The World Dragon's Heir

Chapter 448: Dreams On The Run

Alexis slid the proposal across the desk and opened the pages so she could see exactly what they were planning.

"I see here that they are... not airship engineers? According to the plan, it is a group of Dwarven Blacksmiths that they plan to transfer." She noted.

Rill rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, you see, that is true. But they really want to make airships. They heard that we’re expanding operations here, and their hometown won’t approve their project on safety grounds."

The Merchant paused, while Alexis laughed.

"And the only person you could think of who would approve potentially explosive experimentation within his territory was Duke Wistover, right?

I can’t even say that you’re wrong.

He will likely approve of it, but not so close to the airship docks.

If they’re going to be experimenting with new designs, including lightened hydrogen airships, I don’t want them anywhere near the working vessels.

There is a perfectly good spot across the river where they could work, and only risk the surrounding farms. Not even the farm houses, if we place it right."

While she talked, Alexis continued to read through the proposal.

"It looks like they’re also trained mages. How did you get approval from the local branch of the Guild to move them? I know how hard it is to get a Grandmaster Mage transferred, much less at the same time as a group of Master Smiths."

Rill paused for a few seconds, trying to come up with an answer that Alexis would accept. Then, he sighed and decided that she wasn’t going to buy any lie that took him that long to come up with, so he went for the truth.

"The Guild gave them permission to leave. But the King didn’t. You see, they may or may not be wanted fugitives at the moment."

"May or may not?"

Rill nodded. "We don’t know if the King is going to make the situation public or not, as it involves a member of his family. But it was imperative that we get them out of the country, which is already in process. Now, we just need somewhere for them to go, and they’re perfect for this project."

Dominic flipped the pages, letting Alexis read through the plan with him as she considered her options.

The project looked good, as far as Dominic could tell. They could use an airship development team. But this particular team could be problematic. Not because of lack of skills, but because someone might come looking for them.

Someone with money and armies.

Alexis took out a notepad and began to write as she flipped backward through the proposal.

Finally, she set her pen down, and swatted Dominic’s hand off her thigh.

"Alright, I see a few major issues here.

First, the location, which we already discussed. That can be changed, so it’s not a major issue.

Second, there is no indication here that the team you want to send knows anything at all about airships. If they do not, we will want a guarantee that you will supplement or replace them at Guild expense.

I won’t approve a major expansion that will simply sit idle for lack of qualified workers.

Third, is the team’s background. You will have to arrange all new identities for them before they arrive. If anyone from Hitchia finds out that they are working as Engineers for Cygnia, there will be hell to pay, and neither the King nor the Guild will back us up.

That’s as good as losing the team, since they will be forced to run again if they’re not caught."

Rill nodded. "That won’t be an issue. We can set them up with a whole new identity and backstory. We can even have them arrive from another direction so that their path is not as easy to trace.

What is most important to the Guild is that they don’t lose these assets, and that they can find somewhere that they can work.

They really do want to build airships.

They’re the cool new thing in magitech circles, and there are a number of theories about how to make storage space warehouses aboard them practical and affordable."

Alexis smiled. "Just having people carry storage rings wasn’t good enough?"

"It’s an option. But it’s considered to be less secure than having the storage be attached to the airship." Rill agreed.

"Ah, so there is a solid reason for it. The major limitation to airships is their cargo capacity, it’s what limited us the most when we were making the gunships.

There are other considerations as well. For example, if you put cannon shot in storage, then pull it out to fire, the weight suddenly appearing can put major stress on the airship, and change the balance.

But the major issue was the weight, and the limited volume of storage items.

Though, the Duskblade Sect does pretty well with them." Dominic noted.

"That is a good point. The Sect might be able to help with the design. As I understand it, the largest issue is that the airships need access, and you can’t walk into a storage bag." Rill agreed.

Alexis smiled. "Why don’t I call one over? Amie should be somewhere in the house still."

She got out of Dominic’s lap before she was even finished speaking, and left the room to go find the mage, who was likely to know the answer to their dilemma.

They returned a few minutes later, and the smile on Amie’s face told Rill and Dominic that they had overlooked something very important.

"Alright, we will start with the basics. Do you know how to break a storage device?" She asked.

Dominic shook his head, but Rill nodded. "You just need to damage the bag sufficiently for the runes to shatter."

Amie nodded. "Which is naturally a threat to an airship as well. But there is another way. You can force open an unbound storage device. In fact, a trained mage can do it from quite some distance.

So, if you use a storage type spell on the airship, ignoring the issue of not being able to enter with living items, any mage that it flies over could pop it like a loot piñata. Not only that, but if the spells on the hull are damaged, it might drop its entire cargo in combat.

That’s why nobody does it."