Training: Engineering Expertise

[Brenner Dornkirk]

"His maiden voyage?" Brenner arched an eyebrow. "I've spent a career referring to ships of all stripes and makes as 'hers'. If you want this bouncing baby blimp to be a boy, that'll take some getting used to..." Brenner bade, though his expression shifted from something pedantic to something amused. Eitan seemed keen to adopt Stefan's aberrant (pro)nomenclature, but Brenner couldn't let it slide without comment.

He was more obliging to Stefan's request that he close his eyes. It made things feel rather like a birthday surprise. He supposed, after a fashion, it was just so. The schedule for the expedition had recently been revised slightly to see them set off on his and Eitan's joint birthday, and he couldn't envision a more enticing present than a shiny... or rather a stealthy new prototype vessel to convey them toward the adventure of their lifetimes. The adventure of the century, perhaps, if all went to plan...

He tilted his head down, slowly opening his eyes when Stef gave the go ahead. He winced, squinting them back to being nearly but not completely shut.

"Scheiße! Was zum Teufel machst du da?" He grunted through clenched teeth, his head aching as his brain worked to compensate for unknown variables it couldn't process. He'd expected something subtler by way of stealth. A sort of augmented camouflage, rather than an assault on the senses. Dazed and stumbling, Brenner easily relented to Stefan's guidance as he was led to a seat and offered water, which he gulped down eagerly. Stefan's voice was a welcome distraction from his discomfort, and he mustered the processing power to register what he was saying.

"Ah..." He addressed the point Brenner had been too confounded and confused to articulate moments earlier. What he was going through was due to close proximity. From a normal distance, the device would work more along the lines he initially imagined.

"Good." He rasped, wiping at the excess water dripping down his chin with a sleeve and taking a few fortifying breaths as the initial effects began to dwindle.

"Aye... I remember those stories." He conjured a smile, "But I don't think I ever understood the concept until today, so... Thank you for that." He rolled his neck, realising he'd tensed many muscles to the point of strain as he was responding to the discomfort projected into his psyche.

"You are a genius, brother, there's no doubt about that, and... we needn't suffer this sensation again, you say?" He would, if he had to, but he obviously preferred that not to be the case.

[Eitan Angevin]

Eitan was also only too quick to follow Stefan's instructions when they were well within his bailiwick. Eyes shut, chin dropped, he waited until the keen along his nerves was interrupted by further instructions. He was tense, and there was a moment of vertigo when he opened his eyes, looking at the shine of his boots. He daren't look too closely at the shine, however, lest he look the Gorgon in the eye too soon. He canted his head from side to side, taking in Brenner's boots, the floor, and all, before slowly letting his gaze climb higher. He wasn't sick, but it was slightly nauseating. His mind didn't understand what was happening and only told him that it was akin to his wards being pounded upon by witchfire and enchantments. If that was the closest metaphor his mind could bring him, then that would be his basic understanding although he tried to also internalize what Stefan added.

Field theory made more sense of him for as much as he looked at dragonshards and people through aura glass, and knowing how his own wards acted as specific fields of Negation.

He didn't see anything, unless that was a bit of something, though it felt more like the auras associated with a migraine headache. Only too glad to sit down and sip water, it all seemed like a lot to take in, but then an expert in his field was explaining his masterwork to two men with only nominal understanding of the theories behind it, let alone how those theories were manifested into reality for their purposes.

His complexion remained a touch green, though he soldiered on.

"Indeed," he echoed, more quietly, "genius. I wonder if we couldn't generate a field big enough and powerful enough to disable Kalzasi's fighting men and women long enough for a coup rather than a bloodbath... Subjugation was preferable to annihilation, he thought. The Order would weed out those who would not see reason.

[Stefan Dornkirk]

Brenner seemed to be communicating normally, and even quipping still, which was a good sign. Eitan too was talking, drinking, able to be upright. The elder brother was even mildly jealous when neither of the fighting men had the same sort of violent reaction as he'd had. They both dealt with horror and magic on a regular basis, he supposed, which was a little balm to his wounded pride.

When Eitan suggested that the engine intended as a defensive technology might be used as an offensive one Stefan cocked his head slowly to one side, turning to look at the half-elf though his gaze was far away into the implications rather than actually seeing the men before him.

Even flying the Nachtherr low through the city might render a lot of the inhabitants ill and incapacitated. The effect would likely be lessened by adrenaline, and it didn't last long enough to truly assist in an invasion combat. But then, he hadn't been designed with such a purpose in mind. If he could tweak it, adjust the shard alignment to... Later. He would make notes and theorize about the possibilities later.

"I hadn't thought of that." He admitted, speaking slowly as his mind tried not to let go of the science and he had to firmly turn it back to his companions. "It would be brilliant if we could take out the vile mages and corrupt governing nobility without causing undue harm to their subjugated people. I will look into your suggestion."

The idea that the Dornkirks, (and Eitan) might be the architects of not only disabling the magic users of Kalzasi but also their mundane fighting force, of taking the city with almost no civilian casualties... It was astronomical. The reputation of Zaichaer would be sealed forever as not only powerful beyond the recognition of any other state or kingdom, but also its magnanimous nature. It felt almost...dangerous.

Glancing at his brother and then his brother-in-law, Stefan wondered if those currently in the highest echelons of power would suffer to live men who, if known, would draw such attention as to outshine and overawe the good opinion the common man felt for said leaders. It seemed more likely that they would find a way to ensure that the 'Heroic Dornkirks' died in some tragic defense of the city, or noble attack on Kalzasi. Impulsively, and with no small amount of worry as these new ideas came to life inside his head, Stefan places a comforting, and somewhat protective hand on each of the other men's shoulders. He quite wanted to hug them both, to take comfort in their solid forms, and try not to think about how small they really were in the grand scheme.

"No, you won't have to experience the engine again from the outside, at least, not in any circumstance I currently foresee. I will activate it when we leave, once we're far enough from the city, for a longer test than I've previously done, and to keep any marauding wyverns off our tail." The last was a jest, in Stefan's quiet way. The skies around Zaichaer had been filled with airships long enough that any native fauna large enough to cause them trouble had been either wiped out of the area or smart enough to relocate elsewhere.

Moving from his chair to sitting between his brothers on the bench he looked up at the Nachtherr.

"Well, I hope he has your approval as airmen, even if your bodies aren't particularly pleased." A smile crossed his lips as a thought good enough to chase away the haunting fears came into his head.

"I wonder what games we would play if we were in this position as boys. Access to a secret and luxurious airship, no one else abroad, no one to catch us or call us home." The image of the three boys running through the ship, shouting commands and explaining who they were at war with and how well they were doing was enough to ease him back towards calm.

[Brenner Dornkirk]

Brenner had to laugh.

"Empty Throne, Eitan. Such a devious mind- I'm glad we have you on our side!" He didn't explicitly say it, but his mind was upon the shifty, manipulative race that polluted Eitan's blood. Brenner did see him as a para-human. Man-adjacent. Though he would never be fully human, if he bore any of the wicked traits of his other heritage, at least he trusted that Eitan put that duplicitous part of his mind toward the interests of the salient race of man and its cynosure: Zaichaer. Lest Eitan read too deeply into his prior comment, Brenner added:

"Only a true-hearted soldier of the Zaichaeri Fatherland would feel a side effect and immediately think to weaponise it for the glory of Humankind."

He took a fortifying breath, and patted Stefan upon the back as he claimed a seat between them.

"Of course, Stefan, you've outdone yourself. She..." And he emphasised the correct pronoun making pointed eye-contact with his brother as he said it, "...is a glorious ship. It is fitting that her first voyage will be so..." He parted his gaze from Stefan's as he searched the air for the word: "...iconoclastic." He said, with a satisfied smile at having landed on just the term he'd sought.

He smiled at Stefan's flight of whimsy.

"If you hadn't grown up so quickly into a sullen misanthrope, you might have complemented Eitan and my whilom adventures!" He nudged him playfully with his shoulder, to emphasise that his characterisation was little more than jovial hyperbole. "If you'd come up with this concept as a child, you might have executed it whilst I was still at the Battle Academy and we'd be free of the yoke of sorcery by now! Tsk, tsk. If only we could turn back time, we might-... no, no. That would be using witchcraft to combat witchcraft and, well... We all saw how that's been working out for us on Glade the 8th, hm?" He exhaled, shaking his head.

"Anyway. This all seems to portend quite well for our future exploits. So, brother, is there anything else we should know about her?"

[Eitan Angevin]

The half-elf who would be human smiled weakly, though Brenner's clarification did bolster him somewhat against the effects of the engine. He was gladder to have all of them sitting down so he wouldn't have to move just yet. In any case, the engine was also giving him a bit of brain fog so now that his idea was out in the air for a sharper mind to shape, he was content to try to focus on nothing until his mind fought off the lingering effects. He wouldn't wish these feelings on anyone, even enemies, though if they could be inflicted temporarily in order to bring about a relatively bloodless transition of power away from the magical, winged oligarchs, he supposed even this ought to be endured.

"I don't suppose you need our blood to test the effects of the engine?" he asked, not really wanting to add blood loss to the mix, but willing to undergo it for Progress and the High City. "If not, perhaps we could repair to your office for tea or something bracing? Dibs on the couch."

He supposed there could be room enough for Brenner to lay out as well, though they would have to dispense with military decorum. But this was the Dornkirk Windworks, not a post-binge drinking session, so he supposed he wouldn't allow himself too much leeway in relaxing. He would just have to find his bed if the aftereffects didn't quit him soon enough.

In the meantime, he pinched the bridge of his nose and focused on breathing deeply while shutting out any sensory input from his eyes. He would calm the strange roiling in his belly by sheer force of will. It was mind over matter, and he wasn't even sure he was truly physically nauseated and it wasn't just comorbid with what the field had done to his brain.

"Ugh, science." But he smiled so Stefan wouldn't feel attacked.

[Stefan Dornkirk]

The implication that he wouldn't have rather stayed a boy rankled Stefan a bit, but he knew that Brenner did not mean it as it sounded, so he let it pass, along with the other things Brenner said about his elder brother's implicit failings. It was the way he used to keep Stefan on his toes, always improving, it was meant in love. Seeing that Brenner handles Eitan in a similar manner actually made him feel significantly better about it.

He lifted his thoughts back to the surface as he was asked another question,

"Nothing that won't be covered in the briefings with the team. The engine is pretty standard, as far as the cutting edge of such things goes, you wouldn't have any issues handling her after the Searing Victory, and after working on the refit, I doubt Eitan will either." He stood, slowly, trying not to jostle his companions. For reasons he did not yet know, movement from other sources than self after exposure to the field was jarring. "I've got a team of three of my pilot-engineers prepped to keep an eye on him while we're away, they know to keep information close to the vest, else they wouldn't be working with me on the project."

Stefan was about to shake his head but decided better of it,

"No, no blood needed, at least, not for this. Indeed, we should retire to the office. I can show you the miniature prototype." He held a hand up before there were any objections, "No need to activate it. It's disabled actually. But if either of you wants to see how it works, I can show you the basic make up.

They made their way up through the basement by more conventional means than they had descended and through to the office. It was early evening, so the majority of the workforce was off home already. Stefan ordered tea, and had whiskey and other spirits if they were wanted.

fin

[Torin Kilvin]

R E V I E W

Lore:
Eitan:
Engineering:
Being Taught to Operate New Tech
Studying New Technology
Learning from the Designer
Recognizing Possible Uses of New Designs
Learning for Use on the Job
Understanding Basic Airship Design
Understanding Basic Dragonshard Engine Design
Suggesting Improvements Based on Experiments
Knowing When Not to Touch
Understanding Enough to Make Repairs

Pilot, Airship:
A Working Knowledge of Engine Design

Brenner:
Engineering:
Being Taught to Operate New Tech
Studying New Technology
Learning from the Designer
Recognizing Possible Uses of New Designs
Learning for Use on the Job
Understanding Basic Airship Design
Understanding Basic Dragonshard Engine Design
Suggesting Improvements Based on Experiments
Knowing When Not to Touch
Understanding Enough to Make Repairs
Enduring side effects of Stealth Tech

Stefan:
Engineering:
Engine Design
Combining Different Power Sources
Combining Different Types of Technology
Magic-Tech Amalgamatio
Assessing Usefulness of a Design
Stabilizing Steam Engines
Designing for Maneuverability
Designing for Stealth

Pilot, Airship:
Building a Ship from the Ground Up
Understanding Engine Exceleration

Politics:
Plausible Excuses
Leading a Demonstration

Points: 8 each

Stefan may use for Artificing

Injuries/Ailments: Nausea and a bit of mental trauma, two seasons old now

Loot: Use, but not ownership of the Nachtherr

Notes: Careful with that thing, boys.