- Location
- Earth, probably.
- Pronouns
- None/Any
[X] Take the job
Fae Mood - A Flying Circus Quest
- Thread starter Texas Red
- Start date
- Original Mature Fantasy Action
[X]Take the job
What's the worst that could happen?
What's the worst that could happen?
- Location
- Salt Lake Ciy, UT
HA! I love it when I'm right (even when it's obvious and more than likely intentional)!
Also:
[X]Take the job
Assuming there are actually bandits, we *probably* don't need professional referral from Redd for follow up Bandit Hunting at the next town… but wonder what happens if we ask.
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[X]Take the job
It's probably not clockwerks, right?
Remember that omake about the ivy? We could be abetting biowarfare, instead! Or maybe he's hot-potato-ing us some contraband, that he doesn't want to get caught with. The crates could be hiding Gotha hijackers. It could even maybe be legitimate cargo. There's a whole world of possibility!
It's probably not clockwerks, right?
Remember that omake about the ivy? We could be abetting biowarfare, instead! Or maybe he's hot-potato-ing us some contraband, that he doesn't want to get caught with. The crates could be hiding Gotha hijackers. It could even maybe be legitimate cargo. There's a whole world of possibility!
- Location
- Salt Lake Ciy, UT
@digital2 this quest and others like it are set in the Flying Circus TTRPG, @Texas Red did a cliffs notes on the Clock Werks, but if your really curious about them or any other antagonists that we might run into (including Giant Raptors, Sentient Mustard Gas, and Mother Fucking DRAGONS) all that and more can be found in the game book ( Flying Circus - Core Rulebook & Playbooks by open_sketchbook )or the authors Patreon ( https://www.patreon.com/opensketch?utm_campaign=creatorshare_fan ). Feed the Fandom, buy the book(s)!
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12-13 Career Reflection
- Location
- 100 Meters From Your Location
- Pronouns
- She/Her
"I see no issue." You looked at your friends, and they both just nodded at you. It was weird that you were becoming usually the most respected person in the room, while you're also almost usually the smallest too. Came with the tag of ace, you supposed.
"Alright! Sixteen!" He pulled an envelope out, pulled a paper out of it, and placed the payment voucher on one of the wooden crates. "Just sign it, I'll seal it in the envelope, and you can give it to my guy up north." He said, producing a pen from seemingly nowhere and handing it to you. You all signed it, he put it back in the envelope, and you took it with you. Riya went off to bring over the airship to start loading up the boxes, and Edgar said he had a few rites to do before he took off, so he walked off as well.
You spent the time you had before takeoff painting seven symbols on the forward part of your tail, a small white flag for that one bandit fighter you forced a surrender from back on your first job, and six angular black spades for the six Goth planes you took down since then, making the fourth and last one a little bigger as they were carriers. You reflected a bit on your past experiences. You were an ace. The stuff of admittedly minor legends, but legends nonetheless. You'd killed people. It didn't break you up as much as it did before, but you were still a killer. You felt guilty that you didn't actually know how many. But from what you heard from veterans, that wasn't actually uncommon. You felt like you should feel more guilty. Like you should spend the rest of your life too depressed to ever fly again because you ended the lives of multiple people for what, profit? No. The people you killed you killed for being awful. So they wouldn't hurt others. But did that make you better? It's all arbitrary. Warring ideologies. You were unsure if the Goddesses saw good and evil the way you did. They were Goddesses, they're above caring about anarchy or fascism, despite what warlords would have their soldiers believe.
+1 Scrip for paint
Fuck, you needed a cigarette. You sat on the gently rocking step of the fuselage and lit a cigarette. Goddesses, why didn't everyone smoke? It was incredible.
[ ] Write in XP spending the usual way.
You can also say you wanna Get Real with one of your partners to get a move from them, though it will require a roll. Oh, also, I forgot that getting five victories gives you a lump sum of +5 XP. So I'm adding that on right after I post this.
[ ] Write in money spending the usual way.
Keep in mind that without hiring a non-combat pilot to fly the airship, Riya will have to be flying it. So if shit goes down you'll be down a plane. Employees can be hired as contractors for double their usual pay, so 1þ for a combat pilot.
"Alright! Sixteen!" He pulled an envelope out, pulled a paper out of it, and placed the payment voucher on one of the wooden crates. "Just sign it, I'll seal it in the envelope, and you can give it to my guy up north." He said, producing a pen from seemingly nowhere and handing it to you. You all signed it, he put it back in the envelope, and you took it with you. Riya went off to bring over the airship to start loading up the boxes, and Edgar said he had a few rites to do before he took off, so he walked off as well.
You spent the time you had before takeoff painting seven symbols on the forward part of your tail, a small white flag for that one bandit fighter you forced a surrender from back on your first job, and six angular black spades for the six Goth planes you took down since then, making the fourth and last one a little bigger as they were carriers. You reflected a bit on your past experiences. You were an ace. The stuff of admittedly minor legends, but legends nonetheless. You'd killed people. It didn't break you up as much as it did before, but you were still a killer. You felt guilty that you didn't actually know how many. But from what you heard from veterans, that wasn't actually uncommon. You felt like you should feel more guilty. Like you should spend the rest of your life too depressed to ever fly again because you ended the lives of multiple people for what, profit? No. The people you killed you killed for being awful. So they wouldn't hurt others. But did that make you better? It's all arbitrary. Warring ideologies. You were unsure if the Goddesses saw good and evil the way you did. They were Goddesses, they're above caring about anarchy or fascism, despite what warlords would have their soldiers believe.
+1 Scrip for paint
Fuck, you needed a cigarette. You sat on the gently rocking step of the fuselage and lit a cigarette. Goddesses, why didn't everyone smoke? It was incredible.
[ ] Write in XP spending the usual way.
You can also say you wanna Get Real with one of your partners to get a move from them, though it will require a roll. Oh, also, I forgot that getting five victories gives you a lump sum of +5 XP. So I'm adding that on right after I post this.
[ ] Write in money spending the usual way.
Keep in mind that without hiring a non-combat pilot to fly the airship, Riya will have to be flying it. So if shit goes down you'll be down a plane. Employees can be hired as contractors for double their usual pay, so 1þ for a combat pilot.
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- Location
- Salt Lake Ciy, UT
…Fuck, we didn't read the contract.
I may be overly paranoid, but this *REEKS* of double cross. Anything from signing our own short change on pay to signing our proof of ID for us to handed over to the Goths
- Location
- 100 Meters From Your Location
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Uhhhhh I misspoke. I meant to say that what you signed was more of a voucher where Mr. Redd here doesn't actually need to be present to give you your money, his guy will. It's saying "hey, these are the guys I hired for the job, the envelope is sealed and signed so you know it's legit."
- Location
- Salt Lake Ciy, UT
@Texas Red lol! I WAS being overly paranoid! Perfect, that said:
One of our new hires, Alex, is described as a "Farm Boy"… can we learn Farmer Moves from him? (i figure the answers no, he's not a Pilot, but I've got to be sure cause that would completely change my proposal)
Hilda is really going through it as far as the violence inherent to her new life. Her wrestling with the idea that her killing the kind of people she is killing is not a Bad Thing (it helps that so far she's on an All Nazi kill streak). It would make sense to me that in this introspection, she might be starting to see herself like Gunther. Like a
[x] Bird of Prey
- Personal Move (4xp) - Reach Out: As long as you still know where it is, you can use a Focus
without touching it. (Ryia keeps her scarf from here on out. That girl is the wind in your sails, as long as it keeps her warm, that wind is at your back)
- Stat Advancement: Hard +2 (8xp) - we now have good plane w/twin machine guns and 3 total mastery moves in Dog Fighter. As that comes with a Passive Bonus of "Each move taken past the first adds a flat +4 Damage when you Open Fire at an Absolute Range of Knife" we *can not roll flat anymore*. [Granted, we could also try and swap out the machine guns for twin Punt Guns and save the xp, but someone else would need to push for that]
- Heart to Heart with Edar- Attempt Get Real and get Ideomotor Response (Your plane is possessed by a spirit that functions as
a programmable autopilot) (4xp) - We are in a unique position (with Out of Mind move, As The Crow Flys, and Swashbuckle) to engage in some sweet sweet Grand Theft Aero. Planes can be sold for a lot of money. Only thing better than killin Nazis? Robbin AND Killin Nazis. This is the last piece. This level of Air Piracy has been *the* dream since we hired Edgar. Do not crush the dream Chat. Not when we are *so close*.
[x] Temps and Tools
- hire a temp Non Combat Pilot to fly the Airship. Riya is too skilled to replace with a schmuck.
- Buy a Sawed Off Shotgun. See Dream of Grand Theft Aero
- Buy armor and Parachutes for Riya and Edgar. They are squishy and can't fly.
- Buy armor and a new helmet for Hilda. They is squishy and can fly.
PS @Texas Red you've done such a good job really showing how the Pilot life is affecting Hilda, it was would inspiration for my plan. thank you again for sharing your writing!
One of our new hires, Alex, is described as a "Farm Boy"… can we learn Farmer Moves from him? (i figure the answers no, he's not a Pilot, but I've got to be sure cause that would completely change my proposal)
Hilda is really going through it as far as the violence inherent to her new life. Her wrestling with the idea that her killing the kind of people she is killing is not a Bad Thing (it helps that so far she's on an All Nazi kill streak). It would make sense to me that in this introspection, she might be starting to see herself like Gunther. Like a
[x] Bird of Prey
- Personal Move (4xp) - Reach Out: As long as you still know where it is, you can use a Focus
without touching it. (Ryia keeps her scarf from here on out. That girl is the wind in your sails, as long as it keeps her warm, that wind is at your back)
- Stat Advancement: Hard +2 (8xp) - we now have good plane w/twin machine guns and 3 total mastery moves in Dog Fighter. As that comes with a Passive Bonus of "Each move taken past the first adds a flat +4 Damage when you Open Fire at an Absolute Range of Knife" we *can not roll flat anymore*. [Granted, we could also try and swap out the machine guns for twin Punt Guns and save the xp, but someone else would need to push for that]
- Heart to Heart with Edar- Attempt Get Real and get Ideomotor Response (Your plane is possessed by a spirit that functions as
a programmable autopilot) (4xp) - We are in a unique position (with Out of Mind move, As The Crow Flys, and Swashbuckle) to engage in some sweet sweet Grand Theft Aero. Planes can be sold for a lot of money. Only thing better than killin Nazis? Robbin AND Killin Nazis. This is the last piece. This level of Air Piracy has been *the* dream since we hired Edgar. Do not crush the dream Chat. Not when we are *so close*.
[x] Temps and Tools
- hire a temp Non Combat Pilot to fly the Airship. Riya is too skilled to replace with a schmuck.
- Buy a Sawed Off Shotgun. See Dream of Grand Theft Aero
- Buy armor and Parachutes for Riya and Edgar. They are squishy and can't fly.
- Buy armor and a new helmet for Hilda. They is squishy and can fly.
PS @Texas Red you've done such a good job really showing how the Pilot life is affecting Hilda, it was would inspiration for my plan. thank you again for sharing your writing!
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[x] Bird of Prey
- Personal Move (4xp) - Reach Out: As long as you still know where it is, you can use a Focus
without touching it. (Ryia keeps her scarf from here on out. That girl is the wind in your sails, as long as it keeps her warm, that wind is at your back)
- Stat Advancement: Hard +2 (8xp) - we now have good plane w/twin machine guns and 3 total mastery moves in Dog Fighter. As that comes with a Passive Bonus of "Each move taken past the first adds a flat +4 Damage when you Open Fire at an Absolute Range of Knife" we *can not roll flat anymore*. [Granted, we could also try and swap out the machine guns for twin Punt Guns and save the xp, but someone else would need to push for that]
- Heart to Heart with Edar- Attempt Get Real and get Ideomotor Response (Your plane is possessed by a spirit that functions as
a programmable autopilot) (4xp) - We are in a unique position (with Out of Mind move, As The Crow Flys, and Swashbuckle) to engage in some sweet sweet Grand Theft Aero. Planes can be sold for a lot of money. Only thing better than killin Nazis? Robbin AND Killin Nazis. This is the last piece. This level of Air Piracy has been *the* dream since we hired Edgar. Do not crush the dream Chat. Not when we are *so close*.
[x] Temps and Tools
- hire a temp Non Combat Pilot to fly the Airship. Riya is too skilled to replace with a schmuck.
- Buy a Sawed Off Shotgun. See Dream of Grand Theft Aero
- Buy armor and Parachutes for Riya and Edgar. They are squishy and can't fly.
- Buy armor and a new helmet for Hilda. They is squishy and can fly.
- Personal Move (4xp) - Reach Out: As long as you still know where it is, you can use a Focus
without touching it. (Ryia keeps her scarf from here on out. That girl is the wind in your sails, as long as it keeps her warm, that wind is at your back)
- Stat Advancement: Hard +2 (8xp) - we now have good plane w/twin machine guns and 3 total mastery moves in Dog Fighter. As that comes with a Passive Bonus of "Each move taken past the first adds a flat +4 Damage when you Open Fire at an Absolute Range of Knife" we *can not roll flat anymore*. [Granted, we could also try and swap out the machine guns for twin Punt Guns and save the xp, but someone else would need to push for that]
- Heart to Heart with Edar- Attempt Get Real and get Ideomotor Response (Your plane is possessed by a spirit that functions as
a programmable autopilot) (4xp) - We are in a unique position (with Out of Mind move, As The Crow Flys, and Swashbuckle) to engage in some sweet sweet Grand Theft Aero. Planes can be sold for a lot of money. Only thing better than killin Nazis? Robbin AND Killin Nazis. This is the last piece. This level of Air Piracy has been *the* dream since we hired Edgar. Do not crush the dream Chat. Not when we are *so close*.
[x] Temps and Tools
- hire a temp Non Combat Pilot to fly the Airship. Riya is too skilled to replace with a schmuck.
- Buy a Sawed Off Shotgun. See Dream of Grand Theft Aero
- Buy armor and Parachutes for Riya and Edgar. They are squishy and can't fly.
- Buy armor and a new helmet for Hilda. They is squishy and can fly.
- Location
- Earth, probably.
- Pronouns
- None/Any
[x] Bird of Prey
[x] Temps and Tools
[x] Temps and Tools
10ebbor10
DON'T PANIC
- Location
- Present
- Location
- Salt Lake Ciy, UT
Partial is good?
12-14 Bird of Prey
- Location
- 100 Meters From Your Location
- Pronouns
- She/Her
[x] Bird of Prey
[x] Temps and Tools
If you didn't do it, someone else would. All of these folks had to hire someone, you were just the one getting paid for it. It's alright. You're like Gunther, snapping seagull necks and killing snakes. Fitting name for your circus. It was your place in this world's ecosystem. You were ok with being violent. It's not like you were bloodthirsty, but you were becoming more ok with the violence you must commit. You'd protect the innocent, but anyone in the Game knows the risks. You looked out across the lake. Riya was rigging the sails, swaddled in her beautiful blue scarf.
"You're a lucky lady." Karl said from inside your cockpit, just in your peripheral vision.
"Tell me about it." You said, grinning. "So, you're back, what's up?"
"I don't know. I just kind of fade in and out. Lord, I hope Victor is ok." You glanced at him, and said nothing. "Listen, I don't really know what I can do to help, but if there is anything I want to. I mean, you're helping me just cause, I want to return the favor."
"Hm. Lemme think about it. I want to try something first." You raised your hand and kept looking at Riya's scarf, trying to summon a gust of wind across the pond. You swiped your hand to the left, and to your surprise, a gust ripped through the lake and sent a spray high into the air. You were still becoming more powerful in magic. You didn't even have to touch your focuses to use them anymore. Riya turned her head and looked over at you. You gave her a wave, grinning more. She waved back. You felt giddy.
You turned your head towards Edgar and Alex, who were locking in the ammo belts and appearing to have a conversation. You had an idea. You dropped your cigarette into the pond and approached them, feeling your feet aching slightly from the new boots, and focusing on that to distract yourself from a slightly difficult conversation to have with Edgar.
"Goddamn… bad luck my ass." Karl said, you could practically feel him grinning as he walked next to you, looking at Edgar.
"Mein Fisch. Shush." You said, grinning too. "Hey, Edgar?" He turned his head toward you. "Can we talk?" He hopped out of his cockpit and jogged over to you. You coughed a bit from the strain of speaking that loudly. Your chest felt a little tight.
"Yeah, what's up?" He asked, wiping gun oil from his hands with a small towel.
"I wanted to ask you about something. Remember when you climbed out of your pilot seat that one time to take over my gun? How did you do that?" Edgar looked like he was slightly embarrassed to talk about it.
"Oh. Uh, well, it's Fischer shit, you ok hearing about that?" He asked, thankfully attentive to your emotions. You nodded. "You're sure?"
"Yes, I'm sure."
"Alright then. It's my grandpa."
"…What?"
"My grandfather taught me to fly. He died when I was sixteen, and asked me to do a ritual just before he did so that he didn't leave his plane. I put some runes on my plane after he passed, and he never left the plane. And when I started flying Osprey, he tagged along with me there too. He takes over if I let go of the controls, and if I ask him to do something he will. Well, other than shoot the guns. Or land." He explained, looking almost through you, like he was looking through his own memories. "Gods, I miss him."
"So, you painted some symbols on your plane, and he was bound to it?" You repeated, thinking about it. This was exactly what you were looking for. Maybe Karl could help after all. "Could you… show me how to do that? My plane is insanely unstable, I'd love a way to keep out of a spin if I have to let go of the controls."
"Yeah, sure, the Gods already know you're, ya know, around, so your patron should be able to help with that."
"And what about that whole soul bonding thing?"
"I just thought of all I knew about my grandfather while drawing the symbols."
"…I'm gonna have to use my blood on this, aren't I?"
"Yes. There's no way around that." He raised his hands in a surrender position. "Which I will have no hand it past showing you the symbols."
"Ok, no, it's not that." You said, grabbing your hair, something you did when stressed. Fuck, you were stressed. "You don't spill blood for anyone in my culture. Especially magical beings." You explained, pushing away those tales of how blood rituals end you were told when you were barely older than a toddler. "There are things beyond our understanding that want the magic in us, and giving them a drop of it from the ocean of soul is how I cast spells. Fae are… the most tangible. But casting spells using your blood to focus it is like opening the floodgates, and the things that want our souls can take more than we want to give. Your rituals felt like blood magic. The single greatest taboo of my culture. But I know it's different, and I'm sorry I have so much hesitancy about it because I know it feels like I'm telling you that I think your faith is evil, but I don't feel that way at all." You vented a bit, reaching to your pocket and pulling out your cigarettes. You were down to your last one, but you needed it, your anxiety of making those you care about angry was coming back.
"…I didn't know that. I'm sorry. You should have told me." He said while you took a deep drag of your cigarette, completely releasing all of your anxiety on the exhale. Back to a closed throttle.
"I should have. I'll be better at communicating." You promised, not looking him in the eye. "I know your faith is different, I trust you, I trust your gods, and I don't want to be bound by my faith, superstitions, and fears. I want your help in this. I'm asking for it this time." You said, turning around to look back at your plane, Karl leaning on the side of it.
"You ready for it?" Edgar asked.
"Yeah. Let's do it."
You held your ritual knife over your hand, shaking a bit. Even with the nicotine this was still terrifying.
"You're not giving anyone your blood. You're letting the gods help you by telling them how they can." Edgar reassured, leaning against the fuselage to watch the ritual. You swiped the knife across the palm of your hand, spilling your bright red blood into the oil pan you had balanced on the step. Once you determined it was enough, you set the knife down and quickly wrapped your hand in a bandage. He held the paper with the runes on it, esoteric shapes that were nauseating to look at. They felt deeper than the page itself, like it was somehow a three dimensional shape on the paper. You took the paintbrush you used to paint your kills, and slowly painted the symbols on the canvas below your kills, while thinking about what you knew of Karl. Which wasn't much. But you somehow knew it was enough. You… prayed, casually, to your patron that they'd help Karl bond with your plane and keep you safe in flight. They told you it was a good idea, and that they would facilitate a bond like that. "Alright. You've marked it, so the gods know to protect it."
"Great. What now?"
"You test it."
"Alright, you got it?" You asked Karl loudly, despite not needing to, gripping the flight stick at two kilometers above the ground. Your plane was so unstable you were terrified of being unable to pull out of a spin if you went any lower than you already were.
"Yup! Got it! I'm holding it!" He responded in your own head, as you slowly, gently, let go of the stick. It didn't wobble, it held in place like you were still gripping it. "Alright… bank right?" The stick slowly rolled to the right, and the plane tilted in a controlled manner. You giggled. "Level out and climb?" You asked with a grin, and the plane did just that, pushing you back into your seat and shooting towards the western sun. "Dive and boost!" You said, laughing, as you flipped into a hard power dive, rocketing towards the trees far below.
"It feels good to be flying again." You heard Karl say as you leaned back to relax, feeling the plane level out beneath you.
"Feels nice to not have to for once. Mind taking us back?"
You landed back in town, you decided to do some quick shopping before you started off on your voyage. You bought a new shotgun. You were over your aversion to guns. You came first, not the enemy. You agreed with Riya that she was too valuable to give up as a pilot to fly the airship, so you found a cargo pilot in town willing to fly the blimp to the destination while you escorted for a Thaler. Your employer was long gone by that point, so you couldn't ask him for contacts, so you had to go hunting yourself for one. She was an old woman from the Caproni islands up north, with graying black hair and blotched dark skin from decades of sun exposure. Her name was Edna, and you felt a little bad you didn't really get to know her past her skill of operating an airship.
Next, you bought armor and parachutes for your partners, because seeing them hurt would just about kill you and they couldn't fly like you could. A leather flight cap and leather vest for the both of them to compliment your metal helmet and cloth vest. Before takeoff though, you saw Edgar hand Alex the vest and parachute. Whatever. It was his decision. It was fine with you. He'd be fine. He didn't need it. Joli helped you and Edgar with your props, and you were off on what should be a relatively straightforward mission.
Alright! Let's vote for altitude we start at! Your speed shall be 12 because the blimp is slow.
Your Plane
[ ] Write in desired altitude. Ideal altitude is 0-29
[x] Temps and Tools
If you didn't do it, someone else would. All of these folks had to hire someone, you were just the one getting paid for it. It's alright. You're like Gunther, snapping seagull necks and killing snakes. Fitting name for your circus. It was your place in this world's ecosystem. You were ok with being violent. It's not like you were bloodthirsty, but you were becoming more ok with the violence you must commit. You'd protect the innocent, but anyone in the Game knows the risks. You looked out across the lake. Riya was rigging the sails, swaddled in her beautiful blue scarf.
"You're a lucky lady." Karl said from inside your cockpit, just in your peripheral vision.
"Tell me about it." You said, grinning. "So, you're back, what's up?"
"I don't know. I just kind of fade in and out. Lord, I hope Victor is ok." You glanced at him, and said nothing. "Listen, I don't really know what I can do to help, but if there is anything I want to. I mean, you're helping me just cause, I want to return the favor."
"Hm. Lemme think about it. I want to try something first." You raised your hand and kept looking at Riya's scarf, trying to summon a gust of wind across the pond. You swiped your hand to the left, and to your surprise, a gust ripped through the lake and sent a spray high into the air. You were still becoming more powerful in magic. You didn't even have to touch your focuses to use them anymore. Riya turned her head and looked over at you. You gave her a wave, grinning more. She waved back. You felt giddy.
You turned your head towards Edgar and Alex, who were locking in the ammo belts and appearing to have a conversation. You had an idea. You dropped your cigarette into the pond and approached them, feeling your feet aching slightly from the new boots, and focusing on that to distract yourself from a slightly difficult conversation to have with Edgar.
"Goddamn… bad luck my ass." Karl said, you could practically feel him grinning as he walked next to you, looking at Edgar.
"Mein Fisch. Shush." You said, grinning too. "Hey, Edgar?" He turned his head toward you. "Can we talk?" He hopped out of his cockpit and jogged over to you. You coughed a bit from the strain of speaking that loudly. Your chest felt a little tight.
"Yeah, what's up?" He asked, wiping gun oil from his hands with a small towel.
"I wanted to ask you about something. Remember when you climbed out of your pilot seat that one time to take over my gun? How did you do that?" Edgar looked like he was slightly embarrassed to talk about it.
"Oh. Uh, well, it's Fischer shit, you ok hearing about that?" He asked, thankfully attentive to your emotions. You nodded. "You're sure?"
"Yes, I'm sure."
"Alright then. It's my grandpa."
"…What?"
"My grandfather taught me to fly. He died when I was sixteen, and asked me to do a ritual just before he did so that he didn't leave his plane. I put some runes on my plane after he passed, and he never left the plane. And when I started flying Osprey, he tagged along with me there too. He takes over if I let go of the controls, and if I ask him to do something he will. Well, other than shoot the guns. Or land." He explained, looking almost through you, like he was looking through his own memories. "Gods, I miss him."
"So, you painted some symbols on your plane, and he was bound to it?" You repeated, thinking about it. This was exactly what you were looking for. Maybe Karl could help after all. "Could you… show me how to do that? My plane is insanely unstable, I'd love a way to keep out of a spin if I have to let go of the controls."
"Yeah, sure, the Gods already know you're, ya know, around, so your patron should be able to help with that."
"And what about that whole soul bonding thing?"
"I just thought of all I knew about my grandfather while drawing the symbols."
"…I'm gonna have to use my blood on this, aren't I?"
"Yes. There's no way around that." He raised his hands in a surrender position. "Which I will have no hand it past showing you the symbols."
"Ok, no, it's not that." You said, grabbing your hair, something you did when stressed. Fuck, you were stressed. "You don't spill blood for anyone in my culture. Especially magical beings." You explained, pushing away those tales of how blood rituals end you were told when you were barely older than a toddler. "There are things beyond our understanding that want the magic in us, and giving them a drop of it from the ocean of soul is how I cast spells. Fae are… the most tangible. But casting spells using your blood to focus it is like opening the floodgates, and the things that want our souls can take more than we want to give. Your rituals felt like blood magic. The single greatest taboo of my culture. But I know it's different, and I'm sorry I have so much hesitancy about it because I know it feels like I'm telling you that I think your faith is evil, but I don't feel that way at all." You vented a bit, reaching to your pocket and pulling out your cigarettes. You were down to your last one, but you needed it, your anxiety of making those you care about angry was coming back.
"…I didn't know that. I'm sorry. You should have told me." He said while you took a deep drag of your cigarette, completely releasing all of your anxiety on the exhale. Back to a closed throttle.
"I should have. I'll be better at communicating." You promised, not looking him in the eye. "I know your faith is different, I trust you, I trust your gods, and I don't want to be bound by my faith, superstitions, and fears. I want your help in this. I'm asking for it this time." You said, turning around to look back at your plane, Karl leaning on the side of it.
"You ready for it?" Edgar asked.
"Yeah. Let's do it."
You held your ritual knife over your hand, shaking a bit. Even with the nicotine this was still terrifying.
"You're not giving anyone your blood. You're letting the gods help you by telling them how they can." Edgar reassured, leaning against the fuselage to watch the ritual. You swiped the knife across the palm of your hand, spilling your bright red blood into the oil pan you had balanced on the step. Once you determined it was enough, you set the knife down and quickly wrapped your hand in a bandage. He held the paper with the runes on it, esoteric shapes that were nauseating to look at. They felt deeper than the page itself, like it was somehow a three dimensional shape on the paper. You took the paintbrush you used to paint your kills, and slowly painted the symbols on the canvas below your kills, while thinking about what you knew of Karl. Which wasn't much. But you somehow knew it was enough. You… prayed, casually, to your patron that they'd help Karl bond with your plane and keep you safe in flight. They told you it was a good idea, and that they would facilitate a bond like that. "Alright. You've marked it, so the gods know to protect it."
"Great. What now?"
"You test it."
"Alright, you got it?" You asked Karl loudly, despite not needing to, gripping the flight stick at two kilometers above the ground. Your plane was so unstable you were terrified of being unable to pull out of a spin if you went any lower than you already were.
"Yup! Got it! I'm holding it!" He responded in your own head, as you slowly, gently, let go of the stick. It didn't wobble, it held in place like you were still gripping it. "Alright… bank right?" The stick slowly rolled to the right, and the plane tilted in a controlled manner. You giggled. "Level out and climb?" You asked with a grin, and the plane did just that, pushing you back into your seat and shooting towards the western sun. "Dive and boost!" You said, laughing, as you flipped into a hard power dive, rocketing towards the trees far below.
"It feels good to be flying again." You heard Karl say as you leaned back to relax, feeling the plane level out beneath you.
"Feels nice to not have to for once. Mind taking us back?"
You landed back in town, you decided to do some quick shopping before you started off on your voyage. You bought a new shotgun. You were over your aversion to guns. You came first, not the enemy. You agreed with Riya that she was too valuable to give up as a pilot to fly the airship, so you found a cargo pilot in town willing to fly the blimp to the destination while you escorted for a Thaler. Your employer was long gone by that point, so you couldn't ask him for contacts, so you had to go hunting yourself for one. She was an old woman from the Caproni islands up north, with graying black hair and blotched dark skin from decades of sun exposure. Her name was Edna, and you felt a little bad you didn't really get to know her past her skill of operating an airship.
Next, you bought armor and parachutes for your partners, because seeing them hurt would just about kill you and they couldn't fly like you could. A leather flight cap and leather vest for the both of them to compliment your metal helmet and cloth vest. Before takeoff though, you saw Edgar hand Alex the vest and parachute. Whatever. It was his decision. It was fine with you. He'd be fine. He didn't need it. Joli helped you and Edgar with your props, and you were off on what should be a relatively straightforward mission.
Alright! Let's vote for altitude we start at! Your speed shall be 12 because the blimp is slow.
Your Plane
[ ] Write in desired altitude. Ideal altitude is 0-29
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- Location
- Salt Lake Ciy, UT
Thank you again for sharing your writing with us @Texas Red! Yay, Karl is flying again! Crap, I completely forgot to kit out Alex when buying stuff
(((
Also! I love that we are seeing how Hilda is having a *hell* of a time getting her head around the Fisher "magic system" visa a ve her native magic system. Thank heavens we are rolling well enough for her not to flip out on Edgar over it, but she is *struggling* to have an open heart and mind to Fisher Magic and you love to see it! The struggle is where the personal/character growth is.
Oh, quick question: what altitude will the blimp be at?
((( Also! I love that we are seeing how Hilda is having a *hell* of a time getting her head around the Fisher "magic system" visa a ve her native magic system. Thank heavens we are rolling well enough for her not to flip out on Edgar over it, but she is *struggling* to have an open heart and mind to Fisher Magic and you love to see it! The struggle is where the personal/character growth is.
Oh, quick question: what altitude will the blimp be at?
It's nice to see Karl and Hilda getting along. Alas, I'm pretty sure Victor is dead.
[X] 20
[X] 20
Well, that's totally not foreboding.
- Location
- 100 Meters From Your Location
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Three altitude below you.
[X] 20
It's a good plane, except for the part where it wants to murder Hilda.
It's a good plane, except for the part where it wants to murder Hilda.
- Location
- Earth, probably.
- Pronouns
- None/Any
[X] 20
- Location
- Earth, probably.
- Pronouns
- None/Any