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 Posted: Thu Feb 16, 2017 8:59 am
Amalric lived in Sauti. Granted, he had spent a greater portion of his time as of most recently in Zena, but he had been born here and grown up all his life here, and in his experience: nothing interesting ever happened in Sauti. Yes, all seventeen years of his life experience dictated that this was how it was and, at least so far as Amalric had incorrectly concluded, how it always would be.
The Grand Market wasn’t in itself a boring thing. He had come intentionally, after all, hoping to find something he hadn’t read there, and perhaps supplement his ‘traveling supplies,’ such as they were. But, as had seemed to have become the new rule since his personal declaration of independence, everything was more interesting than he’d left it—and that in itself was an understatement.
It was hard to describe the feeling he experienced to see it initially, great contraptions which at first seemed to defy gravity descending from the sky in what at least looked to be more or less intentional fashion. Of course at the very beginning he had harbored the same concerns mirrored by others as they approached, looming, massive, unidentified foreign objects closing in on them from the sky and spouting smoke. It had been intimidating, with every potential for war if they’d been aggressive.
But, though Amalric hadn’t managed to see the landing itself from his vantage point given the commotion and general obstacles, it did seem now, long after the primary descent, these strange visitors were not here to wage war. Their contraptions, while fascinating and beyond description, were not instruments of military onslaught, and the people were, if he heard correctly, mostly scholars and enthusiasts of science.
He had to meet one.
How was another question entirely.
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Posted: Wed Mar 08, 2017 7:40 pm
Maritza wasn't impressed.
The flight across the ocean had been far more entertaining and valuable to her research than the actual landing. Of course the 'landing' had been a crash, which would have ended much worse than it actually had, but now she was stuck in a land of primitive people.
She hadn't known what to expect upon first meeting the 'others'; but a plethora of spears and simple bows wasn't it. At first she had hoped they were only in the middle of a cultural festival, something to remind them of older times, but when it dawned on Maritza that this was how they lived she had been immediately turned off to the idea of speaking with the locals.
Unfortunately they hadn't taken the hint.
Ritz was bombarded by question after question, which only left her irritated and far more motivated to find an escape route than ever. When they'd finally managed to put their focus on someone else she slipped away, going as far as to duck her head and sneak away like a common criminal!
When she was finally a sufficient distance away from the mass throng of organisms Maritza stood up to her full height and heaved a sigh of relief. Finally! Breathing room!
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Posted: Fri Mar 24, 2017 11:58 am
Amalric had tried to get a willing ear of the newcomers from within the crowd—really he had. But other than his height, Amalric had few stand-out advantages over anyone else, and far louder and more prominent questions were addressed while he mostly grappled with attempting not to be shoved about or, worse, underfoot.
Eventually, he conceded that crowd wrangling and attention grabbing with great masses of competition were not his specialty. He let himself be pushed from the crowd in defeat, resigned for the moment, but determined that later, when the hubbub had dimmed just the slightest, he would seek one out. Surely, if he could just have a face to face conversation—
And then, he spotted her.
A small flush of excitement colored his cheeks at the luck alone. She looked to have weaned herself away from near everyone, and Amalric hadn’t so much as planned his first sentence when he darted off towards her, almost stumbling down a small section of uneven ground in his haste—though he did manage to slow himself some at the end, both in efforts not to appear a complete maniac and also not draw the attention of anyone else. He cleared his throat on arrival.
“Greetings! Or, welcome—welcome to here, that is, you’re from…” Perhaps, he realized in retrospect — she had very purple eyes — he ought to have thought the process through a bit more beforehand. “I, ah, don’t actually know where you are from, but that…” He made a vague hand gesture towards the point of ‘landing,’ “…was amazing.”
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Posted: Tue Apr 04, 2017 6:22 pm
Maritza ran a hand through her hair and harrumphed, looking out over the horde as one might a sea of strange fish. There were so many colors here - even more so than her home land - and some were so tall she thought they could have been standing on stools!
It would have been interesting to observe had they not been so intent on swarming her. She needed to breath; to have a moment or two on her own.
And then she spotted him.
Go away, go away, go away, go away.
Why, oh why, must he walk closer? Were his legs incapable of maneuvering him any other direction? Perhaps if she moved out of the way of his trajectory he would pass her by and-
Now he was speaking to her, and Ritz had no choice but to at least look at him. He was stuttering so much she thought he was skipping a gear, and she cocked her head critically, raising one brow just to observe.
"I'm from Belrea." She stated simply. Briefly she turned away to look at the crash site, curling the tip of her nose just so. "It was pathetic, but I suppose it was fair for a maiden voyage."
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Posted: Wed May 10, 2017 9:27 am
“Belrea,” Amalric repeated. He had never heard of it, except perhaps in the span of the last half hour or so as that name, among other things, might very well have been in the air of the hubbub. But under the circumstances he didn’t feel he could be faulted for not knowing yet — it had been difficult to make out anything clear in the initial calamity and really, he was simply fortunate to have managed to get one alone to speak to at all.
How far must it be, to have taken flying ships to make the—?
“Pathetic?” he repeated. “Oh, no, no, it’s like nothing I’ve ever seen before—how did you even begin to get it airborne-? And how far did it have to come—are there many of you that worked on it? Are you a captain, or a passenger? How large is Belrea—is there-? There must be a government, you have the most fascinating eyes, will there be other ships coming? You don’t mean to mount a military invasion do you, though…”
Well, they might be sorely out of luck if they did. It didn’t seem as though the nations of Tendaji had quite reached the level of development evident in whatever made this flying contraption function. A stray glance in the direction of the (crash?) landing, however, did draw back to mind another, more immediate question.
“Will it…be able to fly again? I assume it will return to where it came one day…”
They certainly didn’t have the technology to make it happen.
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Posted: Fri May 12, 2017 9:32 am
It really was odd, how pale the mainlanders could be. He was almost peachy, but with too much white on him to truly be 'warm' hued. She had already seen others that were blue, both the speckled and basic versions, as well as some that were almost green.
And then there was the pale, dark haired version standing in front of her. Was this standard for his kind? Or was he a hybrid she wasn't aware of?
His questions caught her off guard; mostly because of the mixture of excitement and intelligence in them. She hadn't come to expect that in these people, but she was also very tired, which also meant she was highly grouchy.
"It would take hours to explain how we achieved lift, I can't give you exact distance now, that would need to be calculated once we've assessed the damages, and yes there are many of us." Her nose crinkled, "I'm not a captain, nor am I a passenger. I'm a mechanic. It's my job to help maintain engine integrity." '
Real bang up job on that, Ritz.
"We are not planning on offensive, if that's what you're worried about. This is a maiden voyage, meaning this is the first time it's been attempted and likely the last until we can work out the kinks. " She was already running through numbers in her head, as well as design plans and possible tweaks that would need to be tested before they took off. There was so much left to do...
"It will, though when I'm not sure." Maritza shrugged her shoulders. There was little doubt that they would get things running again, she just hoped it was sooner rather than later. Turning back to him, however, she raised a finger to point at her eye. "You find my eyes fascinating." It wasn't a question so much as a statement. He'd already admitted to it. "Do your people not have eyes like mine?"
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Posted: Sat May 13, 2017 7:08 am
“Only hours…” Amalric repeated almost absently. Now that he actually thought on it, a ‘several hour condensed course on how to achieve lift with a flying ship’ was likely still to be an oversimplified version but perhaps it was simpler than it sounded. Perhaps magic was involved. He had never heard of magic sufficient to affect objects in such a way, and he might have given the thought more consideration if she had made it seem as though that were critical, but there’d been no mention so he assumed it was somehow much like a ship.
Like a wooden and metal bird, but a ship.
Theoretically, since there clearly existed the physical dynamics to get at least a bird airborne and maintained in flight without magic, it seemed to follow that if the right structure could be crafted, light enough—but no, his brain rebelled against the thought. Anything that could be crafted by hand would simply be too heavy, and what would give it the power to move? Surely even if one could be structured so as to carry itself, it still could not be expected to bear exterior weight—? But it existed. It had flown here, and there it was.
Beyond any shadow of a doubt it was possible.
“Mechanic.” He blinked. “Engine…? What’s an engine? And what is a mechanic?” If it was her task to maintain it, however, he suspected she must have something to do with the inner workings. That, in conjunction with the fact that she had said it would ‘take hours’ to explain both happily lead to the assumption at least though that she could explain it if she’d felt up to it, did understand it all, and was one of those involved in the critical process. He attempted not to look too overtly over excited, but there was so much to ask. At least they didn’t intend to attack. “So are you…like the craftsman? Who shaped the parts and put the carriage together except that it flies? Or a blacksmith? Does the ship need to be maintained constantly while it is airborne, or—must it be powered by the passengers…?”
The most difficult, recurring mental hang up — besides the weight, of course — was the power source. With a bird, the body was a living organism and that powered the wings. With a ship, wind caught the sails, or oars had to be used. Yet, while wind might suffice to keep a kite airborne, it was something else entirely for a free-hanging object to do so, which left him to think that perhaps it was like oars but somehow suited to the sky, where the passengers had to power the propulsion. But it didn’t look like that at all, and how would that begin to work?
His thoughts—still running full tilt with all the information he’d been given—tripped off one track and onto another. You find my eyes fascinating. He had said that, hadn’t he. His cheeks warmed anew, but his gaze did flit when she raised a hand and couldn’t help but look again. They were fascinating. “None,” he said, studying now the scatter of her pupil and strange, almost free-form shape to the center cluster. “Not the color or that shape to your pupil…I’ve never seen anything like it.”
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Posted: Thu May 18, 2017 8:14 am
"A mechanic is a person who is trained to repair and maintain machinery. In this case, the inner workings of our airship. I was invited aboard to help on the maiden voyage because I showed promise." She stood up a little straighter, proud of her endeavors despite the crash. They had all survived, and failures were bound to happen; it was the only way they could learn. As soon as night settled back over the land Ritz would make her way back to the crash sight with a torch of some sort and scavenge for worthwhile parts to start the repairs. No doubt by now her colleagues had already done the same, but a second look never hurt.
"An engine is a machine with moving parts that converts power into motion. We have one - had one - ,modified as it was, to fit the needs of the airship." They would rebuild, but it would take time. Hopefully she would be able to gather enough resources to whip up some sort of idea. "Hmm?" Having been caught thinking of the processes, she turned back to the conversation at hand, barely catching onto his questions. "I am a mechanical artisan. I take parts that a blacksmith may make, and organize them in such a way that it helps to generate lift. I've been taught to work with steam engines- that is to say, railways, on the ground, but this was an interesting challenge."
She was by no means the master craftsman in this endeavor, though Maritza liked to pretend she had enough of a hand in it to be considered vital.
Instead of answering his questions she decided to purse her own. If he stuck around long enough then she would tell him all he needed to know, but the never ending tirade of 'how did you fly?' from everyone, this one included, was wearing on her. "All of my kind's pupils are shaped this way. The Geian's are not - theirs are shaped more like your own."
She slipped one hand into her back pocket, her stance much more relaxed now. "Tell me, what sort of advancements have your people made? Or rather, what might I learn from you in exchange for the information you want?"
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Posted: Thu May 18, 2017 10:54 am
Moving parts that converts power to motion…generate lift…
These were the issues he’d been most curious about and it seemed he had guessed more or less correctly from context. The engine was the heart of the structure, powering it—somehow. At ‘steam engines’ and ‘railways’ however, he lost touch again. Was steam used to power the engine in some fashion, giving it the name? Or it functioned with steam somehow—perhaps that made sense. There certainly was lift in steam, but she had said it almost as though ‘steam engines’ and ‘railways’ were a precursor.
“Other forms of transportation…” he guessed aloud, more a murmur to himself as he listened than any actual attempt to make himself part of the conversation again yet. At the remarks on her eyes, he supposed it wasn’t surprising. The Matori had altered pupils, and the Yaeli were even odder, though he had only glimpsed them in person as of the grand market.
Still, he thought privately that these were especially lovely in their intricacy and irregularity. Like a magic spell, trapped mid burst within the sphere of the eye. He likely didn’t need to tell her that.
Then came the latter question, and he blinked, flushing. “Advancements…? Ah…I am not sure we…” He glanced to the ships. What could he possibly teach her? “I am an academy mage,” he said after a moment. “I specialize in spell circles and channeled magic, but I’m a novice yet—accomplished for my class! I have a foundational knowledge of our history and the arts, at least…with regard to literature and lore.” Less so with the fine arts, but he had the feeling that he was already off track of her general gist to begin with. “I don’t…think you will find our society advanced in many respects, if this is your starting point. We do not have…‘engines’ or machinery, no flying ships or ‘rail ways.’ I could tell you if our magic was more advanced or refined in certain areas if I knew the state of yours, but that would be a great project I imagine—it’s possible our architecture would be of note, though…”
His gaze skipped to their surroundings. Humble Sauti, while an open and airy location to host an open market, was not the most advanced of Tendaji’s locations.
“Not here…in the capital of Zena, perhaps, or Sulburi in Oba, though with crafts like these I imagine your home structures must also be impressive—the calculations that must be necessary…” His brow pinched again as his mind chased the thought. The math and measurements involved—he could only imagine the schematics, when a sailing ship could already be complex enough. The blueprints for these vehicles must be something else entirely.
What he wouldn’t give to know…
He refocused his gaze on hers. “I do not know what I know that could be of use to you, but I would happily list everything in my mind from start to finish in exchange for hearing more of your ships.” Pausing on a thought, he pinked. “Or, ah, anything else that you think might be a fairer exchange. I imagine I could probably be of more practical use in other ways than listing a hundred dozen trivial things…”
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Posted: Sat May 20, 2017 8:48 pm
"Yes, exactly. There are multiple methods for transferring goods from one place to another; it's much faster too. I can't imagine having to do it all by cart." It would take her months for new parts to arrive if she waited for them by cart. Maritza, however, had an insiders touch on getting whatever she needed transported via the railways her mother maintained. A little hidden package, stowed in a crate of coal, and no one would be any wiser.
Perhaps she wasn't necessarily meant to hear the comment, but Martiza was the nosey sort, who didn't mind sharing what information she had, whether anyone cared to listen or not.
He was stalling. Martiza raised an eyebrow, waiting for some sort of answer. Perhaps they're technology was hidden below the ground, so that the weather wouldn't interfere? Or maybe this particularly area was just barren, with all of the niceties holed off in a another section? There was also the possibility that there was simply nothing on this continent whatsoever, Martiza mentally groused.
She really needed a nap.
"Oh good, you have an academy." That was certainly good news. To hear that they both had a system of higher education and that he was a member was very relieving. "So you study magical arrays? I'm not entirely familiar with magic, but I would like to hear about your studies." History, the arts, lore...the rest of it sounded boring, really. Something for the historians to worry about, but magic...now that was something that could be put to practical, every day use. It was something that could shift and grow; something that could be manipulated first hand.
"How about a trade? If you can find a place for us to talk that isn't crawling with people I'll answer as many questions as I can, provided that you, too, exchange information." She looked over her shoulder, anxious now that she had noticed that others were aware that she hadn't yet left. Some older gentleman - a blue one, but which blue was the northern blue? - was saying something to a larger woman, and whatever it was made her excited.
That was enough for Maritza to panic.
"Quickly."
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Posted: Tue May 23, 2017 8:58 pm
“We do! Or, Zidel does—Daurelts Academy, which I attended, is much further north, in our high mountains. But it is renowned for its courses in the magic arts, and I did—do study it, yes.”
Amalric likely couldn’t have asked for better.
She was engaging him, listening, telling — and despite initial appearances didn’t seem intent on sending him immediately on his way. As one of the first this foreign nation had sent over, as well as a critical player in the functioning of the ship, she was no doubt brilliant and certainly so far had given him no reason to believe otherwise. Given her age, though—she couldn’t have been much, if any, older than he was himself—he guessed she’d shown particular promise (and courage, for that matter) in order to be sent over.
“I specialize in spell circles,” he said, “mapping channels for the current to maximize efficiency and lessen over-expenditure by laying the foundation in hollow threads of mana prior to casting and thereby keeping it to its course—with the added benefit of precision, though detail work can wildly complex and of course I haven’t begun to master it and some find it tedious but the results can’t be argued with-”
He blinked.
“Trade?” And at the words to follow, he glanced about. As many questions as he wanted. He was fairly certain he couldn’t have imagined better inspiration. Reaching without so much as pausing to think about it, he caught at her hand. “This way.”
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Posted: Tue Jun 06, 2017 1:57 pm
The high mountains? Maritza had to wonder what kind of academy would nestled itself in such an unfit terrain. Perhaps magical barriers kept it warm? So far she had learned that the further north one went in this land the colder it became, which made her wonder just how much studying could happen when one was too busy shivering.
"I would like to see it, one day Do they teach courses on just the fundamentals of magic, or more advanced classes, like the theory of summoning or speaking with spirits?"
She could have asked more, but time was not on her side in that moment. Ritz looped her fingers around his, maneuvering her hand so that it fit just so inside of his own. The foreigner looked over her shoulder, noticing not without a small amount of unease as the group make their way closer. When had they picked up numbers? At first it had only been a few, and now it looked more like a mob - at least, to the young explorer- advancing on them.
She could only hope he was as quick on his feet as he was studious! Maritza knew precious little of the land around her and even though there were dwellings close at hand, none seemed particularly suitable for hiding.
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Posted: Sat Jul 01, 2017 2:02 pm
…speaking with spirits?
Amalric stole a glance his company’s way as he lead her along. He wasn’t familiar with any real magic which involved communication with ‘spirits’, though of course there was folklore and local myth woven in to some practices of the arts. With anyone else, he would have assumed it was error or misunderstanding, but given her origins, in this particular case he was inclined to give at least a fraction more credence and curiosity. Perhaps they knew of things as of yet undiscovered here, as they clearly did in other areas. Aloud, he stuck with what he knew for certain.
“Naturally the basics are covered, and Daurelts lays a better foundation than could be attained most anywhere, but being that it specializes in the field I would venture that the bulk of tutoring is focused on development, refinement and upper tiers of spell work. Conjuring from the elements was certainly explored in depth and for those taking a shamanistic specialization, semi-permanent summons.”
Taking in the direction of her gaze and posturing, Amalric deduced quickly enough that she wanted little to do with most anyone else about them and in particular not the curious crowd advancing on them. It only occurred to him most of the way towards his temporary inn room that it could be taken poorly or inappropriately—to be leading her along to the space where he slept and she in a foreign land. It gave him mental pause and warmed his ears with hesitant abashment. Truly, he wanted more to have other options purely so that she wouldn’t get the wrong idea.
But he couldn’t think of any.
Anywhere he took her would be filled with people, and it wasn’t as though it was far. She would be able almost to see the landing — crash? — site from his window, as happenstance would have it. So, instead of fussing overly much over it, he cleared his throat and released her hand momentarily as they came upon the small tavern he had holed up in.
“I—that is, if you’ve a better idea you are welcome to it, but I’ve space here where you may at least catch your bearings and speak in peace…” His eyes strayed backward and around to the many interested and curious faces even as they came upon the entryway. She would be difficult not to notice. “And anyone you might be looking to avoid. Do the most of you who’ve come have plans for lodging? Is there space in your…ship?”
With the thought came another dozen or so questions, but he held his tongue before it got away from him. Provided he didn’t frighten her off before then, there would be time to ask, and initially at least she almost surely needed time both to answer and have some respite from the surrounding calamity.
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Posted: Tue Jul 25, 2017 1:54 pm
Honestly, what was wrong with him? With legs as long as his the boy should have been able to fly. Instead, he hesitated! She briefly took in the loss of contact before looking to him once more. They were close to a building now - a tavern, by the smell of it- which wasn't exactly her first choice since most taverns boasted a healthy population of patrons. Still, at least a drunkard would pass her off as a weird vision and move on where as a sober man might focus on the oddity that was Maritza.
"What's wrong? Why have we stopped?" She blew a few locks of tangerine hair away from her eyes with an upward puff of air, just before running her fingers through it. "You have space- a room? You have a room? Well, why did we stop here." This boy was going to be the death of her! "We plan on camping, I have a cot in my quarters, and I wish to avoid everyone with the exception of yourself and my own crew, so the faster we can go to your room the better."
Maritza would have all out shoved him towards....well, she didn't know which way the rooms were but the growing interest in here was little better than what they left behind.
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Posted: Fri Aug 04, 2017 1:53 pm
“We’ve-” ‘…stopped because…’ But even the thought cut itself off as Amalric’s company blew an irritated huff at her her hair and he quite lost track of where he meant to be headed with himself. Fortunately, the words that followed confirmed that he wasn’t entirely on the wrong track — The faster we get to your room the better… — and he was happy enough to obey the whims of an evidently impatient woman.
He lead her up towards his room and took a moment as he fiddled to unlock it and push the door wide for her to appreciate that it was his, and only his, as for a brief period it hadn’t been. The thought of trying to finagle with that irritating and determinedly negative iceling boy on top of speaking with a newcomer whose company he was far more interested in simply wasn’t appealing to say the least. He considered it a great boon that he wouldn’t have that burden.
“I don’t have all my books with me that I had at academy of course,” Amalric said. “Or…less of course and more that if I had the means I would, but I have been on my own to travel and lack the coin or resources to purchase and transport so many as I’d like. But I have a small collection I keep about with me even on my travels, some that I change as I go and have access to new material but…”
As he spoke, he moved, progressing to the side of his bed and drawing up the primary satchel within which he kept his books and notes.
“I do attempt to make a record of anything especially new and pertinent and one day I hope to compile a library of my own—you must have studied intensely to be chosen for those who made such a journey when it hadn’t been done successfully before- Had your people made successful shorter term flights? I imagine they must have, but-”
Well, he was talking too much as always. He stalled his tongue.
“Have a seat if you like.” Was he supposed to offer her something to eat or drink? He had nothing. His hands felt restless with nothing to do.
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