A little work - May 21

[Chaser617]

You were not far off, there are such things as speed-loaders for shotguns, beleive me.

[Namrepus221]

I don't know if anyone else noticed this, but in the last panel..


Quentyn has a green nose.

[DracoDei]

All the guesses so far have been things that use lux.

Actually a lot of my ideas came with non-lux or lower-lux alternatives.
Grapeshot instead of levin-bolt thrower.
Grappling hook for an anchor instead of something that uses attraction principles.
Bull horn instead of a lux-based megaphone.



And the High Energy Rebounding Ovine Deployment System (H.E.R.O.D.S.) can be realized in a large number of ways... you can simply wrap the sheep in a layer of dynamite sticks, and then put springs outside of that, or you can use lux, or you can gut the sheep, and then fill it with hydrogen (making sure to inflate it nice and tight so that you get a proper amount of rebounding effect and attach a fuse, or lux based ignition timer.

[DracoDei]

I don't know if anyone else noticed this, but in the last panel..
Quentyn has a green nose.

I do beleive that fact was noted in another thread... I myself missed it when reading the strip.

[StrangeWulf13]

However the first time Honest fired his, it shot ALL the quills at once.

*ahem* Not to nitpick, but I believe you meant to say "the first time Quentyn fired his..."

Playing a little too much D&D lately?

[Wanderwolf]

Plus, the luftship is more for long-distance runs, not flying a search pattern. Most of the time he's going to have to park that thing someplace secure and proceed on foot. Loading it up with equipment he can't carry would be kind of pointless.

Hm, good point. My toilet idea still works, using the same general mechanism as an RV does... but only for the long trips, again like an RV.

Scrap the food preserver, obviously. I didn't know Lux was so easily detectable. But hey, smoked, salted, dried, jerked... lots of Lux-free ways to keep your food edible (and maybe a few spices to keep it edible a little longer... hey, that's what they were for, way back when).

Given the "word of God", however (sorry, Ralph), I believe I was right to speak against the Lux-cannon idea. Not only is bringing a weapon not a really good idea, but it would be attached to the ship and a big, honking sign of Lux. Big no-no.

The white paint job fits with my original idea, mind you; cloud camo.

Given it's the artifactors, we can safely assume some non-Lux items, as essential to the situation. The toilet, for example, and a practical sail with an attachable mast (since the sail is quite IM-practical during flight). The golem (while I still think it a clever idea) is obviously right out.

Hm, working from my extensive knowledge of ancient clockwork, I know the following could be on the refitted luftship:

Magnetic compass (Lux-free and very useful... more useful if they've discovered standard deviation.)

Spring-loaded grapnel launcher (Lux-free and very useful for moorings. I rather doubt Quentyn wants to risk jumping out to hook a grapnel while the wind is blowing.)

Mechanical Lux-detector (Hey, if they exist, they'll come in really handy for this mission. And since you just said they exist...) (Not attached to the ship, obviously, or at least not JUST attached to the ship.)

A package of tappers. (Remember, tappers don't give off Lux... they absorb and dissipate it. Useful if you want to transport a discharged artifact, rather than a charged one that will send up a metaphorical red flag.)

An anemometer, thermometer and barometer, for simple weather predictions. (Always useful, especially on a luftship.)

Spring-loaded anchor deployment (for the same reason as the grapnel launcher, for those places with no trees... may just be an anchor to attach to the grapnel line)

Block and tackle (remember what Quentyn said: Some of these artifacts are HUGE)

Diptych sundial (No, not a dirty word. A diptych sundial was an early travelers' convenience of the Middle Ages. It was a hinged case that opened to ninety degrees. On one face of the case was a horizontal sundial; on the other, a vertical sundial. The string that limited it to ninety degrees served as gnomon for both dials. You opened it, held it level, and turned until you found the position at which both dials read the same. At that point, you not only have the time, but the latitude [if you know the formula] and the direction of True North [as opposed to Magnetic North]. There's a picture of one at Wikipedia.) Perhaps even one for personal use and a larger one for use aboard ship. After all, pendulum-based clocks were notoriously unreliable aboard ship.

A geared winch (both for mooring and for use with the block and tackle... remember, HUGE)

Hm, he's going by air, so the ancient Chinese inertial compass is right out...

<runs through known ancient inventions>

Hm... I can't really think of any more ancient inventions that would fit the needs of the mission. Anyone else?

Yours truly,

The wolfish,

Wanderer

[Anthony Lion]

All the guesses so far have been things that use lux. Wouldn't it be much more practical to install a lux generator so you can raise the local lux field to something Quentyn is more used to? Even if a wind powered one wouldn't work while you're sailing, you can land and set it up to charge your cells and other gear for local operations.

Why wouldn't it work?

For it NOT to work at all, the ship has to move with exactly the speed of the wind, and how often does that happen?
(Remember, there's inertia, sudden gusts and so on... )

It just won't be as efficient as if it's stationary.

I've been studying a bit about shipboard electrics, and particularly power-generation on sailboats...
(I want to build my own boat... Even have the plans ready, I just need a place to build it)

On the other paw, if he can tether the ship somewhere(all tree, mountaintop, church-spire...) and rise up into faster air-currents...

[Wanderwolf]

Also--- <I>he's trying to keep a low profile.</I> Magic gives off tell-tales that are detectable in multiple ways.... not all of them limited to magic users, some of them mechanical and in common use--- with the agents of the Universalist church, for instance. Cruising about with dozens of powerful in-use magic items would make him stand out like a one-man band.

Um, Ralph? I expect you've thought this through, but... well, he's a three-foot-tall talking raccoon. Humans haven't seen his like in hundreds of years. Just how inconspicuous can he get? I mean, the story about the mechanical rice-picker just won't work here... :>

I mean, I don't have much to draw a comparison from, but here goes:

Three hundred years ago in RL, people wore powdered wigs, stockings and inch-high heels... and these were the men!

Now if someone showed up dressed like that, they'd stand out pretty thoroughly, don't you think? And this is just a simple, baseline human we're talking about. People would stare and talk and follow him around.

I agree on the matter of hiding from certain religious authorities and their Lux detectors, but Ralph... if Quentyn is going to try and fit in, he has bigger problems than Lux detectors.

-----------------

"Excuse me?"

I turned around from the shelf I was stocking and saw no-one. I looked around a moment longer and heard it again.

"Excuse me? I beg your pardon, but may I please have some help here?"

I blinked. The voice seemed to be coming from below the level of the counter. I walked over, leaned across, and looked down.

The masked face of a racoon peered up at me... a raccoon wearing... a green hat? A white shirt? A green overtunic and trousers?

I shook my head to clear it and looked back down. The raccoon was still there. Still there and looking... slightly annoyed?

"Is there a problem?"

I blinked hard, but he was still there. In the end, I decided to fall back on routine. "Um, no. No, sir. No problem at all. How may I help you?"

The raccoon nodded, as most of my customers do. "I wish to purchase some trail rations. Do you have trail rations to sell?"

I nodded. Routine is a wonderful thing when your brain refuses to deal with a large problem. "Yes, sir. Our general store carries all the necessities for a journey. How many days will you be on the road, if I may ask?" I am not talking to a raccoon, my mind insisted. He is not talking back to me. There is no green-hat-wearing raccoon in my shop. I am insane...

The raccoon, who of course couldn't have been there to begin with, and certainly not wearing a green hat, seemd to pause to consider. Paws to consider?, my brain chattered, desperate for something to say. "I believe I shall purchase two weeks' worth of trail rations", he said (though of course not really) at last. "What do you recommend?"

I blinked, routine coming to my rescue once again. "For two weeks, sir? I'd recommend one of these cheeses", I said as I put a small wheel of cheese on the counter, "along with two pounds each of the jerked meat and trail mix."

The raccoon didn't climb up on the counter, of course (though he did). He couldn't possibly have looked over the cheese... which, now that he was next to it, I saw was almost as big as his head... or sniffed at it with a wet-looking black nose. He nodded. "To how much does that come?", he asked me in that oddly formal tone.

I ran the figures in my head. Trail rations were too expensive for most folk, and we only carried them for caravans passing through. My master had drilled me for months on prices, I should... ah, yes. "Seven solidii, or seventy uncias, whichever you have."

"Solidii..?", he asked, puzzled. "Are those the gold ones, or the silver ones?"

"Um, the gold ones", I answered. "Uncias are silver."

"Ah. I believe I have enough", he said with a nod. "One moment." He reached into a small pouch that couldn't really have been hanging at his waist and dug out a handful of gold and silver, the likes of which I'd only ever seen in a merchant's hand. "One... two... three... four... five... six... seven. There are your seven solids, shopkeeper."

"Um, solidii", I corrected him absently as I collected the imaginary money from my imaginary customer. "Thank you, sir. Most people find the price a little excessive." I almost bit my tongue. My master would have beaten me if he'd been there, for that litle slip. But the raccoon just laughed.

"I am happy to meet an honest merchant", he told me. "The novelty alone is enough to make up the difference." He sniffed the cheese again as he laboriously packed it away, in a sack he'd taken from his belt. "Beside that point, it is good food. I have missed the flavor of goat cheese on my journey."

I managed to strangle my own comment on novelty before it could leap from my tongue, and watched as the raccoon walked out the door. He was wearing boots, of all things!

It was then, naturally, that my master walked back into the shop. "There, you see?", he boomed. "You handled that customer quite well, even if", he raised his hand in warning, "you still have much to learn about keeping your opinions to yourself. Sounded odd, but you kept a civil tongue in your head. This the money?" He scooped it up before I could speak, peering at it closely. "Old coins... must have been some adventuresome type, just back from a ruin or something." He looked at me, standing there with my mouth half-open. "Well, apprentice? Is there something you want to say?"

Go ahead, whispered a mocking voice in my mind. Tell him you saw a talking animal, just like the ones in the fairy tales you heard from your village storyteller. Tell him those gold coins came from a little talking raccoon. He might actually believe you... when pigs grow wool.

I shut my mouth. "No, sir", I answered him. "Nothing important."

--------------

Yours truly,

The wolfish,

Wanderer

[Madmoonie]

(inane giggles erupt from behind Moonie's computer)

Oh, that was hilarious wulf! Very good!

[Tom Mazanec]

Maybe that is how he will get along. Everybody will think they are hallucinating when they see him!
Seriously though, humans know about talking raccoons. Its just that they think that they are extinct (although they are one of the theories about the Mistwall). It would be more like someone bringing a dodo bird to a zoo.

[RHJunior]

When I say he would "stand out like a brass band," I refer to various "scrying" methods. He would become detectable to those methods <I> from dozens or even hundreds of miles away.</i> And whether or not little magical raccoons are of interest to the observers or not, shiny magical items WILL be.

[The JAM]

Well, so much for a Somebody Else's Problem Field around him...

[Wanderwolf]

When I say he would "stand out like a brass band," I refer to various "scrying" methods. He would become detectable to those methods <I> from dozens or even hundreds of miles away.</i> And whether or not little magical raccoons are of interest to the observers or not, shiny magical items WILL be.

I know, Ralph, I know. I just couldn't resist the opening you handed me. But did you at least like the mini-story?

Yours truly,

The hopeful,

Wanderer

[Wanderwolf]

(inane giggles erupt from behind Moonie's computer)

Oh, that was hilarious wulf! Very good!

<bow> Thank you, Madmoonie! I aim to please.

Yours truly,

The wolfish,

Wanderer

[AYBABTU]

Now, DracoDei? You're overthinking this. Doppler radar? Night vision? A lux-cannon, for crying out loud? He's trading, not invading!

Oh, god, I wish he was invading...I'm a war-game junkie, sue me.