Return of the Emblem Chapter Three: The Show

[Snowy_One]

"Bron's a loser? I knew he was desperate and all, but a loser?" asked Robin as she started to move with the group along the road. "Wait. Let me guess. You have some embarrassing stories about him? Can I please hear them? I will teach you how to make your own knives from rocks in trade if the stories are good enough! I want to hear them!"

[Acacia Sgt]

'There he goes...' John watched until Rothene was out of sight before walking now in the direction of the entrance. 'Well, at least I told Nanahm beforehand I'd be by the wagon. I didn't got the chance to tell Ranyin just now.'

Once he was outside, he spotted the wagon, though first went over to Gil to leave his bag. He then approached the wagon.

[Phoenix]

On the Road Again

"H-he's not a loser." Liliya chimed in nervously. "He's actually pretty successful."

Putting an arm over Liliya's shoulder, Bron added a comment of his own. "Ah, I knew I can always count on you to point out my best traits, Liliya. You're one in a million, you know that?"

"Get your hands, off my sister, you dolt." Liza hissed quietly. "Anyway, I don't have a lot of stories to share about this guy, he's smart enough to keep his urges in check ... most of the time ... ... but making knives out of rocks? Are you a country girl or something? Most people I know just buy what they need from an armory." she said taking out a very sharp dagger. "See this? Comes from fine grade steel."

City girls versus hunter, round one ... begin. Bron mused to himself. Liliya didn't bother trying to get free from Bron. It was raining and cold and the warmth was welcome. Health before social politics, she thought.

OOC:

A resonating stone is a magically linked stone. It's linked with numerous receiver stones. The receiver stones reflect the sounds that impact the resonating stone and produce the same sound. This is an archaic(modern for the time period), yet very expensive surround sound speaker and microphone system. Consider this canon.

Let The Conference Begin ...

"Yeah, aborting the previous plan and going with this new one, Captain. Heheh." Miguel replied jokingly.

"Alright then, forth row it is." Rodrigo replied to Synthia before walking with her over to a couple of good seats.

Cain then ran up to the stage and spoke with Professor Weyland about the spy issues and the concerns his unit had with how that ought to be handled. A few nods from the Professor later, and Cain joined the others at their seats right up in the front row. Once the majority of the audience was seated, Weyland took a glance back stage and got a thumbs up from the crew. "Good." he said to himself aloud ....

A couple more minutes and the doors were shut to the conference room, and the guards took various positions throughout the room, but did well not to distract attention from the stage itself. The lights were dimmed and the stage was illuminated for Weyland's presentations. The Professor quickly put a resonating stone up to his face and began speaking. The other stones throughout the room echoed with the same sound as the one Weyland was speaking through. "Welcome, everyone. I hope the trip here treated you all well. If not, then hopefully what you see here tonight will raise your spirits, for what I reveal is but a taste of on going progress and things to come in the not too distant future. Now then ... without further delay, the first model in a series of ranged weaponry ..."

The KCB-02 Astra Bow

The woman Weyland had referred to as Gabbie several times prior came out onto the stage rolling a stand with two unique looking crossbows on it to the center of the stage. Weyland waited for her patiently and once the two bows arrived, he gave a thanking nod. "Thank you, very much, my dear."

"Welcome." she said in a nonchalant tone as she strolled off back stage again leaving the weapons with Weyland.

He casually picked up the first one, a bow with a lot of steel parts on it, and a very interesting body shape. The bow was hollow at the center, there was room for a rotating device to be fitted right inside. It had a wooden finish on the buttstock. The stand itself was obscuring a few things from the audience completely, like the small cylinder shaped metal cartridges, each lined with bolts.

"Ladies, and gentlemen, up first, the KCB-02 Astra Bow. K is the first letter in the K-Series of ranged weaponry, and C and B merely stand for Crossbow. This is the second model in the series. The Astra Bow is designed to automatically reset its firing mechanism after each shot. As you can see, the system is advanced, but not terribly expensive to produce. However manufactured parts for the Astra must be made precisely to specifications. Slight variations in measurements and materials will shorten the lifespan of this weapon and hinder its overall effectiveness. Current specifications are optimized for a weapon of this type and intended function."

Taking only a moment to breathe and to pick up the cartridge with the outer attached bolts, he glanced over past the stage curtains to Gabbie and a handful of people putting on strange looking suits. Gabbie wasn't setting foot in the suits but merely standing around while the other five got dressed. They were already almost finished. Presenting the cartridge to the audience, and moving his hand from one side of the room to the other, letting everyone take a look, he continued. "Now this, is an Astra magazine, one of three. I cannot stress it enough that these must be made to my exact specifications. The performance times and values are dependent on it, not to mention a slightly offset magazine can make the bow jam. Now these five arrows are firmly held in place by two locks each, one at the top, and on at the bottom of the magazine. These locks loosen their grip slightly when the magazine is loaded into the bow." he explained giving a quick demonstration by putting the cartridge into the hollow spot on the bow. It locked into place with a loud click, and the arrow at the top of the cartridge seemed perfectly lined up with the bow's firing mechanism.

"As you can see, the Astra is starting to resemble a conventional crossbow. One of the arrows in the magazine is already in position to be fired, but this is where the similarities end. The Astra's firing mechanism resets the moment the arrow is fired and the magazine is rotated by the same system while locked into position. This means that once the first shot is fired, the bow is reset and ready to fire again, and the next arrow is moved into position automatically."

Once they were finished, the five suited individuals grabbed prop crossbows of their own and stepped out onto stage. They were wearing very thick suits designed to allow piercing weapons to penetrate, but to also stop them short of piercing into the wearer. They were bow demonstration standards for Weyland and some other exhibitors. The five took positions in a semi circle formation and lifted up their crossbows at Weyland. Weyland glanced over at them with a very serious and dangerous look in his eyes.

"Well now onto ... OH NO. It appears that five well armed Neviskotians have infiltrated this conference and are assaulting the stage. Whatever shall we do?" he said mockingly. A split second later, Weyland was aiming the Astra at the five with one hand, and only one eye with a decent view of them. He started firing immediately. With each subsequent launching sound a bolt pierced into a target! In only two and a half seconds Weyland had emptied the five round magazine and the bow was empty. All five suited individuals had arrows stuck in the heads of their suits and were acting a bit silly about it. One collapsed pretending to be dead. The other put one hand out toward the crowd, and another over his heart before reciting some tragic poetry that they wouldn't be able to hear due to the suit. Two of them pulled the arrows out of each other's heads and checked the holes for research purposes, and the last one stood there bent over laughing at how badly they had just gotten beaten in the demonstration.

Weyland looked at the audience coldly after shooting them all. "Five shots ... five burials, ladies and gentlemen." he said before casually and almost playfully shooing the helpers back off of the stage. "Now then I suppose you're wondering what happens when you use up these five shots? The simple answer is to change the magazine. It's designed to be easily and quickly exchanged for another." he said flipping a small switch near the trigger that loosed the magazine and allowed Weyland to effortlessly remove it. He then placed another magazine with five new arrows attached into the Astra and it snapped into place. This all took about four seconds and he was in no hurry at the time. He held the bow up and smiled. "And now we can kill a maximum of five more people, and it may only take two point five seconds just like the last time."

General Capaberra began a slow clap and uttered a phrase. "Wrath empower thee, Mercy protect thee, Nature bless thee, and Truth guide thee. Marvelous, Weyland. Truly." Langley nodded a few times agreeing with Capaberra.

The Professor bowed his head slightly before placing the bow back on the stand. "Any questions before we continue?" he asked looking over the room.

"Um, I have a question." Cain said speaking up. "Why is the magazine size only five bolts? From the looks of things you could fit at least ten onto one that thin." he added at the end.

"Ah yes, magazine size. That's determined by the relative size of the firing mechanism, the space between arrows, and width of the magazine itself. Since it's a rotating module it can only fit a certain number of bolts without them overlapping each other when aligned with the firing mechanism. That is to say, the Astra is only designed to fire one bolt at a time, but a magazine with arrows spaced too closely together will see multiple bolts caught in the firing mechanism at once. That would cause a jam. The optimal number of bolts is five, however the magazine size can be anywhere from five to eight shots without any inherent issues. However we chose to keep the number at five to cut down on overall expense. The magazines cost about as much as a steel sword and the bolts will begin to add up as well ... they are heavy iron bolts after all. Again, given overall pricing and performance, five shots is optimal. Anyone using one of these is recommended to have at least three magazines total for best in-field results." he explained.

KCB-02 Astra Bow: 100

A special crossbow designed to inflict numerous hits on enemies. Allows the user to launch a total of five attacks (including doubles, triples, and counters) over a span of one turn. The user may launch these attacks at any time, but once all five shots are used, the wielder is unable to attack or counter during the following turn(count resets to five the following turn). All attacks, doubles, triples, quads, quints or counters made are optional and may be launched consecutively and at any available targets. The KCB-02 only attacks at Range but may counter at melee as well, or siege range at the cost of 50% hit(Archers don't suffer the 50% hit reduction). The KCB-02 is a skill weapon and uses skill instead of strength to determine might.

Note: Specifically, the Astra bow's five attacks can each be activated individually, against any available targets, and at any time during a turn(a turn includes Player Phase, Enemy Phase, and Other Phase). The Astra's attacks may only be used under normal attack/countering circumstances. That means you can't launch an attack at virtually any moment in battle; only when taking your player phase action, or countering against enemies or neutrals during Enemy Phase or Other Phase.

[Snowy_One]

Robin bent closer, examining the blade eagerly. Her finger reached out to run along the flat, then gently across one side of the edge, being careful not to cut herself. "That is a very nice blade. Must have cost you a lot. The sharpness is very useful for parting hides to be sure and I will not complain about the hardness. Not as sharp as obsidion, but you will not find much of that around here. Here is my blade." she quickly shuffled about in her quiver, moving arrowheads aside, before producing the quartz blade. "Made this myself. Took two hours of work. Quartz is difficult to work with, but very hard to break. It will not bend and can take a lot of abuse, but it is not as sharp as steel. My family does not have the money for steel, only half my arrowheads are iron and all have been used multiple times. The durability of quartz is very nice. I would love to use diamond for a arrow, but that is too hard to work with and too expensive."

[-Cynthia-]

Selene clapped after the demonstration, moderately enthused. A useful tool for taking down those with wings no doubt, though not something anyone in my unit would use. This would be quite dangerous in Neviskotian hands as well, an entire troop of pegasus knights could be taken down with that. I hope that no spies managed to get through... she thought to herself, eying the crowd suspiciously.

[Mercakete]

Cecelia quietly laughed at the foux Neviskotian attack. When it was time for Q&A on the first desmonstration, however, a question came immediately to mind. "How far -- and particularly how high -- can these bolts be fired?" the captain asked from her seat next to Cain. Getting more airspace is always welcome, but if they have to be fired from a higher altitude in order to do any damage, it won't be as helpful to those of us trying to gain sky.

[Phoenix]

Details Details

Clearing his throat, Weyland answered the next officer. "The Astra can unleash a bolt at three hundred feet per second, and we've got the total distance at roughly four hundred yards. Accuracy is out of the question in that neighborhood though so any unit wielding an Astra is advised to treat it in the same way a normal crossbow is. Medium range is best. It's far more deadly in every sense of the word, but it isn't a replacement for a siege weapon. If you're wondering about fliers, you can reliably fire on them up to an extra seventy-five feet away by comparison to an ordinary military grade crossbow ... though one of our better archers hit a moving aerial target from even further than that with no problems ..."

Gabbie clinched her fist from backstage the moment Weyland mentioned the other archer. "Grrrr... shot my wyvern ...." she growled to herself.

Road

"Ah, so you are a country girl. Well it's not bad. I'm not going to make cave woman jokes. I could easily wipe out a room of dozing guards with that in just a couple of minutes, so it's respectable." she said twirling her own knife in her hands. She noted to herself that her normal flourish wasn't looking all too good with the heavy drops constantly colliding with the blade and changing its speed. That was enough for her to put the thing away. The conversation might still be able to continue without either knife being present, she felt.

[Snowy_One]

Robin watched Liza for a moment as she flourished her knife, noting the motion of the blade and the movements of her fingers. Then, taking her homemade blade, she gripped it in a similar fashion to how Liza had, and then gave it a quick twirl. The blade spun about, looping over and around her finger with a sharp spin, then suddenly shot off and away from her hand! It arched through the air, spinning lazily handle-first, landing in the mud at Bron's feet.

Robin flushed red with embarrassment as she quickly darted to pick the blade off the ground. <"Damn rain!> I could have done it if it was not raining!"

[Mercakete]

Cecelia smiled. This meant the snipers on the ground could cover their pegasi better. Satisfied with this new device, the captain waited to see what the next weapon was or to hear what the next question was an all subsequent answers.

[Phoenix]

Rainy Road

Bron stopped in his tracks which prompted Liliya to do the same. He hadn't seen the knife but he felt it land near his feet, and could just barely make out the sound of it landing in the mud against all the noise in the background. Sure enough, looking down he saw it and picked it up with his free hand. "This yours?" he asked.

The Debut Continues

"Alright then, if there are no more questions ..." Weyland paused giving the room a good three seconds before continuing. "... we shall continue to the next exhibit. Now I'm afraid I can't give an indoor demonstration of the next weapon, so we'll change a few things quickly." he said before clapping his hands together a few times, a cue for some people waiting in the shadows. A bit of a rumble began to sound throughout the mansion prompting investigative looks from dozens in the room. Soon, what was causing the rumble became perfectly clear as the wall behind Weyland began to sink into the ground separating from the rest of the room. It resembled a gigantic hidden doorway. Beyond the sinking wall was the back of Weyland's estate, acres upon acres of flat land. The perfect testing ground. Of course there were a few sheds that seemed to have just been placed there a moment ago. A few suspected they wouldn't be there or at least not entirely in tact for much longer.

With the wall completely down, Weyland picked up the next weapon from the stand Gabbie had wheeled in earlier.

The KCB-05 Visceral

This weapon was also a crossbow, but with a much longer body. It was nearly two thirds the length of a military rifle. Surprisingly it had only about a tenth of the number of moving parts the previous crossbow did. This one was a manually loaded and cocked weapon from the looks of it. "Ladies, and gentlemen, this weapon that I hold here ... is the end of the preposterous advantage dragons and vanguards hold at close range. This is the KCB-05 Visceral. This is the fifth model in the series. The Visceral is designed for one thing, delivering highly explosive bolts to targets at high speed. Unlike ordinary crossbows, the Visceral's powerstroke rivals a longbowman's. You know what that means, archery enthusiasts."

Capaberra's eyes widened a bit as he spoke aloud. "Incredible ..."

"The bolts the Visceral fires are designed especially for it, their primary strengths are weight, and stopping power, this is ignoring the fact that they explode immediately upon impact with anything outputting enough force to slow the bolt's speed by more than fifty percent. Don't drop these head first, not even by accident ... you won't even have time to curse your mistake if you do. Now then as for the actual work involved ..."

He took a bolt and put it into place on the Visceral. It was surprisingly long for a bolt, but then again, the weapon it was being put on would have difficulty firing regular bolts that were too short to fit properly into place. "Now keep in mind, this is a siege weapon, and I don't recommend trying to use it in any other way. The loading time is roughly ten seconds. Five seconds faster than a domestic purpose rifle, but still a great deal of vulnerability time." he explained as he pulled the string back into position. Once finished, he picked up the long crossbow and held it like a rifle aiming it at nothing in particular outside the mansion. "So then, that shed in the middle there. It's no ordinary shed. It's covered in thick steel plating, tank grade I might add. Small arms fire and even ballista fire won't do more than ding it up. You'd need a cannon or something of that nature to pierce those walls and kill every living thing inside, correct? Well, correct some years ago but now things are different. The Visceral's ammunition is designed to punch a hole through thick armor just large enough for the exploding warhead to do the rest. This works by keeping the explosion's center right near the tip of the bolt. The piercing tip breaks through the armored surface, and at its average impact speed, part of the internal bomb is already beginning its inward push into the structure as it ignites. This causes the tiny breach in the armor to be rapidly expanded, and if the bolt is deep enough when the bomb detonates, the target is blown apart from the inside out. The difference is measured in about one to two nanoseconds but the results are very different ... the difference between a target that has been blown into a few flying parts, and a target that's nothing more than raining bits of flaming debris. So then, how many enemy units are snickering inside that shed, hmm? Five? Ten? Fifteen? Twenty? Better question. How many will be left?"

Without waiting for an answer, he lifted the crossbow up to aim right at the armored shed and fired. The bolt made contact so fast that the launching sound and the impact sound were just barely overlapped. The bolt pierced in far enough for the optimal demonstration Weyland wanted, and the shed disappeared in a firestorm! Debris came flying at the audience but a visible bluish aura appeared whenever they came close, and they bounced helplessly off of the barrier a few mages had been keeping erect from the moment Weyland picked up the Visceral. When the flames cleared, there was only a little evidence that a shed had been there. The foundation was standing no more than a few inches off the ground, and all bent outward like flower pedals. The other two sheds had been welded a bit, and were leaning away from the blast's center just enough for the attentive eye to notice. Weyland rested the crossbow on his shoulder confidently as he turned back to face the audience ... just in time for some larger pieces of the shed to come raining down behind him, each making loud metallic thuds as they slammed into the ground. "Answer? None. One shot ... Truth only knows how many burials, ladies and gentlemen ... Truth only knows. Questions?"

KCB-05 Visceral: 100

A special crossbow designed to destroy very large targets such as tanks and dragons with explosive warheads. The weapon may only be fired once every three phases and cannot be used to counter or double, but grants a +/- 2 skill roll modifier to the wielder(66%), and uses three times the user's skill to determine might when used against Dragons, Vehicles, or structures. When used against normal targets, only the x3 skill bonus is given against opponents(no skill modifiers), but hit is reduced by 50% as well(Archers only suffer a 25% hit reduction). If the target is within a combat team, the other team members suffer half of whatever damage is dealt if they are caught in the blast(hitting the target does not automatically hit the entire combat team), and critical and lethal hits do not affect others in a targeted combat team. The Visceral can only be operated at siege range(Can't attack combat teams that have already engaged the user). Scoring a lethal hit with the Visceral automatically KOs any mortal target and its attacks cannot be countered unless they miss.

Note: Can gain siege range distance on any desired target by forgoing a phase action and not being attacked by that target or anyone else in their combat team. Being attacked during EP places the wielder back in melee/range of the attacking combat team. When a lethal hit is scored on a combat team, only the main target is instantly KO'd all others take calculated damage.

[GoD]

After Chelsea paid respects to Axel, Amon and Benjamin, the young troubador decided to leave the wagon and wander about the university, which she noticed was quite large.

As she was walking through the halls, she noticed something that caught her eye. A lone can of paint, specifically red paint was alone in a corner. Thinking that she might need it later for god knows what reason, she decided to carry it.

[Snowy_One]

"Y-... Yes it is my blade." admitted Robin, gingerly taking it from Bron. She quickly looked away from him, returning to the other two ladies, her head hung in defeat. "That is an impressive knife trick Liza. I cannot do it." she said after a moment. "But I can put an arrow into a target with ease at distances you can not throw at! Country girl has an edge still!"

[Mercakete]

Cecelia was shocked. Then she slowly raised her arms off of the armrests and began a steady clap. There wasn't much else she could do at the sight. Those fire dragons could do this sort of thing to us before... she thought, Now we can bite back with just as much force. I only hope no civillians are caught in such destruction. The Neviskotians never cared about that. We must.

[Rothene]

While heading towards where he and John left Nanahm, Ranyin pondered on whether the big guy would patiently wait there or decide to continue searching for the paint. Consequently, Ranyin slowed down just enough to not completely slip over some red substance on the floor. The momentary slide jolted his senses back to his surroundings and he quickly regained his balance.

Standing still, he took a moment to inspect what he slid on. Red...could it be blood, wondered Ranyin sweating. He had a sudden mental image of Nanhm getting angry over being abandoned and started attacking random students. As quickly as the thought came, Ranyin shook his head to banish the thought. Never assume, he reminded himself, it might not even be blood.

Gingerly, he reached down to smear some of the red stuff on his fingers. He noted it had a very dry feel and smelled nothing like blood that he saw once in a while when having to attend dissection classes back in school. Paint, thought Ranyin, on the verge of smacking himself for panicking over nothing. Then he observed where more droplets trailed off to and an idea formulated in his mind.

If I follow this trail, I would be able to find where they store the paint, thought Ranyin. He decided that if he returned to an angry Nanahm, paint in hand might be able to assuage him as it would significantly reduce his search for paint. If Nanahm was not in a foul mood, then so much the better.

Ranyin then began following the trail eagerly.

[GoD]

"Geez, this sure is one heave son of a gun."- Chelsea sighed as she carried the obviously heavy can of red paint towards an art room of some sort. Sometimes it proved to be a little too heavy and she left paint stains at some parts of,the university's hallways. "Damm it, I wish Nanahm was here to help me carry this thing"- Chelsea sighed as she wandered off.

[Acacia Sgt]

''Hey there.'' John said once he reached the wagon. ''I was on my way to see Rodrigo's show and was wondering if any of you guys would also be attending and...'' At this he noticed Benjamin. ''Oh, hi. Who are you?'' He asked him.

[Phoenix]

Roadside Stuff

"Well hopefully you can keep targets at distances like that. Archers don't do so well in close combat. Me on the other hand ..." she paused opening up her cloak just enough to reveal no less than three little round spheres linked to her belt, and then let her cloak back down. "... I dare'em to get close enough for me to throw something at them."

"Interesting conversation back there, huh?" Bron said to Liliya, who was still using him for warmth.

"Uh huh."

Up Next

Seemed the audience was too dumbfounded to voice any concerns. "Alright then, now I would like to introduce ..."

Backstage, Gabbie was still hanging out, arms and legs crossed, and bored. Keeping count of the presentations, she noted that it was time for Connor's part of the show. "What was he gonna do again? Eh."

"... my nephew, Connor, who'll be giving you a transmutation demonstration before we continue."

Wagon

When John arrived, he asked about the show. Amon's first thought was to speak up and reply with a 'sure' or something, but he immediately remembered his whole reason for being with the wagon in the first place, he didn't trust the security to be all that vigilant. "Well I ... wouldn't mind going. He did say we didn't have to pay. But at the same time, who's going to look after the wagon?"

"Aren't you worrying just a bit too much? I mean even if security was lax, and it isn't I can assure you, what are the odds of it being stolen from? Really? Another thought, even if you do stay here, if someone really wants to take something from this wagon, I'm sure they'll come prepared to deal with any guards present, and you're not much of a guard, now are you?" Benjamen explained ending with an almost rhetorical question.

"I suppose I couldn't do anything about it if there was more than one person, but still ..."

"How about this? I'll go get Zach and Thomas. They're pretty famous around the university and no one messes with them. I'll let them know about the situation, and I'm sure Thomas will volunteer the both of them to look after the wagon for you." Why's this kid so nervous about a beat up old cargo hauler wagon like this? Anyone rummaging through this thing would have to be looking for something specific, wouldn't they? Ahhh so maybe that's what it is.

"I ... guess that would be fine ...?" he said, really not sure at all.

Edited April 20, 2011 by Phoenix

[13th]

Damian was outside, on top of the wagon. He was keeping watch for people, waiting for the group to finish their business so they could leave. He wasn't comfortable around these kinds of places.

[Snowy_One]

"You are invited to join in Liliya, though you seem to be enjoying Bron's company more. Liza, does your sister have a thing for Bron?"

OOC: While I am enjoying the conversation, I think it would be best for us to TS ahead to more relevant matters that Liliya's love life and Robin's ability to make stone arrows.

Edited April 20, 2011 by Snowy_One

[-Cynthia-]

Showtime

Connor ran on stage in full fire- protective gear, carrying a small wooden shield and a rather bulky blowtorch in one hand, and a mass of scrap iron in his other hand. He gulped as he saw the crowd before him, full of rather important people. I guess if I want to be a great inventor I'll have to learn to speak like Uncle Seth. Here goes nothing.

"Greetings gentlemen and uh, ladies. Today I'm not really demonstrating an invention, but like Uncle Seth, er Professor Weyland said this is a transmutation demonstration." Connor set down the scrap iron and displayed the shield for all the audience to see. "See that marking there? It's a rune I drew on it, dark magic I guess if you want to classify it that way. It helps attune the material of the shield to something nearby...in this case those iron scraps I just put down. All that's needed then to deconstruct and reconstruct the object in a new material is an energy source. I'm using heat energy here, but you could use something else probably,"

Connor bent down and laid the shield against the iron. Hope this works...I'll look like an idiot if this doesn't. He then turned on the blowtorch and placed it on the shield. A bright flash and some smoke obscured what had happened for a little while, but when the smoke had cleared the scrap iron was gone and the shield was now made entirely of iron. Connor held the shield up triumphantly, took his blowtorch and began to walk off the stage before he remembered something.

"Oh right, questions?" he asked the crowd, blushing a little.

[Mercakete]

That certainly is nice of the professor to let his nephiew perform. Hmm. I should probably help out here. thought the captain, noting how green Connor was. "So, did you weld the iron to the shield? I don't exactly understand what just happened here," Cecelia piped up. She was in the front so the shield looked to be made of iron from there, but she doubted those in the back had as clear a picture; she was prompting him to explain to the audience what exactly he did.

[-Cynthia-]

"Hmm, well I wouldn't really call it 'welding', at least not in a traditional sense. The blowtorch just provided the energy to react with the rune, deconstructing the original wooden shield and reconstructing it using the iron. The shield really is iron now," Connor said hopefully, giving it a small knock to make a resounding metal sound.

[Mercakete]

The Ursian captain gave an approving nod at the confidant explanation. That should soldidify things with the entire audiance. I hope Weyland's nephiew learned to give more thorough explanations in the future. This really is quite impressive. With this ability more weapons and defensive structures could be constructed more quickly. Though this does use both the wood and the iron resources, it is a handy skill if there is a surplus in materials and if haste is needed. How much iron is required? Does this really take up more resources than traditional means? Should we invest in this? Can it only turn things to iron or can other items such as food or water be "transmutated?" I would ask a few of these, but I don't want to bombard him myself. I should wait to see if anyone else asks any questions like this. If we ever have to outlast the Neviskotians this could keep us stocked with whatever we need from the very soil, perhaps. Though that could be problematic if the effect is only temporary. In addition, we would have to train more mages for this. I doubt the clergy would puch much stock into this form of magic. He did say it was dark, so perhaps druids... Even then, does that in and of its self make this unsavory? The thoughts of how the alchemy could be applied flowed through Cecelia's mind like a torrent. Finally, she dammed it up. I'll speak with Colonel Langley and perhaps Weyland's Nephiew about this later.

Having stopped her flow of thoughts, she put her attention back on the events unfolding.

[-Cynthia-]

"So, are you only able to turn wood into iron? Or are there other materials you can transmute?" Major General Selene asked, rising from her seat.

"Well, I can turn leather into iron too. Theoretically this process could work with almost anything, but uh that would take some more research," Connor responded. Selene nodded and sat back in her seat. Connor gave a quick bow and hurried off the stage, thinking that his uncle was probably eager to unveil the next invention.

[Snike]

Well, the problem was resolved, with the student about to walk off, which would have ended it at that. However, the second wyvern rider came up to the wagon, asking Amon about the Phoenix's show, to which the mage suggested he go get Zach and Thomas. The names seemed vaguely familiar, but Axel shook his head. While it was true that the goods would probably be secure, it was better to be safe rather than sorry.

"I can take over guard of the wagon, if you all want to go to the show," he said, turning to Benjamin. "No need to bring the celebrities into this."