Day 154: Toilday the 19th, Calistril, 4708
Savah and I got up after only four hours of bedrest. I asked Savah if she had checked in with Hannah to see if the midwife had any thoughts about a lack of bedrest on pregnancy. Savah said that she had not thought to do so, but that she was getting extra naps during the day to make up for the lack of time. I nodded and told her that she shouldn't worry about upsetting me by wanting to stay in bed, that I'd use the time that I would have to work on the various projects and I would treasure the actual time to be with her. Savah smiled and noted that she had things to do too.
I summoned up the unseen crafters to make breakfast for us and to get the room organized. Savah floated inches above the ground, smiling as she hovered. I refreshed my own flight spell and we both floated about, getting things ready. I summoned my armor onto me, even though I wasn't expecting danger. I realized that I was going to have to get Faunra to get the enchantment on Savah's sooner than expected, if she was going to have twins.
Then I noticed her nosebleed. Savah was talking to me when all of a sudden, she started to have a nosebleed. I didn't even wait, I scooped her up in my armored hands, rushed to the balcony, and activated my jump jets to head to Hannah's. Savah was a bit shocked when I did, but seemed to be okay, after I told her that she had a nosebleed. Savah asked me why that would be so important, and I told her that any kind of malady should be looked in to when someone is pregnant.
Hannah was just waking up when we got there and was kind of upset when I was knocking on her door before dawn. Still, she took my concern well, and brought Savah in to examine her. After ten minutes, Savah was escorted back out and Hannah told me that everything was fine, that this was a possible event that occurred during this period of the pregnancy, but that it was good that I was looking out for her. I thanked her and apologized for disturbing her at this hour. Hannah smiled and just waved us off.
Savah was a little bit more annoyed by all of this, and I told her that I just wanted to make sure that she was safe. I held her tight and flew back to the house with her. When we landed, she noted that she was going to get some things going before taking a nap. She added that Ms. Brati was really helping with the shop. I confirmed that this was Erika and nodded along. I offered up that we could try to expand her mercantile empire and get her an office in Magnimar.
Savah smiled and said that she figured that we would be very busy here in six months. I agreed and helped her get things going while I sent telepathic messages to the quads about what needed to be worked on for the transformer. I got quick assents and they went to work. When Savah was ready to head to bed, I went over to help on the weapons. All of the Quads were in the kinetics lab, ready to work. I set up the anti-divination screen before discussing the plans.
When I laid out the specifics for them, the four of them started work on the different components that were needed. I started up working on the big-ticket item, the rocket launcher. There was not a lot of technical stuff that I really needed to deal with, just a lot of precision. Precision, electronics, and high explosives anyway. I started working away on the happy task of making extreme power. I realized that I still had to make the upgrades for the plane and started planning on them as well. Cue the music.
After a few hours, I had made a LOT of progress, really a shit ton of progress, a metric shit-ton of progress even. I had even had to summon up three batches of the unseen crafters just to do the minor work and keep the process flowing by assisting in what I needed they could do and move things on to where they can be set up and brought back. I had made the rocket launcher for Inferno, two more designed for the plane (under wing), a machine gun for Inferno, another two machine guns for the plane, and a series of chaff flares for the back of the plane to act as a chase deterrent and a few for Inferno for a flare notification. I had never made as many of weapons as that in one day. I was glad that a lot of the components had been premade, and when needed, I had my fabricate spell and my transmutation effect, they were both lifesavers.
The Quads had finished up making the fire extinguisher system for Inferno by the time that I was done. We didn't really need to worry about electrical fires, I wasn't as focused on having them recreate PKP. Sodium bicarbonate would work just fine for now, especially since I figured that Inferno would be heading up fire extinguishing in Magnimar, and electrifying that city was a long way down the line. When we were all done, I pinged my radio to Faunra and sent that we had finished up the on all of the weapon systems, and if she wanted, we could fly them over to her. Faunra responded back that she had just finished up her portion of today's enchantments, and that it would be good to see what kind of armaments she would be including in the final makeup. I had the unseen craftsmen load all of the finished product into the Quadjet and install the weaponry that had been made for the plane.
I thanked the quads and told them all that they had worked exceptionally well, and that I would tell Faunra just how much of an effort they all put in. I then asked them if they could do one final thing by supervising the installation of the new weaponry onto the plane. They all agreed and asked to go with us to see Faunra. I readily agreed and they hitched a ride on my armor to get to the plane faster. While the new weapon systems were being installed by the Quads and the unseen craftsmen, I went to go check in with Savah. Savah was in her store, talking with Erika Brati and Vaeren. I know that there is chemistry behind Erika and Vaeren, and I'm wondering if they will be needing their own house here in the future. Maybe I should just move Savah and myself into the quarters of the Headmaster of the University and leave this house to them. I'll discuss this with Savah later.
I sent a thought to Niddler that we would be taking the plane to visit Faunra before breaking in to Savah's conversation. Niddler asked me if I was bringing a host gift. I thought about it and realized that I had not even begun to think about it yet. Niddler recommended some kind of pastry from Alma's. I readily agreed and asked if he could put in an order for a few pizzas at the Barghest. He sent back to me that he'd leave immediately, that he was only just watching Scratchpoint get built up, and that he'd had the Unseen Craftsmen doing their thing and it was all stable.
Before he stopped the conversation, Niddler asked if I would check in with Faunra about setting up the water. I agreed to his condition and asked him to take some coin and pick up two dozen doughnuts or something equivalent. Niddler said that he would, that he knew where the petty cash box was, and that he'd stop by the Barghest first. I thanked him mentally as I watched my beautiful wife continue to talk to Vaeren and Erika about something or other. Savah noticed me just standing there waiting, and she beckoned me over to talk with her.
Savah, Erika, and Vaeren had been talking about what our plans were for a vacation, as they would be looking over the shop and store during it. I realized that Erika and Vaeren had not been brought into the conspiracy about the prophecy. Savah asked if I had heard anything about when the other six were going to be available. I shook my head but told her that I was glad that she had brought that up, because I was going to take the plane to go drop off the finished items for the golem and wanted to know if she was willing to go with me. Savah said that she would, and Vaeren asked if he could tag along too.
I said sure, and that I was sending Niddler to go get something, and that when he got back, we'd head out. Vaeren agrees and says that he has some things to get together anyway. Savah says that she will be right there and gives me a kiss on the cheek. I head back to the plane and set up the hangar and plane for flight. I got everything ready, and as soon as I did, I got into the pilot's seat.
Niddler thought back to me that he was bringing back a surprise. I thanked him telepathically and chuckled to myself. A few months ago, having someone else's thoughts in my mind would mean that I was going insane. Now it is just that one of the five homunculi connected to me have a question or a request. I finished my pre-flight checks and thought a bit to myself.
When Niddler was back, he revealed that Alma had somehow acquired almonds and had made bear claws. To say that I was impressed would be an understatement. I was even more impressed to see Niddler carrying it all. Then Niddler revealed that he was wearing a very tiny belt. I immediately knew that it was enchanted to increase the amount that he could carry. He told me that he had needed it, to deal with everything for the chickens.
I nodded and told him that it was a good addition to his farm, and that it was good that he had it. He told me that he had worked and saved to get it and I was impressed. Apparently, he had been selling his extra eggs at the market and had even been offering up his services during the times that I was in another dimension and had gotten quite a few people who used him as a chicken herder or farm hand messenger. I told him that he had done a fine job running his little farm, and that I was proud of him. Niddler told me that he'd shift to delivery to the school when it opened up, of course, but that he was considering diversifying and starting to grow a produce garden as well.
I told him that I'd set him up with a few more batches of Unseen Craftsmen before the week was up to help out with clearing the land. He thanked me and hugged me before he left. That threw me for a loop. I knew that he was a Homunculus, a created being of blood, clay, and magic. I had released him from being bound to me, and yet he still felt a kinship with me. I wondered if that was how it went with Oren and War-Bringer, or Savah and Bailey.
The Quads, also having been released from any bondage to me, but still had the telepathic link, all affirmed that they were safely inside the plane, and that everything had been installed on the mounts on the plane. I thanked them mentally and told them that we would be taking off as soon as Vaeren and Savah were on the plane. As if to answer my thoughts, Savah came up into the cockpit, gave me a kiss on the cheek, and sat down in the co-pilot seat. Savah asked what the deal was with the additional weapons. I told her that the world of the skies was dangerous, and that a single shot railgun was just not going to be able to cut it anymore.
Savah nodded and asked if she'd have control over them while we flew. I told her that the new guns were not attached to anything yet, and that I'd be asking Faunra to set up a modified ritual to make it so that all of the new weapons are able to be operated by the pilot or co-pilot, whomever was wearing the targeting reticle. Savah nodded and put on the circlet with the targeting screen. I paged over the interplane speaker that we would be taking off shortly, and that everyone needed to be buckled up. I started up the engines and let them warm up for a minute before I received a confirmation that everyone was packed up.
I goosed the engines, and we took off up the ramp and into the sky. I did a circle around Sandpoint, and jokingly noted to Savah that we were going to have to convert the old tower to a combination lighthouse/control tower when we get the airport installed. Savah asked me what a control tower was, and I told her that it was how planes knew when to take off and when to land, that they were the ones to keep everything in order so that it was safer. Savah noted that it wouldn't be the town who put out the money for reconditioning it, and I told her that with the spells that I have access to, I can just take a week and build it up from scratch if need be.
Savah smiled and reminded me that we still needed to build up a vacation house somewhere. I told her that I would get that when she figured out where we would be having our vacation house. Savah smiled and said that Andoran still sounds nice this time of year, and that we can take Silia back to Andoran to visit friends and family. I smiled and noted that it had nothing to do with the fact that she could get us a line on a decent property? Savah laughed and said that the people of the city did need to see the plane to actually want one.
I agreed and said that we'd check in with Silia when we went to the Golemwalk Parade. Savah was satisfied with that, and we continued with our ten-minute flight. So much faster than what travel was before this. Not as fast as Faunra's teleportation, but much faster than horse and cart, at a whopping two miles an hour. Savah paged Faunra when we were two minutes out and Faunra responded back that there was an area already prepared for us, as apparently, Faunra had taken the time to put in a runway.
When we got close enough, I saw the runway and touched down on it. Damn, this wall of stone spell makes for a smooth landing surface. When we got to the end of the runway, there was an area to turn around, which I did, before stopping the plane. The seven of us got free of our seats and got up to head out. I saw what I thought was Faunra and Shalelu come to greet us. I was wrong, as it was two of their Wax-homs, (some combination of Wax Golem and Homunculus that gave Faunra and Shalelu perfect control over designing their looks). I guess that the only way for someone to tell which one isn't Shalelu or Faunra is to know which one is designated to have which hair or eye color that day.
They both helped us offload what needed to be offloaded and invited us up to the tower for some discussion. The seven of us followed them, with the weapon systems being carried on floating discs. I noticed the talismans that the two of them wore around their necks and recognized both as talismans of the disc, providing the carry capacity. The Quads split up two to a disc, with the gear, enjoying the ride. We all made our way down to the workshop where the truck had already been relocated.
Yet another Wax-Hom of Faunra was performing the work on it while we set down the new armament attachments. We got escorted to the receiving room where Faunra was waiting for us. Faunra smiled and Savah asked her how Shalelu was doing. Faunra said that the fight to deal with the Drow was not going well, as even with the enhanced armor that we were providing, the Drow sorcery and use of demons was getting the better of the Elves there. I immediately asked if it would help if we went up there. Faunra shook her head, noting that the council of Crying Leaf did not want outsiders getting mixed up in this just yet not being willing to allow others to know that Drow exist.
I looked at Faunra oddly and told her slowly that we all knew that Drow existed. Faunra swirled her elven wine in her goblet before taking that goblet to her lips and draining it and nodded to what I said. She then clarified for us that they haven't admitted that Drow are real yet, so they want to keep that under wraps for now. I offered up that we could probably help solve this situation quicker, and Faunra nodded, but offered up that this was the will of the tribal council, for now anyway. Vaeren spoke up, a bit timidly, and asked if Drow were real.
Faunra shifted her gaze over to him with a ridiculous look across her face and said that of course they were not real. Vaeren looked very confused, and I decided to change the topic of the conversation. I asked Faunra if she'd be available to help modify the ritual for the weapons that we used to animate them to anchor it to an item that could be worn. Faunra thought about it and shook her head, indicating that it wasn't really something that could be done. Faunra explained that while regular spells could be woven, altered, and modified, rituals were something different.
Faunra thought for a minute and offered up that what we could do is offer up a solution where we make the plane have an intelligence attached to it, and bind the weapons to that, and then bind the plane's intelligence to the will of whomever was wearing the item. I shuddered visibly by the reflexive thought of what I considered enforced servitude of a sentient mind. Faunra noticed and offered up that we can have up to ten people in addition to the primary ritualist, and each one can issue commands to the weapons. I thought about it, and realized that between Faunra, Savah, Vaeren, and myself, that made up three plus a primary caster. If we included the Quads and Niddler, that would be eight, leaving us two extras.
Savah asked about if we wanted the other two people from my world to be included in the ritual. I thought about it for a few seconds and ultimately decided not to. I told Savah that they had their own purposes, and their own proclivities. One was studying up on local medicine, and the other really didn't like me. I might call on the both of them in the future, if need be, but they did not need to be bothered by this. Savah nodded in response.
I thought a bit more and realized that if we were going to have multiple planes present for this evacuation attempt, then we would need to be outsourcing a lot of the flying and that the targeting would really need to be done by whomever has eyes on target. The Quads and Niddler could all be fit into crevices and protected while targeting whatever needed to be targeted. Faunra cut me off and said that her Wax-Homs were not equipped to be in the role, even if I thought that the Quads and Niddler were. I agreed with that and realized that I wouldn't want to put the kids in danger anyway.
Faunra offered up that we could have the four of us party members, our significant others, and either Vaeren and Erika, or some other two people if the two of them did not want to be party to is. Vaeren perked up and asked what it meant that we were doing. Faunra explained the ritual in length to him, and he summarily declined be a part of this specific ritual, saying that while he didn't mind fighting and defending himself, he didn't want to be linked via this specific ritual to the rest of us. He did mention that he was interested in possibly performing the ritual with another set of weapons later. Faunra mentioned that we were getting to the point that we (Faunra and the rest of our group) would be having difficulties with the ritual where we could not include more weapons to our own personal retinue.
I agreed that the ritual did get more difficult as the number of weapons that we had attached to us increased. Faunra nodded in agreement and said that we would need to get other people able to perform the ritual, and Vaeren and Erika were good choices along with other rituals that we should keep up. I thought that they were good suggestions, and that they should try to learn the rituals for themselves. Changing the subject, Faunra and I talked about how we were going to get the weapons integrated into Inferno's setup. Faunra declared that we were going to need an exceptionally powerful location for this.
I asked if we could just use the testing area. Faunra shook her head and told me that not only wouldn't Inferno be able to go through the gun-katas in there, but we were looking at needing a very large area to get this done, since we were going to have to do some dodgy things to get this done. I asked her what she meant, and she told me that the ritual requires the blood of the primary recipient, and constructs don't have blood. I thought about it while she described having to find a way to polymorph the construct and then extract the blood, before the polymorph wears off. I stopped her, telling her that back where I was from, oil is considered the lifeblood of an engine.
Faunra looked at me dumbfounded and asked if I really thought that it should work. I shrugged and said that the worst thing that could happen is that the ritual fails completely. Faunra looked at me and asked if I knew what would happen if the ritual failed. Faunra spoke in a way that seemed like she had focused on this and told me that a best-case scenario would be that the casters suffer a lot of damage. She continued that all of the casters could even suffer a severe decrease in martial ability for months after.
I blanched when I heard that. I was already not the most effective person in the group, a severe hit like that to the group is dangerous. I asked her why she didn't warn me about that before we started. Faunra shrugged and offered up that she thought that I had known, since I had studied the ritual, and that I was so confident, that she figured that with all of my preparations, I knew that there was virtually no chance for failure. I stammered a bit and realized that I had not in fact bothered to spend much time at all on the possibility of failure when I was figuring out the ritual. I had just done everything that I could to maximize our chances of success.
That made me think and ask Faunra, what was our actual risk for us during those rituals. Faunra shrugged and said that before the extra preparations I had accomplished, less than a fraction of a percent chance. After I had made the additional preparations, Faunra told me that it was virtually assured that the ritual would be successful. I lifted an eyebrow and asked her what she meant by the word virtually. Faunra elaborated that the only way it would fail would be direct, heavy handed, divine opposition to the success of the ritual, or the interruption of the ritual.
That succeeded in calming me down a bit. I thanked her and told her that I was the one in error because I really should have looked at the warnings and dangers before agreeing to the ritual. Faunra shrugged and noted that everything ended well enough, and that we needed that extra power to fully take on Karzoug. I remembered that the "scepter of state" was in field where it could not be disturbed, and asked Faunra how much longer it would last. Faunra told us that it would last at least another ten days, and that she'd let us know when it was getting close to expiring, so that we could be ready to do it again.
Getting us back on topic, Faunra noted that we needed a LARGE area that had a large amount of conflict on it. Thinking back, I asked her if Jorgenfist was a good option. Faunra shrugged and noted that since the weapons were going to have to be installed AFTER the sentience was incorporated into the robot, then it would have to be somewhere that we had access to that was close to us, between the time crunch of getting the complicated magical work finished, and the travel time to Magnimar, it would be cutting it close if we wanted to drive to Jorgenfist and then back.
Thinking back on the area, I offered up that the mass graves for the Stone Giant and Hobgoblins outside of Sandpoint could be considered a place related to weaponry and war. Vaeren spoke up and mentioned that the Lighthouse was actually an ancient weapon of war, so maybe the base of that would work. Faunra perked up at that and said that she'd drop by both of those places to check out their resonances, just to see if we can make them work. I thanked her and noted that we'd still need to find a way to get the plane's new weaponry chained to the pilot. Faunra said that she'd look into it, but that she needed to focus on Inferno first.
Savah and I both agreed that this would be the best focus for our time, and Faunra asked if there was anything else. Vaeren spoke up and said that Erika and himself had been wondering what all the plans were for the vacation that the eight of us were planning, because he wanted to be able to plan around it for when they would need to be ready for taking over the duties. Faunra looked at me and asked me silently if he doesn't know. I shook my head slightly and indicated that we needed to talk about that. Faunra sighed and offered up to us that we should all take a walk, as she needed to check on another process that was ongoing.
Vaeren looked at Savah and me and we shrugged, indicating that we would be following her. As we walked, I noticed that we were travelling through different dimensions and wards. I guessed that we were doing this to confound those who might be trying to scry on us, as travelling dimensions can offset scrying capability. The wards were pretty much the same, and I recognized a few lead-lined walls, quite the little labyrinth that Faunra and Shalelu had developed underneath their compound. After the fourth ward, fifth room, and seventh dimensional cross, Faunra seemed to be looking around, and then told me that I needed to be the one telling him, indicating Vaeren with a slight hand gesture.
I sighed and started out with the basics, how we had defeated the former Emperor of Xin-Shalast, Karzoug, Runelord of Transformation. I added that we had been in contact with an agent of the Fae, who had dictated a Prophecy to us when she last saw us. The eight of us have kept it under strict scrutiny and secrecy since then, and that we were preparing on the sly as much as we could, to work to mitigate the effects of this prophecy. Vaeren nodded and spoke in an unrelated manner, how it is often much easier to adjust a ritual rather than try to undo it or completely prevent it. He had a dumbfounded look on his face, but he seemed to catch on quickly.
I offered up that Faunra had wanted me to be the one to tell him, since I was almost a dead zone when it came to those trying to scry upon me, even to the point that Karzoug had not noticed my presence during his scrying on the group, and he had thought that I was merely a golem made by Faunra, until the very end. Vaeren was silent as I continued, and I told him that I would relay both what the original Prophecy was, and what we had worked it out to be, if he wanted to be included in our efforts to ameliorate this, but that we knew that we could not prevent it from happening. Vaeren asked if we were sure that we could not prevent it from happening, and after we crossed another dimensional junction, I spoke the Prophecy: "Unto the Ides, Scal will shed a single tear. That tear will send the Wave of Harbors to the Quay of Aenigmas."
Vaeren perked up and replied that you just can't fake that. He also added that it was very unlikely for us to be able to affect something that was said to be the work of a god. After he agreed, I added our current translation of the Prophecy. "On the 13th of Rova, a meteorite will fall from the sky. This will cause a tsunami to strike Riddleport." Vaeren nodded as he picked it out, agreeing with a lot of the interpretation, asking only if we were certain about the date. I told him that we were not, that it could happen on any number of days, from a few weeks away, to further out, but that based on some other information, it seemed likely that it would be that date.
Vaeren nodded and asked if we had thought to bring this to Leis Nivlandis, since he was a master at Divination, that he might be able to help us isolate the date and make sure that the rest of it falls in line. I smacked my head and Faunra said that we could talk to him after the Golemwalk Parade, but that we were keeping this as under wraps as we could for now, as we needed to make sure that no one worked to uncover what we were trying to do. Faunra addressed me next, saying that my idea for "Drop Pods" would be a very simple work around, but that we would need to have something for them to go back to and come back from. I thought about it and asked her if extradimensional magic would help. Faunra said that she would be including it already, but that it would be a very slow vehicle no matter what.
I nodded and asked her if she had any ideas for getting them where we needed them. Faunra shrugged and said that we could either focus on getting a MUCH larger vehicle or find a way to teleport them all onto the site of the incident. I nodded and noted that we still needed to get a crew to man each one of the Drop Pods. Faunra offered up that we could get my engines set up as turboprops on the sides to lift them up, so I would need to get the people of the first class trained up now, wouldn't I? I sighed and looked at both Savah and Vaeren, telling them that I didn't think that we'd have time for a vacation before Rova.
Faunra disagreed vehemently and noted that we would NEED to take some time off before this event occurred, and that my school would just need to be finished before the event occurred. Vaeren confirmed that he knew that he couldn't tell other people who were not inducted in the conspiracy but asked if we could induct Erika into the conspiracy. I looked at Faunra and asked how many people she thought that we could safely have know about this and not terribly increase the chance of someone else knowing. Faunra said that that she would only looking to include Master Leis Nivlandis and Toth Bhreacher. Shalelu had said that she wanted to get the leaders of Crying Leaf into the knowledge.
I offered up that any new people should be inducted in the school or in your facility, as those are the only ways that we can be sure that scrying is not happening. Savah pointed to me and offered up that I should probably be the one to tell everyone, since I can't be scryed upon, I would be the safest person to do so. Faunra nodded and noted that the next time that Shalelu comes back, she will be bringing one or two of the council members with her. I agreed to serve as this purveyor of secrets. Faunra smiled and winked at us, saying that it was only appropriate that the Emperor of Xin-Shalast be the one to be the center of this Prophetic Conspiracy.
I groaned in response but agreed that I would perform these services. Faunra and Savah smiled when I admitted it, and Vaeren said that he'd agreed that it would be for the best. Vaeren recommended that the teachers at the school be brought in when they actually become teachers. I looked to Faunra and Savah and they both nodded. I sighed and asked Faunra if she could do something like the dimensional transitions at some place at the school. Faunra shook her head but noted that I'd have the ability to walk the labyrinth with whatever group we needed to put through the ritual whenever we needed.
I agreed and Faunra asked if we needed anything else. Vaeren spoke up and asked me if he could study under her officially. Faunra looked to me, and I shrugged, saying that this was between the two of them. Faunra said that she could utilize an assistant, but that there was no room here for him to stay. Vaeren shrugged and said that he'd be fine with commuting, especially with the new road that the giants had built.
Savah recommended that we head back to Sandpoint, and that I should have a meeting with the first class, to start training them up, so that we can get them to start training up a batch of people to help. Savah asked if I had figured out the name of the school, or if I was still going with the Sandpoint Hinterlands Institute of Technology. Vaeren looked at me a little miffed while Faunra puzzled on it for half a second before laughing. I laughed and said that Vaeren had requested that I actually go with "School for the Natural, Applied, and Formal Understandings of Sciences".
Faunra asked jokingly what the mascot would be. I suggested that it should obviously be the Sandpoint Devil. I told her that, since it was defeated by my beautiful wife and her group, it should be safe to do so. Savah beamed a little hearing what I had said and offered up that they were able to deal with it the last time we went out. I smiled and told her that her, Shalelu, Shayliss, and Chelger were all making the town safer and safer. Faunra cleared her throat and asked if we had anything else to discuss.
I thought about it and said no, but that we did need a count for how many suits of armor that the town of Crying Leaf needed, and if they were to be further enhanced with technology, that I would need to have each person come back for individual fittings. Faunra said that she would relay that, but that she didn't think it was all that likely, as the elves of Crying Leaf did seem to treasure their ability to be silent as a breeze in the woods. I said that I could understand that and told them that I still wished them well. Faunra thanked me and said that she would pass that on as well. We all bade each other well wishes and the three of us, and the Quads, went back to the plane.
The Quads all got into their seats, as did Vaeren. Savah sat up front with me. As we took off, Savah asked me if I thought that we would be able to be the recovery unit for a whole city. I told her that I didn't know how bad the tsunami would be, but that I would feel exceptionally wrong to not try to do anything, and that Faunra had a good point, in that we were possibly looking at having divine interference if we were too vocal about things. Savah nodded and asked what I would be doing now that I knew that we needed to get the teachers taught so quickly.
I told her that I would be putting the majority of my focus on that, and that the Quads would have to work on all of the projects in the labs, but that they would still have their own time to work on whatever they wanted after their work on the priority project. Savah asked me if I would tell her exactly what the great project was. I told her that I might need to work with Faunra or Jonathan on portions of it, but that she would not be kept in the dark much longer.
We flew the rest of the way without incident. I'm thinking that the word is getting around and that a lot of people are just ignoring us when we they see the giant plane going through the air at Mach Schnell. That or a lot of our work in making this area safer has been seeing results. We landed back at the campus, and I escorted Savah back to the house, while the Quads and Vaeren went into the school, presumably to get everyone into the dining hall. Because that is where everyone was when I showed back up. They were all sitting around the table and waiting for me to speak.
I addressed them all by name and welcomed them officially to the school, and to the first class of the "School for the Natural, Applied, and Formal Understandings of Sciences". Every one of them looked a bit odd as I spoke aloud to them the name of the school for the first time. There were a few new faces that I had not recognized, but they had the emblem of the Pathfinders upon their raiment's. I asked everyone to introduce themselves to both me and the rest of the group, as this small class of eight would be the very first class to ever learn here at the school.
They all did so, starting with Olandil, and going on to Andel, Fareine, Virina, and Olgar. Those were the five that I really remembered meeting. Halder, Maria, and Gunda were the three that I had not. Olandil vouched for them personally, saying that they were new transplants from the Pathfinder Society, who had desperately wanted to further their training in this new field of study. I nodded and told everyone, including those that I had already met, that I would be having interviews with each person, and that this was for an excellent reason.
I told them all that I did not want to bury the lead or anything, and that assuming each person did well enough in whatever field of specialization they desired, I would be offering up the potential to be a teacher at this school for the first full class of forty students from all over Varisia. This was why I was being careful about everyone. Olandil spoke up and said that most of them had been vetted by the Pathfinder Society, and I looked at him and mentioned that slavers from Cheliax were allowed into the society, and this was not something that I was willing to be party to. I added that I held no issue with peoples' origins or backgrounds, only that if their goals or ideals are in opposition to what I view as this school's goals, namely the advancement of science and technology to all decent folk, then I would wish them well, and send them on their way.
Olgar seemed to smile at that, and I could tell that he had been a bit ostracized by the others in that he was not a Pathfinder yet was being included in this first class. I offered up that actual schooling would begin fairly soon, and that those who were seeking housing in one of the lodges instead of the town proper, should probably find those who they could live with without conflict, as there are four lodges and eight people. Everyone seemed to have already worked this out among themselves, or at least didn't show any indication that they would have issues with this, so I left it at that.
I finished up with stating that once we were getting the training going, eight hours of their day would belong to me. Other than those eight hours, they would be free to pursue whatever they desired, so long as they did not violate the rules of the town of Sandpoint, or work in opposition to the stated goals or morals of the school. I hushed them with telling them that they would be getting the syllabus first, along with the course books. I stood up and the Quads stood up with me as well. As one, the five of us left the group of prospective students.
When we were back in the labs area, I asked them all to please continue on our special project, and that I would be around for answering questions on designs and other issues during the days, but that the group of us would have to mainly meet before classes and after classes. They all verbally agreed. I lifted an eyebrow but said nothing. They all went back to their own lab rooms, and I went off to the trees. I collected up all of the hemp and paper that I could, used my fabricate ability, and turned it all into books. Multiple cubic feet of blank books, utilizing hemp paper and fine wood bindings. All in a second.
Why was I teaching people technology when magic could do so much so easily? I shook my head and realized that I needed to ensure that the people could think their way out of problems. Not everyone could go into a mythical other dimension, absorb powers beyond their ken, and come out of it with an ability to transmute a material's components or shape. I summoned up every batch of Unseen Crafters that I had access to and had them all transcribe and copy the books that would be the textbooks for the first eight students. Pens and other necessary items would come tomorrow, or I'll just take the class on a trip to Magnimar to buy school supplies.
I went inside to check in with Savah, as the day was stretching on into dark. She was up in our living room, relaxing on a couch, reading a book. I walked over to her and asked her what she was reading. She told me that she was reading our copy of the book that I had given to Hannah. I nodded and asked her if she was finding out good information.
Savah told me that she was and that it would be good for me to read it as well. I told her that I would, but that I was whisking her to bed right now. Savah asked me why we were heading to bed when it wasn't late and neither of us were tired yet. I smiled at her and told her that this was the exact reason why. Savah looked at me oddly for only a second and then sighed and smiled.