runs_on_batteries | IC Inbox/ Interactions 2.0

Obviously I don't know who the hell that is. And why are you sending me shit that isn't specific? Are you always so lazy?

[He listens as Sully continues on with some of the description, but of course, has to interrupt.]

That's my point. If you were putting armor on the drone/ cannon/ whatever, you'd put it on the bottom not the top. Sure it'd look like a flying diaper, but then it'd just more accurately reflect what a deuce this design is. Any gain this machine gains in armor it's losing in being easy to hit. How about designing something that flies that doesn't need wings?

Oh fuck me sideways, are you drawing again?

[He groans, but waits. Sort of.]

Okay we had a mechanical bee, then a flying diaper, and now a bong with wings.

And now we have a blimp... At least I'm getting the idea as to why you have no issues with a bulky bee if your aircrafts are flying ocean liners.

Nero tol Scaeva. The engineer who first designed the, ah, 'drone' in question. And you seem to have managed to grasp the basics well enough without assistance.

[That he would have been more specific if he had intended it as something other than a way to see what Tony was capable of goes unmentioned.]

And did you not hear the part where it had been meant to support a larger warmachina? One that would have had its own compliment of weapons?

[And would have been more well-armored besides, though he doesn't mention as much.]

But in answer to the implied question. The wings are as much for maneuverability as they are anything else. Ceruleum gas provides much of the requisite lift in any given design. Nor do current technological advances allow for controlled flight without some manner of wings, especially in the absence of some manner of magic.

I did, I just still don't understand the point of these things if they aren't going to have defenses in the direction attacks are coming from.

[He opened his mouth to argue further but then he paused and stared at the blank screen for a moment.]

Wait,... Sully, what are we doing?

[It dawns on Tony that he did ask to see the fellow's designs. He was so used to getting things and fixing them that he'd automatically started doing that but perhaps that wasn't the point here.

And now he almost felt bad. Almost.]

You're showing me the height of technological advances from your world?

Yes? [He says it as if he thinks it ought to have been obvious, though he does at least continue on shortly thereafter.] The precursor to what would become the modern ceruleum engine was only created some 60 or so years ago.

[Which is not to say that the field of magitek hadn't grown by leaps and bounds! But it's still very much a relatively new field.]

The taller ships are designed as mobile scouting platforms, able to cross a variety of terrain or make a difficult crossing by air should the terrain become genuinely impassable otherwise. The 'blimps' are the more commonly found commercial airships.

[Crap. He really hadn't meant to do that. While he wasn't willing to actually apologize- because, come on, the guy was a tool- his tone changed. Maturing sucked.]

Did you have a hand in designing either of these?

The mobile platforms, yes. That particular model of airship, however, is not strictly of Garlean design.

[Still, the lack of an apology doesn't seem to bother him any. Indeed, he may not have been expecting one, much less seen a reason for there to be one.]

It looks like a tall lady's boot, one of those old-fashioned things. You have more embellishments on your mechanics than I'm used to. Is there a reason for it to be so.. top heavy like that?

While they are capable of flight, as designed they were meant to remain largely stationary upon reaching a suitable vantage point. A power-saving measure, you understand. Incorporating a number of viewports allows for a greater ability to accommodate for both more mountainous terrain as well as greater insight on the field of battle, should they be called upon to serve in that capacity.

[A pause.]

The embellishments are... largely decorative. But could serve to identify which legion any given ship had been assigned to.

[They'd be so much better off using planes, but clearly they hadn't figured something out as far as energy went.]

What are these using as fuel? How plentiful is it?

[Probably, yes. But for all that larger warships do exist, even those are nothing quite like planes - and that there are but a scant handful of airships even outside of Garlemald rather limits the possibilities when it comes to air-to-air combat.

(Which is, of course, the point to some degree, but Emet is hardly about to mention that.)]

Ceruleum, of course. [Pause] An aether-rich liquid found in abundance across the continent of Ilsabard.

[He sighed irritated in that pause, but he was glad he didn't actually have to say anything.]

What's aether exactly? I've heard the term used for other worlds but it's not used in mine. I want to make sure the meaning is the same in yours.

Also, how many nations are you having to fight against that you need all these warships?

I can hardly speak to other worlds. Only my own.

[It may be the same. It may not be. Either way, there's only a brief pause before he begins his explanation.]

Aether is the current through which life flows. Ever-present, within and without, granting life to that which otherwise would be lifeless. Indeed, that alone might well have been enough. But it is more than simply that. Aether is the heart of life and the soul of magic. And it is for that reason ceruleum is held in such high regard - to touch it is to touch magic.

[Raw, unrefined, unfocused, and often explosive magic, yes. But magic nonetheless.

A pause follows, as he switches tracks back to the more mundane sorts of explanations for the rest of Tony's questions.]

As to the rest... the world from which I come is one of tenuous alliances and often uncertain borders. Conflict is, regrettably, inevitable - even were one to look at merely those of men and not consider even, say, the whims of the dragons one might come across. Any one of which would might prove troublesome even were one able to manipulate aether - that is, to cast magic. As such, many nations employ a number of mages both in their armies and elsewhere. Garlemald does not. Cannot, even - her citizens lack the ability and are thus at something of a natural disadvantage.

Why can't Garlemald?

[This was a lot of information and without really any practical use for it just now, Tony's interest was starting to wane a bit. Although that really wasn't Solas' fault. Tony never did have much of an attention span.]

Also, are you interested in improving some of these designs or what? The history lesson is great and all, but I have another city's history and magic and gods and all that to figure out too.

Because her people cannot. [There's a faint edge of 'like I just said' in his voice, at that.] Or had you meant to ask at the reasons they lack the ability?

[Which he is also more than willing to get into, should Tony have any particular interest.]

And you are free to do as you will with the designs. I cannot guarantee any modifications will see use, should I manage to return to the world from which they have come, but I can hardly stop you from making them.

[The answer is no.]

You know what, I'm so bored, I don't even remember.

[He yawns and checks his watch- not that Solas can see him.]

You'll have to excuse me, Sully. I need to go stick my hand in a socket. Next time, can we do this over some wine?

If you insist.

[He's not sure how much it will change, in the long run, but it's not something he'd be particularly against, either. Still, unless Tony has anything else to say, he'll leave it at that.]

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