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Sexy Steampunk Babes: Chapter Forty One
🕑 Added 2024-08-24 12:43:35 +0000 UTCPiper was an alchemist. A fairly talented one at that. She was the one who invented Bear-Blood after all.
Prior to her enrolment in the alchemist’s guild, the venerable guild had been churning out a variant of Earth-Blood that did little more than burn hotter and longer. In short, a slight improvement on the base asset of the substance at a ruinous cost in reagents.
Ever-Burn, they’d called it.
The Navy named it Demon-Piss.
Personally, Piper thought the latter name more apt. After all, what else could one name a substance that had an unfortunate tendency to spontaneously ignite when unduly jostled? Just transporting the damnable substance from a ship’s reinforced storage locker carried risk – let alone loading it into a drop-pot, mounting it onto a shard’s underside before then carrying it into battle.
Sure, it was powerful – and woe be to any bucket-brigade or hose-handler set to put out the blazes it created – but the cost in friendly ships and shards destroyed due accidental mishandling or enemy action wasn’t worth it.
At least in the eyes of the Royal procurement committee and many ducal martials.
‘A weapon better suited to the barbarism of the old continent,’ was a line she vividly recalled from her days as a young journeywoman.
Personally, she was of the belief that the damnable substance’s infamous reputation was a large part of the reason for why the invention of carrier-airships was delayed. No captain wanted to helm a vessel expected to carry so much Demon-Piss in its hold.
So, she’d been the one to invent an alternative. One that went against both tradition and methodology. Rather than try to reinforce the nature of a thing, she sought to contradict it by layering two concepts over one another by finding a substance that embodied the contrasts she’d needed.
And she succeeded.
Eventually.
Bear-Blood was an improvement in all regards.
A nuanced mixture of Earth-Blood, bear fangs and gold flakes, the alchemical solution rendered Earth-Blood’s inherent fiery nature inert and safe to transport – until the thick oily substance’s fury needed to be awakened into a fiery cataclysm. Not unlike a hungry bear awakening from winter.
Hibernation was the concept.
Naturally, the Royal Navy had been incredibly interested in a weapon that wasn’t just stable, but actively inert until salmon eggs were added to the mixture. Indeed, it didn’t take long for Bear-Blood to become a staple of Lindholmian navies. And while that alone had not been enough to elevate her to the position of Guildmaster, it certainly paved the way.
Which was all a very long-winded way of saying that Piper was a very good alchemist – and thus why it was so annoying that these days she seldom got to perform any actual alchemy.
Or even oversee it.
Because her boss seemed to think her some kind of jack-of-all-trades who was quite happy to oversee any and every project taking place in the many workshops that populated his domain.
That she was actually qualified to do so didn’t make it any less annoying.
“Steady,” she commanded. “You’re spreading your focus too thin. I can see deformation in the left wing. We’re just expanding the cockpit, don’t let your mind wander.”
And that was fortunate, because Piper had seen the designs for the new wings, and complicated didn’t even begin to describe them.
Forget the insanity that was taking out all but the front ballast – which they were filling with water for some deep-forsaken reason - what kind of madman decided to design wings that fold?
The one she was working for apparently.
“Yes ma’am,” the half-elven mage-smith she was speaking to nodded, though she kept her eyes closed.
All the better to help visualize the changes she was trying to make to the frame of the shard on her right, her hand pressed against the wing on her left, her magic requiring a physical connection to the metal she was trying to shape.
Something Piper knew because she’d spent many a month doing the exact same kind of work – or otherwise tutoring her people on the subject.
Which was why the elven mage-smith’s other hand was pressed against the wing of a different shard on her right. The same Unicorn that was scheduled to be returned to the capital within the next fortnight. For now though, it was serving as a reference for the mage as the half-elf sought to replicate the shape of its cockpit and some parts of the body on the Drake on her left.
Even as Piper watched, the large block of aluminium that had been crudely welded to the body of the Drake shrunk, flowing into the frame of the Drake as the cockpit of the machine lengthened in time with the body.
Not perfectly though, she thought as she regarded a small divot that formed in the cockpit ring.
Fortunately, it wasn’t a huge issue and wasn’t worth reminding the girl of like she’d done with the wing. Imperfections like that were only to be expected where mage-smithing was concerned and was part of the reason why most mage-smiths had a small army of plebian blacksmiths and panel-beaters whose job it was to smooth away any such imperfections with more mundane tools.
Most, she thought again, her mind twisting towards a certain freak of nature who standing next to her watching the changes being made to the shard.
To her knowledge, William Redwater’s work, on those occasions he stepped into one of the many workshops in his domain, was to quote one of the mage-smiths she’d spoken to on the matter, ‘flawless’.
Not good. Not great. Flawless.
That was not a word any mage-smith she knew would use lightly. Not in a vocation for whom flaws were an unavoidable reality. Admittedly, the young woman she’d spoken to was exactly that, young, but the fact remained that William’s talent was rather… unnatural.
So much so that she almost wanted to ask why he had one of his subordinates working on such a critical piece of his burgeoning military rather than doing it himself. Because it was obvious it was important to him, otherwise he wouldn’t be present to watch.
She said nothing though.
Instead, the two stood in relative silence as over the next few minutes the frame of the Drake twisted until it was a warped mirror of the Unicorn next to it.
Even ignoring the myriad small imperfections in the former-Drake’s frame, the Unicorn it was at least partially based on had a back-mounted propeller, while the new one had an opening at the front for said propeller instead. Indeed, that was but one of the many small changes her lord had insisted on, resulting in a frame that was both similar to the Unicorn and yet strikingly different.
“Excellent work,” Piper congratulated as the mage-smith finally took her hands off the machines, opening her slightly bloodshot eyes to smile at her ‘superior’.
“M-my thanks, ma’am,” the girl smiled at her, before bowing to the count. “To you and the lord both, for giving me this opportunity.”
Piper simply nodded back. “You earned it.”
And that was the truth. The half-elf was the most talented mage-smith of the crop the Queen had sent their way. Which was a fairly high bar to reach in truth. None of them had much in the way of experience – hence why Piper had found herself in charge of… pretty much everyone despite being theoretically the head of the Alchemist’s alone – but they were all the definition of hungry young talents.
Hunger that had been stoked to new heights by their lord’s development of the long-desired interrupter gear. Which had no doubt been part of his plan.
Indeed, she turned to her lord expecting him to say some words of his own, only to find the boy had barely even heard the words of the young mage.
No, his focus was entirely on the frame of the newly formed frame in front of him, a hint of something akin to… nostalgia in his eyes.
Then the moment passed and he snapped out of it.
“Yes, excellent work,” he said quickly, before turning his gaze to the other occupants of the room, pitching his voice to be better heard. “In fact, let me speak to all of you when I say that though the task set before you was difficult, each and every one of you has surpassed my wildest expectations in a very short timeframe. And though the work on this new design has scarcely begun, it forms an incredible foundation for what is yet to come. I have not a doubt in my mind that, before the month is through, this new design will be soaring through the skies, carrying the next generation of shard-pilots with it.”
The small speech got an equally small smattering of applause. Something the boy clearly noticed as his smile became a little stiff, but to his credit he managed not to let it show before he turned to her, even as the mage-smith from before limped away with some help from her assistant.
“So, did I say something wrong just then or is there a morale issue I’m ignorant of?” he asked quietly.
Ignoring the momentary flush that threatened to slip across her features at the sensation of an attractive young man whispering in her ear, she made a so-so gesture.
“Mostly the former and a little of the latter,” she said, making him raise an eyebrow before she explained. “The news of who exactly will be piloting the new craft has begun to make the rounds.”
And given that just about every mage-smith in existence wanted to be a mage-knight at some point in their lives, the rumour that a bunch of mundanes might be being elevated to the rank before them was definitely a sore spot.
Piper knew she’d felt a prick of an old emotional wound she’d thought long since scarred over when she heard of her lord’s plans.
“Ah,” the boy said before frowning. “Do you think it’ll be a problem long-term?”
The dwarf shook her head. “Maybe. Maybe not. I think it depends on where exactly you plan to position your new ‘pilots’ socially.”
The boy shook his head. “Household guards by any other name. Just because they’ll be piloting a weapon normally reserved for nobles doesn’t make them nobility. Hell, I’m pretty sure I couldn’t elevate them to that rank even if I wanted.”
He could, precedents existed for plebians who’d performed incredible feats, though said nobility was usually awarded post-mortem.
Still, she didn’t feel the need to say any of that as she nodded. “Well, I imagine it’ll be fine then beyond a little professional friction.”
Probably.
…Provided she spoke to the girls about it. Before someone did something stupid.
The last thing she needed was for her guild to be back on the street because some idiot felt slighted about some peasant folk getting to be sky-knights instead of them.
“Oh yeah,” she said finally, turning back to the new frame that had been created. “I figure the profile of this thing is different enough that it’ll need a new name. You got something in mind?”
Because if not she’d have to be the one to name it, and then it’d end up being something like Unicorn-Forward, because she had many talents but naming things wasn’t one of them.
Fortunately, her liege had an answer.
“The Corsair,” he said, that strange hint of nostalgia in his eyes again. “We’ll call it the Corsair-M.”
Well, it wasn’t terrible she guessed, though she did have one question.
“What’s the M for?”
He shrugged as he watched a blacksmith pounding a dent out of the new design’s frame. “Mithril.”
----------------------------
“We can’t stay here,” Yotul announced. “Sooner or later, the Blackstone will find us.”
She’d been expecting an outcry at that, and she was not disappointed, as what felt like half the tribe shouted or cried out their dissent at her words. The noise was cacophonous, bouncing off the walls of the Blood-Oath’s cargo-bay with a vengeance.
It didn’t help that it was a fairly small room containing a lot of orcs. She’d ordered the entire crew assembled, but for a small skeleton staff to keep things running elsewhere.
It wouldn’t do to leave the Screamer unattended after all.
Taking her mind from the duties of those not present, she allowed those who were to voice their complaints for a little while longer. Such was their way after all. But after a good minute had passed without any sign of the noise slowing, she glanced toward her Second.
The older woman’s scowl had only grown deeper and deeper with each utterance from the crowd, and as such she was all too happy to be let loose.
“Shut up you maggots and let the captain speak!” The woman’s roaring voice cut clear through the cacophony, leaving little more than stunned silence in its wake.
Yotul smiled at the sight. Oh, she knew some members of the tribe sneered at their chiefess choosing an ink-born as her second – let alone one that had served the enemy – but it was in moments like this that Olga showed her worth.
Where others saw a traitor to their race who had spent years serving the enemy, Yotul saw a woman with a wealth of experience in how their enemy operated. One who was tough as nails and had a wealth of experience both operating airships and wrangling crews together.
“As I was saying,” Yotul continued. “We can’t stay here. Our deceptions have aided us for a time, but with the loss of the Iron-Tusk and Warcry the enemy will soon discover how we’ve managed to evade them for so long.”
“None would speak!” Igubat shouted, the weather old orc shouted, his shaman staff held in a white knuckled grip. “They would die first.”
Personally, Yotul rather doubted that. A few years ago she might have believed it, but three years of acting as the tribe’s chiefess had rather eradicated what little naivety she’d still had left.
Still, as she saw the old medicine-man’s wives form up around him, she knew better than to directly contradict him. While the old man wasn’t a rival for her position, the healer held much sway within the tribe, and his voice in favour or against one of her actual rivals could be a large factor in any future leadership challenges.
Something she could ill afford even under normal circumstances, let alone when she was abandoning their ancestral home – even if only for a time.
“Of course not,” she lied. “I’ve no doubt what few prisoners the Blackstone take will die spitting defiance at our enemy before they reveal our secrets, but the unfortunate truth is that the downed ships will speak for them.”
Quiet mutters started at that.
“What do you mean chiefess?” Urgat asked, the ship’s cook tugging at her tusks in confusion. “How can a ship speak?”
Yotul resisted the urge to roll her eyes, not least of all because she’d feel guilty about doing so. Urgat wasn’t the brightest soul aboard, but she worked her fingers to the bone to keep the crew fed and their spirits high.
Instead, the chiefess gestured to the nearest reinforced bulkhead. “By being observed by a soul with even a modicum of intelligence.”
And as much as it burned her to attribute a shred of virtue to the monster’s who’d burned down her home, the Blackstones weren’t stupid. This most recent ambush was evidence of that much.
“The modifications we made to our captured ships to hide them aren’t subtle,” she said. “The Screamer. Reinforced bulkheads. Airtight hatches. Gunports welded shut. Enchanted bridge glass. The list goes on.”
Indeed, if she went through every modification the tribes had been forced to make to allow for their great deception, she’d be there for hours.
It had not been fast nor easy – but it had worked. For years. Until those idiots Khurzug and Bula got overconfident and fell for what was an obvious trap.
Three ships, deep into our territory, unescorted, Yotul thought. What else could it have been?
Sure, her heart had burned for vengeance too when she got news of the small fleet burning what villages they found in their path, but that had only reinforced her belief that the Blackstone were trying to lure them out.
Unfortunately, she’d been overruled by the other two captains on the war council and as such had been forced to accompany them. Indeed, it was pure luck that the Blood-Oath had escaped, and bordering on a miracle that they’d managed to lose their pursuers.
Something only possible because of the Blood-Oath’s modification – and their foe’s ignorance of them.
Gritting her teeth, she continued as she saw the light of realization brighten in the eyes of the rest of the tribe – at least, those that hadn’t already reached the same conclusion she had.
“Soon the enemy will know how we have evaded them and they will stop searching empty caves and shadowy valleys for this ship,” she said.
“Let them come!” Igubat shouted. “Or try and fail. They can’t reach us here. Not that they’d dare risk their precious cores in the attempt.”
Yotul didn’t scream in frustration, but it was a near thing. Instead she schooled her tone into something much more respectful. “As much as it pains me to say, honored elder, while they might not have had the capability before they do now.”
“They have the Iron-Tusk and Warcry,” Olga said, uncaring of how the old man sneered at being spoken to by an ink-born. “Both ships will be in need of repair right now, but the Blackstones won’t require long to get them operational once more.”
Nodding, Yotul continued. “And while I’ve no doubt this ship and her crew could defeat twice our number in craft crewed by weak humans and elves, the Blackstone have the means to refit more. It would be a death by a thousand cuts.”
Plus, she was blatantly lying about the first part. Ignoring the fact that she wasn’t even sure how the Blood-Oath could fight in their current locale – they certainly couldn’t unseal the gunports – the Blood-Oath had already been part of a much more even three on three battle and lost.
Not that she’d say as much to the old healer, whose fervour had an unfortunate tendency to outshine his sense.
“And that’s ignoring their new weapon,” Olga said with some finality. “The same weapon that spurred our now lost brother ships into action.”
She saw even Igubat pause at that.
The Kraken-Slayer.
They still knew nothing about it, not beyond what it was capable of.
And that was terrifying enough.
“So, what do you propose?” Ragash asked, the healer’s headwife taking over for her husband as the man seemed to sag in on himself. “We travel halfway across the planet to beg aid from despots little different from our current lot? Taking with us the Free People’s last remaining airship when they need it most? The Council of Tribes would call for our heads and be right to do so!”
“And that’s assuming we don’t run into any kraken nests on the way over,” Yelle, the airship’s lead engineer chimed in absently. “The Screamer might keep the big beasties away from the Blood-Oath’s tasty little core, but that only works so long as we stay away from their nests. The second we stray a little too close, we go from a scary thing to avoid, to a threat.”
Yotul nodded slowly, well aware of what she was asking. “That’s true, but I believe it’s worth the risk. Or rather, we’ve no other option but to take it.” Turning toward Ragash, she spoke slowly. “I’ve little doubt that should we return to the Council of Tribes, they would demand we stay and defend the Razorbacks… but to what end?”
She gazed out across the crowd. “The Blackstones will come for them in force, and we now have but one ship to defend ourselves.”
Though in truth, even when they’d had three ships to call upon they hadn’t had the means to openly contest the Blackstone fleet if it chose to push on the last refuge of the Free Orcs.
The airships were useful for ambushing lone patrol ships, but it would require years and many more victories and captured vessels before the Free Orcs could contest the Blackstones openly.
And even that would require that the rest of the Invaders stayed away.
No, something drastic needed to be done.
“The Free-Orcs will go to ground as they always have. The mountains shall shield us from our foes, as they always have. The Blackstone will search fruitlessly, finding little more than empty villages to burn. The presence of a single ship will not and cannot change that.” She slammed her foot down, the sound echoing through the deck of the ship. “To that end, I say we head East. Not to beg for aid from Invaders of a different ilk, but to use their greed to our own ends.”
She grinned, as the first signs of interest spread across her audience. “As a hunter might smash Wyvern eggs against the wall of the cave of an orc-eating bear to lure both beasts, we too shall lure our foes to tangle against one another, so that we might profit off their handiwork. Whether it is bear or wyvern who survives the clash matters little. The survivor shall be weary and weak.”
She had them, she could see it – until someone spoke.
“Only in this case, ‘baiting the trap’ means giving up our only technological advantage over our foes. Because they’ll want the Screamer,” Yelle said in her dispassionate way.
Only, instead of Yotul being the one to respond, she was surprised to hear Igubat speak.
“A weapon the Blackstones already have or soon will,” the older healer said, some of his earlier energy returning to him. “With that in mind, we lose nothing by passing it onto the other Invaders. No, I like this plan. Wyvern against Bear. Very orcish.”
Despite herself, the young woman flushed a bit at his words. “I try, honoured elder. For the Tribe.”
“For the Tribe!” The room, rather than just the man, cheered back.
Well, with that it seemed they’d accepted her idea.
…Even if it was insane. Yelle hadn’t been lying when she spoke about the risk of running into a Kraken Nest. Sure, the merchant map on the bridge had them all marked out – but recent events with Al’Hundra meant that much of it was now likely wrong as new kraken moved in to fill the vacuum the old goddess had left.
And assuming they even made it… they’d be a single ship, far from home, low on supplies, attempting to negotiate with a people that even the Invaders of her home consider barbaric and backwards.
To be fair, those same Invaders thought the same of her own people, but given these were fellow elves the Invaders were speaking of, she was inclined to believe it.
Still, they had to risk it.
“Everyone,” she called out. “You may return to your duty stations. Bridge crew, accompany me there. We have a course to set.”
The roar of enthusiasm from her tribe warmed her heart, so much so that she didn’t even mind too much when barely a second later an icy cold drop of water managed to drop so perfectly that it ran down the nape of her neck.
Scowling as the cold tingly sensation ran down her spine, she glanced up at the offending piece of leaky bulkhead.
Need to get a repair crew on that, she thought as she turned to march out of the room, Olga hot on her heels. The last thing we need right now is to start leaking.
Marching down the hallway, she idly spied a fish flit past the nearest porthole before swimming out once more into the inky blackness of the ocean, the enchanted glass there serving to keep the massive weight of the water beyond out of the ship.
Yes, it would be better to get that leak fixed sooner rather than later.
Comments
Oreo-belt25
I saw this video and it reminded me of this Universe's version of mermaids https://www.reddit.com/r/midjourney/s/AVAjIel4QP
JollyRodger
Why do I suddenly get star destroyer vibes from the jellyfish upgrades. Upgrade all cannons with rifling and breach loading while removing the magic component to thier operations. Adding some AA, or AS, bubble guns across the hull. Maybe, in the spirit of the A-10, 1 really big spinal gun too. Then with the shards getting modern carrier packing upgrades. A bit of remodeling and bango it's also a light carrier. Count Redwater feels more like Blackwater to me. The Jellyfishes first engagement somewhere between starwars a new hope opening scene and the flying Dutchman any scene. SO many great ship names also.
Navy Davey
I’m just imaging the last scene as if it were part of The Hunt for Red October. Hell, we almost that with the “For the Tribe”. How do you make the crew want to get off a mithril submarine…
Trevayne
Thanks. I wonder if the Queen has asked William about impact fuzing, or even better, delayed impact fuzing? If the RN shards can now drop AP bombs that penetrate airship armor and explode inside, the numerical superiority of the Northern Duchy fleets matters much less. If they all get shot down before getting in range, they could have twice as many airships and still lose. One potential issue with the secrecy is whether the Queen has told her most senior naval leaders so they can start working out how best to use the new weapon.
Jacob
So was I, but I see it now. Weird
Trevayne
I think Blue was talking about chapter 42.
Jacob
We do? I'm not seeing it on Patreon yet for some reason. Hmm 🤔
Blue Fishcake
Ya'll kind of answered your own question :D
Blue Fishcake
I swear this chapter is cursed - which is a shame, because I'm pretty proud of it. Either way, the Beta Readers have it :D
kaine
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/rGqCtzV7T2k/maxresdefault.jpg
SpecterJedi
I am so hungry for this chapter
Trevayne
A couple of additional worldbuilding questions. 1) Aside from the magic (airships, shards, communications crystal balls, etc) what is the general tech level of the setting? It looks like late medieval to enlightenment (say 1400s-1700s) without any gunpowder or steam engines, but it is hard to tell. We saw William and his party moving by carriage from the airship landing field to his estate/castle/manorhouse by carriage, but was it an animal-drawn carriage or was it propelled by steam or something else? He originally travelled by an ocean-going sailing ship. Note, I realize the title of the story is Sexy Steampunk Babes, but it looks more like magicpunk. I am not sure we have seen any actual steam-powered technology. In some ways, it reminds me of Burrough's Barsoom with flying ships and land movement by riding beast. 2) Is there a Royal Army, or just the Royal Marines? Airships seem to have replaced armies as the dominant military force. If one side wins in the air, it has won period, because airships can presumably just bomb anything they fly over and Aether artillery probably has limitations as AA guns. Is that the case? I am assuming aether cannon have issues shooting at airships because airships can carry pretty big cannons and will be shooting down. If an airship can fire its aether cannon at a city from a maximum range say ten miles away and 10,000 feet in the air, a ground-based aether cannon probably can't shoot back because it is firing up and just doesn't have the range when firing from the ground. Note, this doesn't matter with OTL aircraft because they are not big enough to carry naval equivalent guns. AA guns on the ground will out-range any aircraft weapons until things like glide bombs and cruise missiles appear.
O
Was it a good day?
Trevayne
Good point, although it is hard to say how far away radar is until we get a better idea of the tech in the radio project. Is he introducing WW1 radio or WW2 radio?
DMR1
Some wild implications for stealth technology for when he inevitably rolls out radar though!
Blue Fishcake
Forgot today was father's day here in sunny Australia. Would have powered through last night if I did. Instead, I woke up, remembered, rushed out of the house, and then tried to be present without thinking about the *time* too much. I'm finally back now though and sat at my desk! Let's get this bitch finished.
Found&Lost
Okay it's Sunday here! *spams refresh*
Trevayne
Thinking some more about the Corsair-M, even if it looks just like an OTL Corsair from WW2, it isn't going to be like one. The WW2 aircraft was assembled from sheet metal and fasteners. William's version is getting magically fabricated. I doubt very much the mage-smithing process is going to use rivets to hold things together. Magesmith manufacturing is going to create shards that are effectively one piece of metal in terms of the skin and stuctural beams.
Spintool
Just letting y’all know it’s still Saturday for me
Trevayne
Interesting question, how does a shard inflict damage on an airship? We know that the big airships are armored and shoot at each other with big aether cannons that are effectively giant airguns firing solid shot or possibly incendiaries. There is presumably some kind of arms race between the ship designers and the aethercannon makers. At any given time Airship X can penetrate Airship Y's armor at ranges under Z. However, how do shards damage airships? Shards only have light aether machine gun equivalents. They are too small to carry the big cannon and the airship armor should be completely proof against shard aether guns. That suggests shards can only engage unarmored targets (bridge view slits, cannon gun ports, etc) or strafe any exposed crew on deck. We know they can drop incendiaries, so that may be another anti-ship weapon. They might use two-seater shards to get the mage-saboteurs close to their targets. This matters because shard carriers have been discussed as replacing gun-armed airships. This would resemble to OTL replacement of battleships by carriers as the predominant naval weapon. However, carrier aircraft always had access to weapons that could damage and potentially sink ships. Bombs and torpedoes can inflict serious damage on a ship and enough of them can sink any ship. What is the shard equivalent of a bomb or a torpedo? If it doesn't exist yet, how does a shard (or ten shards) damage or destroy an airship? The only way I can see it with the current state of tech is by using dive bombing tactics with either incendiaries or solid armor-piercing "bombs". The former is Demon-piss or Bear Blood. The latter would be the equivalent of an OTL AP bomb without the explosive because William has just introduced the first explosives in the krakenslayers/sea mines.
SpecterJedi
The more you know 💫
Trevayne
Yes but, minor quibble, technically it is salmon roe, since caviar is just supposed to be fish eggs from sturgeon, not salmon.
DMR1
We will pretty much never be unhappy that you took extra time to get it right.
Jacob
Re-reading this chapter I just realized something I completely missed: per Piper's description, the detonator for Bear Blood is freaking *caviar*
Jacob
Waitasec.... This was posted 9 hours ago... That's enough for you to get a full night's sleep... *Begins hitting "refresh" in my browser constantly, mumbling 'need my fix'*
mike wade
*gazing off into the distance with a thousand yard stare.* " I'm nothing but a peasant now..." *sob!*
MarakEvans
Technically, you can still edit it again later when you publish it in a different medium. Edit: Writing Judo??? You could always have your character note the same frustration that something like a "charcoal filter" is so important that no one figured this out before the interrupter/synchronization gear. "There has got to be something specific stopping the study of physics. The question is either what... or... who." Red Herring that bitch. Or tie something in later, who knows.
Trevayne
Yes and no. His main opponents are traditionalists. At least some of them will oppose his innovations and not embrace them. As for the politics, he might prefer a modern democracy, but I think he could go along with the monarchy as long as slavery ends. He might wind up breaking the monarchy during the wars, but compared with ending slavery it is a tertiary objective, if that much.
Trevayne
Thanks for keeping us informed.
James Ryan Bell
But it is Saturday...wait...ahh Australia Saturday got it.
Spintool
Today is Saturday and I just woke up so yeah definitely counts if it comes out today
Phlojem
Wait, two in the morning, and you posted this an hour ago? It's 3:30am for me right now, are we secretly neighbors?
notreal name
looks like the prize is waiting another day lol
Oreo-belt25
@Mike Wade ha! So much for lording your rightness over us now!
O
Hahahahaha! My hunch wasn’t wrong!
Ryno Botha
No worries, I am glad you choose quality over being " on-time "
Blue Fishcake
Fuck it, it's two in the morning, I'm calling it for the night. Sunday it will be. I mean, it's technically already Sunday so I may as well own it. For those curious about the reason, it's a scene I finished, rewrote (Charcoal filter? Really? That's boring!) and that I'm now quite happy with, but the new version is dragging on. I still don't regret the decision though. Sometimes you've got to accept that crap is crap. I mean, sometimes you have to accept that it's good enough and let go rather than get caught in a loop of edits, but there's that and... crap. Though technically it may still be Saturday in the US when I release this chapter. Maybe. If it is, it still counts! I'm rambling. I'm going to bed. Thanks for your ever present patience with my shenanigans and see ya'll tomorrow :P
The Fire Piper
Lol!
Vlad Cold
Well, if he's unable to modify designs, locals might soon surpass him. I just wanted to point out that shards can be stored in state ready to launch: nose down, 0-20 degree from vertical. Maybe locals already do that. Usual folding wings then just an inconvenience, since they doesn't decrease area taken by shard at all.
Bert Peeters
I'm upping the ante it's gonna be a Sunday release because he forgot the prize
Conrad34xdsa
Every invention that he makes will sharpen the blades of those against him. I doubt a record player would have much military application but a steam engine can revolutionize factory production and land transportation, which would help his enemies logistics. Something that he absolutely does not want. Remember, the Royals are ultimately his enemies as well. Slavery, is one issue he is working on. Once slavery is dealt with. He wants to deal with the medieval noble class structure and society that is bent against men. William will take over once the opportunity presents itself. Presumably, after a Civil War/imperial invasion he would have the opportunity to do so if during the war he is able to seize the Summerfield Duchy.
Conrad34xdsa
I think once he shows off the next big leap he will leave around a bunch of false schematics for how he did something and let the spies do the rest, something that would involve the creation of using very expensive and rare ingredients in alchemy. He could infer in his “notes” that his “special enchanting of alchemy ingredients” method has allowed him to accomplish the task. Throwing off anyone who is late to the spy party.
Jeremy Grundy
The mythical early post on Thursday is my go to.
Trevayne
Why would those markets get glutted? The Elven empires are big conservative powers. They don't want their status quo upset so the odds are they just have anyone using a steam engine enslaved.
O
I will never trust my hunch again
Harrison F
CHOO CHOO!!
Oreo-belt25
Damnit! I've really gotta stop betting on Friday. But what can I say? I've always liked the lower odds in my gambling addiction
The Fire Piper
Oh good sir, there certainly is a prize! And you give it to is all!
mike wade
Yes there is, it's lording it over everyone else who was wrong like an ass hat.
Blue Fishcake
For those who guessed Saturday, you won the raffle :D There is no prize.
mike wade
From my experience on reddit, girls on the internet is a myth.
O
Ahhhh. Thanks
Jeremy Grundy
They sell the slaves mostly over seas so once those markets go from a labor shortage to a glut that ends their largest market. The northern duchies can keep fighting but it’s gonna be expensive.
Morpheus
to quote myself: "If he tries to make something new it takes more regular effort; he did say it took multiple tries to get the spell bolt, a device based on a gun, but not exactly one, to come out correctly."
The Fire Piper
Its almost that time guys, gals (are there any gals here?) and non-binary pals! The suspense is great, and the drama intense! Will we have an ultra rare Friday? or will Saturday and Sunday battle it out for the the glory, no, might I say the honor, of hosting so great a story? The crowds wait with bated breath at the notion of getting the fix they so crave! Will William unveil an engine? Is Griffith pining another plowing from her concupiscent cadet? Will Marlene reveal their deepest secret to the rest of the team? Will William grab Xela's antlers from behind to give her an unexpected flying lesson? Will any of the team besides William ever get laid? For the answer to these questions and more, stay tuned for more SEXY STEAMPUNK BABES!
O
Interesting theory, but what about the spellbolt. Isn’t that a modified rifle, and if I remember correctly he easily made that as well.
Trevayne
The problem, with using labor-saving machinery to help end slavery is that for the Northern Duchies it isn't really only about the labor. They want to enslave orcs because of the money and because they have been fighting them for centuries.
Trevayne
Agreed, which actually makes the Corsair-M an interesting project. While William may be able to magesmith his way to an exact duplicate of the aircraft, modifying it to work with a mithril shard is not trivial. IIRC the normal shards use the aether gas for lift and directional control. They can manage to take off vertically, but use aerodynamic lift while moving forwards and presumably while firing their guns. A normal Corsair is intended for use with an internal combustion engine and can not take off vertically. It uses aerodynamic lift to fly and aerodynamic control surfaces for directional control. For a Corsair-M to work, presumably the mithril shard is in the engine space and the gas is routed to the fuel tanks for lift. William will have to include gas lines to directional thrusters so that pilots used to normal shards have the directional controls they are expecting. Presumably the Corsair-M will retain the normal directional controls like ailerons, elevators, and the rudder. The biggest visual change will probably be the forward propeller, but the biggest change from a pilot's perspective would be the whole new set of directional controls. Given that it still has directional thrusters, the Corsair-M is likely to be a very maneuverable shard.
Baron Von Mott
I still miss and prefer Sect Babes, but I admit this series is turning out better than I'd initially expected! :)
Morpheus
I just had a thought based on this passage "Not good. Not great. Flawless. That was not a word any mage-smith she knew would use lightly. Not in a vocation for whom flaws were an unavoidable reality. Admittedly, the young woman she’d spoken to was exactly that, young, but the fact remained that William’s talent was rather… unnatural. So much so that she almost wanted to ask why he had one of his subordinates working on such a critical piece of his burgeoning military rather than doing it himself. Because it was obvious it was important to him, otherwise he wouldn’t be present to watch." I can think of a couple reasons why he'd not be the one doing it but the big one is that the reason his work is 'flawless' is because of how he is literally incapable of forgetting the military tech he has. That makes his mage smithing perfect, but ONLY if he is making something one to one exactly from George's memories. If he tries to make something new it takes more regular effort; he did say it took multiple tries to get the spell bolt, a device based on a gun, but not exactly one, to come out correctly. This shard is a modification, not a full copy paste of an existing plane. So he CAN'T be fully flawless on large parts of it, only individual components.
Jeremy Grundy
If he wanted to make money and help end slavery I would suggest the steam engine, once one trained person can do the job of 50 unskilled people slavery really doesn’t math out anymore. There are evidently thousands of inventions in his head that would further his goals and make money.
Conrad34xdsa
One other thing that I just realize might bring him some easy cash is the ability for him to create the record player and invent the music label industry. Even funnier, because he can have the exact details of something burn into his mind he could have the exact grooves that were made on a record flawlessly recreated. *Cue Ride the Valkyries, Fortunate Son, Danger Zone, Iron Eagle, Barbie Girl Etc… If he really wants to mess with people, he could tell them that the records contain the souls of ancient singers considering they wouldn’t be voices of anyone they would know about and clearly don’t share the same voice as William. That could keep people from trying to copy him and pirate the music.
Conrad34xdsa
One thing that I think would be fun to see is a new male/female student first time in the academy and watch team seven with Count Kraken Slayer (definitely a nickname that’s going to stick once he’s officially a count via ceremony) arrive on his light cruiser and are in complete awe for different reasons. The male watching a man being a national asset, and becoming the founder of his own house and admiring him. The female for well, female reasons. Either one or both could be potential allies in the future.
Trevayne
An interesting question is how she gets there. Presumably she wants the orcs as part of the increased population. However, it looks like the orcs want more than emancipation, they want independence. Can Yelena negotiate a deal for the orcs where they accept that they are part of Lindholm and are willing to serve with the Royal Navy? Given how the orcs have been at war with the northern duchies for decades, that will be a neat trick. I expect the Queen will point out that their situation will be much worse if the Solites or Lunites take over and the RN is the best option to avoid that. I also expect her to offer an orcish duchy where they have a degree of self rule.
Trevayne
The bigger question is how do they land again? Apparently, a shard can divert all power to its thrusters and hover. A conventionally powered shard would have problems doing that. It might be easier to build a shard carrier with a flight deck on top resembling an OTL carrier so the non-mithril shards can land easily. Otherwise, they wind up trying to use complicated trapeze arrangements like the OTL USN's Akron and Macon dirigibles which carried their own fighters planes. Edit: As for why he is using OTL designs to copy from, these are the designs that were burned into his memory as part of his arrival on this world, effectively erasing the original William Ashfield. Trying to design completely new aircraft that are better adapted for drop launches would be significantly harder.
Vlad Cold
Hmm... Should he really copy design of planes made for our world carriers? After all, in AIR carrier there's actually no need for catapult or take-off deck: one can just drop aircraft from air carrier, nose down, and that's it: it quickly gains speed and joins action. With take-off ports pointed down(maybe with small angle to vertical) that also makes them quite protected: very inconvenient attack placement and vector required to damage them.
Trevayne
"“The Corsair,” he said, that strange hint of nostalgia in his eyes again. “We’ll call it the Corsair-M.” Well, it wasn’t terrible she guessed, though she did have one question. “What’s the M for?” He shrugged as he watched a blacksmith pounding a dent out of the new design’s frame. “Mithril.”" Interesting thought, I wonder how long it will take for Piper or someone else to wonder if the Corsair-M is designated as Mithril, are there any other variants coming up that will have different letters to represent other power sources?
Trevayne
Interesting question, does William have any idea the Blackstone communications crystals exist? I don't think he picked up on their better coordination, but if he did, that might be a great way to screw over Blackwater. Leak the information about how to develop a better version, without revealing that it can be tapped by another type of crystal. Alternatively, let it work properly so they become dependent on it and then jam it and shut it down in the middle of a critical operation so they can be defeated in detail.
Trevayne
It is a nice idea, but I don't think Blackstone is into new technologies, just new uses for what they already have. They have been fighting for decades/centuries and are recognized as the most combat tested of the ducal fleets. They got that way by better use of their existing stuff, not by trying some gee-whiz new gadget. What they have tried with innovation is the first dedicated, built-from-start shard carrier. IIRC there are other shard carriersm, but they are smaller and generally converted from other ships. They typically carry 8-10 shards. The new Blackstone carrier has 20. Aside from that, the only other new tech we have seen from the Blackstones is the communicator beads Tala used in the team battle. Although interestingly, Tala seems to suggest that there are other innovations, so maybe they are more open to tech advances than I thought. Still, the only ones we have seen are the new carrier and the personal communications crystals. Here is the relevant quote about the Blackstone communications crystals. "Tapping the side of her helmet as discreetly as she could, she felt the tiny spike of ethereal aether that jetted from her fingertip be absorbed through the grill positioned there. A low hum filled her ear as the orb next to it came to life. Once the size of a watermelon, the orb in her helmet had been painstakingly shaved down until it was barely larger than a fingernail. A move that made it useless for conveying any kind of image visually, but still perfectly sized to transmit sound. This, she thought. This is why House Blackstone will reign supreme in the end. Where elves were content to stagnate and wither with the passage of time, humans only continued to change and adapt. House Blackstone exemplified that. The Shard Carrier they were constructing near the capital might have been the largest and most obvious example of that philosophy - but it was simply one amongst many."
Jacob
Not a great example but I couldn't think of a better one
Jacob
Something like "oobleck based flexible anti-spellbolt armor" while he actually gives his people Kevlar
Jacob
Random thought: I really want to see William pull out some actually-useless high-school-science-fair level tech demo and gaslight Blackstone (via their spies) into trying to fully develop it.
Jacob
She wants the increased population of citizens for it's enlarged pool of *draft-eligable potential mages-knights* so she can enlarge her army and better keep the "old countries" Lindholm broke away from off her back.
Jacob
I got chewed out by another commenter when I suggested it. Even though it was specifically mentioned as something in his "warehouse of knowledge" in the last book's epilogue
Trevayne
To add to this, so far Blackstone has been running their conspiracy as a hostile takeover. They want a nice civilized coup where the Royal family sees they are going to lose and quits. That way the Blackstones can take over the kingdom with minimal damage. I would not be surprised if New Haven has been planning to sabotage this and create an open civil war with serious damage to both sides. That way their real masters can come in and takeover, leaving New Haven as their local governor.
Trevayne
Blackstone might expect that New Haven may try something afterwards, but I doubt very much that they are aware that New Haven is backed by the Solite Empire. New Haven doesn't have to beat Blackstone, they only have to weaken the Kingdom enough so the Solites can move in and take over.
mike wade
Blackstone probably already knows new haven is going to stab them the moment they see weakness. But like every supremacy group ever, they use other hate groups for their own ends, and arrogantly think they can win if push comes to shove. Reminds me of the nazis and the KKKs relationship.
Trevayne
Thinking some more about endgames, I wonder how Blackstone will react when and if they find out that their "ally" New Haven has different motives than they do? Blackstone IIRC is a human house. New Haven is an elven house, and more importantly is conspiring with one of the elven empires to take over Lindholm. Which is more important to Blackstone, its slaving or its existence as a human house in a kingdom where it plays a major role as opposed to being crushed by the elven empire when it takes over? For those who would like to see Tala change sides, this might be her best opportunity. Especially if she finds out by being captured and enslaved by New Haven as part of their backstab.
Trevayne
This brings up an interesting point. What is Yelena's preferred endstate? We know she opposes slavery and William agrees. We also know she is worried about a civil war that she would probably lose. Beyond that, what does she want? Presumably a unified kingdom, with the Northern duchies no longer slavers and loyal to the kingdom, but what about the orcs? I assume she is unwilling to grant them independence, but would they settle for anything less? Would they be willing to accept an Orcish duchy ruling their territory with fealty to Lindholm? Would Yelena be willing to offer that?
mike wade
When push comes to shove, what would will choose? Preserve for the future at the expense of the lives of the innocent, or risk the civil war now when they're not prepared yet? What would his unforgiving moral code demand of him?
mike wade
"So I know you guys are former slaves... but now england has abolished slavery! How about we take a quick trip and go live as neighbors of your former owners? I hear they keep the wip over the fire place to remind them of their past mistakes..." Yeah no, tough sell for anyone except war refugees and slaves running away.
Blue Fishcake
Plus... they'd be living under a human's rule. You know, the thing they've been fighting against for generations. Beyond that, they'd be living under Lindholm's rule - the thing they've also been fighting against for generations.
mike wade
He's going to need backup for when his bullshit catches up to him. They need to help ground him.
mike wade
As long as they're non-combatants, he can probably pull it off. Though any soldiers would probably be considered treason (at least by the blackstones) and would instantly kickoff the Civil War.
Hunter
I just thought of something… the main character could offer his land as safety for escaping orcs seeking their freedom. Any pursuing nobles would be breaching his land and starting war with him personally for trying to capture his refugees.
Blue Fishcake
Something I'm very aware of and struggling not to let happen.
Trevayne
Presumably alchemy has some means of relating what it is trying to accomplish to the alchemical means available. Piper's invention of Bear Blood shows that they can do things. She was trying to produce a more stable version of the Earth blood incendiary and she succeeded. I doubt very much that alchemists can't invent explosives once they put their mind to it. They may wind up with very unstable explosives or ones that depend on unusual ingredients and have odd side effects, but I think they can do it. They probably can't invent black powder because it is a different paradigm, chemistry instead of alchemy and the symbolic weight of the ingredients is irrelevant. For one example, alchemists might come up with a silent explosive. Chemistry can't do that because physics do not allow silent explosions unless they are happening in a vacuum. Magic might not have the same limitations.
Conrad34xdsa
Remember. The alchemy that they’re creating is used through magic. Magic that relies off of magical ingredients that can be finicky. For example, eye of toad that was collected over a red full moon mixed with a tooth of a 3 eyed house cat that died the day a groundhog declared that spring has arrived, somehow created a potion that makes you resistant to fire. I don’t think they will come close to the kraken slayer because they will be trying to break through a Scientific brick wall with a magical wooden toothpick. They have the wrong mindset as magic solved their problems but they don’t know why. For example, they don’t know why magic resets the muscle gains when using recovery magic to heal or remove exhaustion, only that it does. Wh you have a magic hammer, you search for the appropriate magical nails. Only now they are dealing with nuts and bolts, but they did not realize that.
Conrad34xdsa
If I had to put money on it. I suspect perhaps a member of the royal family cutting a deal with the black stones in order to survive. Becoming the head of a Ducal house instead of being part of a dead royal house, seems like a fair trade, if the spy provides enough information and create sabotage within the royal military.
Nathan Espindle
Personally I liked sect more but steampunk is still really good and I can see it becoming better than sect once William starts making big political moves. I just hope his classmates doesn’t fall to the sidelines once the magic school arc is done
Trevayne
Agreed. I expect he is probably going to have to use his knowledge of what each subassembly is supposed to look like before the first ones can be assembled. However, once he has done that, they have an example of exactly what they are trying to build and can use their magesmith abilities to duplicate that subassembly. I also agree that there should be some build-up first. Get his group accustomed to basic internal combustion engines first. A WW1 era radial engine like say the Clerget 9B that was the standard power plant for the Sopwith Camel would be one example. That type of engine might be even easier to assemble by his team since it amounts to several identical cylinder assemblies around the central crankshaft. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clerget_9B
Tony
I think a WW2 might be a little too much for the first engine to be created, despite their age they are really complicated and big, since the a lot of them have been reduced since then and have of their components downsized and replaced by other parts. I think the main reason to sue that kind of engines is the fact that they most likely don't use plastics at all. He can probably get away in the beginning with simpler ww1 engines and use the ether to make the planes lighter that would make the engines work better since they have less weight to deal with and faster for the same reasons, and then once he has the whole process and people trained move to heavier and more complicated engines. Now I have no idea if the ether can be stored in containers like gasoline but I'm thinking having them stored in several parts of the planes basically making them lighter for a while. But if blue wants to skip the whole hassle of dealing with that, a complete corsair with a WW2 engine its cool, he will just need to train a whole lot of people to be mechanics for maintenance, that's another reason for simpler engines, teaching people to fix a set of engines that work on very different concept to what they have right now will most likely take a while.
Ryan Gammon
All of your series are like crack to me, but man this one is hitting something special. Sect is my 2nd favorite in HFY history. I was sad to see it put to the side, but I wouldn't have been if I knew this was coming.
Matt Bradock
You need a concept of what you're making. A clear image. That's why the mage-smiths are calling William's work flawless, because he has a photographic memory and a perfect understanding of the inner mechanics of the things he's making. Try explain a watercooled, supercharged V12 engine to a late 19th century guy who never had to study metallurgy and chemistry before because everything was done with magic. Good luck giving them clear enough concepts and mental images. Not gonna be a quick process.
Floplays
id say that magic will drastically reduce the hours and infrastructure needed, i dont know what these magesmiths can really do but i do expect them to be able to manufacture more complex things more easily
Jacob
That technology development should proceed rapidly, or very slowly. It'll depend on how talented the alchemists that try it are because the ones that are bad at it will very quickly self-select themselves out of the effort....and existence
Trevayne
Interesting question, does anybody on this world understand the concept of explosives or hasn't alchemy gotten that far yet? We know they understand incendiaries from this part: "Piper was an alchemist. A fairly talented one at that. She was the one who invented Bear-Blood after all. Prior to her enrolment in the alchemist’s guild, the venerable guild had been churning out a variant of Earth-Blood that did little more than burn hotter and longer. In short, a slight improvement on the base asset of the substance at a ruinous cost in reagents. Ever-Burn, they’d called it. The Navy named it Demon-Piss." However, she doesn't even seem to be aware of the idea of explosions. Presumably, they store grain for food and should be aware of the possibility of grain elevator explosions. Still, it doesn't seem like anyone in the Alchemist's guild is interested in pursuing the idea. Is this just a cultural blindspot, or perhaps they enchant their grain storage to keep pests out and as a side effect they keep dust explosions from happening? Either way, the krakenslayer has literally blown open the doors to whole new fields of research. I can't imagine any self-respecting alchemist that sees an explosion and doesn't say "Wow, how can I make one of those?" Even if they have no idea of how black powder is made, they will be trying everything known to elf, dwarf, man, and orc to try to create explosions. I expect they will start with the incendiary recipes and modify them trying to produce explosions instead of just setting things on fire.
Trevayne
Agreed, I doubt it can go deeper than say 60-100 feet. Just far enough down that it is not visible from the air. Given that ocean water is not usually transparent for more than 10 feet, not that deep. For that matter, I would not be surprised not they painted it to match the color of the sea.
Conrad34xdsa
We know that the Blackstones have a spy inserted somewhere very high up the ranks in the palace. Specifically, someone who would have been in the room when the Queen learned about William having a core and being surprised. Whether or not that means whoever that is is capable of stealing the formula and smuggling it out that’s the question.
Trevayne
I expect the Blackstones know that the Queen has a new weapon that is being used under high-security conditions to kill kraken and make it possible to salvage the mithril cores lying on the bottom in or near the nest. They may know more due to spies, but I expect the actual construction of kraken slayers is the most secret project in the kingdom. I doubt the Blackstones have penetrated it.
Trevayne
Pretty sure this Corsair has a mithril shard powerplant. That is why it known as the Corsair-M for mithril. I expect he is creating the initial version with a mithril core so they can verify all of the other systems work. It also means that it just looks like another design of a conventional mithril-powered shard, as opposed to a revolutionary shard that doesn't use a mithril core.
O
Question. Does this Corsair still have the mithril shard in it, or does it not need it?
Tony
I might be jumping to conclusions here, but if the Orcs know about it, I think the Blackstones would know even more than them, but that might just be me.
Found&Lost
Yes, but flat top carriers with a large central hangar and elevators, not the local ones which each shard has its own hangar Babylon 5/battlestar galactica style.
Trevayne
Edited for clarity. Did you read what I said? I did not say that William was creating engines from scratch by himself. I said I thought that the mage smiths would use their crafting abilities and magic to create subassemblies. Those subassemblies are fitted together with all the parts in place. William then uses his mage smith abilities to adjust the fit. The parts are already in place. All he is doing is adjusting the parts by magic so the whole engine is now perfectly fitted together and can now actually work, instead of explosively disassembling itself the first time they try to start it. I agree that WW2 engines like the Merlin are extremely complicated machines and I question whether someone can create something that complex with such fine tolerances without at least WW2 tooling. Personally, I think he would be better off using WW1 engine tech due to the simpler nature of those engines. That said, if he is going to use a WW2 design like the Merlin, the only way I could see it working if he can use magic to get all the parts fitting together properly.
Trevayne
Err, no. There is zero evidence that the Black stones have obtained a Krakenslayer and the OP has said as much. The Orcs figure the Blackstones can get one from the Queen because Lindholm is a kingdom. I doubt the Orcs have picked up on the political divisions between the Queen and the northern duchies.
JR9364
Hrimfaxi launching burst missiles. I did not see subs on the horizon, love the idea the other factions take airships in different directions per need. If our William went for the Corsair, if he isn't planing to made it his own design, the 3d chess move is outstanding. Gaslighting his people with the interupter gear for forward props, just to justify what he knows would be a better layout for an ICE powered plane. Not sure if the blackstones stole one of his earlier sea mines to use on the orcs, built what Tala thought the kraken slayer was, or the orcs think Blackstone is going to use kraken slayers, but havnt yet.
Timo Geerties
Wasn't it simply the birthrate?
Timo Geerties
Exactly. The Orcs likely don't know or don't care about the intricacies of the kingdom's politics up to the inner divide of the kingdom, only that their decades-long adversaries are the blackstones and that the kingdom managed to kill Al'Hundra. Pretty devastating news if your leaky ship is hiding in the ocean
Timo Geerties
Lindholm is to the east, with a mountain range to the north and an ocean east of Lindholm, coast running from the northern mountains to the south if I understand correctly. I'd guess their airship's currently a submarine in the ocean east of the mountains
Indexo's Vault
Ace combat Zero ost begins to play as the new Corsair-M takes to the sky for the first time.
Dankenobi1
Just a better version of the heli carrier
Tony
So the Blackstones now know that William is the creator of the Kraken-slayer and most likely managed to get one for them, I'd love to know more about that because it looks like the queen dropped the ball hard here. Unless they are still playing nice and allowed them to have a few to use it feels like the Blackstones have infiltrated the crow way batter than the crown infiltrated them being able to get that technology really fast. And now William went from a good marriage prospect to the genius that keeps giving, hi value increases and someone in the Blackstones is probably getting madder and madder that they missed the opportunity to have him in their side. I really like the Idea of the Orcs having their own technology three that goes into very different branches, shows that they aren't as barbaric or stupid as some people seem to believe, I wonder if they will have contact with William later, them going to the elves do feels like they are getting desperate and looking for a safe heaven, too bad for the ones left in the mountains I guess they will be hunted and enslaved... but the worst part in my opinion is that now the Blackstones most likely have a lot more time to arm and get ready for the insurrection. Looking forward the next chapter.
Trevayne
Good points although I think you are missing an angle. The screamer cannot drive a kraken away from its nest, but it will revolutionize maritime transport. Surface ships just got a lot safer to use in seagoing trade because they can use screamers to fend off krakens and since they cannot submerge, will not be able to go near kraken nests which seem to be on the bottom. Conventional sailing ships are a much cheaper form of transportation, even if they aren't as fast, so this will boost trade.
Trevayne
Thinking some more on this, I really like the Orcs coming up with this. It demonstrates that William does not have a monopoly on out of the box thinking. AFIAK all William knows about this is that the Orcs are running a guerilla war against the Northern Duchies, especially Blackwood and that they somehow took three airships. He may know that the Blackwoods managed an ambush that recovered two ships but has no idea of how or where the orcs are hiding those airships. He might eventually hear about it as it leaks from the Blackwoods or he might invent something similar independently, but it is good to see that not all the new ideas are coming from him. For that matter, the bad guys are also thinking, as shown by the Blackwoods inventing the first airship built from scratch as a dedicated shard carrier.
Matt Bradock
Again. It took a thousand man-hours to assemble a single WW2 airplane engine at the peak of the wartime economy, when all parts were available, all tools were available, and the workers were properly trained and experienced. One man-hour equals one man's 1 hour work. So it would take a thousand hours, in ideal or near-ideal working conditions, for one man, to assemble a Merlin, when all parts are already available. Considering a 12 hour stressful workday, that's still 83 days of work for a single man, on a single engine. There is ABSOLUTELY NO WAY IN HELL, even with all the magic in that world, even if you can conjure parts out of thin air with a mere thought, that a single man can assemble one of those in a day, let alone 20.
Hue Man
One step closer to William doing something thought to be impossible by everyone.
Trevayne
Agreed, I am very interested in what kind of engines they can make as well, although I doubt very much they are going to reach WW2 numbers. IIRC, there are probably several hundred shards in Lindholm, with each non-carrier airship having 2-4 and the first built from scratch dedicated carrier (the Brimstone belonging to the Blackstones) having 20. That suggests the Northern fleets (Blackstones and New Havens) have about 60-70 ships with about 260-300 shards* and the RN ships and southern duchies having about 200 or so. The real question is how many shards are there that are land based and do not operate from carriers? The underlying question is what is the range of a mithril powered shard? If it is short, they are probably tied to their carriers. If they can travel several hundred miles, land bases would also work. Getting back to the initial question, I expect William will be producing a few thousand engines. I agree that thousands of engines a month is way beyond hi9s capabilities, especially given the tolerances those engines require. The tolerances were why I was expecting IC shards equivalent to WW1 aircraft just because the engines would be easier to make. However, if William can take an engine built from relatively rough subassemblies and use his magesmith abilities to smooth it into a flawless engine, then he can probably manage to complete 5-10 engines a day. If he can teach some of the other magesmiths to do the same thing, they might get it up to say 20 a day or 600 a month. * my guess is the northern ships are kept up to date so have an average of four shards each (most with two shards, some with four, along with some converted carriers with 8-10 shards, averaging four per ship) along with the 20 on the Brimstone. ** I expect the RN is equivalent to a northern duchy fleet so averaging four shards per ship (most with two but some converted carriers), but the southern duchies are older and average 2 per ship. Overall, about 140 for the RN and 60 for the southern duchies.
Hue Man
So were exactly are the Orcs? They said they were heading East, but Lindholm is already on the east. so will they wrap around the globe and end up in the old continent?
Trevayne
Agreed, great chapter and an unusual method for how the Orcs can hide their captured airships. The interesting question is with the weapons disabled, what do they use it for, just a shard carrier? For that matter, do they transport the wyverns and how? The only way I can see it is if the wyverns are clinging to the top of the hull.
Matt Bradock
Now I'm curious about the engine. Block of aluminium, I guess that's the engine, and since it's a block, the chances of it being a radial engine are low. Did we suddenly jump straight to WW2 era tech? Those engines had literally thousands of precisely machined individual parts. At the peak of WW2, there were 17000 people involved in producing them in the Trafford Park factory in Manchester alone, to produce 400 Merlin engines a month. The amount of man-hours going into a single one is insane, we're talking about a thousand man-hours per engine in a fully equipped and supplied factory, not a single dude trying to piece them together by himself in what equates to a late 19th century foundry and workshop.
MaybeASquid
Submarine carriers that can fly? This is turning into steampunk ace combat and I am absolutely here for it.
MaybeASquid
If were starting at the Corsair, the follow on has to be the Sky raider right? Just thinking how shocked the elves would be when the shard turns out to have a 50' wingspan Both having 20mm cannons would certainly do a lot of damage on the skyskips
Andrew Lechner
New characters. I wonder when they will meet you with William. It's also interesting that the Free Orcs see the Blackstones and the crown as the same thing. Something that is technically true but gives up a room to maneuver politically. For example, the Crown supporting the orcs would tie down the blackstones in the north or be forced into a two front war if they attack the Royals in relation. Though such a proxy conflict would be a PR nightmare considering the mutual hatred the orcs and the north have with each other.
Cormac
He won't decide on a late version Corsair. To go straight from no ICE at all to a supercharged one developing 2000kW isn't feasible. Front-mounted propellers are rare, but at least understood. Folding wings likely has never been done, but people will understand them. The internal combustion engine is a wildly different thing to anything that has come before in this world. Even William with all his perfect recall of otherworldly knowledge will need to take things slowly with them.
Conrad34xdsa
The corsair F4-U5 used a vastly more powerful Super charged turbo engine. My money says he will go for a later version as that was what was popular during the early Cold War and was used extensively during the Korean War. Easier to use the engines that the aircraft was built and designed with then to hodgepodge something together. I think we’ll see P 51s and spitfires for House guard as that will give William the advantage, when the Civil War kicks off to defend his territory as he will be the center for production of ICE Aircraft. The Blackstones might even recognize this and pull a Pearl Harbor style raid on his territory as an opener for the war to prevent the slugging match from shifting to the queens favor
Conrad34xdsa
Hmmmm, they are heading east, if my understanding is correct that’s towards the other empires. The question is which one? If it’s the other empire and not the Solidite, that could even things out as far as intrigue goes because we haven’t heard much from the other empire. With the Blue Haven alliance the Solidite Empire has, an Ork alliance would be interesting for the other empire to wield.
Conrad34xdsa
So… I was going to mention that William was probably going to want to build some sort of submarine of his own for shard recovery, pilot rescue, and commerce raiding for when the war kicks off and he’s able to attack the logistic train of the black stones, and eventually the other continental powers. If, for nothing else he could go full Captain Nemo and ram commerce vessels and fend off his submarine from Kraken’s and fighting against slavery. Does he have any plans for that? The fact that the orcs came up with the idea first is interesting. So Sexy Submarine Babes confirmed! My guess from a few months back before the two week break was right on the mark. Great chapter.
Blue Fishcake
A mage is needed :D
Blue Fishcake
They don't. The Free Orcs know that the Crown has it because Crown ships have been using it to clear Kraken dens. The Blackstone work for the Crown and are part of Lindholm. Ipsofacto, they naturally assume this new weapon will soon be in the hands of House Blackstone.
Dankenobi1
Magic b17 when?
Dankenobi1
Doesn't have to go too deep, just deep enough not to be seen easily
22junk
The only thing they know about the people south of Blackstone territory is that the Blackstones consider them "barbaric and backwards". They probably assume this new weapon they've only heard rumors of from the orc slaves they freed in raids had to be a Blackstone invention.
Dankenobi1
Probs because it was built with carriers in mind for ww2
Dankenobi1
I'm taking the lack of response on why as proof theres a hidden reason, am I looking too much into it, yeah. Is there gonna be a hidden reason, probably not, but I'll be dammed if I don't make the call now
Dankenobi1
Good catch, don't need to have a photographic memory like the rest of the professionals when it's already burned into your mind.
Dankenobi1
Why stop at the merlin, if we go that far I'll be angry if we don't have magic spitfires for the non carrier air fields, that shit was ahead of its time (until jets took over)
Dankenobi1
My assumption is some mage has to put a bit of aether in ect like how how they'd have to "fuel" a shard
Dankenobi1
Can't have been hard for them, and it never confirms they do, only that the orks assume they do
S M
Did I miss something? How did the Blackstones get their hands on a Kraken Slayer? I thought Will was the only person that knew how to make it with the Crown struggling to piece the ingredients together.
Morpheus
Something I thought of that might end up being an issue for william in the future Alchemy works. That might seem odd to be a 'problem' but he is inventing things from the perspective of chemistry. Things that have the whole alchemical 'concepts' thing as well, as would everything in their world to one level or another. Certain things might be able to have their concepts stripped from them; for instance, a bear fang and a human tooth aren't too different from a material perspective, but the human tooth doesn't carry the 'hibernation' concept with it. I imagine a chemically decomposed bear tooth would just become powdered enamel after being broken down, without the 'bear' concepts attached to it anymore. That doesn't work for everything though. She made mention of gold, and sulfur was stated as being volcano associated in an earlier chapter. Both of which are elements and can't break down to lose their concepts in the same way. I wonder if William might find that chemistry involving certain elements (iron, gold, arsenic, etc.) might work a bit differently in this world due to those elements having conceptual weight as well. Or am I totally off base and making the 'concepts' work still requires a mage? making regular chemistry just regular chemistry.
Folly Industries
Given how either affects buoyancy it'd probably be a lot easier too
Cormac
So he is calling his creation "Corsair". Does that mean that it looks like the real world F4-U? If it does, that's fine, I think the Spitfire and Mustang are better-looking, but alright. However Merlin V12 or we riot.
22junk
The talk about maps now being useless with all the sunken cores reclaimed has me wondering: Will the Krakens now make their nests randomly? Since that historical battle sites are no longer red zones, is the entire ocean a redzone? If I understand the point of The Screamer it protects against Krakens actively hunting them but isn’t scary enough to drive one out of its own nest. Will people just have to learn by trial and error, where error means dead sailors and lost ships, or has William made maritime trade too risky to turn a profit? If mass transportation of goods by air ship isn’t economically sustainable then the few islands we saw on the world map might have some rough years ahead of them. Could they strategically place a few cores across the sea floor just to get a reliable location for the god-beast level Krakens, or maybe use the cores as bait and try to hunt the species to extinction? How long would that take? On the other hand, as long as you guard the secret of the Kraken Slayer, you could plop a few cores around the Solites major trade ports just to fuck with them, then wait for the market to shift to new locations, boom the nests, recover the cores, and repeat.
Monday
“Flawless” oooh this implies that the chapter with Williams Patron wasn’t overstating his memory of the things that were seared into his mind. Hopefully word of his capability as a magesmith goes unnoticed. Wouldn’t want anyone to derail his industrial conquest by forcing him into someone else’s!
Monday
i like these odds
Andrew
Thank you!
Oreo-belt25
Magic already exists in this world. William's value and uniqueness is in grounded science!
Blue Fishcake
That's a fun but deeply terrible idea :D
Blue Fishcake
Five to one. It's not a disease.
Business Casual
Hey Blue, questions unrelated to the chapter; What is the ratio of women to men in this world? Do you have plans to reveal why there are less men here? I remember in the prototype for this series it was some disease that wiped men out, but did that carry over to this story?
Business Casual
"What do Krakens fear?" Based on our own world, probably some kind of whale.
The Fire Piper
Daaamn. Wasn't expecting subs!
Larynx Punchworthy
My conspiracy theory is that the twist to book 2/3 will be that William has knowledge from fiction in his brain too, and that he can use magic as a substitute for super advanced tech. Even if he can’t pull from video game weaponry because they were after his time, a Star Trek phaser or shield tech from older fiction would be just as game changing as the front mounted weaponry
Marius Petrauskas
great update, thx.
Skonnchy
I see what you did there lmfao
Kaywye
Okay, so they not only have a submarine mod for an airship...but some kind of enchantment that scares Kraken. Frightening something that size is always a coin toss when it comes to results, 50/50 on either fight or flight reaction. Lol
Moonlightwind
I think they might be specifically referring to wood elves.
Prometheus
A weapon that kills millions per firing and poisons the land for generations is probably not something will has any intention of revealing any time soon. Any person stupid enough to use it is too stupid to have it.
werotan
Great chapter!
Allen Mainville
Orc submarines. Now that’s what I call an invention!
MarakEvans
Did U say Boat?
Found&Lost
Interesting that he chose the corsair over the lightning, mustang, zero or spitfire. I assume that it's because he plans on having an air carrier and storage space for those is at a premium.
Garrett Anderson
Necessity is the mother, after all. Yotul seems fun, I hope she gets to bloody some noses.
Templar9999
I can see a modified airship being able to submerge briefly, but deep dives would be impossible. Airships wouldn't be designed with water pressure in mind, which would steadily build. Compression forces are very different from the concussion impacts sustained in battle. Unless purpose designed to handle the stresses involved. They'd be able to submerge, but likely not deep enough to fully hide there profile from the air. Meaning an observant flyover could still spot them. Though this will give our MC ideas... The plan to petition the old kingdoms is ultimately doomed. They barely see humans as people, much less orcs. At best the clans would be used as cats paws before being exterminated. The screamer is interesting. What do Krakens fear? Do the orcs know what monsters dwell in the deeps?
sir_drop_kick
Holy crap the orcs made a submarine!
Dragoongfa
So... Is Yotul the Orc Milf that will be contesting with Griffith for William's piking? It also sounds that William will be getting a 'second' Sky ship that will be masquerading as a submersible 'soon'. A submersible made out of magical and alchemical bullshitery but still a submersible.
MarakEvans
*Not quite an edit request:* "Because if not she’d have to be the one to name it, and then it’d end up being something like Unicorn-Forward, because she had many talents but naming things wasn’t one of them." Sorry, this line is throwing me off a bit.
Baron Von Mott
Ok, the orcs figuring out how to build submarines is a really awesome addition! It's kinda cool to see someone other than our MC making big innovations! (And as a fan of GloryHammer, gives me some serious "Hootsforce" vibes! XD)
andreas
No I am stupid! No need for nukes! We got magic flying submersible aircraft carrier battle ships!!!
andreas
So. We got magic planes, magic airplane carriers, magic guns and now: magic submarines! When does the magic nuke come?
Blue Fishcake
"Necessity is the mother of invention." With that said, making an airship that can swim is the easy part. The hard part is dealing with the things that will be swimming with it :D
Blue Fishcake
Fixed, thanks :D
MarakEvans
"Instead, the two stood in relative silence as over the next few minutes the frame of the Drake twisted until it was a warped [imitation?copy?] of the Unicorn next to it."
Carlos Torres
Soooo, how did the "primitive" orc's create submersible airships? Because, holy shit that's a huge tech advantage.
Nicholas Roberts
Brilliant as always. William is overconfident, as always. The Blackstones are evil, as always. I'm really looking forward to the day when all these spinning disks you've propped up are set into motion, and crash into one another!
MarakEvans
!
Found&Lost
Finally I can get my fix!
