Twila held the Hourglass’s wheel in place—the ship had started taking on a shake as they’d flown southwest from Three Peaks, and she didn’t trust the wheel lock anymore. Three days’ flight, however, had brought them almost to Seapike. She could see the towering black dagger of stone in the distance. It stabbed at the heavens, surrounded by a cloud of mystsmoke around its summit. A dozen tiny ships flitted around its upper reaches.
“We’re looking for a skywright, right Charlie?” Twila asked. A panicked shout from below caught her attention. She reduced speed to give Leftie a break since the engine had started having heat problems over ‘Ahead Half.’
“We’re looking for an independent refitter, Twi,” Charlie said. “I can’t be seen at a Gibson Company dock, and I have a feeling they wouldn’t be excited about the Hourglass either.”
“Right. An independent skywright,” Twila sighed and steered the airship closer to the rough black wedge before her. When the crew finished dividing Vayne’s treasure, she’d gotten a little over three hundred crowns for herself and almost five hundred fifty for the Hourglass’s upkeep. Twila had only seen over a hundred crowns in Shimmertower, and now she had nearly nine hundred to spend. She’d asked Auntie Charlie what to do, and the woman had recommended Seapike’s refitting yards.
Now they were here, and Twila was ready to shop!
As the pillar loomed closer, its sides looked more and more jagged. The Hourglass started circling it, dropping to ‘Ahead Slow’ and reading the signs outside huge wooden sheds. Auntie Charle shook her head at the first one. “See that ‘G’ and ‘C’? We’re staying away from any that have that symbol. Look for one without it that has an open door. Dock the Hourglass inside. They’ll send someone over to talk through what we want.”
“And what do we want?” Twila asked. “The engines need an overhaul. We have that armor to put on her as well. And Old Bitch needs to be replaced. I’m sick of her. What else?”
“Let’s see what they charge. If you have a couple hundred crowns left over, I have some ideas. [Puckle Guns], for example, or some contraptions. But for now, focus on finding a refitter.”
The Hourglass circled Seapike, descending closer and closer to the waves below. After their fifth trip around, Twila spotted an open door and angled toward it. The airship slipped inside as she cut the engines and dropped drag cloths. Once she’d stopped, Twila took a look around. Huge wooden ribs on gigantic ratchets sat on either side of Hourglass’s hull. Six to a side, they looked more than able to take the sloop’s weight. Cluttered workstations filled the shed’s decking–clearly, the people working here weren’t the neatest, she thought.
A middle-aged man with salt-and-pepper mutton chops slammed the shed door open and started shouting. “‘Prentices, get your arses out here and get the ribs in place! We’ve got work! Claire, I need that inventory finished now!”
He waved up toward Auntie Charlie. “Skipper, welcome to Wainson’s Skywrights. What can I do for you?”
“Oh, I’m not the skipper. Twila here is. She’ll tell you what we want. I’m quartermaster, and I’m just here to discuss prices if we don’t feel your quote is fair.” Charlie shrugged, stretching her injured shoulder gingerly now that it was out of the sling. “Twila, go talk to Wright Wainson. I’ll watch the wheel.”
Twila nodded and walked over to the railing. “We need a full overhaul on the engines. Leftie has heat problems, and Rightie shakes like you wouldn’t believe. The condenser needs replacing. The mast is fine, but she’s a Type Four coil/Type Thirty-One sphere custom rig, and she doesn’t draw enough myst to run Hourglass’s contraptions and engines. And she’s grumpy all the time. And we want armor installed around the engine room.” She sucked in a breath–she never talked that much at once, except about her ship and mystgineering.
Something flashed across Wainson’s face, then he grinned. “What’s your budget?”
Before Twila could respond, Charlie was talking. “Four hundred crowns, and change.”
“Four hundred is low for all that. Five.”
Twila opened her mouth to argue. Charlie beat her to it, though. “Look, Wright Wainson, you’re low on the mountain and getting out-competed by Gibson’s wrights. We’re offering four hundred for this job, plus a few other odds and ends while you’re working on it. It’ll help you feed your apprentices and be enough to keep you in business.”
Twila could see the skywright thinking. He stroked his mutton chops and scowled at the ship. Then he nodded slowly. “Four twenty-five.”
“Agreed,” Auntie Charlie said.
“Alright, ‘prentices, get those ribs in place! Skipper, as soon as I tell you, you can cut the engines. We’ll be aboard all over your ship for the next three or four days, so have your rats and crewmates stow anything they don’t want us to see.” The skywright chuckled. “You’re using an independent wright in Seapike, so there’s probably something on board that qualifies. Is there anywhere you don’t want us?”
Twila nodded. “The skipper’s cabin will be locked. And the bow rooms. Don’t go there. Will wants his space.”
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Wainson raised an eyebrow. “Alright, we’ll stay out of those areas. We might have to use your cabin to secure the armor, but we’ll let you know.”
The enormous wooden ribs started slamming into the Hourglass’s hull, and skywright apprentices hammered brass rods into holes in them, locking them into place. As the last rod sunk down, the skywright shouted up to Twila,” Alright, cut your engines. We’ll be aboard in ten minutes to start planning the job.”
Twila ran over to the ship’s hold. “Ship rats, stow your stuff. Hourglass will be crawling with apprentices for the next few days, so lock up your plunder. You can stow it in my cabin if you don’t have space somewhere else.”
Twila watched the crew start shoving their stuff into cabinets and sea chests, gather filth-covered clothes for laundering, and ready their weapons for shore. She shook her head. The whole thing felt like Iswixel. Like she and Rosie getting ready to land and cleaning up their little closet.
She headed back up to the deck. She’d come a long way since then. Even if Hourglass had just limped into another port, this was the last time she let engine problems and Old Bitch cripple the airship. Hourglass would be the ship she’d always wanted. She started grappling with the ship’s gangplank, only to find that the apprentices below were already setting one up.
“First time in for a refit?” Charlie said, putting a hand on Twila’s shoulder. “Most wrights specializing in refitting take care of the ramps–they don’t trust ship rats to do things the right way.”
“But we do things the right way,” Twila protested.
“Do we? I’ve seen what you did to those engines. They run, but they’re not right and proper.” Auntie Charlie held up her hands, wincing as her shoulder rotated. “I’m not saying what you did was wrong–it kept them running. I’m just saying the skywright is going to have comments.”
Sure enough, as soon as the ramp’s hooks had lodged around the Hourglass’s rail, Wright Wainson climbed onto the Hourglass’s deck. He carried a board with a piece of parchment on it, which he started scribbling on. “Agatha, plan to pull the whole quarterdeck. We’ll need space to rip the engines and boilers out. Might get lucky and only need a few holes, but we’ll see. Barrett, hook in and check out that condenser. The ship’s skipper says it’s been acting up and underpowered, but a Type 4/31 shouldn’t be too small for this ship.”
He ducked into the hold, and Twila followed him. They picked their way around the ship rats, who were still packing up, and went straight to the engine room. He turned to the girl with a look of horror on his face. “What the hell is this mess?”
Twila turned away, flushing red. “Just…just fix it, okay?” Rightie and Leftie had never looked bad to her–run-down, yes, but not bad. But listening to the skywright complain under his breath, Twila felt her face getting hot. She had to leave before he found even more ‘shoddy’ work to complain about.
She ducked past the man, grabbed some of her plunder and a hundred crowns from the ship’s share, and locked her quarters. Then she headed to the hold. “Everyone has shore leave. Make sure your stuff’s locked before you leave. Auntie Charlie, you’ll teach me how to fight, right?”
The woman smiled. Twila struggled not to look away–it wasn’t a friendly, warm smile. It was predatory. “Yes, I am. But first, we’ll need to do some shopping.”
[Twila Tighe, Ship Rat Mystgineer, Equipment Level 1.33 (Myst 1/15, Hit Points 1/1)]
[Head - Empty]
[Eyes - Myst Lens (lvl. 1) Myst Sight (passive) See own status block and others’ classes]
[Chest - Ship Rat’s Harness (lvl. 0)]
[Waist - Apprentice Mystgineer’s Bandolier (lvl. 1) Deep Pockets (passive) - Equip an additional Gizmo]
[Legs - Canvas Overalls (lvl. 0)]
[Gizmo #1 - Loaded Dice (lv. 2) - Roll the Bones (active, 1 myst/roll) - gain a random myst enhancement; Skill - Trickery]
[Gizmo #2 - Anton’s Pocket Watch (lvl. 4)] Redo (active, 5 myst/5 seconds) - redo the last five seconds of time, with knowledge of what’s happening (1 minute to reset); Skill - Piloting]
[Gizmo #3 - [Pocket Condenser (lvl. 1) - Condense Myst (passive) - Condenses 1 myst/5 ticks; Skill - None]
[Gizmo (Belt) - Mystwork Lantern (lvl. 2): Mystlight (active, 25% failure chance, 1 myst/attempt) - start the light; Adjustable Light Aura (sustained, .5-2 myst/tick) - light a variable area; Skill - Perception]
[Myst Battery - Myst Battery Mk. 2 (lvl. 1) Myst Storage (passive) - 15 myst maximum, requires condenser to refill]
[Weapon/Pair - Anton’s Paired Pistols (lvl. 2) Smoothbore Myst-Shot (active, 1 cartridge/shot) - fire a ray of heated myst; Rapid Shots (active, 2 myst/shot) - fire twice/tick; Skill - Marksman]
[Weapon #2 - Heatblade (lvl. 2) Heat (active, 1 myst/tick) - cause the blade’s edge to superheat; Skill - Acrobatics]
[Weapon/Pair - Empty]
[Skill #1 - Trickery 2]
[Skill #2 - Perception 2]
[Skill #3 - Piloting 4]
[Skill #4 - Marksman 2]
[Skill #5 - Acrobatics 2]