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Message: <blockquote data-quote="simmo" data-source="post: 1407985" data-attributes="member: 9744">chapter 2 Engine Trouble"Pic, what is going on?" The goblin could hear his Captain shouting through the metal communication tubes."We're having some trouble down here Captain." The goblin jumped up and raced through the narrow passages of the ship towards the main engine room. "Get us to the Outlands now." The Captain ordered. "But Captain, the engines are having real trouble." Pic slowed himself as he raced in to the engine room by running straight in to another goblin. He grabbed hold of a communication tube and shouted orders in to it as he scanned the dials and gauges on the engine. "Don't say it Pic." Littleby muttered under his breath. "Don't say it." The ship became a hive of activity with sailors racing around the vessel. Orders were shouted and quickly carried out. The engine room was full of goblins and humans working frantically on keeping the ship in one piece, as the magical vortex inside the engine threatened to spin out of control. "Is there anything that I can do?" The dwarven scholar asked as Pic frantically turned a lever. "Yes, is there a deity that you worship. What's it called?" The goblin spent a moment getting his breath back and caught a spanner thrown to him by another goblin. "Ah, Moradin. Pray to him for salvation." He patted the dwarf on the back and then began hammering on a pipe. The ship shuddered and the sounds of wood breaking and metal tearing could be heard. Malkir sat down on an empty portion of the deck to meditate and Serena grasped her locket preparing to enter the Garden if all went wrong. "What's going on down there?" The Captain shouted through the communication tube. "What just happened?" "Captain," Pic shouted back, trying to make a joke. "She cannot take much more Moradin's.." He did not get the chance to finish his sentence with 'blessings'. The ship gave a final lurch, as if it had crested the top of a waterfall and then the planar slide was completed. As the flashes of silver light faded the crew of the ship could see that the vessel was on the Outlands. Far below them was a large lake with many small settlements nearby. The Spire was some distance away and directly below them was a large village with many standing stones. Off to the side of the village was another some distance away with many colourful tents of merchants camped outside. In the other direction was the ruins of a city which the jungle had reclaimed.Malkir could see over the side of the ship a familiar river of metal and flesh marching through the large village of plinths. The modrons poured through the gate on to the Outlands and continued their ceaseless march through the village and in the direction of the ruined city. The mystic felt the wind rushing past his face and realised that it was coming from below. The Profiteer was plummeting out of the sky. Malkir had a strange sense of deja vu and saw his dwarven companion clambering on to deck. "So then Littleby, any spare fly spells?" "Pic," The Captain shouted. "Do something!""Talk to Skinner," the tired voice came back through the communication tube. "He's the miracle worker." "Littleby," The mystic repeated his question, hoping that his friend had a way to save them from falling to their deaths. "Anything at all?" "Uh, what would you like to look like when you go?" The dwarven scholar did not laugh for long when he saw Malkir's serious expression. "Clavun, what's causing this?" The Captain intercepted the bladeling cosmologist as he strode across the deck of the falling ship. "How do we slow our descent?" "We are in a ring of the Outlands in which the enchantments needed to keep this vessel flying do not function." The cosmologist summed up their predicament in a single sentence. He spoke in a calm and emotionless voice, almost as if their current situation was a puzzle to be solved. "Well, do something about it!" The Captain commanded as he sought desperately to save his ship. "Dammit Captain." The bladeling replied, showing emotion for the first time. "I'm a cosmologist, not a jackhead." Ltments in his mind. He would be able to give someone wings, perhaps shield another with a bubble of force and he dismissed the idea of giving someone else the power of moving through the ground. By the time they hit the Outlands they wouldn't stand a chance of survival.The crew were busy trying to get the sails under control. Here and there splashes of colours filled the white sails, like droplets of rain on the surface of a pond. But the ripples died quickly and the ship continued to plummet out of the sky."Captain,” Pic stuck his head through a hatch to address his commander directly. “We need something to feed the engine. The items we placed inside are too powerful and it's tearing her apart. We need something less powerful that we can increase in strength over time.""Does raw spell energy work?" Littleby asked, having leapt on to an idea for saving the ship."We've never tried it.” The goblin tried to scratch his head, but realised that he was still holding a spanner. After he'd recovered from almost knocking himself out and thinking the idea briefly over he said: “It might just work.""What is your best guess?" The dwarven scholar asked as he climbed down after the mechanika expert in to the bowels of the ship."There is a sixty to forty chance that it will not work." The goblin replied having picked some numbers out of the air at random. He had no idea if it would work or not, but he was getting very desperate."Let's go for it. That's pretty good odds." Littleby and Pic ran through the ship as fast as their short legs would carry them and arrived in the engine room. "Is there any particular school of magic that you would not recommend?""Probably not Negation. The engines would not take that too well." As soon as Pic said it, he realised that this was what the dwarven scholar had in mind."Oh," Littleby replied, his plan dashed to pieces."Is that what you had in mind?" Pic asked, knowing what the answer would be. He He pulled out a key from under his vest, unlocked an old chest and began pulling out pieces of metal and bone that had been fused together. It gave off a horrible smell of blood and metal."No, no.” Littleby said looking at the items with interest. “Of course not.""I have some necrotech modifications that we can add in, but the Captain has been against me tampering with it so far.” The goblin shrugged his broad shoulders. “Still in a situation like this we need all the help we can get.""You're the engineer. You call it." Littleby said, having chosen the enchantment that he would use."OK, let's do it.” Pic held out his hand. “We'll use Negation.""Negation." Littleby shook his hand and then walked over to stand by the large engine."If the Captain want a miracle, then we'll give him one." Pic whispered a quick prayer to the machine goddess and started work. The dwarven scholar placed his hands on the metal sides of the hot engine and could feel the raw magical energy moving inside, spinning around in an effort to keep the ship aloft. He slowly spoke the words of the enchantment in the language of Negation and drew the arcane force in to his body to feed in to the vortex.Littleby felt as if he was standing on a black shale beach with huge waves crashing down on him. The waves of negative force battered his frame and he fought hard to control them. Slowly but surely he fed in some of the arcane force and he could feel his control begin to slip.Pic watched in awe as the dwarven scholar channelled the raw energy of Negation in to the vortex inside the engine. Remembering that he was supposed to help he quickly set to work adding some of the parts scavenged from the Helljack to the furnace feeding the engine. The goblin chose parts and added them to the engine using his intuition rather than logic. He chose pieces that 'felt' right and his years of experience as an engineer allowed him to aid the dwarven scholar in a way that his mind did not comprehend.Serena, Malkir and Andrew who were holding on for dear life on deck could feel the ship begin to tear apart as it fell closer and closer to the ground. A ghastly screech of metal and steam escaped from the bowels of the vessel that almost sounded as if the Profiteer herself was screaming in agony. As the ground rushed ever closer birds and animals could be made out and the tops of the trees were not far away.Suddenly the sails blossomed with colours and billowed outwards. The whole ship lurched forward and great vents of steam escape from beneath the ship. The banging coming from the engine had changed and sounded more like it did in Elysium, but there was a sinister undertone to the sounds that it now produced.Just as the ship was about to hit the tree tops, Captain Jameson managed to level out the ship and it flattened the tops of several tall elms as it pulled out of its dive. It continued to fly level with the ground, although it was travelling at incredible speed. The Captain slowed the ship and was relieved to still be able to see the Spire behind him.A great cheer went up from the crew, with many of them hugging their colleagues with joy at having survived the fall. The ship was brought around and began its descent towards Ecstasy, gate-town to Elysium, that was currently witness to the end of the modron march passing down it's streets. Behind the march were a few wagons and caravns, as well as a crowd of people who followed the modrons out of town."We need to put down as soon as we can," Pic shouted through the tubes."Well done Pic," Littleby said. Every part of his body ached and he knew that he would never quite be the same again."Hmm. That's really changed things.” Pic said as he looked over the modified engine. Gone were the smooth brass-coloured pipes and clean shining exterior. Instead pieces of metal and bone now protruded from the metal sphere, making it look like a magical experiment gone horribly wrong. “We may have to ask you help to get the ship flying again. Best to tell the Captain to put down outside of Ecstasy.""Captain Malkir, it's been an absolute pleasure to fly with you again." Captain Jameson shook the mystic's hand as they set down at the outskirts of town."Something like that yes.” The mystic replied, but he was not smiling. “Nearly plummeting out of the sky and crashing is not particularly what I would call pleasure. But I get your sentiment.""Well we made it and that is the main thing." The Captain gave him a friendly pat on the back and turned to see his first officer walk over."Captain it will take approximately four days to make repairs," the bladeling stated."Littleby," Pic said "Is there some place that we can contact you in Sigil?""Yes at the City Barracks," the dwarven scholar informed him."Who should I ask for at the City Barracks?" Pic asked. He'd never been to Sigil and was unsure of where the City Barracks were or how easy they might be to find."Ask for me." Littleby replied simply."You are always available at the City Barracks?" Pic asked, somewhat confused."No, but I can be contacted there." The dwarven scholar made a mental note to let Arianna Redstrike know that there might be a goblin coming by asking for him."OK, farewell then.” The companions climbed down a rope lander on to the ground. There was not enough energy in engine for any short dimensional jumps and Pic was reluctant to test it with the recent changes to the engine. “We'll contact you via the City Barracks. There may need to be some changes made to the engines and hence the reason we'll need to contact you.""Well, good luck." Littleby waved as they set off towards town."Thank you," Pic replied, waving at the man who'd saved the Princess Profiteer.</blockquote>

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