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Grendyne groans and starts pulling on her boots when the alarm goes off. Again. She quick-marches to the broom hangar, sits on her machine and is handed a plethora of loaded weapons by attentive corporals.
"Two flyers in one day? They're getting way too common."
"It's worse," the commander informs them, "South Karlsland got hit with three at once. We're taking Lytee's express and sleeping there. You can sit out if you absolutely need to, but Freya's still recovering so we could use you as a comms relay."
"No, I'll come. I just reserve the right to complain about it."
The 42nd United Forces Witch Wing takes off, bracing to fight yet another city-destroying monster, and assembles into a perfect synchronized formation as Lytee charges her teleport power.
...This is not South Karlsland wilderness.
Near the Golden Coven capital, in Aurum
Near Savarasse, in Thilanushinyel
Near Whately Academy
With Unbitwise
witchwatcher
witchwatcher
"I'm only a little tired, and it's fun for me too. In ten or fifteen more minutes of that I'll be tired enough that it isn't worth it to keep going."
witchwatcher
The hug continues to be a little weird, mostly the fact that it's oddly pleasant. Oh well. Flying!
[Time to go back in, now. That was great fun, though.]
[Time to go back in, now. That was great fun, though.]
witchwatcher
So she lands again. "Thanks for this, you two. I still don't really know what comes next, but a little flying makes everything better."
"Next I guess you show Jacob the thing and he fiddles with it?" says Shawn. "And I can show you the guest house, you can stay there overnight."
witchwatcher
"Gonna talk to Jake real quick."
[Jake, I'm back. Where's a good place for you to look at my 'wing?]
[Jake, I'm back. Where's a good place for you to look at my 'wing?]
witchwatcher
[On our way.]
She hefts the machine. "Shawn, wanna show me to the garage on the north end of the village? Have a nice day, Kelly!"
She hefts the machine. "Shawn, wanna show me to the garage on the north end of the village? Have a nice day, Kelly!"
"Yeah, sure!" says Shawn. He trots up away from the beach into the village and shows her a building where Jacob is hanging out, Elspeth nearby. There are cars and a couple buses and other miscellaneous vehicles.
witchwatcher
She looks for a convenient place to set the thing down, and sets it.
It's shaped roughly like a motorcycle, if a motorcycle had pointy bits sticking out at a few odd angles, mostly towards the back.
She starts explaining what she knows about how it works to Jake, the short version if which is: The pointy bits are important, the mechanical things inside it are also important, if either of things are ruined it's still sticklike enough for her to fly, if only barely.
It's shaped roughly like a motorcycle, if a motorcycle had pointy bits sticking out at a few odd angles, mostly towards the back.
She starts explaining what she knows about how it works to Jake, the short version if which is: The pointy bits are important, the mechanical things inside it are also important, if either of things are ruined it's still sticklike enough for her to fly, if only barely.
witchwatcher
"Brooms don't work well unless they have bristles. Or are at least slightly asymmetrical. I think they might help the magic do stability, somehow."
"That's... weird. I'm not sure I'll be able to get very far on the shape without knowing what the magic is doing, but maybe the interior is doing something engine-y. How's it open up?"
witchwatcher
"By a latched hinge, here."
It doesn't look very enginey, but that is a differential gear, and that thing over there is a flywheel.
"Sorry I can't give you much help with it. I bet Knight knows how these things work, hers is custom."
It doesn't look very enginey, but that is a differential gear, and that thing over there is a flywheel.
"Sorry I can't give you much help with it. I bet Knight knows how these things work, hers is custom."
witchwatcher
"Hm. It's kind of... Witchly synesthesia. I can try."
Basically, she gives mana, a generic magical energy, to the machine and this makes it move or hover. Giving mana in a particular direction (to the front, to the left, etc) turns, rolls, or banks it, almost like airplane controls.
Basically, she gives mana, a generic magical energy, to the machine and this makes it move or hover. Giving mana in a particular direction (to the front, to the left, etc) turns, rolls, or banks it, almost like airplane controls.
"Do the mechanical things do anything if you just treat this like it has no moving parts, or do you also have to mana at them?"
witchwatcher
"No, the mana definitely goes through the moving parts. It starts in these two flywheels. It's like flying a brick if you don't do it that way."
witchwatcher
"Not sure. I'm guessing I don't have to put mana into keeping them running, but that's just a guess. We don't have steam engines small enough to test that kind of idea."
"...Steam engines are kinda obsolete here. We can make something to spin your wheels if that'll help."
witchwatcher
"It's worth a try. I think the mana does something else with the insides than just spin the wheels, but that might be bad intuition talking."