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Sexy Steampunk Babes: Chapter Forty Two
🕑 Added 2024-09-01 21:08:18 +0000 UTCFinn Mecant was not a man easily given to bouts of nervousness. That certainly hadn’t always been the case, but after nearly ten years spent delivering goods across kraken infested oceans, through monster filled jungles and over treacherous mountain passes, any notions of nervousness he might once have possessed had been for the most part, beaten out of him.
Now, to be fair, a certain amount of fatalism had risen to take its place, but he preferred to think of that as an inevitability in his profession.
One could only watch so many ships full of precious cargo be sucked under the waves by grasping tentacles before they came to the realization that sometimes shit just went south on you – and there was sweet fuck all you could do about it.
Sweet fuck all indeed, he thought as he glanced down at the wooden peg that now served as his right foot – and the reason why he’d spent the last twenty years overseeing the growth of the Mecant clan from his office rather than from the deck of a ship.
No, his wives, daughters and many other more distant relations saw to those tasks now.
Regardless, he yet had a role to play in the company.
“Lord Redwater,” he greeted, clambering to his feet as the young man stepped into the meeting room they’d set aside. “It’s an honor to finally meet the man my daughter speaks so highly of. Please, accept my humblest apologies for not greeting you myself in the courtyard.” He knocked his foot against the hardwood floor with a small thud. “As you might imagine, this old thing makes getting around a little more difficult these days.”
Even as he spoke, he took the young man in.
Normal was the first thing to leap to mind. Blonde hair. Blue eyes. A build that was more athletic than svelte, though that was hardly surprising given his ongoing attendance of the Academy of Lindholm. Handsome enough, the old dwarf supposed, but healing magic meant that was common enough amongst the nobility.
Truth be told, he didn’t really know what else he’d been expecting. Still, to hear her talk about the man, one would think he was Lyle Lysander come again.
…Then again little Bonnlyn ever had a habit of describing all the boys she developed an eye towards as such, so he supposed that was hardly too surprising. ‘A girl with a good head on her shoulders, with an unfortunate tendency to listen to the lips below the belt instead’ was how he recalled one of his sister’s describing her niece, and as much as it burned him, he’d hardly been able to refute the point.
Indeed, he idly made note of little Bonnlyn’s presence – her expression slightly nervous and a box of some sort in her arms - coming up behind the human, even as the young man reached out a hand.
“No apologies needed,” the boy intoned. “Bonnlyn informed me of your injury on the way over. My sympathies.”
“Ah, the advantages of a filial daughter.” Finn smiled as he gestured for the young lord and the daughter in question to take a seat at the nearby meeting table. “I trust she has been an equally conscientious teammate?”
“Of course,” the boy replied smoothly, as he sat down in the one seat present intended for people slightly taller than a dwarf. “I can say without a shadow of a doubt that if it weren’t for her presence on team seven, I’d likely be Lord Blackstone right now rather than Lord Redwater. And while that difference might not mean much to others, it means a lot to me. So I owe your daughter a great deal.”
It was empty flattery and they both knew it. Bonnlyn was many things, but a warrior wasn’t one of them. She’d discovered her magic late in life and her attendance at Lindholm Academy was more a result of well-placed bribes than any inherent skill on her part.
Which was not to say that Bonnlyn was without talent. She was as able a merchant and administrator as any of his children, it was simply rather unfortunate that said skills weren’t terribly useful in the role she’d found herself shoved into.
Though given how flushed her face has gotten, he thought as he glanced at the girl in question. It seems she’s chosen to forget that little detail in favour of enjoying the compliment.
…Again, the big head was subordinate to the lower lips where his daughter was concerned.
Rather than sigh though, the older Mecant kept his smile up as he maintained his focus on their family’s best opportunity to not just break into the noble markets but do so with an advantage.
That was part of the reason he alone was greeting the man, while his wives were off on other errands. Another man would hopefully present something akin to a more… sympathetic face than a small horde of dwarven women.
“This old man is overjoyed to hear that,” he said. “Even as it saddens him to know that her aid was necessary in such a way. It’s a terrible thing when a parent tries to dictate the future of their child against their will.”
Even as he said the words, he counted his lucky stars that Bonnlyn had agreed to be sent to the academy. To give up on a role she’d been preparing for her entire life in favor of one she knew next to nothing about.
He genuinely didn’t know what the outcome would have been if she’d refused to embrace the opportunity her magic presented.
“Well,” the boy shrugged. “Unfortunate or not, I doubt anyone can say it didn’t work out for the best. At least, from where I’m standing. Had my betrothal to those slavers up North not been so abhorrent to me, I might not have focused so much effort into escaping said engagement, and in turn would probably never have caught the Queen’s eye.”
Yes, the Flashbang, Bolt-Bow and Kraken-Slayer. Now the origins of the first were in debate and the last he was but a contributor to, the fact remained that the young man across from him was quite a font of clever ideas.
The existence of the Interrupter Gear and Radio was theoretically further proof of that, even if they weren’t known to the public yet. Indeed, even within the Mecants the existence of those devices was limited to him and Bonnlyn.
And the latter had only been revealed to him by his daughter to reinforce to him how important it was that the family get in on the ground floor of whatever it was William was creating.
Finn was… less sure.
Rumours persisted that the newly created workshops of Count Redwater ate up resources and spat out junk, with workers spending their days crafting items with no obvious purpose.
In short, exactly what one would expect from a young man saddled with a leadership position he wasn’t prepared for as a result of a few one off innovations that he couldn’t repeat.
Indeed, despite his daughter’s claims to the contrary, Finn would admit that he found it difficult not to believe the chatter pervading the capital.
After all, it wasn’t like he’d seen this Radio or Interrupter Gear. He just had his daughter’s word to go on.
And while he wanted to trust her…
There’s every chance she’s listening to her lower lips, he thought silently as his eyes flitted over the girl.
“Well, it speaks well of your talent that you were able to see opportunities in such an unfortunate set of circumstances,” Finn said aloud. “So much so that I find myself glad you’ve chosen to set your eyes on the path of magic rather than that of commerce.”
As he spoke, his eyes moved to the box Bonnlyn had plonked onto the table when she sat down. The invitation was clear, though subtle enough that it wouldn’t be interpreted as a command of any kind.
“Well,” the boy said as he obligingly reached for the case, plucking at one of the latches on the side before pulling it open. “I wouldn’t say I’ve entirely abandoned the path of commerce.”
The object inside was… Finn didn’t know what it was. Some kind of peculiar metal box with a brass funnel sticking out the top and a circular plate below that. To the side, there was a crank, which his daughter obligingly started to turn.
His eyes flitted back to the count, asking for an explanation. Rather than speak though, the boy reached into a compartment on the bottom of the box, extracting from it a metal disk covered in strange concentric grooves.
“Aluminium,” the boy said, as if that explained anything at all, before he placed the disk atop the one on the box. “Though to tell the truth, glass or even clay would work in a pinch.”
That done, the boy moved to position another lever over the top of the disk, such that the needle it held was placed within the grooves of the disk. Then he leaned over to flick another switch… and the disk started to spin.
But Finn barely noticed that.
Because music started to play. Beautiful music. Loud and vivacious, the sounds of an entire orchestra practically leapt from the box.
The dwarf was no real patron of the arts. That was a noble’s game. For his part, most of the music he’d heard in his life was borne from the mouths and instruments of bards and revellers in roadside inns. Individuals or groups of three playing for drunken crowds with more enthusiasm than strict skill.
This wasn’t that.
Not even close.
Finn could hear it; dozens upon dozens of instruments working together in harmony to produce the most glorious sounds. The sort of thing that one could only hear in the most prestigious music halls in Lindholm.
Yet here it was, playing merrily within a small meeting room in his clan’s compound, the absent smell of fish guts from the nearby market wafting through the air.
Incongruous, that was the only word for it.
Eventually though, it came to an end, the stringed and brass instruments of that great phantom orchestra finally winding down. And in the silence that remained, Finn could only stare.
“I…” he started to say, before realizing his mouth was dry. “I… thank you for that.”
The mysterious young man just smiled, even as Finn’s daughter beamed at him across the table, obviously delighted in throwing her normally unflappable dear old dad off-kilter.
“I…” the dwarf started to say, before wetting his dry mouth. “Did you know that, in the West, the music halls of the Sunlit city each have access to but a single communication orb. Paid for by the Empress herself, such that she might at any given moment in the day amuse her courtiers by having an entire orchestra play for them from across the city. Indeed, the music halls work in shifts to ensure that, at no moment during the day, the Empress is without that option. It’s considered a matter of some prestige.”
Finn raised a single finger as he pointed at the box. “That, is no communication orb.”
Was this… was this the radio his daughter had spoken of? A means to convey sound across great distances without the need for expensive void-touched crystals? Was that what the boy had just presented to him?
Finn hoped not.
Oh Ancestors, he hoped not.
Radio was a weapon. The kind that Queens and Duchesses would kill to attain – or keep from their enemies.
It was not the kind of thing his family wanted anything to do with. Not now. Not until it had been proliferated across the country in sufficient numbers that it was known by all.
He needed it out of here.
Now.
He needed to make it clear to both this madman and his foolish daughter that he’d never seen this device and had no idea it existed.
The alternative… the alternative didn’t bear thinking about.
“It’s not a radio, dad,” Bonnlyn said slowly, drawing him from his worst imaginings.
“It’s not?” he coughed.
“It’s not,” the boy said. “For all the reasons I’m sure you were just thinking about.”
…Well, at least the boy had some sense. Drawing himself up now that he was sure his entire bloodline wasn’t about to be wiped out for being made privy to a secret that would shake the nation, he eyed the box once more.
“Then what is it?” the man asked.
“I call it a gramophone,” the boy said. “And it’s not unlike a music box.”
Ah, that made more sense. And with that sense, the man could feel excitement build in his chest at the possibilities this… handheld orchestra held.
“Ah, then does that mean the disk you held before, the aluminium one, functions in a similar method to a cylinder drum?” Finn asked as he leaned forward to inspect the many grooves the disk held.
The boy for his part actually looked a little surprised, either by how quickly the merchant had changed gears or that the man actually had insight into how his new device worked.
“Yes actually,” the boy said, smiling as he gestured to the needle holding arm of the ‘gramophone’. “These grooves function in a similar way to the raised bumps you’d find on a cylinder drum.”
Finn hummed. “Only infinitely more complex. They’d have to be to produce such varied sound.”
In his experience, music boxes were a delight to listen to, but they held a very simple tune, one that repeated every few seconds. Nothing at all like the… sweeping crescendo he’d just heard.
“How does it produce sound?” The dwarf asked. “The raised bumps in a music box are there to pluck a comb within.”
Part of him expected the young man to clam up, seeking to hide some of the methodology behind the machine’s function. Instead, the boy’s grin got wider if anything.
“Ah, I… have you ever run your finger across the rim of a bowl or glass?” he asked excitedly.
Finn nodded, even if it had been many years since he’d done so, not since he was a lad. Indeed, these days his experiences with such things was more often kept to instructing his youngest not to do as the boy just mentioned.
“It produces a sound. Like the echo of a cave.”
The boy nodded eagerly. “That sound is caused by vibrations resonating in the material of the bowl. The needle on the gramaphone works in the same way. By running along the grooves in the disk, it vibrates to produce noise and that noise is then transferred up the needle and amplified by the funnel on top.”
That was… genius.
There was no other way to describe it. How did…
Finn resisted the urge to shake his head. It was best not to question how geniuses – and the boy was one for sure – figured out the things they did.
No, he was a merchant and he’d focus on what he knew.
“If that’s the case,” the man said thumbing his chin as his brain went to work. “The true cost of this machine isn’t in the gramaphone itself… but in that, I believe you called it a record?”
The boy nodded, casually waving the likely priceless thing about, making the old man’s heart skip a beat. “Sort of?”
“Sort of? I apologize if this old man has failed to understand something here… but based on what you’ve described to me, the creation of a ‘record’ would require nothing less than a master smith.”
The carving of grooves in such a manner so as to make the right sound. Just figuring out how to carve them in such a way would be the work of years or decades. And then the skill required to actually carve them out correctly? Even with magic, Finn couldn’t even begin to imagine the sheer level of focus required.
Then again… Bonnlyn did say the boy was something of a prodigy on that front, Finn thought idly.
Rather than the boy, it was his daughter that spoke this time – and she was holding another priceless disk! “Not necessarily. I wasn’t there when William made that first disk, but I was for this one.”
Placing this new disk onto the gramaphone, Finn readied himself for another bout of enchanting music… only to wince as something far more warped issued forth from the machine.
“Oh, come on!” Bonnlyn shouted over the sound from the machine. “My singing isn’t that bad.”
Finn dared to disagree. His beloved little Bonnlyn shared many traits with her dear mother – and singing ability was one of them. He loved Annelin with all his heart, but the woman could make a Kraken flee when she tried to sing.
Bonnlyn was little different in that regard, as a stilted attempt at what might have been the Orichian national anthem issued forth from the Gramaphone.
Fortunately for all of them, having made her point, Bonnlyn lifted up the needle-arm of the machine with a huff, bringing the sound of her singing to an end.
Still, the point was made. Finn sincerely doubted a master smith would spend any amount of time recording… that, if it actually required any real effort to do.
If anything, part of him was a little annoyed at the waste in aluminium said disk now represented.
“You said you were present when William ‘made’ that?” the older man asked. “How?”
Rather than answer with words, his daughter simply leaned into the funnel and mimed – thankfully! – singing while spinning the disk below.
Even then, it took Finn a few moments. “Vibrations.”
This time the boy was beaming. “Bonnlyn said you were smart. I’m glad to see where she gets it from. You’re right. If the needle vibrating can produce sound, then sound can make the needle vibrate. And, if it’s running across a disk like this when it does, it’ll cut the right grooves to recreate that sound.”
Ignoring the way his daughter was blushing again, Finn turned to the boy. “You’d need a sharp needle to cut aluminium like that. A different one from the kind you use to ‘play’ the sound back.”
The boy nodded idly. “Diamond.”
Yeah, that’d do it.
Still… as incredible as all this was, it begged the question.
“Why?”
The boy seemed surprised. “I’m sorry, why what?”
Finn gestured to the gramaphone. “Why bring this to me? Why explain it? With a device like this… the world is yours.”
Sure it wasn’t radio or some other kind of weapon, but that made it in some ways more valuable, not less. The Count could freely sell it not just to his allies in Lindholm, but overseas as well.
And people would buy it. Nobles from across the land would practically fight over the right to purchase one of these wonder machines and the ability to have an entire orchestra ready to play for them on demand.
Sure, others would produce gramophones of their own, but that wasn’t where the real money was. If William could hide the method to produce new records, he’d be able to maintain a monopoly on them – and charge absurd amounts for new ones. Special limited variants could be made and the nobility would fight amongst themselves for the prestige of having access to them.
And their squabbles would only serve to drive the demand higher and fill the boy’s pockets with more gold than he could ever spend.
…And yet he’d come here.
Sure, the boy was his daughter’s friend… but this…
The boy stared in incomprehension for a few seconds, before realization seemed to hit him and he shrugged. “You said it yourself. I chose the path of magic, not commerce.”
He idly ran a finger over the record in his hand. “I designed the machine. I can make more. And I could probably sell it on… but it’s not my area of expertise.”
He leaned back in his seat, before slowly sliding the disk across the table towards Finn. “So I figured I’d hand all that crap off to someone who actually knows what they’re doing.”
Ignorant or uncaring of the incredulous stare he was getting from the older man, the boy idly stretched out his arms as he fought down a yawn. “Besides, I’ve got more important things I need to do. Running my county. Working on new shard designs. Upgrading the new cruiser we’ve got. Nah, I figure it’s better for me to hand this stuff off to you, let you run with it, and then just take a percentage of the royalties.”
He clicked his fingers as if an idea had just occurred to him. “Oh, and you’ll need to be in charge of the manufacturing. My industrial capacity is kind of maxed out at the minute. That’s part of why I told you how it works. I mean, I’ll explain it in detail later, but for the moment I wanted to make it clear that it’s not that hard to make this stuff, even without mages.”
Finn just stared, eyes dipping from the record now in front of him to the madman who’d created it – and was now practically giving it away.
Because he couldn’t be bothered to make more or sell them.
It didn’t compute.
He didn’t understand.
And as his eyes flitted over to his daughter for some… any kind of explanation that made sense, he found her expression was filled with nothing but compassion and understanding.
“You get used to it,” she said.
Absently, for a lack of anything else to say, the dwarf just nodded.
What else was there to say?
Beyond…
“What kind of percentage in royalties were you looking for?” he asked finally, banking on what he knew to maintain some small grip on reality.
When the madman finally answered, it was all Finn could do not to choke on his own spit.
Comments
Marius Petrauskas
hilarious, thx.
werotan
Lul
Richard Anderson
So William is building his list of allies, the Queen he roped her in with power in the form of weapons now this guy is going to be his manufacturer.
Blue Fishcake
Beta readers have it :D
Trevayne
The last estimate we had was 3-4 years from William's discussions with the Queen. It certainly could start earlier, especially if Blackstone sees things starting to turn against her. Right now, she sees the balance of forces in her favor, decisively so if she can get the southern duchy she is scheming for to join her side. She wants to try to do this with as little destruction as possible because a civil war resulting in lots of destruction would give an opening to the Solians or the Lunites to annex Lindholm. It might well kick off earlier, especially if New Haven sees an earlier start in their interests.
Random Information
I don't think the civil war is that far away.
Trevayne
While we wait with bated breath, I wonder just what is going to happen over the next three years or so. IIRC year 1 was focused on personal combat and using manoeuvre suits. Year 2 is mainly about shards and piloting them. Year 3 is about operating airships and directing them in battle. Year 4 is presumably where it all gets put together and students choose their specializations. So this upcoming year should be mainly about shards. Presumably, they also have various academic subjects as well. I am curious about what any additional drama will come from and whether Tala will be back to complete her fourth year. IIRC she was pulled from the academy and sent to serve on one of her family's new shard carrier. Is that going to gimp her going forward if she never graduates or does being the heir outweigh that? I don't know where the additional drama will come from, but I figure it will be there. The only major structural criticism I have for the story so far is that the rivalry between Tala and William peaked before the end of the first year. It could have been extended for the rest of the year. Granted, I have not seen what happens in the second and third year and I would not be surprised if the civil war keeps them from completing the fourth year. We will see. So far it has been a fun trip and I am looking forward to the next set of twists and turns.
Spintool
Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. There’s no way they don’t have a printing press, but William could probably make any even better version if he wanted to
mike wade
Bitches flinging themselves at him crotch first. Home boy better bob and weave.
Trevayne
We don't know that much about the current state of the art in aether cannons. They probably are breechloaders for faster loading. They may or may not be already rifled. The big issue with them is they are effectively really big air guns and regular artillery can out range them. Howitzers are a poor choice for air-to-air weapons. They are intended to fire with an arcing trajectory to clear obstacles and would have trouble hitting airships at anything beyond point-blank range, especially since actual fire control systems only exist in William's memory. They want guns that have as flat a trajectory as possible, so something like a 3"/50 or a 4"/50. Larger could be done but then you stat needed power assistance in shell handling or the rate of fire goes down significantly.
JollyRodger
Just upgrading the cannons to something breach loading and rifled would be like giving a tiger wings. Putting a few really big howitzers at the bow and stern also. One end for escape and one end for chasing.
Isak Mark
I like to keep patreon content providers on their toes by sending random notifications. Besides it's only 2 days until friday arrives.
Drunk Pop-Tart
:)
9 o’clock
Casual sluttery never thought I’d hear that sentence before.
The Fire Piper
Lol!
mike wade
Obscure? That song has been haunting humanity for over almost 40 years now.
Gjim
Hurray, casual sluttery is making a comeback.
The Fire Piper
Sunday slutty Sunday, Sunday slutty Sunday... (Obscure U-2 lyrics)
The Fire Piper
Aw man, Friday snuck up on me this week. Forgot to do the weekly hype!
Conrad34xdsa
Based on context clues that has been given. Because of the facilities in the capital, he will be focusing on establishing contacts, gathering allies, R&D research, working on his personal skill along with his team. They still have a long way to go. Remember, the Queen gave him two years to get his family to call off the engagement. Creating his military assets and the logistics that he will need in order to turn, the tide irreversibly against the Blackstones. Logistics that I have a suspicion will be fronted by a certain dwarf merchant family, I think his low royalties bargain will be exchanged for them purchasing sources of raw materials so people have less of an idea of what he is planning. Allowing him to create monopolies on industries that will become very important before anyone knows it. Assuming he is successful, and the Civil War doesn’t kick off before then. With the loss of the Summerfield Duchy, The Blackstones might launch a surprise first strike, using spies and saboteurs to take out as much of the Royal Navy and Williams production line as possible. Assuming the leader of Summerfield doesn’t die within the next few years, and the mini Civil War kicks off.
Trevayne
That is good to know, and I'm very much looking forward to it on Sunday. Once we know which year and semester the group is now in—presumably the second year—we will get confirmation of just how much time has expired. As for the second part, my guess is William and Griffin get together for one last time before returning to school since I think they are both too professional to risk it at the academy. Off the grounds that they are two consenting adults of equal social status. In the academy, she is an instructor, and he is a student.
Blue Fishcake
The words of the week are back to school, casual sluttery and Sunday.
Trevayne
It could be as simple as back to school, although interestingly there aren't many clues in the latest chapter (42) about just when it is happening. We know it is after the invention of the interrupter gear because it is mentioned, but we don't know how far after. The visit to Finn could be happening just before they go back to the academy or over the winter break between semesters. The thing about school is that I just don't know how much more William has to accomplish there. He has seen off the marriage threat from Tala. We know the civil war will probably kick off in 3-4 years, unless Blackstone & co managed to find a way to speed things up. I don't know if Blue is going to go through the remaining years in the Academy in detail or whether there will be a series of time-skips punctuated by new inventions and status reports on how the older ones are moving into production.
Trevayne
I agree that all other things being equal, the 5"/38 would probably be better. If they were up against WW2 opposition it would definitely be better. However, I don't think they are equal though. The DP capability is less important because for airships they are effectively all-purpose weapons. They are firing mainly horizontally at other airships and shards, not low angle at ships and high angle at shards. Also, they don't need the range since without proximity fuses and/or AA fire control systems it will be hard to use a large cannon against shards anyway. Part of the reason why the 5"/38 was so effective was it had a power-operated mount. I am not sure William will be able recreate the mounting and power supply along with the gun. Given that most shards are WW1 aircraft equivalents and the lack of good AA fuzes (no proximity or easily set time fuzes) a better anti-shard weapon would be something like a late 1880s Nordenfelt rotary autocannon or a 20mm Oerlikon or 40mm Bofors from WW2. I don't know if he can get the propellant manufacturing up to speed though. Given those factors, I think a hand-operated 4'/50 is easier to make and use than a 5"/38.
Conrad34xdsa
Can’t wait for Fridays release. Can we get a one word hint as to what the next chapter will be about?
Conrad34xdsa
Considering there are a lot of illusions to napoleonic style among other things there’s a good possibility a simple printing press, or a magical variant has been developed
Conrad34xdsa
Five inch/38 caliber would be a lot better as it’s a dual purpose weapon. Meant to take out ground, navel, and aircraft assets.
Trevayne
No repercussions unless he minds getting a shotgun marriage to the whole royal family. Pretty sure if he can demonstrate how as an 18 year old he successfully bluffed the Queen, she will never let him go.
Trevayne
It is certainly possible, but artillery involves larger components and higher pressures. I think William can do it, but I don't think any of the mage-smiths working for him should try it. If they do, the products should be tested very carefully because flaws here can kill the users.
mike wade
We have seen him mage Smith guns. So I'd imagine artillery are easily possible.
Trevayne
While we are starting to get antsy about the next update (my guess is Saturday or Sunday), I wonder just what William is going to do about this? "Upgrading the new cruiser we’ve got. " He indicated that one of the things he is working on is upgrading his new cruiser. I wonder what kind of upgrades he intends. We know that it is a sizable airship with four shard bays and a set of guns. We know he is working on better shards, so that is an obvious upgrade. I expect the other fairly straightforward improvement would be better guns. While a really good upgrade would be replacing some of the bigger guns with new guns resembling the US 4"/50 of 1914. It could fire a 15 kg shell at 880 m/sec to a max range of about 14 km (20 degree elevation). It should be enough to shred any other airship at 2-3 times their range. It would be lucky to get hiuts on opposing airships at maximum range due to the limitations in fire control, but could easily bombard ground targets from well outside the range of any defenses. While proximity fuzes are at least a few years away, a canister round would probably work against enemy shards and lighter anti-shard guns could be added. Something like a 47 mm Hotchkiss or Nordenfeldt gun. The really interesting question about these upgrades is if he can create the guns by mage-smithing. We know that it can be used to achieve precise shapes in building shards. We haven't seen it used for creating high stress components like artillery barrels. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4-inch/50-caliber_gun https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QF_3-pounder_Hotchkiss
Trevayne
Yes, a royalty is a payment to the inventor. William should get all of it. I think the wording is clumsy and should be something like "take a percentage of the sales as a royalty". This leads directly to Finn asking what percentage does William want for a royalty.
mike wade
Honestly something that should be held onto until William can use it to screw with the queen. Eventually the Blackstone ( and everyone else) is going to figure out gun powder, then he could reveal his bluff with no repercussions.
Random Information
Finn Mecant was not a man easily given to bouts of nervousness. That certainly hadn’t always been the case, but after nearly ten years ... I would delete the section "That certainly hadn't always been the case, but" because it seems to contradict the first line. The end of the paragraph:- "...any notions of nervousness he might once have possessed had been for the most part, beaten out of him." gets the meaning across anyway. Actually if I was editing the first paragraph it would read:- Finn Mecant was not a man given to bouts of nervousness. After ten years spent delivering goods across kraken infested oceans, through monster filled jungles and over treacherous mountain passes, any notions of nervousness he might once have possessed had been beaten out of him. which gets rid of many unnecessary qualifying words.
Random Information
"... and then just take a percentage of the royalties.” “What kind of percentage in royalties were you looking for?” he asked finally I'm not into business/ finance, but wouldn't William take ALL the royalties (since he created it entirely), which would be a percentage of either the gross or net revenues?
mike wade
Hold onto this as a reveal. It be fucking hilarious if will tells the queen himself.
Trevayne
I expect the other empires are also slavers. They are just eleven racists against everybody else instead of human racists against orcs like Blackwater. IIRC, Blackwood does most of the fighting and capturing. New Haven does the selling, particularly to the Solite and Lunite empires.
Conrad34xdsa
I mean the deadman switch can still exist, but you could just have it be sent to the other empires or the orks instead of the slavers.
DMR1
Separate from the DMS that was apparently a bluff, she DID supplement the team monetarily when he got his stipend cut. "An investment in the future" indeed.
DMR1
Mimeograph goes Ka-CHONK Ka-CHONK Ka-CHONK Ka-CHONK
DMR1
That's... one hell of a bluff. And no, I don't recall you clarifying it. But I suppose that sort of move should be expected from a drama king.
DMR1
Post it notes would be killer
Trevayne
You could probably just put in a single line on William reflecting that while he would never have given gunpowder to slavers he was really glad the Queen hadn't called his bluff or he would be the Princesses' bridegroom.
Blue Fishcake
Because the deadmans switch doesn't actually exist. William would never hand over the means to create gunpowder to slavers, even if the Queen stabbed him in the back. Sometimes the threat of mutually assured destruction is more valuable than the follow through. ...With that said, I really should have clarified all this earlier. Unless I did and I don't remember. I remember *thinking* about it.
Trevayne
Yes, but even when it was disclosed to her the queen showed no interest in threatening Bonnlyn or her family. I think he might get upset at thinking of the level of attention his family may have received, but there was no indication that any action would be taken against them so he should calm down quickly.
Andrew Lechner
One thing I noticed, Mr. Mecant assumed that William's comment about Bonnlyn being essential in him being able to become Count Redwater was merely flattery, when she did have a major role. Even discounting her actual participation in the games themselves, her family connection is what allowed William to create a dead man's switch for his inventions, forcing the queen to agree to his demands. I'm surprised Mr. Mecant didn't know about William's deal with them, or perhaps he simply didn't realize the importance of it at the time. If he did, his panic would far eclipse the paltry show of stress he had at the thought of a radio entering his household.
Spintool
Do they have a printing press yet because if they don’t William is about to have a Field day in mass producing anti-slavery propaganda
Trevayne
Thinking about it, I remember reading an ISOT story where a person sent back to 1920s Germany made their first fortune with office supplies. They did a bunch of things, but the ones I remember were paper clips, butterfly clips, and binder clips. I don't know what they are using in Lindholm offices, but any business or organizing that uses paper records would appreciate any tools helping to keep them in order.
mike wade
I wonder if he's up for making a slinky or a Rubix cube? That's mad money with little effort on his part if he pushes it off to the dwarves like he did here. At least recreating the Bic crystal blue pen. The world's literacy went from 35% to 90% after its invention. And a literate proletariat is quite useful for social revolution.
Trevayne
Agreed, with some caveats. We have yet to see an aether cannon fired. I am assuming they are equivalent to say a British 24 lbr of the early 1800s because air guns have power issues which means range issues. Given that, it is reasonable to assume that they shoot at ranges under 1,000 meters or so. They could probably get out to 2-2.5 km but unless the target is stationary have a limited chance to hit. Since aether ships are aircraft moving in three dimensions, they really need something like radar to provide continuous range and bearing information. Without that, they have to estimate things like enemy course and speed, now in three-dimensional space, unlike the naval surface fire control problem on the sea surface. Even before rangefinders, they need telescopic sights and chemical propellant artillery. I doubt the effective ranges are going to get into the 10-20 km of OTL WW1 for a while because the 2D fire control problem is easier than the 3D version. Still, if the Jellyfish can hit targets at 2-3 times the range of their northern opponents, he can wreck their forces at little risk to his own ship.
Crimson Eon
Even something as simple as a coincidence rangefinder would be revolutionary, easily doubling effective engagement ranges, smaller, higher velocity rounds with shaped charges to make up the difference would double even that, from there fire control would be a must have. A single fast ship with fire control and shard support could shred an opposing fleet. As soon as munitions become supersonic with prox fuses, an enemy couldn't even risk getting closer than telescope range
MaybeASquid
I'm sure the camera will have to wait, that's a pretty specific chemical industry that this world hasn't developed yet
Conrad34xdsa
Creates a V-1 buzz bomb and launches them via skyship. With the added starting altitude, they would have longer range and he can start a terror campaign that could keep shards busy trying to shoot them down instead of deploying to frontline duty.
Trevayne
He could, but I expect it is a few years away. IIRC mass production of aluminum needs a lot of electricity so a big dam and waterwheels/turbines. That is a fair amount of work and given everything that is currently on his plate I think that is not going to happen until after the civil war. One of the things I think William is very much keeping in mind is what can be done with current magi-tech. Unless he needs massive amounts of aluminum for something important, improving aluminum production stays as a nice to have, but not a priority. As long as the magitech producers (the mercantile house/aluminum smelters guild) can produce enough to meet his needs he is not going to try to create alternate means of producing it. He just has too much to do and too little time to do it already.
Trevayne
Maybe, but I think it makes enough noise while recording to be less than useful as a bug. In addition, either somebody needs to crank it while recording or at least wind the spring so the turntable rotates.
Conrad34xdsa
He might create a way to generate electricity (hydroelectric via waterwheel) and then use it as a way to mass produce aluminum and during that discussion talk about the magical method of aluminum production.
Trevayne
I think motion pictures are at least a few years away. I doubt they will be in time to help take down slavery, but might help persuade everybody that it really is evil.
Conrad34xdsa
*Magical Banjo Music intensifies*
Grand Odyssey
Same thought here: five percent, where a typical deal with nobility would be more like fifty, and William will justify it by saying the Mecants are shouldering the fiscal risk and all the costs--never mind that a flood of orders is all but guaranteed and the starting price is whatever they want it to be. Even Bonnlyn's probably going to boggle at the offer, braced for shock or not :D
Conrad34xdsa
Well, he just needs to invent the camera (which was invented about 50 or so years before the gramophone), with that he can create up-to-date topographic maps along with other applications. People would clamor to have their picture taken, as William said: “nobles enjoy novelty”. After that, he creates the motion picture camera and with that, the silent movie industry and later the audio synchronizer that creates the talking movies. In essence he has created Hollywood and he can shape public opinion taking slavery to be seen with more vileness. Maybe even creating subtle anti-feudal views for his next move of taking down the Queen.
9 o’clock
That record player could be a great weapon for the queen in recording conversations
Trevayne
Agreed. Modern weaponry is already a massive amount of information. Adding massive amounts of detailed information on everything else would probably make him comatose or no longer human.
Vlad Cold
I personally vote all my limbs for Lippmann process of creating what effectively were color holograms which can accurately reproduce scene UP TO THE SPECTRUM details when illuminated by simple white light. It was done, for a second, in 1891, before lasers even were a hypothesis. He more than earned his Nobel prize.
mike wade
We really know how deep his well of knowledge goes. To be frank I'm inclined to agree with you, just from the fact that any more information in his head would probably render him a vegetable.
mike wade
Decades probably. Unless magic let's him just over the development he'd normally need.
DMR1
I really hope we see more of the families as this goes on.
Trevayne
The situation is more stable than it looks because I expect the existence of magic is diverting efforts from technological development. Magic depends on mages and it is hard to mass-produce them. Once a steam engine is invented, there is nothing to prevent thousands of steam engines from appearing. It isn't that easy with magic. Also, magic is diverting people by its very existence. Individuals who might have thought about inventing a better mousetrap will try to deal with their mice problem by figuring out a better spell. While the limits of available capital and resources restrict how many mousetraps can be made, the number of mages limits how many mouse-killing spells can be cast. In short, technology can scale up, but magic can't. As for aluminum, I pointed that out earlier and Blue indicated it was being produced magically, to the point where it is used in higher-end armor and any other applications where light weight and strength matter.
Nicholas Roberts
You know, I already commented on this chapter. But last night I had a dream that records become popularized by the recording of regional folk music around the country. That was a neat dream. Idk, this could be as big or small a plot point as you want, but I feel like it could be a really fun thing if it's more than just the one facet of whatever "classical" music is to the elves. The nature of music reflects the society that produces it, so if music is featured in other chapters, it'll say something about the society by what's playing in a particular scene
Isak Mark
The ruling class has airships and magic that cement their rule. Quite a different social dilemma than essentially everyone being equal in capabilities.
Isak Mark
Sell the nice version first to the nobility and later "invent" a substitute for the peasantry so you can tap both markets to their fullest. I could see gold/aluminum records for the noble since aluminum is probably still extremely expensive(no electrode extraction exists yet.)
Borisoff72
He didn't explain to Mecant that each record can be easily duplicated a once it's made. Mecant is thinking of it as a small niche luxury market item, whereas William is about to explain that everyone above a peasant is going to have one and even the peasants will probably get one for each village (like radios and TVs in poor countries today). The productivity increases enabled by magic obviously allow for a bit of a middle class to develop in towns and cities despite the continued existence of feudalism. All of which begs the question, is this social system at all stable even without the struggle over slavery and our hero's actions? You seem to have ancient slavery, feudalism, and nascent capitalism all mixed together. This couldn't really last no matter what happened, it's just an explosive situation. William isn't introducing new social forces into the mix, he's just sort of accelerating a situation that was already going to erupt (even if the Blackstone's had managed to win). The existence of Mages and different species sort of complicates things further. It's mentioned that the other states of this world don't have any sort of plebians, so I guess they are much less socially advanced? In any case, William will either have to play both Robespierre and Bonaparte (almost exactly); or drag the monarchy into more modernity than it wants, kicking and screaming.
DMR1
How far away are his primitive video systems?
Trevayne
The Haber process helps with fertilizer and explosives, but you still need lots of farmers. What allows the farmer class to shrink is mechanized farming. The US wasn't feudal, but still had about 90% of the US population farming in 1790. This declined to about 60% by 1860, and 38% by 1900. As for the feudal system's downfall, arguably the main reason was the invention of artillery so that the royal central governments could crush nobles in their castles.
DMR1
Don't forget coinage becoming more popular vs barter and of course Ag productivity skyroketing with scientific methods applied. If he gets an operational haber process going the overall need for a peasant class will start to evaporate.
Ollie Fairweather
Also mass manufacturing of guns
22junk
If I remember correctly the European feudal system’s downfall was in part due to the rise of the middle class and increase of options for workers. If farmers know they can move to the city and make better wages working a sewing machine or printing press land lords will be forced to negotiate and incentivize. Maybe William doesn’t need to rise up against the Queen as a rebel after the slavery issue has been dealt with and he turns his eyes to lesser injustices. He can just keep introducing new industries and flexing his financial muscles until the economy warps into something that feudalism can’t support. Side note: if we ever check in with William's family for a chapter it'd be hilarious if he sent them a gramaphone as a gift. "Goddamn it, that boy."
Jon Thorn
World so vividly easy to see you almost wish you could live there.
MarakEvans
Agreed. But there could be some designs from some mad lad who had more ingenuity than sense for the available logistics and manufacturing at the time. Not saying anyone else agreed to implement the designs, but they may be in/on a dusty cabinet/shelf.
Conrad34xdsa
Possible grammar error: “ “Lord Redwater,” he greeted, clambering to his feet as the young man…” Wouldn’t it be: “clambering to his foot and wood…” as he has a peg leg for the other foot?
Trevayne
I doubt they would even consider using a full core on a suit. A full core can run an airship. Even shards only use a small fraction of a full core. I doubt there are any multi-core designs because two good ships are better than one somewhat better ship.
Trevayne
I agree that it wouldn't be a big deal for his county to have several musicians. However, the recording as described wasn't several musicians, it was dozens making up a full orchestra. "Finn could hear it; dozens upon dozens of instruments working together in harmony to produce the most glorious sounds. The sort of thing that one could only hear in the most prestigious music halls in Lindholm." Why does everybody seem to think he couldn't just go up to the capital for a few days and record it along with doing other errands? I would expect he would make at least one such trip just to confer with the Queen to get her input on which development paths to pursue. They probably wouldn't want to trust the communications orbs with information that sensitive.
MarakEvans
The current sky knight suits they have could be further enhanced, if they are willing to accept the risk of full Cores being lost with a downed knight... Heavier Exo frames... maybe even like proto-mechas... Edit: Blue might still have some ideas on that shit he can use.
Folly Industries
Five or 50.
DMR1
It wouldn't be a huge deal for his county to have several musicians. Remember that in similar times, Earth would have had local theatres for people to be entertained, festival weeks, and other events that call for music.
DMR1
He called Verity a cinnamon roll which IIRC is tik tok slang. So...
Trevayne
Agreed. It is also nice to see a father who obviously loves his daughter and his wife, but still clearly sees their flaws (neither can sing and Bonnlyn has a tendency to let her libido influence her thinking. Granted, after these parts he may credit his daughter with some more wisdom. "“It’s not a radio, dad,” Bonnlyn said slowly, drawing him from his worst imaginings. ... And as his eyes flitted over to his daughter for some… any kind of explanation that made sense, he found her expression was filled with nothing but compassion and understanding. “You get used to it,” she said."
Trevayne
Not necessarily. We know he has a fae-granted eidetic memory for weapons. We do not know if he has that same memory for everything. Here is the relevant quote and it says weapons, not everything. For that matter, even if he did have non-weapon technology information I really doubt they would bother including the recording grooves and thus every bit of music in every record he has ever touched. "The knowledge was so sure it burned. He moved on. His hand brushed over a M68 FRAGMENTATION GRENADE. His hand brushed over a MODEL 870 FIELDMASTER. His hand brushed over a FATMAN NUCLEAR FISSION GRAVITY BOMB. And yet the racks went on and on. Off into the distance, beyond the range of what he knew the warehouse should have been able to hold. Every weapon that GEORGE STATFIELD had ever seen, touched or even read about - even so much as an errant glance."
Footbraclet
Homies gonna ask for like 5% ain't he
mike wade
He just had to touch or read about the record itself, and he’d have a schematic of it down to the molecular scale probably. Imagine if he ever went into a record store, he’d have an entire library to draw from.
mike wade
Having individual pilots with shards installed into their suits would probably be nice. That way they could just fly around like iron man.
Trevayne
"Running my county. Working on new shard designs. Upgrading the new cruiser we’ve got." Thinking some more about this, I would not be surprised if one of his early improvements to his cruiser are better sights. Right now it maybe an awkward compromise between cruiser and shard carrier, but if its guns can hit at double or triple the normal engagement ranges, I doubt anybody will think of it as awkward any more. Instead, they will be praising (or cursing, if they are northern) this Jellyfish's lethal sting.
Trevayne
He may have a perfect memory of listening to an orchestra, but I don't see how he can translate that memory into a recording. The gramophone needs to record from a live performance, so I think it is easier to assume he just did the recording from a theater box in the capital, possibly the royal box.
Souplizzardo
I really enjoyed this one. Its not about fighting or rivalries. This one was great. It was also nice to see ‘bony’ and her dad. She new her father well enough to give william all the intel he needed to pass that charisma check. Plus just seeing william get happy because another guy was smart enough to pick up on the “tech” enough to get excited by it. William needs someone to geek out with i feel. A great chapter :)
mike wade
The first book ends with him sitting in front of a computer terminal looking up Wikipedia pages about various weapons. He’s definitely from the Information Age. 90s minimum.
MarakEvans
Question: Around Lindholm, do the factions have any Multi-cored ship or shard designs that are rendered more viable by this new influx of Mythril?
mike wade
He has perfect recollection of anything he's even vaguely encountered from his previous life. He probably mage smithed one from scratch with his perfect memory.
Oreo-belt25
@Mike Wade the final chapter of the last book said he had schematics of anything he'd ever heard of, seen or read about. We can assume George was an adult sometime after world war two. If I could guess, he probably died before the information age.
Trevayne
An interesting question is how William managed the first recording. I doubt Redwater has an orchestra, but the capital would have one. I expect he would need a box seat to accommodate his equipment and a few tries to get it right. Maybe he asked Queen Yelena via Griffin?
Borisoff72
(In the style of early Eminem) Can't keep a man, Redwater be flowing free/ creep of a clan, dead daughter, hoe's destiny/ Keep slaves on your land, your only company?/ on your grave I will stand, pissing exultantly.
mike wade
He had Wikipedia in his head, so no he’s definitely heard of hip hop.
Trevayne
I think it was something classical. The only reference to vocals was Bonnlyn "singing" the Orichian national anthem.
Borisoff72
Did his last life end before hip hop? If so, I guess he won't be dropping any anti-Blackstone diss tracks?
Jacob
If we're voting, pulse jet gets my vote as a Colin Furze fan
mike wade
Out of curiosity and fishing for music recommendations, what song did William “ borrow “ for this demonstration? I’m assuming he just made it wholesale from his memory.
Atom
They wouldn't be...familiar with such music. Ride of the Valkyries though? It's as if Wagner himself has made it for this world.
blaze87b
Credence Redwater Revival
Jacob
The motion is hereby seconded. Comment section is called to cast their votes on the motion for Blue to take care of themself
Trevayne
Interesting thought, I doubt the story is going this way, but just by introducing explosives William can revolutionize air combat even without improving shards. Air guns tend to have performance limitations. The biggest ones ever used in OTL were AFIAK the assorted dynamite guns. They were big air guns that could fire explosive shells containing dynamite that were too unstable to fire from conventional artillery. They had a range of about 2.4 km. They lost out to regular artillery because it had a much greater range. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamite_gun If William just introduced regular artillery firing AP shells out to say 5-8 km, the RN airships would slaughter their opponents. The tricky part isn't the guns, it is more likely to be the fire control. Although if the actual effective range of a typical airship aether-powered cannon is say 500 meters, just adding telescopic sights should get the RN's range out to say 1-2 km, especially since they don't have to deal with rolling due to waves.
Jacob
^^ just my personal headcanon
Jacob
For spice I'm also imagining Mama Blackstone banning the sale of gramophones and records in her lands out of spite for William, leading to a lively black market trade for them even amongst her vassals and her military's lower-enlisted & higher ranked NCOs. (Which is where Tala gets her's in a rare & secret defiance of her mother before learning *why* they're illegal)
Trevayne
I think clerks did regular arithmetic, the stuff a typical merchant house would do. The computers were people who knew enough math to do geometry, trigonometry, algebra, and eventually calculus. The sort of calculations they would use for navigation, architecture, and mapping.
mike wade
Great minds think alike.
NeoJungleLover
Greatly written <3
Trevayne
It could be done just as a throwaway line about how House X in Lindholm made its fortune because it figured out how to make aluminum cheap enough to use via magitech or alchemy.
DMR1
Ah yes, the "give away the razors, sell the blades" theory of commerce. He's going to make these things incredibly common... and then he can record "in case of death" notes along with contingency/continuity orders for all of his soldiers and retainers. Meanwhile selling music albums non-stop to bolster his accounts while taking almost nothing on the hardware that plays it.
Jacob
I'm imagining her saving up (remember she got financially cut off) & buying one as a way to claw back at least a minor trapping of her nobility during her banishment, reveling in listening to it, & only then discovering who created it and profited from her purchase.
Trevayne
My guess is 10%. I wonder if he pointed this out to Finn by asking what kind of market he saw for it. If he only sees the nobility and rich merchants buying them, 20-30% might be better, but a smaller royalty is more money if it means they can sell to a bigger audience. Another interesting question is exports. This is something everybody who can afford it will want to get, as expensive or not, it is going to be much cheaper than having a live orchestra on call. The Solians and Lumians would probably also be potential customers so the market is much larger than just Lindholm.
JaxonJak
William: I am an agent of chaos, your earthy money means nothing to me.
mike wade
Perhaps an omake?
mike wade
No, it still makes sense, if anything it makes even more sense back then than now. Computation used to be someone’s job before calculators made it obsolete. My guess as the head of a merchant family, he’s probably very good at arithmetics and financial calculations done by hand that would make most people nowadays would cringe at doing without a calculator.
Tim Speller
Tala Crapstone
Jacob
Also, Alan Turing was WWII, not WWI
mike wade
I will be very disappointed in William if he doesn’t blast fortunate son or into the danger zone when they go to wreck someone’s shit.
Blue Fishcake
Coincidence in this case.
Jacob
I think that's what they were referring to by "professional position"
Jacob
Personally, I kinda prefer it just being mentioned on background (especially more than once for those that initially miss it) but not getting a dedicated scene about it. I think little things like that help with the world building, especially since it conveys that there is a larger world outside of what is strictly captured by the chapter text.
MaybeASquid
Well by give away, I mean he's not gonna price out the general population, and make it something semi-conmon, and that way he has a steady revenue stream and spreads the use ofnon mana based tech
Prometheus
Huh, Now I need to know if astronomy is advanced enough in this world to have a computing profession.
Vlad Cold
Hmm, method for manufacturing records can be easily obscured by method commonly used in our world: make mass copies of records by stamping using die created from original. What's next things for blowing locals minds? Single-bladed propeller(it blows some minds even here)? U-shaped valveless pulse jet engine(a little loud)?
Trevayne
I doubt he is giving them away, but he is probably pricing fancy models for the nobility and rich merchants along with more basic models for the middle class, such as it is. I doubt there is a peasant model, but a village might be able to afford one.
Trevayne
Err, no. The term computer referring to a person who does mathematical calculations as their occupation dates back to the 1600s. from wiki "The term "computer", in use from the early 17th century (the first known written reference dates from 1613),[1] meant "one who computes": a person performing mathematical calculations, before calculators became available. ... Teams of people, often women from the late nineteenth century onwards, were used to undertake long and often tedious calculations; the work was divided so that this could be done in parallel." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_(occupation)
Andrew
Thank you!
Prometheus
That's why I mentioned the profession. That only began in WW1 after the shear scale of cryptology and communications required dedicated mathmiticians largely in accordance with Turing-style models. Given the lack of apparent Alan-Turing in this world, it's not a term that would have been invented yet.
Carlos Torres
Mage against the Regime.
Baron Von Mott
Ah, that's some good isekai shenanigans! 😁👍
Conrad34xdsa
https://youtu.be/ma6X18cm8i4?si=1EkmTmojTxjNcZv4
Conrad34xdsa
Who knows. Either way, it works well for the story.
Matt Bradock
Thank you for the chapter, now go get some rest! If you burn out, we won't get more of this and that'd be catastrophic!
Conrad34xdsa
The next step would be whether or not he arrives to school via his cruiser blasting “ Are you ready for a miracle” which would be very apt if he wants to show off and start building a name for himself I could see him trying to Ally himself with Summerfield counties as a way to start pushing his claim that he can lead the Ducal lands to greatness.
Conrad34xdsa
Well, I guessed in the previous chapter he would create a record player/gramophone in order to get a continuous income by inventing the record label industry via creating music. As long as he gets a good percentage for the royalties, I’m sure he will be able to Finance his county indefinitely. that is two for two predictions that I have made coming true. I’m curious if he will specify in the contract that the gramophone company that will be created will be named after him or his county. William will want to build contacts and build rapport with students at the academy. Gifting someone a device HE personally invented that provides an experience that is reserved for the Empress and her dignitaries would be a massive power move. Plus this can provide him with a smokescreen as a way that explains away what he’s been doing during break, he can simply say that he has been tirelessly working on that, and that alone. So would Tala learn of this invention when William releases his diss track mixtape? What would the title be called?
mike wade
Wait… was this based on the comment from the earlier chapter? Or is it coincidence?
DMR1
For what it's worth, before the transistor showed up, do you know what the name was that we gave to mathematicians working on industrial tasks? Computers.
Blue Fishcake
It's been mentioned a few times in the background - I really need to make a scene about it - that a house in Lindholm discovered the method to refine it. As you might imagine, it involves magic.
Nicholas Roberts
Excellent work as always, Blue! I am looking forward to the next chapter, it's a pleasure following this story!
Conrad34xdsa
But what do we call The band? Krakens wail, 7 chains? I’m sure someone can make better band names
Prometheus
"Compute" might not be the best word for Finn's reaction given this is his perspective. Computers aren't a professional position yet, let alone the actual box machines.
Trevayne
Great slice of life chapter that still provides a lot of food for thought. For example, where is the aluminum coming from? In OTL, until the electrical separation processes were worked out, aluminum was more valuable than gold. I expect they are using some kind of magical alchemical processing to produce aluminum, maybe for airship equipment (I doubt they use it for soda cans).
Allen Mainville
And later, more important broadcasts. By the time the powers that be realize he has that power, it’ll be far too late.
White Neko Knight
I bet he said something Insane like 20% or 10% instead of the normal 50-60% that was common back then.
MarakEvans
Would "Ride of the Valkyries" be too sus?
MarakEvans
Yelena is gonna want one. Also, Finn Mecant should be familiar with such business arrangements. However, maybe Mr. Mecant might be use to... less sophisticated products, relatively. Edit: Joanna gets a set as a gift... and probably picks up Yelena's for the return trip to the palace.
SmallTownBo
Downtime chapters are always fun!
MaybeASquid
Wait. I'm pretty sure William is more or less giving away the grammaphone, to provide a reason to build a radio network and broadcast music to the public
BobSortaOkay
Just before Monday! Also love the insane inventor angle he has going these days. The man will soon build a death ray and people will just nod and go "That's Count Redwater.".
AH
Feel better and thanks for the chapter!
Kwack
Super neat chapter and flows easily to read
MaybeASquid
And now I'm curious wether Will spat out a big number or a little number
Lawrence Christian
Riches are a means, not an end for our boy. If they had any idea what he was really planning, they'd be staring even harder.
Carlos Torres
Well i wasn't expecting a gramophone, given how you mentioned the peg leg, I thought the box would have some Full Metal Alchemist style prosthesis. Is this where you hard pivot into turning Team 7 into an idol group? Ha, keep up the good work!
Drunk Pop-Tart
Take a rest, get better, we will be here when you come back.
Jowel Balcita
Gotta have some way to pay for all the plans he's coming up with!
Jake the L
Well, that’s cashflow sorted
MarakEvans
!
Batou
Burning the late night oil i see... Keep care of yourself
Blue Fishcake
I swear this chapter was cursed. Migraines. Blocked Sinuses. Writer's Block. Father's Day. I spent a lot of time just... staring at the keyboard (admittedly the mild flu I'm nursing may have been contributing factor, but there were lots of moments where I just couldn't word good :P ) Which is a shame, because I think it's a fun shift away from the more serious stuff for a little fun :D
9 o’clock
Triple woot
The Fire Piper
Double woot! Nice chapter. Well, now we see how he is going to finance all his plans 😀
Vonbaron
woot Love that we finally got to meet at least one of the parents. I like how Will introduced the gramophone with an aluminum disc. Leaves plenty of room for upgrades for the future. Take it one step at a time.
