[Center][img]https://i.imgur.com/suxMrIz.png[/img][hr][hr][b][colour=009fff]Event:[/colour][/b] White Thresher [b]|[/b] [b][colour=009fff]Location:[/colour][/b] Zengali
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Ayla spotted Leon hurriedly emerging from the vendor's stall, clutching a mysterious box. Intrigued, she made her way over and noticed both Penny and Taleja holding similar items. Waving toward Penny, she approached the pair with curiosity. [colour=009fff]"Hola, soy Ayla. What are these things we've bought?"[/colour] She nosily examined the decorative illustrations adorning each box, each seeming to tell a unique story. One in particular caught her eye: a woman with flared eyebrows and a colourful dress. [colour=009fff]"By Ipte, she looks beautiful, doesn't she?"[/colour] Ayla smiled widely as she picked up one of the boxes, then turned to address Fanaka. [colour=009fff]"How much are these story boxes you're selling? We'd like to make a purchase."[/colour]

Fananka was an educated man, educated enough to spot said Ayla Arslan, Closest friend of Maura Mercador and co-owner of the Arslan-Mercador trade company. He placed a hand over his chest and did a small bow to Ayla, [color=black]"Saludos, soy Fanaka, un humilde mercador del Mar de Ensolian."[/color] his Torrogonese and manners were relatively good towards Ayla. He glanced at the box before thanking the gods she didn't want to continue in her native tongue, a man can only know so many languages. [color=black]"Her beauty is something quite to behold and in a distant land she is the aspiration for many young women. For a small sum of 5 magus, I would happily hand it over to another woman blessed by Ipte."[/color] Fanaka only smiled.

Ayla curtsied before Fanaka, [colour=009fff]"Muchas gracias."[/colour] She reached for her coin purse and extracted five magus coins, paying the merchant what was due before accepting her new box. Like the others, she followed suit and opened it to inspect the contents.

Ayla opens up the container and is met with a most wonderful scene. High quality makeup. Vibrancy unheard of outside things freshly made. Tools for applying that she had never seen. At the bottom was a booklet that described what they were along with some makeup theory on how to make people bow to you in avincian. The makeup had names and labels written in a language Ayla was not familiar with. The last words in the booklet are,

"A woman needs no force or words when men drop to their knees to just see them."

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Ayla headed to the archery range where a young man was preparing various explosive mixes and cannonballs, hard at work perfecting his formulas for the upcoming hunt.

“It’s just not good enough,” Kitwana said, frustration evident in his voice. The gunpowder burned too slowly, failing to produce the desired blast. He had to use what they had and work with the deflagration properties to achieve the outcome the Marquis desired.

Ayla waved as she approached. Kitwana looked up briefly before returning to his work. “I said I’ll get the new prototype finished in a couple of hours,” he said exasperatedly, then sat down. “Do you happen to be an alchemist or know about explosives?” Ayla shook her head. [colour=009fff]“They are not my speciality, but we know a lot about combustion.”[/colour] Kitwana gave a wry smile. “Good enough, I suppose.”

Ayla sat next to him. [colour=009fff]“We find that leaving a problem and coming back with fresh eyes helps.”[/colour] Kitwana looked at her, took a sip from his water flask, and pondered for a moment. “I suppose it can’t hurt.”

They spoke for a while, and Kitwana shared his background. He was the son of a miner; his family worked in the mines or in positions supporting them. They had struggled with cheap imports from the great alliances, but the Marquis, a cautious man, didn’t want to fully rely on imports. Kitwana had always been fascinated with gunpowder and explosions, dreaming as a child of making the biggest boom possible. As he grew older, he focused on making mining safer and more effective by finding an alternative explosive to gunpowder. He had found a successful candidate, which attracted the Marquis’s attention. Now, he was tasked with creating an explosive shot for the hunt. However, his compound couldn’t be produced in significant quantities, so he had to rely on available resources. He had no interest in military matters or using his work to blow up a creature, but he couldn’t refuse the Marquis, especially since his research was funded and his family relied on his support.

“And now I need to deliver, but it’s not good enough. Gunpowder burns too slow for the punch needed,” Kitwana sighed. “If I tweak the mixture, it becomes too unstable, and the last thing we want is them exploding on the ship.” He sighed, clearly in a predicament. Ayla hadn’t a clue about exploding cannonballs, but she thought Kitwana might appreciate a different perspective. “We might not be able to help much, but what if, instead of trying to do everything with one thing, we break it up?” She considered an example. [colour=009fff]“When you use coldfire, the initial spell sets things alight, and then the fire causes the damage. Maybe you can put some gas in the cannonball to ignite the gunpowder, letting the gunpowder do the exploding.”[/colour] Kitwana laughed. “Gas is too unstable; it could leak and sink the fleet.” He considered her words and examined the theory. “So, instead of using one mixture, we use two. We create a secondary chamber.” He took a quill and put the idea to parchment. “With these explosive cannonballs, when fired from the cannon, the initial spark sets the fuse. They’re timed, so when the fuse hits the powder, they erupt.” He drew a smaller circle within the ball. “But if we do a second chamber, the gunpowder will ignite this, and I can use my compound to detonate the cannonball, causing the rest of the gunpowder to erupt together, creating a bigger explosion. Only a small amount is needed, so we might produce enough for the hunt tomorrow.” He stood up from the bench and started perfecting the idea. “The second chamber will be more secure, less likely to cause an accident. Perfect, this is the solution I needed.” He smiled widely and grabbed Ayla’s hands. “Thank you, you saved my neck on this one.” He hurried to put things into place.

“Oh, before I forget, I never asked why you were here…?” He looked at Ayla curiously. Ayla sheepishly held out the bronze pass given by the Marquis. [colour=009fff]“We heard about the explosive balls. We thought it would be easier to drop them from my dragon than to fire them from a cannon.”[/colour] Kitwana rubbed his chin. “Your idea has merit. If you time it right, you should be able to use them far more accurately.” He made a note on a slip of parchment and handed it to Ayla. “I’m busy and have a lot of work to do, but as a thank you for your help, I’ll make sure to provide you with what can be spared.” He smiled widely and shook her hand. “Best of luck with the beast tomorrow.”

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