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I have conferred with the engineers, and they have guaranteed what I seek can be made. A rope that will not be easily broken that is light enough for us to carry and leave behind as we travel. And, a machine capable of deploying the cable and retracting it.

They recommended a cable made from a relatively newly discovered alloy that they called “Silter” or “Lesser Jinsil”. It does have all the properties I was seeking… but the price.

It seemed the reason they referred to it as "lesser jinsil" lay in its composition—a curious alloy forged from iron and the rare substance known as darlight. Darlight, I was told, is a vital component in the creation of jinsil. As you might surmise from mentioning jinsil, the figure quoted to me was anything but modest.

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Jinsil is prohibitively expensive and highly sought out for suppressing aetheric energies, so the materials used to make jinsil are also very expensive. A cable crafted from silter would cost less than half the price of one made from pure jinsil. Yet, even with this compromise, the length of cable required for the expedition would be considerable, and the expenses would still mount to an uncomfortable amount.

I don’t like the prospect of using a hemp rope, like Jax did with his expedition. A simple rope might suffice, but I desired something far sturdier—something less prone to fray and snap when faced with the unknown perils that lay ahead. It became clear I would need to consult Gibber. Perhaps he, with his network of contacts and business dealings, could procure the silter cable at a more reasonable price.

Worst case scenario, we can always use a regular iron or steel cable. We just won’t be able to travel as far due to weight constrictions.

In the meantime, I would have a week to prepare for my next meeting with Gibber—a week to plan and refine my arguments, to find the precise words that might sway him into obtaining the silter cable I so desperately needed.