[IC] Ragtag: Steampunk treasure hunting.

[The book of bad juju]

Elani smelled the dwarf before she saw her. The deep rich tones of Armenian plum was overpowering, but in a good way, like someone had left a bottle of perfume out in the sun. The dwarf(As the pungent odour appeared to be emanating from) was short, stout with hair twisted tight into braids, In quite a lot of respects the perfect dwarf . Which rose the question of the smell. Elani was familiar with stenches. They came with the job. But perfumes, scents, dainty hints of touch were a completely unexplored valley. Maybe this was normal practice for people happy to spend all day down a dusty mine shaft? To overpower the nostrils through sheer volume?

"I'm of your opinion, friend," Came her voice, gently like the clanking of silverware on a stone floor. "It's a curious mix, clamoring for those papers. I'm sorry to ask a favor, but can you read by chance? I'd like to know what that banner and those papers say, out of curiosity. I thought I heard someone say sailing off...?" The question hung like a baited hook, and Elani didn't bother to keep it dangling. "Apparantly, Missus. The gaudy sign is talking about some kind of trip. For what purpose, exactly, that seems to be a little bit of a myste-"

" 'Ello there."

A third voice, from the young lady she'd tried to grab attention from barely two seconds ago. She seemed nervous. Species divide? Or just the pressure of being inside a crowd of complete strangers and signing up for an expedition of peril? Either way, best to be courteous. A face like that had a certain value, and it might be worth something to befriend this enemy. Or at the least, to not be enemies. The lady reopened her mouth, and continued. "I'm Anisa, and this is a treasure hunting expedition." She said a little louder, as if to make herself heard above the sudden sound of an engine spinning into life.

"Mmm, treasure hunting?" Elani sounded, almost as if she was trying out the words to see if they fit, It was out of doors, yes, Dangerous, but in that romantic sense that implied that bards would sing of your feats in concert halls across the sky after you'd died. Treasure hunting would do nicely. "Well, thank you for that, Missus Anissa. Could someone be so kind as to pass us - oh, thank you sir- " Her eyes darted across the sheet of fresh print the man in the centre of all this attention was handing out. Phrases like "Limited liabillity" and "In the event of your departure" hit the eyes first. She turned back to her vertically challenged friend. Seems like she'd got the gist of it, at least.

"It's a contract. A sheet of paper you sign in order to begin working. Quite a lot of sesquipedalian bureaurcray, but mostly harmless. I might want to go through some of this with a fine comb later, but if you sign it, you go onboard that ship," She pointed with a free hand, and fumbled in a pocket for a fountain pen. She signed it. The thing leaked halfway through the word "Cleavensplodge".

[Korigon]

Whatever was happening now, Katewyn wasn't very interested in. The ginger female with the sword was interesting, perhaps. She could try to know her later. The same feeling extended to a few other people, but right now she just wished to go to sleep. It was similar to the start of hunting games. There were great speeches, and everyone saying "Hello!" to each other, and it bored her to death. She had nearly zoned out, but the signing of papers caught her attention. It had taken her awhile to flip through all of it, for you could never know where it might say "Sign this, and your fortune goes to me!" There were a few more people now, a dwarf included. The stench was quite aggravating, but she'd have to bear it.

"If it's alright with you," She said, addressing the captain, "May I go explore the ship? I'm not one for introductions."

[NorthernGR]

Maithien gave a hurt expression, upset by the hunter's request to move on. "Bu.. Bu-t I practiced a speech and everything!" He argued, nearly flabbergasted at the thought of the woman not staying to listen. "Bah!" He grumbled, waving his hand in a dismissive manner. "If you so wish, though while you're down there please tell Mister Maelvon that if it lets him sleep better at night. He may go to the port-master and hire some extra hands. I would do this myself, but it seems he did not find it fit to stay on deck to wait for an answer." Maithien then grabbed the papers from Katewyn before focusing back on the group.

"Well Miss Aria, we will be stopping at a village on the surface named Braelv to.... Pick something up you see." Maithien answered with a smile on his face, before catching a whiff of something interesting. 'What is that smell? Slightly fruity... Where in blazes is it coming from?!' Had the dock workers put some of his crates of food stores in the wrong place?!

[Mokley]

Simnia had been peering hard at the elf, determined to hear and to understand every word despite the noisy jabber all around and the ever-present problem that was the distance between their heights -- but then, Anisa's quiet voice reached her clearly, and the dwarf grinned brightly upon her. There was a swell of appreciation in Simnia's heart that this little human did not appear to be condescending to a lowly dwarf, as most other humans tended to be.

"A pleasure to meet you, Miss Anisa," she said with a respectful bow of her head, as she had done all her life when meeting a human, and it never occurred to her to do any differently. "My name is Simnia, and I'm a Free Dwarf." She took great pleasure in saying those two words. They made her feel a bit giddy. But she had noticed how much fear was reflected in Anisa's eyes, and she tipped her head and patted the girl's shoulder in worry, leaving a trace of apricot smell on her sleeve. "Are you all right, dear? You look pale."

She was distracted by the flash of a wad of papers being waved in her face, and with a dazed stare Simnia took them, and she squinted with a befuddled expression at all the silly markings all over the page. Her new elven friend was kind enough to translate, though, and it was enough for Simnia to know that there was a way open to her to board that ship and get out of this awful thieving place for good -- treasure hunt or no treasure hunt, none of it made any difference to her.

"Well I don't know about any cesspool bureausy," she huffed in response to the elf's explanation, "but a ship's a ship, and I think I'd like to be on it regardless, if this paper here means that much," she said to both Anisa and the kind elf, but she was still a bit unsure when she asked the elf, "could I possibly borrow that pen?" When she had it, she fumbled with it, and wrapped her fingers awkwardly around it and poked a hole through the page in her attempt to make a mark on the line. She muttered under her breath, poked a few more holes, made a splotch of ink, and finally dipped her finger in the splotch and spread it around in a thick scribble, and that was good enough for a signature she didn't have.

Having returned the pen to the elf, Simnia pushed her way to the table and paused uncertainly, giving the well-dressed human there a scrutinizing and suspicious look before she spoke. "Excuse me very much, good sir," she said in a hard voice raised to be heard over the chatter, "pardon me, but what sort of work and quarters, exactly, might or might not be available aboard your ship for a Free Dwarf? I have been a mechanic at the lowland rail lines," she added quickly, "I know my way around the machines, if you've got any, Sir, and my name is Simnia." She wouldn't escape slavery only to be condemned to slavery aboard a ship -- and she worried that her new elf friend and the pretty Anisa may have just signed their freedom away, too. She clutched the holey, splotched contract as if it were the very freedom she had only so recently won, and she watched Maithien with a steady and fiery determination.

[NorthernGR]

"Just a minute Miss" Maithien said. "My focus is on something else at the moment.." Indeed, that something else being what in the world that smell was. He could swear he had smelled something like it before. But he couldn't put his finger on it! It was even stronger now, it was almost like it was right upon him.. Looking at the short little dwarf in front of him, Maithien came to a realization. Oh.. The smell is coming from her. Is this the type of perfume people wear these days!? Knowing better than to raise the question to the woman, Maithien decided to just let the issue pass. "Uhm.. Actually I suppose it isn't that important." He corrected.

"Mechanic eh? Well the the matter of our engines would better be left to Dariq, I am just now seeing the ship for the first time also.." Pointing behind him to where the very same ship rest. "Though I doubt this ship flies itself, as magnificent as that would be. So you can more than likely count on some form of job security here with your skills" Maithien guessed. "If not, I'm sure we can some other kind of work for you."

_____________________________________

At the entrance of the docks stood a band of men.. Well not all men, the group was made up of many different species and races. Each one had a sword strapped to their side and a flintflock holstered on their hip. The sound of murmuring, mumbling, and grumbling could be heard from the mouths of these men. At the front of the pack stood a stout dwarf, face hard and scarred, with a mop of long black hair on his head and a beard to match. If one was to lay eyes upon this group, it would be without question that this dwarf was in charge. Due to the way he carried himself and how the rest of the men followed him.

"Alright boys, lets find em.." He uttered clear and stern.

At this the entire group hushed and began following their leader as the walked their way along the docks. Scanning whatever there was to see, looking for their goal. "What the 'eck is that?" One of the men questioned loudly, pointing towards a loud and colorful banner than hung from one of the ships. The dwarf chuckled, before replying back. "That is what we're looking for." At this the group converged on the ship.

"Will the Captain of the ship kindly show himself!" The dwarf bellowed, with a sickly grin on his face.

[Deth_Glitch]

Daliq didn't hear the shout due to the loud rubble of the engines but he could see a large group outside the window, but that had not (as of yet) noticed him. So he headed up, at a fair pace, to the deck. He upholstered his pistol while he was just out of sight, checked it was loaded and then held it behind his back with his left hand, his right lay resting in the hilt of his blade. "Oi, Master Garret, are these more of are crew or 'r they just here to soak in the sight of our ship, sah?" He asked, know neither of thise were likely answers as he walked steadily towards the port-side of the ship where the gangplank lay. He knew that he could get away, but he didn't know if the cackle of women which was to be their crew could handle themselves, let alone hold them off on the far side of the void while he went to sever their ties to the dock. He wasn't worried about the engines so long as the ship could either drop or gain in altitude fast, he could get the rotors spinning later.

[Korigon]

The captain hadn't reacted well to Katewyn wanting to leave, but why would she care about what he though? It was no use wasting her time sitting around, better to go to work preparing. She had just stepped off the gangplank as she noticed the crowd of men approaching. All had weapons, and all looked like unsavory characters. The situation seemed interesting - The older elf had whipped out a pistol. It was now hidden behind his back, and in his other hand he grasped his sword hilt. "Well!" Katewyn thought to herself. "Atleast it isn't all speeches and papers." She had now unstrapped her rifle, and even though it was pointed at the ground, she was already planning on her shots. She'd take down the dwarf first, mainly because she hated dwarfs, but he also appeared to be the leader of the scum.

(( Good shooting! ;D ))

[StarCatcher]

Anisa listened to the introductions of Elani and Simnia- even though she didn't like how the dwarf had touched her- contact like that made her highly uncomfortable, and she was relieved when they were distracted by the papers. She looked up at the ship and examined it- biting her lip, and got prepared to board. Just then, she noticed a group of men approaching them, and fear welled up inside her once more. She didn't like the way they looked or talked- and she currently didn't have a single weapon on her. If anyone were to attack her, she wouldn't be able to protect herself. Instead, she shrunk back into the crowd of women- most of them seemed more well equipped than her, and she hoped that they'd protect her, even though she didn't see as to why anyone would help someone they really didn't know.

[The book of bad juju]

Elani had to stifle a laugh when the dwarf handed back her pen. Not since that night at the opera had she been forced to keep her laughter bottled up inside of her. She was just so... dwarfy, was the best way of putting it. So stereotypical. She managed to hide her grin behind a hand and a coughing sound. Luckily, the girl didn't seem to notice, or if she did, she didn't make it obvious. Elani looked down at the paperwork, and crossed off a few of the more restrictive sub-clauses. Nothing major, just little alterations to the contract that weren't... fully legal, strictly speaking. She was just behind the dwarf and ready to hand in the documents when they appeared in around the corner. She had to twist her head to the side to see all of them, and she wished she hadn't. Practically all of them carried swords. All they'd need to do was stab downwards and the entire rickety plank they, and the ship they were moored to, would crack and fall tumbling into the abyss. Elves were a race some believed were descended from the harpies of yore, with a famously light bone structure mainly composed of cartilage, but that didn't mean she wouldn't become an instant tenderized steak when she made her impact on the ground. She swallowed.

The leader of the hoarde barked his demands.

"T-the captain?" She stuttered, where nobody could hear her. It struck her that she didn't exactly know his name. On all the paperwork he was just marked as Employer. The ship, as was plain to anyone who could read the name painted haphazardly on the side, was "The compass", but what was her captain's name? Elani raised a trembling hand, and pointed toward Maithien. Maybe if she cooperated, she'd get out of here with just her legs broken. With her one free hand, she inched her way down to the leather cave slung across one shoulder, and rummaged around in it. Her hands closed around a walnut grip. At this range, it'd be nigh on useless, but at least it'd make her feel better to go down swinging.

[Dark Angel]

Aria was about to speak with Ren once more when she saw something out of her peripheral vision. She turned just as a group of men, all of them armed, came sauntering down the docks. A dwarf, obviously the leader by the way he stood up front and in the middle, gave a grin that made Aria tense. She knew that face. It was the face that meant someone was going to be hurt, one way or another. The leader shouted, asking where their captain was and for him to step out. Aria frowned, going completely serious. This wan't good.

The small girl, Anissa, stepped back into the group. Aria could tell she was afraid. Elani also seemed frightened, and had told the group of men where the captain was. Not a very good choice, but Aria couldn't blame her, people did things when they were afraid. She stepped up to the front of the group, before looking back at Maithien. She was in position to attack, but wouldn't do so without orders. One hand rested on the hilt of her sword, the other behind her back, gripping a dagger she had pulled out of her leather satchel.

"'Ello. Can we help you?" Her voice was neutral, her brows furrowed. She wasn't worried for herself, but for the others. She knew how to fight, and Ren and Daliq both seemed as if they could hold their own. Katewyn would be useful right about now, but Aria couldn't see her. Mathien, she wasn't so sure about.
"Well Mr. Maithien, it would seem we have some company." She winked, shifting the dagger behind her back so he could see it. Aria was glad that she had enough to buy new weapons, her others had been confiscated.

[NorthernGR]

This lot again, wonderful! Hiding a scowl, Maithien walked around his small table of papers. People were already starting to get tense, bit uncalled for but useful on this occasion he guessed. 'I fear to think how they will fair later in this quest.' Dariq was on the ship along with that Katewyn girl. He could see the woman had a rifle in hand, and Maithien was fairly certain that Dariq was one word away from open firing himself. "Who knows Dariq!" The girl who had asked about their destination, Aria was her name, had come to the head of the group. She was brandishing a dagger and winking at him as to say 'Ready to stab'. This ought to be fun.

Maithien sauntered up the wooden dock, stopping when he was but five feet from the imposing little dwarf. "And what can I do for you?" He asked, putting on a smiling face yet again, but for the first time today it held no cheeriness. "You know what we want..." The dwarf replied, voice stern as ever. "No I don't believe I do, what was your name again?" At this the dwarf growled, balling his fists rolling his eyes. "You want'a play games? Fine... Call me Bohg. Now where is the map?" Maithein laughed and replied back. "Don't have it."

"You think of us as fools then?! Very well." Bohg then drew his sidearm, aiming it at Maithien. Seeing their captain draw arms, Bohg's crew drew their weapons as well. "Give us the map!"

[Korigon]

(( chop chop bang bang. ))

It almost reminded Katewyn of a book. Treasure maps, a crew, evil pirates. . . Too bad books had happy endings. The leader didn't have time to pull the trigger as Katewyn brought her rifle up. The bullets she used were designed to pierce animal skulls, and her shot went right through the dwarf's skull like a knife into butter. It was quite beautiful, actually. A perfect headshot, a masterpiece.

She didn't have time to pay attention to the other crew members, instead went straight to reloading the rifle. It was a lovely weapon, specially designed for her, and it fit perfectly into her hand. When she quickly finished, she slung the gun up and fired. Another one of those scum went down, and Katewyn once again started to reload.

[The book of bad juju]

Elani jumped when she heard the bang. The shot was poetry in motion, even though she could tell the dwarf would be a bitch to embalm. All that was keeping some of his skull from shattering and flying off was the grey matter holding it all together like a softboiled egg. Lesser people would be frightened in such company, especially the man in breeches in front currently reeling from the sudden dissapearance of his aggressor. Elani ran forewards, dropping the wad of papers and bringing up her other hand. It held a Lancet, a double edged scalpel whose silver tip caught the light in bew and interesting ways. Even in the elf's thin brown fingers, it looked small.

Elani grabbed onto her captain's collar and yanked him backwards, hard, just as another shot picked somebody else and turned them into another fleshpuppet. Throughout the gang, weapons were being unholstered. Swords and pistols unbucling and stances changed. Someone in the back was yelling, a sound too primal for such things as consonant or vowel. Everything about that situation made her frightened, and she put the human between them and her, ready to absorb bullets and stabs. Flintlocks didn't have any power to them anyway, a normal musket round could be stopped by a leather waistcoat.

[Dark Angel]

Aria tensed as a shot rang out, before relaxing as the bullet went straight through the lead dwarf's head. It pierced his skin as if it was nothing, continuing on through the other side, leaving only a hole, now leaking blood and what looked like some grey matter. Aria looked around and spotted Katewyn. She was currently reloading her rifle, and it wasn't long before another shot rang out, leaving only a limp body behind. Grinning, Aria threw her dagger, hitting one of the enemies, a human male, straight between the eyes. She drew her sword, getting into position.

Bodies fell, and Aria could tell she wasn't the only cause of them. Her surroundings barely registered with her brain, instincts taking over as she span and slashed, parrying the blows that her targets tried to land. It was surprisingly calming and thrilling at the same time. Fighting with her sword like this, it brought back memories. Good memories, memories of her father. He would teach her, let her use his sword as they dueled. It was one of her best memories, one that she cherished among all the terrible.
Her sword collided with another, and she was shaken out of her absent minded reminiscing. There was someone in front of her, sword clashing against hers. A feeling of horror dawned on her as she recognized his face. No. No, no, no, no. It couldn't be him. He couldn't be here. How did they know where she was?

"Well, well, if it isn't little Aria. It's been a while. We've been looking for you." He gave a sickly grin, revealing his crooked teeth. He had jet black hair, and dark eyes. Oh, how Aria hated those eyes. He grabbed her wrist, and Aria growled. She didn't want him to touch her, she didn't want anyone from that place to touch her. She wasn't going back. Never, never again.

"I thought I told you and your filthy friends. I am never coming BACK!" She shouted the last words, tearing herself from his grip. Planting her feet firmly on the ground, she lifted her sword over her shoulder before plunging it into his throat, effectively silencing him. Taking deep breaths, she watched his body fall limply to the docks with a muffled thump. It took her a moment to notice she had stopped fighting. Mentally cursing herself, she launched herself back into the fight. It didn't matter who they sent. She was never going back. Never. The word was repeated in her mind, almost like a cheer, egging her on as she fought with a grin. This was going to be an exciting trip.

[Deth_Glitch]

Dariq also aimed at the small dwarf but fired after Katewyn and, anyhow, it would have missed, instead hitting one of his companions in the shin. Dariq silently cursed his left hand as he holstered the pistol and drew his sword with his right. In one movement he lept over the railings of the ship, slicing one of the many mooring ropes as he did so. He then sidestepped infront of garret and lept at the dwarfs crew, closing range as fast as possible. Moments later and he was face to face, clashing swords with those closest to him and attempting to maintain distance, he was no professional swordsman but neither were these and he, at least, had some training thanks to garrets ties. While he had not managed more then a glancing blow he was keeping them at a distance and also avoiding take a blade to his own body. "Sah!" He shouted finally, hoping garret was actually planning on doing something. "You cant expect me to kill 'em all, even wit' the help o' dis lot!" He shouted as he parried another strike and managed to gouge a deep rift into one of the offending arms. Slowly getting pushed back he had no doubt he would be taking every opportunity to train with the swordsman, or should he say women he was catching glimpses of in the corner of his eye,

[Korigon]

Katewyn found herself enjoying the battle. It was not as if she was in any danger. Two of the humans had tried to shoot her with flintlocks. It didn't end well for them. She had managed to get some sort of cut on her ear, though. It was bleeding, but she could tend it later. Boom! Another headshot. So far she had taken out seven of the crowd. They were large, obvious targets. Hunting was so much more fun! How she longed to be on the chase with a creature of her abilities. It was getting a bit difficult for clear shots now. The whole of the group had converged upon the melee fighters, and she didn't want to risk a bad shot. ( Though, of course, she would not miss! ) She simply propped her rifle against the floor and watched the battle with a grin.

[Darkwolfsoul010]

Ren had fallen silent for a while. Her eyes wide and gazing at everything around her like an owl. Meekly she gaped at those around her, nodding her head in time with conversations that she only half heard. She often became like this, meek and shy, when she was overwhelmed. And the rapid speed that this adventure was progressing was… well.. a bit overwhelming! Her whiskers twitched and her pointed furry ears swiveled as they made out the harsh clanking of boots on the dock.

Rena turned around and instantly her smile turned to a frown. A group of men stood before her, and they didn’t look very friendly at all. Her hand fell to her sword, and as they demanded to see the Capitan, she slowly drew it from her waist. Trying to be slow, Rena creeped forward, trying to get a better angle on the group of thugs.

“Ah ah Missus.” One man turned towards her. He smiled at her, a crooked grin that was missing some teeth, and drew a dagger. “Now you don’t want ta’ be startin’ nothin’ with me.” He dropped lower to the ground, bending his knees and outstretching his arms. The dagger slashed at her, but instead of jumping back, Rena met the man head on with a sharp swing of her sword. The clamoring of metal soon filled the dock as their blades swung together in quick progression. Rena looked eerily calm as she fought. One hand was in her pocket, her feet square and shoulders back. Her body hardly moved as her arm slashed wildly in counter of the man. He on the other hand, was jumping to and fro to get out of the way of her sword. His smaller blade gave him a distinct disadvantage.

Somehow the man had ducked under her blade, and pressed right up against her! One hand grabbed her hip and the other grabbed the hilt of her sword, and he flashed her his toothless grin once more. “I like my Missus feisty!”

Rena paused for a moment before letting out the most pleasant smile she could muster. Letting go of her sword she batted her eyelashes at him and sighed. “Excuse me sir,” her voice was airy and breathless, “But I’m a lady!” And without wasting a second more she grabbed the hand on her waste, knelt to the ground and with a shove of her shoulder, sent her attacker flying. As he fell, he dropped her sword, which Rena quickly caught from the air. His head hit the ground hard, and a few stabs later, Ren knew he wouldn’t be getting back up again.

[NorthernGR]

Well this had gotten rather bloody fast.. Was it something he had said? Probably. One second: Lovely conversation with Mister Bohg. The next? Maithien found the insides of the man's skull splattering all over his jacket. Timed seemed to slow for him after the initial burst of brain matter. Some unknown force grabbed him bye the neck of his shirt and dragged him away like a child. Like I don't know my way around a swo-.. Oh, it was that elf lass, Elani. Alright, I guess she is just trying to protect me.....I don't think she ever game me back her papers. Maithien remembered. He had a hard time distinguishing what all happened next. More people died, he knew that. He didn't think it was any of his. People were yelling a lot too, lots of yelling. I think one of those voices was Dariq.

"Sah! You cant expect me to kill 'em all, even wit' the help o' dis lot!" Oh yeah, that was a pretty good point. The group was fairly outnumbered. And even if some of these people had claimed to be the world's greatest swordsman or marksman Maithien had trouble trusting those statements. "Well it was you and that Katewyn girl that attacked first without my order! You shot their leader! You know I could've talked myself out of that ya idiot!" He yelled back, slightly annoyed at the predicament he now found himself in. For his small band of..... He hadn't counted.. Nine? Sure, nine. For his small band of nine there were around fifteen men still alive from the initial ambush. And that wasn't even taking into account the fact that some of his new crew looked like they didn't have the first idea how to fight. Right then, retreat it is.

"Dariq! Prove to me why I keep paying you and get this ship out of the dock! Everyone else keep fighting or help Dariq!" At this Maithien grabbed his sidearm from its holster, took cover, and began firing.

[Korigon]

"I take offense at the fact that you're calling me an idiot, when I just saved your life!" Katewyn yelled over the gangplank. "His finger was coming to the trigger! Shoot first, ask questions later. Especially when they're this sort of thug." Now the captain had ordered everyone to keep attacking, and he had called her girl? Well. This is a great show of disrespect, but she could handle it for now.

She took out a signal gun, and carefully aimed it. It wasn't a very accurate shot, but it managed to hit someone. He screamed as his heavy jacket was set on fire. The firework that had been fired out of the gun hadn't managed to pierce skin, but the effect was very comical. He ran around dizzy, rolling, trying to get the fire away and not realizing it was from his jacket. As he stumbled around, his foot was misplaced on the edge of the docks, which had no barriers yet, and he fell off the edge!

Katewyn couldn't stop herself from laughing. It was a hilarious sight, to her. The others probably regarded her as some psychopath, but it was just so funny. However, there was a job to do. She wiped the grin off her face and started taking potshots at the rumbling group.

[Deth_Glitch]

Hearing Garret's reply, Dariq gave a push, forcing his attackers to take some steps back before leaping over the gap that lead to certain death and making his way toward the balloon, he knew they had some balloon repairs stuff in the hold and and stabbed it with his sword, Yes, he was right, it was split into multiple 'compartments' to keep one puncture from crashing the ship. Leaving the small hole there he then turned his attention to the mooring ropes and began slashing them one by one. Muttering to himself as he did so. He knew that his plan would tempararily cripple the ships altitude but, if they were to be traveling among his own kind, the ground dwelling kind, then altitude was not something they would need a lot of. Any, by anymeans, it was a quick fix that any well trained and equipped dockyard crew would have no difficulty with.

With a grunt he severed the second to last mooring rope, leaving only the one closest to the middle attached in one piece before heading below deck to search for the balloon repair cloth and assorted repair paraphernalia. He soon found it and made his way back up to the upper deck where he could climb the shortest distance to reach the balloon. "Master Garrett, once ya' get ever'one aboard we can descend like a murdered corpse into our thousand feet graves!" He shouted, planning to repair the balloon as soon as he felt they were a safe distance down. No all he needed was for the crew to be aboard, and, while the crew was a small one, he had no doubt that, at they very least, they could get the crippled ship to land so that they could repair it properly, and refill the balloon itself, the only part they couldn't do while flying.