The Only Way to Fly

[Jerrard]

"Have you ever met any Gnomes?" Jerrard asks Malika as they approach, "Babuskha is not like the rest of them, they talk VERY quickly, and are quite curious, do not worry if you have to ask them to repeat anything."

"Im guessing you share many of your folks views in them Fikod?"

[Breila]

Babushka had extended a hand to stop Locky from babbling on, but since the kender had just asked the key question, she lets the hand fall back to her side.

[HorizonsDream]

"So you all know each other?" Imani asks, glancing at the rest of the group curiously.

[Jenara]

"Ohh Sunni helped us rescue the horses from the Cavern." Locky replies, not waiting for the Gnome to reply.

[Breila]

"As Locky said, we've met Sunni before" Babushka explains to Imani, Malika and Fikod. "She and her partner helped us with their technical skills. But we don't know any of the others."

Somewhat distracted, Babushka wanders off to admire the work of the gnomes, chatting away with them in their own language.

[JadedDM]

"What is that?"

"That," Sunni says, gesturing to the crashed vessel, "is the Advanced Gnomish Fully Automated High Altitude Aerodynamic Steam-Powered Flight Capable Manned Skyship Mark IV. It is the pride and joy of the 579th Flight Squadron of Mt. Nevermind. This is her maiden voyage--the first manned flight from Nevermind to Silvanesti. We almost made it, too. But one of our flywheels fell off not far from here, and we were forced to...make an emergency landing."

"Have you ever met any Gnomes?" Jerrard asks Malika as they approach, "Babuskha is not like the rest of them, they talk VERY quickly, and are quite curious, do not worry if you have to ask them to repeat anything."

Malika shakes her head. "No, Babushka is the only gnome I've ever seen before," she admits. She tilts her head at the vehicle. "Are they saying that massive thing can actually fly?"

"Oh, yes," Sunni answers. "We flew all the way here from Mt. Nevermind, and in record time. The Advanced Gnomish Fully Automated High Altitude Aerodynamic Steam-Powered Flight Capable Manned Skyship Mark IV has been clocked at 20 miles an hour. We're hoping to improve that once we return to Nevermind," she adds confidentially.

"Twenty miles in an hour?" Thuskar boggles. "Shrentak is 100 miles away. At 20 miles an hour, we'd be there in only five hours."

"Or reach Palanthas in less than 24 hours," Ulster adds quietly.

"I'm guessing you share many of your folks views in them Fikod?"

Fikod grunts. "They're lucky they didn't blow themselves up the minute they turned that thing on. Gnome devices are nothing but trouble. They either never work or they just blow up," he mutters.

[Breila]

"Can we do anything to help you get the Gnomengroasshöönautomatikdampfluftböötle up again?" Babushka asks Sunni eagerly, rolling up her sleeves.

[Jenara]

"Wow! It can fly? I'd love to fly, I wish I could have ridden a dragon, but the only ones we have ever met are evil and quite horrible." The Kenders eyes are alive with excitement, she hops over to the Skyship moving as Babuskha does.

"Its so good to see you Sunni." She repeats, as she walks.

[Jerrard]

"Yes, perhaps you should consider Palanthas as a destination." Jerrard says with a sideways grin, "Ulster, perhaps we should tie up the mounts and rest for a short time, do you want to help?" The mage asks as he offers Malika a hand dismounting, "Malika, could you keep an eye on Locky? She is prone to..." he lets out a little laugh, "If that is ok with you Imani?"

[HorizonsDream]

"If she wants to," Imani says to Jerrard as she tries to wrap her mind around the fact that these gnomes built this flying contraption. She was actually having a hard time remembering the name of the thing because it was so long. "So this thing is safe?" Imani asks curiously. "You know, from the obvious thing of wheels falling off."

[JadedDM]

"Can we do anything to help?"

Sunni looks over the party, rubbing her chin. "Actually, there might be. You see, as I said before, one of our flywheels fell off. We cannot take off without it, and we lack the resources or materials to produce a new one. We have the approximate coordinates of where we believe it landed, but...it's in the middle of Ogre country. We're just simple engineers and technicians; not warriors. If you could retrieve the flywheel for us, we would be more than happy to drop you off anywhere you like in thanks."

Fikod grunts. "Huh. 'Drop us off,' she says. Literally, I bet."

"Ulster, perhaps we should tie up the mounts and rest for a short time, do you want to help?"

Ulster silently take the reins of some of the animals and leads them to a nearby tree to tie them off. Thuskar gives him a hand.

"Malika, could you keep an eye on Locky? She is prone to..." he lets out a little laugh, "If that is ok with you Imani?"

Malika shrugs. "I thought Babushka was her babysitter. I'm sure she'll be fine, anyway. How much damage could she do? It's already crashed."

"So this thing is safe? You know, from the obvious thing of wheels falling off."

"Safe? Well, it's 43% safer than horse-riding, or even walking. I mean, since there's very little in the sky that can attack you. No ogres, draconians, goblins, bandits, necromancers, and what have you. Not to say there haven't been causalities. Two gnomes fell overboard during the journey, but that was really their own fault for not holding on to the safety rails. And six died in the...emergency landing. But that's the price of progress, you know. We could lock ourselves inside and never take any risks, but we would still be living in caves, fighting with stones and sticks, if that were the case."

[Breila]

Babushka nods her head vigorously as Sunni speaks about the price of progress. "Yes, it is important to go out and take risks"

[Jerrard]

Jerrard nods in agreement with the Statement regarding Locky and heads over to the mounts, "Ulster." The mage motions to the warrior in a hushed tone, "When you are ready." Almost blushing he drops his head and looks away. "Something is on your mind, that's obvious."

"The Gnomes want us to find the missing piece, and then they will take us where we want to go.. What do you both think? And I know you are going to say something like 'We'll go wherever you want us to..' but you are more than that, I appreciate your thoughts." He looks over towards Imani, "She is... I doubt we will ever understand her."

[Jenara]

"Well there are Dragons." Locky says with a distant look, "We'll help, and you'd drop us off anywhere? Palanthas?" She asks looking over to the direction Sunni pointed, "Helping would be fun? And Ogres? Oh one thought, what does this flywheel look like?"

[HorizonsDream]

Imani glances around at the snow on the ground, and their general location. She didn't know how much longer this snow would last, and she was a little tired of trudging along in it. "We'll help," she says with a nod through her scarf.