But, seriously, we NEED airships! The boons to travel, trade, and exploration alone are astronomical.
We can look further afield with the exploration options after they have been invented.
OH. I GOT AN IDEA.
Are Sea Shanties Still Sea Shanties Above the Clouds?
meanwhile, on a certain island nation of savvy privateers....
----
Within Libertalia, there was a small nook, just off the coast and built inside a half sunken ship. One half, sunk into the ocean and resting along the sea bar, served well enough as an outdoor seating area, although it was usually seen empty. The other half of the derelict ship housed the bar proper. A strange, dingy, slanted place where the waves tended to shift the half to and fro, causing all manner of drink and food to spill and clatter on a good day.
But no one really came there for the food and drink, even it was a nice enough. No, the main reason people came there was for its... reputation, amongst the information community of the pirate hideout.
The Solomon's Yard. A bar that spilled secrets as much as it spilled its food and drink.
As usual, a well dressed perpetually smiling unicorn mare, a rather stunning beauty if not for the scar across her face (although some took that as something that made her look even more beautiful), passed a drink over to one of her regulars, the cheap drink sliding itself across the recently replaced oak table by the force of gravity alone.
"There ya go, Goldie," She spoke, leaning over the table, her smile widening, "One King's Audience, chilled as ya usually like it. Just remember-"
"-Five Minutes. I know the drill Drake."
"That's right. Five minutes. No more, no less." She tossed him a wink, "And as always-"
"-If we spill it, we clean it." He and his compatriot, a rather large stallion wearing a hood, replied.
"Then have at it."
Drake's horn glowed for a bit as a small blue bubble surrounded them, before disappearing. Then, she turned around and sashayed her way to the other side of the bar, where another customer was waiting.
"... What a mare." The larger of the two spoke, a wistful tone in his voice.
"That she is..." The one named Goldie replied, reaching out for his drink and missing as the ship swayed to the left. "She's too good for this place."
"Too good or too bad?" The other raised an eyebrow, "She might have decided to settle down in this horrid old place, but she's still the Sea Dragon. A record of sunk ships an island wide, sword skills to take on an entire ship of sea-dogs, has never been drunk under the table, still undefeated in a hoof wrestling match-"
"Yes, yes, I know, I know. Who's the informant here?" Goldie reached out for his drink once again, this time managing to snatch it before it drifted off again, "Anyway, we dont have much time and we didn't come here for the view, as nice as it is."
The hooded one sighed, "Your right on that. So, what'd you call me here for?"
"Griffons."
A thunk sounded out, causing his drink to slosh in its glass, as his companions face dropped down to the table, "It's always griffons, isn't it?"
Goldie shrugged, "Not my fault there just happens to be the most news on 'em. You know how it is... People want to know what is going on with our new overlords, and so, we supply. And It's not like there's a small supply either. You know, give a crystal pony a drink, get them talking about their oh so wonderful saviors... Its an information specialist's dream. Or nightmare, depending on which side you're on."
"You say that, but then maybe you'll hear something you weren't supposed to or say something to someone on the wrong side, and presto! You'll wake up one day with a severed head in your bed or a knife sticking out of your chest." The stallion briefly glanced around, "It's not really paranoia when they have eyes and ears everywhere, yeah?"
"... You can't really believe everything they say about Griffonian Intelligence, can you? It's just propaganda. I mean, really, who in Tartarus would believe they managed to sneak out every single last slave we took from 'em in one night?
Without Magic? It's bloody nonsense, is what I'm getting at. They probably just secretly paid them off." He rolled his eyes, "And all this about them managing to destroy Maretonia from the inside out... Sure, it's got the
upper management spooked to Tartarus and back and patting themselves on the back for taking the whole Griffon deal, but there's no way Griffonia was involved in any way with that. Causing a civil war with just spies? Please. The abolitionists were already starting to gather together before the whole Griffonia thing started, it's all them. Griffonia is just taking credit."
"I'll take the side of caution, thank you very much." The larger muttered, "You haven't really seen them in person, have you? Just hop over to the crystal protectorate and bar hop, watch all the pretty girls-"
"Information gathering is more than that!"
"-fine,
listen to pretty girls, but still, you haven't really seen many griffons at all, right?" He tossed the question at his companion, "I'm not saying I disagree with you or anything, but any nation that has its intelligence bureau out in the open is either extremely confident in what they do, or are the worst spies in the world. I think, given their track record, I'll go with the former."
"We'll just have to agree to disagree on that." He replied, taking a sip from his mug, "Anyway, onto why I called you here. I heard something... interesting from my information gathering missions."
He lifted his head off the table, "So you heard something interesting at a bar. What of it?"
"It wasn't you usual chatter. Since they started up that University, there's been a lot of chatter that's been going over my head, but this time, I heard some talk in Neighponese."
His companion nodded, "Right, forgot you knew a bit of that..."
"Right, anyway, they were talking about a bunch of stuff. Not all of it I caught, but I did hear them talk about runes, merlin, and making things fireproof."
"And that should interest me... why?" He tilted his head, "Merlin's been making waves since he showed up, all the crystal ponies do is talk about those damn runes if its not about the griffons, and making stuff fireproof is basic Neighponese magic. Are you going somewhere with this?"
"It's not the fireproofing that was interesting. It was what they were trying to fire proof." He smirked, a giddy feeling rising from his stomach, "Get this, apparently, the Emperor is thinking about making a ship."
The stallion's eyes windened a little, "Alright. Now you've got me a little interested. What's the Emperor want with a fireproof ship?"
"Its not just any ship." Goldie reached into his pocket and pulled out a napkin, "I caught a glimpse at their table and sketched out something on a napkin. Tell me, what's that look like?"
The stallion took the napkin and opened it up, both eyebrows rising at the strange image depicted on it, "A... balloon with propellers? Wait is he making-"
"A ship that can travel the skies?" He let out a small chuckle, "Seems so. Airships, man, airships!"
"Airships..." He spoke, a slight heady feeling in his skull, "That'll be-"
"A game changer? Maybe." Goldie replied, "Currently, it seems what they're using to get it off the ground is a tad... volatile, but once that is fixed, they'll go into the prototype phase. And after that, mass production. And once that happens? Well, you can bet your flank that everyone from the upstarts to the priate lords will be running to get their hooves on one."
"Sky piracy..."
A huge grin spread across Goldies face, "Got it in one, mate. A new era is be coming. An era of Sky Pirates."
The Stallion turned, giving his companion a confused glare, "But... why tell me?"
Goldie shrugged, "Because, out of everyone, I trust you the most, and you also happen to be in a unique position to take the most advantage of this in the future. So, think of me telling you this as a favor. Remember me in the future, wont ya?"
Suddenly, the bubble around them phased back into existence, flashing once more before dissipating.
"And that's five minutes." Goldie replied, finishing off his drink, "I gotta go. See ya around, Red."
The informant got up from his seat and walked out, leaving Red alone.
"Sky pirates..." He muttered, "I'll need a crew..."
---
