to check in on the others. The plane was completely empty. Faunra wasn't crafting, Jonathan wasn't cooking, and Dame Rebekah wasn't doing what she normally did (either studying her religious texts or practicing her sword work. Even Ayruzi was out.
I went to the supplies area, and grabbed a ration pack, from the storage chest, and retreated back to my room with it and with a bottle of cider. I used a bit of my ability to re-flavor everything to make it a completely different meal. At least I could eat whatever I want, and have it taste like something I actually want to eat. I finished up my meal and fired off some sendings to Savah, wishing her a good night and that I'd update her on our progress tomorrow after I find out more. She sent the same wishes back and that she hoped to hear good news from me tomorrow. Ultimately, a fairly calm and timid day without too much going on.