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Post by Natasha Ebonlocke on Oct 19, 2023 15:30:56 GMT
October the Nineteenth A thin, crisp frost covered the forest floor of the Grizzly Hills. The wooded mountainside was completely still, the air sharp on the skin even without a breeze, for those not yet acclimated to the coming winter temperatures. The nearby creek had ice shards along its edges, speaking further to a particularly chilly autumn morning in the cool northern forest. Standing in the direct sunlight as the fiery orb rose, however, spoke of warmer temperatures to come through the middle of the day.
The gorgeous redwood forest smelled deeply of the redwood trees, frozen earth, and crisp, clean, frigid forest mountain air, and adding to the sweet, earthy fragrances were the campfire, coffee, and the lingering scent of a heavy, hot breakfast of biscuits covered in white sausage gravy, bacon, scrambled eggs, and breakfast sausage links. The usual morning mists weren’t present this chilly morning, so the sun was able to warm the forest floor in areas where it touched…
…Like Celeste’s and Nat’s campsite. The two, along with Dordy, sat lazily by the fire, in the sun, their bellies full to the point of leaving them lethargic. Celeste had Nat’s fishing rod in hand, cleaning and lubricating moving parts. Celeste’s own murloc skeleton rod was nearby next to her insulated thermos of black coffee, with Celeste planning performing the same tasks on her own rod next. It wasn’t work, not entirely – Celeste loved fishing so much that this sort of thing was a nice, relaxing, calm sort of fun to enjoy doing, and Nat was grateful besides.
Along one side of the camp ran the creek, with their drift lines run out to the island in the middle of the creek, and more from there to the far bank. The salmon were still making the annual spawning run, and the river incessantly flashed with the sparkling lights of fish scales catching the sun, making the sight in the water appear as a moving diamond mine. They’d just checked the lines and brought in more salmon, prepped them for the smoker, and exchanged them with the fish that were now done in the smoker and were ready for frozen buried storage. The camp tasks of the morning complete, they busied themselves with other tasks, like Celeste with their fishing rods.
Dordy was entertaining himself with a hole on the bank he’d found. He was snuffling around, digging, trying to figure out what the interesting critter that made its home in there was. Unbeknownst to him, however, the marmot he’d been searching for had emerged from another hole downwind from him, where he wouldn’t be scented. The marmot watched Dordy with curiosity, though he was ready to dart back into his hole if need be. He wasn’t too worried; the ground was frozen and hard, and Dordy would not make it far through all that!
Nat was busy too, with her diary open in her lap, and her mechanical inkwell sitting next to her insulated thermos of coffee with the light splash of liquid hazelnut creamer and no sugar. She didn’t have much of anything to write about this week, but that was alright. She heaved a happy, contented sigh. The peace and quiet and relaxation – besides those rotten goblins last week – had been just what they needed, which was just what she had anticipated. She smiled contentedly, and applied pin tip to paper.
Dear diary,
Well, it’s certainly been a vacation-like week! I’m still in the magical, GORGEOUS northern mountain forest in the Grizzly Hills, still on the salmon run, and boy, are they running! We’ve even had to craft and enchant extra containers in which to store the fish we’ve caught! Boy, those Stormwind orphans are going to have BUNCHES and BUNCHES of smoked salmon for lots and lots of tasty dinners and sandwiches and other meals! This is so great!
Celeste and I have caught lots of salmon so far, with the most THRILLING fish fights, but most of the catches have been on the drift lines we stretch out over the creek with baited lines coming down from those. Gosh, they’re super effective! All we gotta do is check our lines once in a while for exhausted fish and pull ‘em out! It’s been a lot of fish, but, in comparison to the salmon run, barely a fraction of what’s coming up the river. And it’s far more sustainable than what those goblin poo-heads were doing last week! We still haven’t seen any other tricks out of them since then. Serves ‘em right!
After this, we’re gonna take this stuff to Ironforge and give a whole bunch to Uncle Rugnar, then to Pandaria for our Anglers Wharf friends, plus Penny, Suyin, and everyone else there from the Krasarang digsite. Then all the rest – which will be most of the haul – is going to the Stormwind orphanage!
We’ve had other fun besides fishing, too. We’ve had hikes and taken S.E.L.F.I.E. pictures all over the place together, including one of Dordy all covered in mud after chasing some kinda critter alongside another, smaller creek we found, with the mud sizzling and bubbling off him, as Celeste has his fire protection spell set to not work on water and stuff, so that he can stay dry. That one’s a funny pic!
We’ve also been hunting, and we brought back a caribou with the winch on the Flying Nosebleed to Amberpine Lodge, which turned out to be a record-setter for this hunting season (there was apparently a bigger one last hunting season, doh!)! There’s also been bird hunting and smaller critter hunting. We’ve had all kinds of game meat to eat besides just fish! Quail, pheasant, rabbit, all kinds!
The camping itself has been phenomenal! Celeste has the usual cold-weather rig that we set up in a K.E.G. (Kits of Environmental Gear, the pre-packaged camping kits Celeste dreamed up for pre-made camping gear for different climates and terrain types) together. For this one, we’ve got the tent set up with the Mechagon power cells powering up the thermal cells that provide heat, a canvas camping bed with LOTS of furs for blankets, as well as the usual camp table and chairs for meals when not eating next to the campfire, and for reading and writing at. It’s been the most comfy cold-weather camping trip possible!
I dunno what might be in store for this coming week, though. I haven’t been able to meet up with my Bestie Nah yet for more warlock training, and I haven’t been in Stormwind to hang out with Anna this week, either, both since I’m taking this getaway with Celeste. But that’s fine; this week has been amazing!
But whatever’s in store for the coming week, I’m sure it’ll be fun! YAY!
Nat sighed happily, closing her diary and poking her mechanical pen back into her mechanical inkwell. She stuffed both back into her pack, returning it to its place in the tent. When she came back out, she topped off coffee for her and Celeste, with another tiny bit of liquid hazelnut creamer for her own.
She looked around the camp as she sat back to relax and sip. The frost was beginning to disappear, little by little. Most of it was still there, but the bits in direct sunlight were all gone. It was warming up, the temperatures rising just a bit above freezing for the day.
Celeste finished with her murloc skeleton fishing rod at that point. It was decided that another hunt was in order!
Today’s hunt would be off of a tip gleaned from Amberpine Lodge the night before: a herd of wild shoveltusk boar, the boars with the tusks that look like moose antlers that usually inhabit the Howling Fjord, had wandered up into the Grizzly Hills. There was an overabundance of males, and they were causing a huge racket and stressing the rest of the herd with their constant fighting, and could use a bit of thinning out!
So it was that Celeste and Nat, with Dordy trotting happily behind, went south down the mountain through the trees, heading toward the Howling Fjord. They didn’t need to even find the end of the forest to find the herd; the racket the males were making was loud and raucous, just like the Amberpine Lodge crowd had said!
Celeste had Nat circle quietly around the herd, looking for a male that wasn’t already engaged in a fight with another male, or trying to court the females. Finding a particularly large one, Nat enacted Celeste’s plan: with a large, stout stick, she emerged from the underbrush noisily, smashing the stick on a tree and yelling at the boar. The boar was startled, running the opposite direction from Nat… away from its herd, and right towards Celeste and her rifle! BOOM! Simple as that, a successful hunt!
The Flying Nosebleed was again deployed with a winch to carry the formerly rowdy male back to Amberpine Lodge, and this time, an all-time record was set! The crew at the Lodge cleaned the kill, and purchased it for the meat and hide, as well as the enormous shoveltusks, which would be mounted on the wall, with Celeste’s and Nat’s names underneath! Celeste insisted on Dordy’s name as well, as Dordy had come along and popped out of the underbrush near Celeste, yip-yip-yipping and causing the boar to come to a skidding halt in the middle of a small clearing, startled as it was by a clear carnivore made of fire. That provided a perfectly still target for Celeste, she insisted, and so, the name Dor’dieb McCullough-Ebonlocke was recorded below the names Celeste McCullough and Natasha Ebonlocke!
After that, a meal was shared, and Celeste entertained the crowd with a story of how Nat may or may not have dressed up as a shoveltusk boar, charged into the camp, and headbutt-dueled the boar until it gave up and submitted, running toward Celeste, only to be stopped by Dordy, who may or may not have dragged it down by the tusks for Celeste to have a clear shot. Grins were seen all around the Lodge as Celeste told her story, and they all applauded after. Drinks on the hunters in the lodge were provided to Celeste and Nat, and fresh boar for Dordy, who ate until his trotting became a waddle.
Later that evening, Celeste and Nat returned to camp, checked the lines, and swapped out the salmon in the smoker for the latest catches. Deciding to get a bit of fishing in before the sun disappeared, another couple of good fish fights were had, one by Celeste and one by Nat, and their usual game of Catch the Bigger Fish ended up in a surprising tie! Two more for the smoker! One last check of the drift lines before bed provided even more, and the little family felt exhausted by then.
With Nat’s workend beginning early the next morning, they went to bed after a brief dip for a bath – warmed up by Celeste’s fire magic – in a section of the creek blocked off from fish for the purpose. It was with a tired smile that Nat bundled up under the furs that night with Celeste, and happy dreams of what they might do in the coming week filled her head as she drifted off to sleep, making another appearance in her dreams. It was sure to be another pleasant, fun time in the beautiful, crisp, cold, northern mountain forest of Grizzly Hills!
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Post by Natasha Ebonlocke on Oct 26, 2023 14:46:21 GMT
October the Twenty-Sixth
The bustle of Stormwind City was quite a huge change from the quiet stillness of the Grizzly Hills, as were the comparatively warmer temperatures. The sun was heading toward its zenith already, this time of year being shorter in the daylight hours, and all it touched was warmed and freed of the season’s hints toward chilly weather to come. Most of those who walked in its warmth welcomed it, though a few – like Nat – preferred to keep out of it, enjoying cooler temperatures more. All who walked around, however seemed to revel in the season, with many even going around in strange and wonderful Hallow’s End costumes of various sorts.
The hustle and bustle of the city itself was somewhat on the noisy side, with loud voices and rowdy types especially making a lot of noise, particularly those who had knocked back one too many stiff drinks already. Various large creatures added to the din, everything from locally-bred horses to strange-looking dragons to all manner of massive, magical creatures that served as mounts, and even several mechanical mounts – like the Flying Nosebleed that had arrived with Onyx at Stormwind City Orphanage shortly after breakfast – making their presence audibly known. Add in bards playing instruments and singing songs, merchants crying their wares, and the rather rowdier sorts misbehaving themselves all around the place, and the city became quite alive!
Within one usually noisy, bustling building, however, things had mostly quieted. A very large group of children sat on the floor in the main hall of the Stormwind City Orphanage, their attention riveted to Celeste and Dordy, as the former held the latter and moved him in all sorts of poses and movements, telling stories of Dordy the Super Pup that seemed to be thrilling the children to no end, though they laughed frequently at some of Dordy’s more outlandish accomplishments in the stories.
Celeste retold some of Dordy’s most amazing feats, with her usual embellishments, of course. Last year’s Grizzly Hills trip was included, in which Dordy sniffed out a lone grizzly bear cub from around the smoker, the one that had gotten lost, separated from its parents, who’d been mind-controlled by the goblins to be forced to overfish the salmon run. According to Celeste, however, Dordy assisted the cute little baby bear in finding its parents by climbing a tree, dropping onto a mind-controlled adult grizzly’s back, knocking off the mind-control equipment, and then riding on its back as he spoke to it in dog-speak to help Celeste and Nat by taking it on a rampage against all the bad ol’ goblin mind-controlling camp equipment. Another tale of Dordy the Super Pup involved him saving Celeste and Nat during a shark-fishing outing in Turtle Bay by leaping into his Dordy Bubble (she explained how it worked), pulling it shut, and pedaling hard enough to roll right up the side of the Wave Dancer and into the Bay! He then, Celeste told in a hushed, wide-eyed, awe-inspiring voice that enraptured the attention of the crowd of orphans while she posed and moved Dordy, pedaled down toward a shark that was hooked and yet still attacking the boat, riding the Dordy Bubble right into the side of the giant fish, continually knocking it off its path, and allowing Nat, who’d been knocked into the water, to get safely aboard.
Nat watched and listened from a table in the back, which had her diary sprawled out next to a lemonade and her mechanical inkwell. As Nat poked the button on the inkwell that popped out her mechanical pen and flipped through the diary to the next blank page, she also listened to Celeste’s latest tale, in which Dordy had helped Penny pilot the COMPASS: (the COMpetition Penny-Actuated Supercharged Skimmer, she explained, though she referred to it by its nickname, the Penny Pincher, from then on) in a race around the Thousand Needles boating area. Dordy, in this story, did everything from take his favorite toy – Celeste’s oldest wrench – and fix things as problems cropped up all over the Penny Pincher, to act as a watchdog for huge sea creatures and Bloodsail Buccaneer Pirates, to jump onto the nose of the thing and hunker down in a manner that improved the aerodynamics of the craft for a particular burst of speed to win the race in the end.
Dordy, of course, loved every bit of the attention, and being held and played with by Celeste so much. Every time the children cheered, he threw back his head and heroically howled, or else yip-yip-yipped and wagged his tail, and he spent most of the stories facing out at the children with a huge dog grin on his face, his long tongue lolling out of one side.
Nat giggled at the embellishments, cheering and clapping each time the children did when Dordy the Super Pup did something particularly heroic. As she listened, she wrote, putting pen to paper with a huge grin on her face!
Dear diary,
Gosh, it’s been such a fun and relaxing week! It’s also been a productive one – we came up with our quota and then some by the time we finished drift-line fishing yesterday, with fish enough for the Stormwind City Orphanage to last them for weeks, enough for our friends of all kinds in Pandaria to last them for weeks, enough for my hometown of Darkshire for weeks, and enough for Uncle Rugnar in Ironforge to last him for weeks!
Also, while I was away at work this past workend, Celeste had flown into Dalaran for a lunch special there I’d told her about, making the flight from our Grizzly Hills campsite for the meal and to also to re-engage an old quest! This is the story as she told it to me:
Celeste hadn’t gone fishing in Dalaran in years. She didn’t even have Dordy yet the last time she tossed her line into the fountain!
Marcia Chase had been thrilled to see her again. She took the time to catch her up on what she was doing these days and promised to give Other Nat Marcia’s greetings. Marcia laughed at the “Other” Nat thing. Of course Dordy got a lot of extra attention, the pup quickly realizing Marcia was a friend.
Celeste drew strange looks when she put up her Kalu’ak totem near the fountain, put on her fish finding goggles, installed her fishing chair and readied her murloc-bone fishing rod. Most of the time it was just tourists fishing for coins in the fountain, but Celeste had a goal that she had been trying to fulfill for years. It was serious business, and she would make her best effort to achieve it.
As she sat in her chair, Dordy dozing at her feet, lucky fishing hat pulled low and eyes on her bobber, she let everything around her fade away. There was only the moment. Her “zone,” as I call it!
So far she’d caught coins with the names of a lot of people. There were technically rare ones like the one with Thrall’s name, or Tyrande’s. She’d caught three with Sylvanas’ name in it. It just proved to her that it was likely a gimmick for tourists. She seriously doubted Sylvanas had ever made a wish here.
There was one coin though that she wanted…
It had Eowithiel’s name on it.
Her family had visited on one of their numerous trips around the world. Her brother Tomlin had been busy stuffing his pockets with coins he’d by reaching directly into the fountain. Her father had caught the boy in the act and forced him to return the coins and apologize. Celeste remembered how Isral had made coins appear behind Tom’s ears, to the boy’s delight. He then spent the afternoon teaching him the trick. That was Isral, Celeste said… Honorable, but just mischievous enough to show him a few tricks anyways!
Celeste, of course, had fished for coins with her mother in the fountain. She remembered how she had caught on that the coins weren’t really that rare and just a game for visitors.
Eowithiel had produced a gold coin of her own, however, and used a pocket knife to scrape her name on it. She had written a message on the back, but tossed it in before Celeste could read it. With perseverance and patience, her mother had said, she’d fish up a coin she’d really want, and know what she wrote behind it.
So Celeste was once again trying to catch the coin that now meant so much more to her.
“Sylvanas, Malfurion, Vol’jin, whoever that is… Sylvanas again, ooh, Jaina! Anduin, Magni, Queen Azshara? No way…”
On and on it went. There were normal coins from normal folk making a wish. In her “zone,” Celeste barely looked at the coins as she fished them out and tossed them into a bucket to give to Marcia later.
She’d lost count of how many coins she’d caught. Maybe it was in the hundreds. Another old coin. She barely glanced at it but as she tossed it in the bucket she saw the time-worn engraving “Eowithiel.”
“Oh no!” Reaching for it, she clipped it and it went rolling into the square. In her panic she shouted, “Dordy!”
Like a blazing, yip-yipping comet, the pup got up and ran after the coin! Between the legs of a towering tauren, underneath a giant dragon mount and in-between the wheels of a carriage! Celeste ran after him, but quickly lost sight of him in the crowds.
Desperately she looked for her pup. She’d forgotten about the coin; she just wanted Dordy back!
And then she heard a single happy yip behind her and the tinkling sound of metal hitting the cobbles. There was Dordy, panting but looking quite pleased with himself, and, on the ground, the coin! Celeste hugged her dog tightly then, with a trembling hand, picked up the coin that gad eluded her for twenty years.
She traced the name of her mother with a finger then finally turned it around.
“I am proud of you, Little Flower,” The inscription read. Celeste wiped a few tears as she looked at the coin, then hugged Dordy again.
She just couldn’t wait to show this to the love of her life, as she told me… what an awesome day!
I love, love, LOVED the story Celeste told me about her day fishing for coins at the Dalaran fountain! I rejoiced with Celeste as she finally found her mother's coin, wiping more than a few tears of my own as I hugged and squeezed Celeste, then turned to do the same for Dordy.
"Ohmigosh, Dordy!" I exclaimed, hugging the beloved pup as he squirmed and yip-yipped excitedly. "You're SUCH A GOOD BOY!"
I decided a celebration was in order after that. I put an order in to the Amberpine Lodge with Celeste's hook drone, something the Lodge folks had seen a few times and were almost used to now. All Celeste's favorite gamey foods arrived, with all Celeste's favorite drinks, soon afterward, and our little family feasted and drank and told old childhood stories. The little party lasted well into the night, a party that I endeavored to focus heavily on Celeste, in all facets.
Celeste was up early yesterday next morning, downing a coffee and preparing another pot for me. She walked silently around the camp, from what she told me. Even Dordy still snoozed on the fur bed with me at that hour.
Around her, a thick mist blanketed the forest. She could barely make out the shapes of the giant redwood trees close to the camp. She hummed softly as she cleared the fish from the drift lines. She didn’t add bait to them, with the morning catch; we now had enough salmon for our needs!
The last salmon were cleaned, and she fired up the smoker as she put them in.
Looking around, she debated if we should pack things up that day, but figured she’d ask me later. There wasn’t any real hurry to end our camping trip, even if we weren’t fishing as intensively with the drift lines.
I woke up some time later, groggily coming out of the tent to find Celeste sitting and enjoying the fog and the coffee. I helped myself to some, filling my thermos and adding my customary light splash of liquid hazelnut creamer and no sugar.
After a quick good morning kiss for Celeste, I sat down next to my Catch in my own chair, sipping at my coffee.
Dordy came out of the tent then, trotting to the fire and shaking himself out at length. He sat and scratched a spot behind his ear, then reared up on both of his packmates' chairs, paws on the edge of the chairs between our legs, getting his good morning pettings and greetings before trotting off to make the rounds around the camp.
I listened to Celeste contemplating packing up camp, then thought for a moment.
"Well," I mused. "We usually stay for Hallow's End, fishing and hanging out and seeing if anything spooky happens for the holiday. I'm up for staying this final week if you are! Though if you're getting bored and wanting to head out, that's okay with me too!"
“No, I’m certainly not bored, and it’s a nice change of pace from Pandaria. I was actually thinking about building a tree house, of sorts. Just out of reach of hungry grizzlies. Something solid enough to be there for our future trips and any campers strolling through and needing shelter,” Celeste said, looking up at the fog-shrouded trees.
"Ooooh, that sounds like such a fun idea!" I said, getting up to bring out food from the cooler. Eggs, bacon, sausage, omelet veggies, biscuits, gravy. Several pans followed, and soon the crackling fire had the crackling, sizzling pops and snaps of frying meats!
"That's also really considerate of you, too! Leaving something for other travelers hiking through the area!"
Celeste took a sip of coffee and nodded “Actually, Uncle Rugnar gave me the idea. The Ironforge Mountaineers built stone shelters in the mountains all around Dun Morogh to protect travelers from blizzards and things like that.”
"Ooooh, right, I've seen those!" I said, hunkered over the fire and flipping bacon and sausages. "That sure would be handy to have, way up here, this far from Amberpine Lodge!"
“Oooh, that smells good. You make the best breakfasts,” Celeste said, leaning forward. “I’ll let the folks at the Lodge know there’s a shelter here. They can pass the information along to hunters and hikers. Hey, we’ve been fishing all week. How about we take a rowboat and visit one of the icy fjords South of here?”
"Oh, thanks, hehe..." I said with a blush and a giggle. "I'm always motivated to make it really good with you and Dordy around!"
I listened and nodded about telling the Amberpine Lodge folks about the shelter, then lit up about the new travel idea.
"Oh gosh, that sounds fun! Are we gonna do that first, then work on the treehouse after?"
“We can swing by the Lodge for dinner tonight. We’ll have made tangible progress on the tree house, if this fog can lift, that is,” She looked around camp again, frowning and annoyed at the thick mist.
"Gosh, yeah, this fog is pretty heavy this morning," I said, now putting the pre-diced veggies and meats into the omelets and closing them up to flip.
“The sun’ll burn it off soon,” Celeste shrugged, sipping at her coffee again. “I’m going to check the MUTT, turn off MAD mode and see if the tools we’ll need are working properly. I shouldn’t be long; I bet breakfast will be done by then.”
She drained her coffee and strode to the MUTT, which was softly clicking where it stood just a few yards away near the smoker. Blinking into the cockpit, the MAD mode was turned off and the clicking stopped. Then Celeste operated the controls, testing the claw hand, circular saw and a few other tools one after the other.
I finished the meats, the bacon and sausage, getting them onto plates. A biscuit with gravy apiece, and an omelet with all of each of our respective favorite things (Dordy loves everything in his, just like me!) went onto all three plates, and, shortly thereafter, breakfast was served, amidst a foggy, quiet, chilly, beautiful Grizzly Hills creekside campsite morning! It was such a great setting for such a warm meal!
After a great breakfast, the fog started clearing fast. By mid-morning, only a few wisps lingered over the river. Looking up at the trees and drawing plans, Celeste and I decided to built our tree house between the trunks of three tall redwoods, growing close together.
Celeste planned to build a main hut in the center and another one lower and closer to the ground for storing supplies and gear. The two would be linked by a circular stair.
I worked with Celeste after a pleasantly stuffed belly of great breakfast food, brainstorming with her on the plans for the treehouse. I even found a space behind a tall bush that would hide a ladder to get up to the first level, one that wouldn't mar the scenery around ground level with the view of a ladder built onto a tree.
The grizzlies in the area weren't known for climbing trees like their black cousins in other lands, and, even if they were, the hole I proposed for people to climb up through would be much too small for them to fit through anyway.
With a laugh and a high five, we had our plan. Now we needed the materials!
Celeste proposed to return home with our catch and distribute the salmon to the orphans first. She’d start bringing tools and building materials over my workend, and the two of us could build the tree fort together (it was dubbed a tree fort now), starting next week! What fun!
I agreed. The orphans would be happy to have their fish sooner, and in time for a Grand Hallow's End Feast! We could return to the tree fort after! Darkshire and their Pandaren friends could do the same! After that... TREE FORT BUILDIN' FUN TIME! Well, after the materials are gathered over the workend, anyway!
So with that, we had an early breakfast at camp this morning, eating as the sun rose, beginning cooking in the dark of the very end of night, and enjoying another warm, heavy breakfast before the morning fog cleared. Celeste reactivated the MUTT’s MAD mode to guard the camp while we were away, and she flew the Flying Nosebleed, while I flew on my old childhood friend, Onyx! Our journey to Stormwind had us there shortly after the orphans and the matron had enjoyed their lunch, and now, Celeste is telling them some really fun tales of Dordy the Super Dog! HA! I love it!
After this, we’re gonna take some smoked salmon to my hometown in Darkshire and enjoy a lunch of our own with my father, then portal to Pandaria to visit friends there and spread the salmon cheer with our friends there as well, where we’ll have dinner on the wharf with the whole big group of us, before portaling to Ironforge to bring the last bit of smoked salmon to him, and spend the night there before Celeste heads back to camp the following morning, and I head to work!
Whew, what a loaded day of fun and travels! What a loaded week of peace and quiet and then traveling adventure! I can’t wait to see how the treehouse building goes, and maybe get some last fishing done as well! It’s all going to be so much fun! YAY!
Nat smiled and squirmed excitedly as she closed up her diary, poking her mechanical pen back into its spot in her inkwell and replacing everything in her pack.
She looked up then, following Celeste’s current tale with particular attention, as she was now telling of how she finally fished up her mother’s coin, and, when she lost it, Dordy the Super Pup had gone over, under, around, and through traffic, everything from tiny gnomes to enormous dragons, nearly getting trampled by a tauren, and how he’d spotted the coin getting inadvertently kicked by a gust of wind from a flying machine high into the air, and how Dordy the Super Pup had run up the little flight of stairs in front of a corner shop, launched off the little porch, ricocheted off a kodo, off of a taller dragon, landed on the wing of the flying machine, using that to catch up to the coin flipping through the air, then jumped off after it, catching it with his jaws in a flip of his own, landing smartly on the back of a gryphon that was coming in for a landing. Dordy had neatly hopped off the gryphon’s back after that, trotting proudly up to Celeste and presenting her with her mother’s coin. The children all gasped and ooooh’d and aaaah’d at all the right parts, totally enthralled, and even the matron seemed to be enraptured by Celeste’s story, as she had with all of them.
After that, Celeste posed Dordy in taking a bow, as she herself did, and announced that that was the end of the show. The children – and the matron – cheered and clapped, and Dordy was released to make the rounds with the children once more. The orphans smothered him in praise and affection and called him a good boy, and Dordy was just lapping it up, having the time of his life!
Shortly thereafter, Celeste headed out with Nat in tow, Dordy in her arms, his adorable aviator goggles on, which the children and the matron all loved. They followed the little family outside, cheering and waving and shouting goodbyes and thank-yous for the smoked salmon and all the stories. They continued doing so until the Flying Nosebleed and Onyx became tiny dots that disappeared into the south, turning to head back inside after, feeling thrilled after their afternoon with their visitors!
The lunch scene in Darkshire was a far more relaxed affair, though Celeste had no shortage of stories here. Stories of her childhood, of Dordy, and of her times over the years with Nat were traded with Nat’s father, who told funny and heartwarming stories of Nat’s childhood as well, laughing a deep, booming laugh of his own from time to time during both his own and Celeste’s stories. Nat had several stories herself, and, also attending the smoked salmon party in the Scarlet Raven inn, so did the innkeeper and several of the folks there with them in the common room! Dordy had his own heavy lunch, as well as getting many more morsels and pettings from all in the common room that knew and loved him by now from his many surprise visits there (though he sure was a pleasant surprise a number of travelers who’d never seen a molten corgi before!).
Eventually, the little family emerged, what with two more stops to make that day and all. The party had lasted into the early evening, and there was dinner to attend to in Pandaria with their friends there as well. Fond farewells were exchanged with Celeste, and see-you-tomorrows for Nat, as she’d be back for work early in the morning. Once again, the Flying Nosebleed and Onyx took off, swooping through a portal to the Shrine of the Seven Stars and setting a course for home.
Penny was picked up along the way, as well as Suyin and all their friends from the Krasarang digsite that yet remained in Pandaria. Not to be left out, Shalyra was invited when the notifications of a dinner party were sent ahead, as well as the Cogswitch twins, and smoked salmon was gifted to all the digsite team members, as well as their Halfhill friends and Anglers Wharf friends. A dinner of tropical seafood was had, a nice break from the game and freshwater fish they’d largely lived off of that month while roughing it for fun in the Grizzly Hills. Suyin teamed up with Other Nat to cook it all up, and dinner was such a large affair that the party was quickly moved to Turtle Beach, just to accommodate everyone that showed up!
Celeste recounted a couple of Dordy the Super Pup stories for the gathered crowd, who, by now, knew to eagerly anticipate more of Celeste’s (embellished) tales. Other tales, like the recent one in which they’d engaged goblins in hot air balloons in aerial battle, dodging unstable goblin rockets and flamethrowers and water cannons all along, eventually gaining a narrow victory in which they downed and then stinkbombed the entire goblin air group of balloons! That story was held over a dessert of ice cream and cake, and made for a great finale. Dordy gorged himself on his own meal, visiting every one of their friends for extra morsels and pettings here as well, getting so full his quick trotting became a slow waddle. The party drew to a close as the sun neared the horizon, and everyone headed back home, with Celeste, Dordy and his aviator goggles, and Nat flying the FB and Onyx through one last portal for the day.
Arriving in Ironforge, the little family was met with warm welcomes from Celeste’s Uncle Rugnar, who had expected them, and Whisperwings, who uncannily seemed to have been expecting them as well. With everyone, including Uncle Rugnar and Whisperwings, having already eaten dinner by this point, Rugnar presented them all with good dwarven mead, and the quietest affair of the day wound down the final waking hours for Nat, who had work early the next morning. Small talk, news, and old stories were exchanged, with Rugnar hearing about the aerial battle (grinning and winking at Nat through Celeste’s embellished additions) as well, and congratulating the three of them – even Dordy, who didn’t understand but knew enough to know he’d done something good and was receiving praise for it – on their latest defeat of the salmon run over-fishers. Dordy and Whisperwings received treats of jerky and fruit, respectively, throughout, which left both of them looking quite happy as they both eventually curled up next to each other on Rugnar’s couch to snooze.
After the nightcap of dwarven mead, Nat bid her little family a fond goodnight, gave a hug to Rugnar, Whisperwings, and Dordy, and a hug and kiss to Celeste, and headed to bed. Celeste stayed up with Uncle Rugnar late into the night, talking in low voices, enjoying each other’s company, eventually going to bed shortly after midnight.
Nat, meanwhile, was fast asleep, already dreaming of tree forts, Howling Fjord rowboat trips through those gorgeous northern canyons, and relaxing fishing at their cozy, warm camp, with the chill she loved so much that the campfire yet kept at bay. She couldn’t wait to see how their plans for the coming week unfolded! She was so ready for it!
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Post by Natasha Ebonlocke on Nov 2, 2023 9:55:18 GMT
November the Second The wind howled down the canyon with an otherworldly voice, bringing with it an icy chill that stung the skin. Also with it came the smells of pine and fir, as well as wood smoke from distant hearths and camps. Not that these were visible; the high walls of the canyon – the fjord – towered above on either side, limiting visibility to the next bend in the river and the one behind.
It was a perfect little scene even so, if one were wrapped up in furs, as Nat was, or capable of using fire magic to warm one’s self, as Celeste was. Celeste could keep Nat warm as well, but Nat enjoyed the cozy warmth of a thick bundle of furs and proper cold weather gear. Celeste had her usual light fishing outfit, though the floppy hat proved necessary to dispense with, lest she lose it to the river from the strong gusts of wind whipping down the icy fjords. Dordy was along as well, of course, enjoying the boat ride, unbothered by the icy winds, made of magma as he was. The wind did blow wisps of flame from him, though these quickly dissipated before they got far.
The rivers themselves still had salmon in them, though these last stragglers of the salmon run were few and far between, compared to the previous weeks. Yet Celeste and Nat had opted to forego the fishing rods, choosing instead to just enjoy the boat ride.
They’d ridden past all manner of things atop the cliffs, everything from Alliance settlements to Vrykul ones, the latter jutting out over the water with their dragon carvings the size of small buildings. Mostly, however, it was just the cliffs and the water, and the isolated little boat ride had proven to be quite enough, cozy, just the three of them. It was a great little family outing!
Dordy was in Celeste’s lap in the forward area of the boat, looking forward with Celeste. Celeste was rowing, but not constantly, opting mostly to just enjoy the ride and her thermos of black coffee. The icy, frigid river flowed slowly here, and Celeste only rowed a bit when needing to steer away from a rock or a tree that had fallen from the cliffs into the water. It was a lazy, relaxing sort of ride.
Nat sat in the back, down on the floor of the boat, with her diary open on the sitting plank, her mechanical inkwell and a thermos of hot coffee with a light splash of liquid hazelnut creamer beside it. Down in the boat a bit, the walls of the craft shielded the diary’s pages from most of the wind. Nat positioned herself to shield the rest of it, and that, along with paperweights of odds and ends taken from her pack, were proving effective in keeping her diary from being blown apart by the Howling Fjord’s icy blasts.
Nat looked around at the scenery once more, observing some of the pine and cedar she’d been scenting on the wind overhead. The water flashed with the odd fish, the larger ones still being the salmon stragglers. The odd fallen tree or rock caused the water to rush up and over with whitewater bubbles, though the river itself remained slow. It was an overall lovely, relaxing outing!
Nat heaved a happy sigh, took a sip from her coffee thermos, and poked the button on her mechanical inkwell to pop her mechanical pen out. She applied tip to paper, and began to write.
Dear diary,
Gosh, what a great week it’s been! We made a great start on the new tree fort, came up with a way to build it that won’t affect the scenery, and now we’re taking a family boat ride!
Celeste actually got started on collecting materials for the tree fort while I was at work, so all would be in readiness. With work resuming on Sunday from dawn until dusk (minus a lunch break at the Lodge), she had everything she needed for the construction to start on Monday!
The first thing she did was install some pulley hooks and pulleys on the giant trees serving as supports. The trees were too close together to fly the MUTT up with logs, and there were too many branches higher up to airlift the logs with the FB, so ropes and pulleys were the play here!
With the pulleys, we could use the MUTT’s strength and weight to hoist up the logs and leave them there until they were ready to be put in place!
That left the most important job, the floor. For this, Celeste needed planks. She used logs attached in a star pattern between the three support trees to give the floor strength and stability. While she did that, perched precariously up in the trees and using spikes and ropes for safety, I had the job of getting logs up for Celeste to attach.
Celeste wasn’t in any real danger perching up the tree like she was, thanks to her featherfall spell, but I could still tell it wasn’t easy to hold onto a tree while attaching logs to it!
I was pretty awed by Celeste's lumberjack tree-climbing abilities! I watched Celeste perform her metaphorical tree magic as I worked the levers in the MUTT, keeping it on the ground, only walking a bit this way or that way in order to pull something in one direction or another.
I was also awed, as usual, by Celeste's engineering work! The design to support the tree fort was a good one, and I had no doubt at all that the tree fort would hold quite a bit!
Following Celeste's instructions, I had the MUTT pull the pulley ropes and lift things up or take things down, as needed, moving as directed, following Celeste's lead.
"Hey," I called up over the comms, the MUTT's engines muffling voices a bit at this little distance. "Maybe when we're done, we should fully camouflage it. That way, we'll still have a pristine, untouched scene to camp in!"
''Yeah, I think we can manage that!” Celeste replied. “I'll just leave as many live branches on the trees as I can and cover the logs with the boughs that I cut – though I suppose they'll grow yellow, then dry out eventually – but they'll be easy to replace. I think we could plant some fir saplings around the base too! Okay, now move that log just a bit more to your right... perfect! Hold it there!'' Celeste leaned far enough and applied the brace to the tree. Another one of her ideas, she used circular braces with a hinge that would allow the tree to grow in circumference while still holding the treehouse's base. She didn't need to use ropes that would eventually rot or to bang nails into the tree. With the last base log placed, Celeste unhooked her harness and slowly drifted down on her featherfall spell, Dordy barking up at her all the while until she touched ground.
''Phew, that's the hard part done. I'll set up something to allow us to cut some logs into planks. The MUTT's saw arm should be able to handle that, if you have a proper guide. First, let's have lunch at the Lodge, and I'll explain how I think we could get those planks cut, okay?''
“Okies, sure!" I said, Blinking down out of the MUTT and following Celeste to the Lodge. "Oh, and in addition to your camouflage ideas, I bet I could get my bestie Nah up here to use her druidic talents to grow natural branches around it that would hide it and stay alive for good!"
"Also, what do you have in mind for milling these planks?"
''Oh hey, Nah making natural camouflage grow, that's more than perfect!'' Celeste cast a glance at the campsite. ''For the planks, we need something sturdy to put the logs up on, then the MUTT's saw arm can cut them if we can guide the logs in a straight line towards the saw. I'm not exactly sure how we'll do that properly yet. Sawmills use a guide that's basically two long planks in a V pattern and the saw coming out from the point of the V... I'm sure we can figure that out.''
"I suppose if we had Nosebleed with us, he could pull the logs through the mill for us. I dunno if the chilly air here would agree with him, though. Maybe Onyx would help?"
“Nosebleed’s strength would really help; that’s a great idea. He’s already harnessed to pull things, but the cold is definitely a problem for him. We could use Onyx; I’d just have to rig up a harness for his size. We could use ropes, but they’ll eventually chafe. If I had leather, that would be ideal. Maybe we can get some from the supplier at the Lodge! First though, lunch!”
“I'd also have to see if Onyx is okay with being used as a beast of burden," I said, thinking. "Dragons are sentient beings, even if not all of them really tend to speak. We may need a back-up plan in case he isn't feeling it. But yeah... LUNCH!"
Lunch at the lodge was a nice barley and smoked ham soup, spiced with herbs and cracked peppercorn. Over lunch, Celeste produced a pencil from her pocket and jotted down some plans for the saw mill. If Onyx wasn’t keen on pulling logs, she figured she could keep him warm with her magic.
I thoroughly enjoyed the awesome barley and smoked ham soup, finding it to be spiced just right! I followed Celeste's progress with the mobile MUTT saw mill, then had another idea!
"Hey..." I mused. "What if we just make a little stand in front of the MUTT's saw arm, right, and cut some logs short, just long enough to equal the width of any logs we might bring through. Then we smooth those logs out so they'll roll easily, and then line them up on a slight incline ahead of the saw. Then the MUTT can put a log on the ramp with the rolling logs, and we can let gravity pull the log through?"
I took a pull from my beer, wondering what Celeste might think of the idea, and took a few more spoonfuls of the tasty soup as I listened.
“Hah!” Celeste exulted. “I knew you were picking up on this engineering stuff! That’ll totally work! Even if the logs need a little push from time to time, that can be done by hand. We can rig up something like that quickly too!” Celeste broke off a piece of crusty bread that had been served with the soup, dipped it in her bowl and then lowered it down so Dordy could happily gobble it up.
“I’ll ask the cook what they have planned for dinner. I can send the drone later so we’ll have more time for working on the planks. We’ll stop after dinner though. I need you to have some energy for later in the evening.” Celeste waggled her eyebrows at me, fully intent on making me blush…
I was already blushing a bit at Celeste's praise, but the implications soon after really turned me red. A shy smile greeted all of Celeste's words.
"Oh gosh, erm... Y-yeah, I'm learning from the best! Smoothing the logs down and getting the little bases of branches that will stick out cut off should be easy as well, with the MUTT to help."
I broke the crust end of my bread off as well, dipping it in my soup as Celeste had, offering it down to Dordy. He was loving this lunch every bit as much as his packmates were!
"Gosh... hehe... I-I'll try to conserve some energy for after dinner... heh..."
Celeste stood from the table and moved over to my side “Here’s a little hint” She said and lowered her head to kiss me deeply. “I love these days of doing things, just the three of us,” she admitted once she came back up for air. “Now, quit being so tempting. I’ll see the cooks for what they’re planning for dinner. I’ll be right back!”
I emerged from the kiss blushing and breathless.
"Gosh! Erm... I-I... Erm... O-okay... heh..."
I sat trying to get my senses back. I recovered myself by returning to my tasty soup, drinking the local brew, and feeding Dordy morsels as I waited on Celeste's return.
Dinner was planned and the hook drone was pre-announced. With lunch finished, the three of us hiked back to camp and set about to prepare their plank-making gravity mill. Smoothing out a few logs into rollers took a bit longer than expected, but making planks ended up easier with my engineering idea! We took a break, and Celeste sent her hook-drone to fetch us dinner. While it was off on its business, we finished making the plants. We had more than enough when the drone returned!
Dinner was a pork roast with potatoes cooked right there with the roast to make they a nice golden color. It was great comfort food next to the campfire! The Lodge had even added a nice winter ale to go with it! The beer had an interesting blend of spices and nutty flavors. Celeste said she'd definitely get more for tomorrow's dinner. That sounds so awesome!
Work had moved forward in a timely fashion today, but Celeste was worried that the planks were too rough and would need to be sanded. The best method at the moment involved a grind stone and some pumice, but the process couldn't exactly be done quickly, not with the timeframe we had. Eventually she gave up on figuring that out for now. They could throw some mats or carpets on the floor if it was too rough. It couldn't be worse than the forest floor in our tent anyways!
I thought the pork roast, potatoes, and winter ale were perfect! The tasty meal went over a storm, and even Dordy got to eat so much of it that he was doing his full-belly waddle all over the place!
I agreed that there wasn't a whole heck of a lot they could do about the rough boards. Flying in some carpets or mats were an option, but I thought of an additional idea...
"What about furs?" I asked. "We've gotten a lot of furs from the hunts we've had up here this month. Maybe we could use those?"
“Ooh, furs, of course!” Celeste replied, lighting up. “It’ll match perfectly with the treehouse, Nat you’re a genius!” Celeste exclaimed.
“Speaking of furs…” Celeste said, putting down her empty mug and standing up “You really helped us move forward today. I really love doing projects with you…”
The next morning, the couple were woken up by the call of birds and thin rays of sunshine that managed to find cracks in our tent. Dordy had handled his business on his own since he could just go outside by pushing a tent flap.
Celeste yawned, stretched and snuggled closer to me. Her body was ever warm against the morning cold, though she didn’t need her fire magic. The furs and lying next to me in our “sleepwear” was all we needed!
“I can work on the treehouse over the workend.” Celeste said, clearly having no intention of getting up soon. She yawned again. “How about we enjoy the day? Go boating around those glaciers like I suggested last week?” Celeste opened one hazel eye and stretched toward me.
Much later, both of us dressed warmly for hiking with water resistant fur-line parkas and sitting around the fire, Celeste finished her coffee in a single gulp. “I’ll bring my rifle and my spear. Northrend isn’t really civilized after all. No fishing rods this time. I think I’ll visit the Kalu’ak in a few days, though.” she said, reaching down to give Dordy the last of her bacon.
Celeste stood up and went to the river, where a small rowboat was tied to the riverbank. She stepped into it and inspected the sail. ''You can take a moment to rest if you want, Nat. I'll just check out the boat and... Dordy, let that go!'' Celeste chased after Dordy who had picked up Celeste's spear in his mouth and dragged it around in a game of keep-away. Despite the awkward length of the weapon, he managed to always skitter just out of her reach until she finally caught him. Dordy looked ready to play some more, though, so Celeste postponed her inspection of the boat and played with Dordy, tossing him a stick and trying to catch him while he evaded her around camp.
After that, we rowed out of the Grizzly Hills, Celeste casting her featherfall spell to get the small craft safely over waterfalls. The water flowed into the Howling Fjord, an those northern canyon walls rose around us as we left the redwood forest behind and flowed through flatter terrain (though that flat terrain rose high around us on both sides).
Now we’re just getting into the Howling Fjord proper, and we’re about to have a nice little ride! I can’t wait to see where we go and what we’ll see! This is so much fun! What a great camping trip this has been! YAY!
Nat smiled and wiggled excitedly as she snapped her diary shut. She poked her mechanical pen back into its spot in her mechanical inkwell, then replaced the items in her pack. Picking herself up off the floor of the boat, she climbed forward, sitting next to Celeste and picking up an oar. She faced forward, around, upwards, taking in all the sights. A rock was coming up on her left – she held out her oar, fending off the boulder, making sure the boat didn’t strike it. The obstacle clear after that, she placed the oar across her lap, leaned her head to the right onto Celeste’s shoulder, and enjoyed the ride.
This had been an excellent camping trip! A fruitful one, getting salmon stocked up for everyone from family and friends to Stormwind orphans. An exciting and heroic one, saving the salmon from being incredibly overfished by selfish goblins that didn’t care about things like wiping out whole species. A perfect one, one without flaw, one full of adventures and relaxation, each one flowing into the next seamlessly. A loving one, with time spent with her wife and their pup.
Nat looked ahead again, eyeing the next bend in the river. Just like with their life, Nat was here to help Celeste row around every bend, and see where the stream of time takes them!
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Post by Natasha Ebonlocke on Nov 9, 2023 14:52:41 GMT
November the Ninth A hulking, shaggy brown grizzly bear tromped lazily through the giant redwood forest, his thick hide and thick fur keeping him perfectly warm against the frigid chill of the northern mountain forest that was named for his kind. His head lazily on a swivel, he snuffled at this spot and that one, slowly moseying along as he made his way to the creek for some breakfast.
The scents he picked up were all of redwood and fir trees, with a mix of the rich smell of the earth beneath his enormous paws being churned up, or the leafy smells of moss or other plants he brushed past or tore. The nearly-frozen chill of the air was an underlying smell for all, and he relished it all, but the smell he was really searching for was still a short distance ahead yet.
And finally… there it was. The smell of the ice-cold water flowing down from higher up the mountain… and that meant food!
There were some fishy smells about as well, more so than there had been most of the year. Those two-legged things…
The big bruin veered left a bit, wanting to avoid that place. The two-legged things had a huge metal thing that walked around like they did, and his claws were a thing of nightmare. And always circling overhead or curled up lazily in the camp, that big, dark, wispy reptile, much bigger than he was, with the wings as big as the fur cave the two-legged things slept in. The two legged things themselves, the unnatural things that had happened in years past when they chant and wave their hands, and things just… appear. Or the two-legged thing with the lighter fur, with the loud boomstick and the long stick with the sharp metal tip she wielded… no thank you! Even the tiny fiery critter, with its loud yip-yip-yipping and burning body, was enough to give him at least a little pause. Definitely not worth the risk, attacking that camp and going for the fish he scented there. He’d just take the easy way instead, snagging a fish or two from his favorite fishing rock in the middle of the creek!
And what’s more… now there were enormous tree branches stacked up on each other in between a few trees, forming a two-legged thing’s tree-cave… up IN the trees! It was just too much for a grizzly to bear!
After giving the two-legged things’ area a wide berth, he arrived at the creek. Happily, he plopped down on his enormous rear, sitting back and enjoying the scenery. Even a bear, even one that’s known little else in its life, knows a good, pretty scene when it sees one, and this guy was no different. He sniffed the air, scenting a woodsmoke. He was downwind from one two-legged thing’s home or another, but the scent wasn’t strong enough to be worried about being too close. Contented, the big creature heaved a happy sigh. He looked down into the creek now. Silvery flashes in the water were now rarer than they had been over the last moon or so, but there was still the odd appearance of one here and there.
He got up again, tromping over to the flatter part of the creek’s bank, then wading across the shallows to his favorite fishing rock he’d been thinking about earlier. Climbing up and shaking out his now-wet fur, he plopped down on his rear again, watching the water carefully, his front paws in his lap. He licked his chops. There was going to be a good breakfast today, he knew it!
FLASH!
Up he leaped! There was a salmon trying to leap over the rocks that caused the shallows he was swimming across! A BIG one, too!
SWIPE! SWIPE! SWIPE! BATBATBATBAT!
The salmon was CAUGHT! Pinned beneath a mighty paw, the grizzly bear wasted no time digging in to breakfast. His meal was soon finished flopping around after that!
FLASH!
SWIPE! SWIPE! BATBATBATBATBATBATBAT! GOT ‘EM!
Another sizable salmon landed next to the first, and the bear stopped its flopping quickly as well. TWO big fish for him! What a meal! Happily, he dug in, his work for the day complete, his fat stores building up nicely for the hibernation that was very soon to come!
FLASH!
Another flash, but this one much more distant, and, somehow, not from in the water, but from a good few feet up high in the air on the side of the creek he’d come from, but, a good bit downriver. The two-legged things!
He wasn’t worried. The two-legged things never actively came after him, at least not the ones from the strange camp with the strange creatures. As long as he didn’t go near the BIG building much further south, he’d be fine. He went back to his meal.
“Yeah, I think you’re right, Celeste,” Nat said. “I think he saw the flash off the scope of your rifle. Now that we’ve moved into the shade, he isn’t looking this way anymore.”
“Yeah, I think you’re right; the shade helps us watch him fish and eat,” Celeste nodded.
“This is so cool!” Nat said, watching through Celeste’s back-up scope, the old one that Celeste had used before Nat had given her a powerful black scope with a purple raven on the sides of it years ago for Winter Veil. “And you were right, he avoided our camp. He’s so far upstream! I can’t believe we have line of sight to watch, right from camp, through the forest and the rises of the mountainside! This is fun!”
Celeste and Nat watched for a while, until the big bruin curled up into an enormous brown, shaggy ball, full from his meal, and slept there on his fishing rock, snoozing in the sun for a while without a care in the world. They’d observed a round, perfectly circular line around the top of its head where the fur was far shorter, and knew that this must have been one of the grizzly bears the goblins had managed to get a mind control cap on the previous year to force it to overfish the salmon run for them. They were quite happy to see how the bear was now thriving and happy again!
Celeste, feeling much like the grizzly in that she was full from a big, hearty breakfast and thinking a nap would be great, put her rifle away in the tent on her gun rack, and Nat returned the scope as well. Nat felt like writing. It had been a nice, pleasant, accomplished week, with a big adventure the day before, and a nice vacation to here overall for the last month, and she wanted very much to write about it before she left!
Away went the scope, and out she came from the tent with something different now – her diary and mechanical inkwell! She sat down in her camping chair next to Celeste who was in her own, her wide-brimmed, floppy fishing hat already pulled low over her face as she slowly stroked Dordy, who was in her lap, curling up for a full-belly snooze of his own. Soon they’d both be out like a light, Nat knew, smiling as she quietly poked the button that popped her mechanical pen out for her. She opened the diary to the next blank page, and began to write.
Dear diary,
Gosh, it’s been such a great week, and a great vacation overall! We finished the treehouse, and even had an adventure last night!
We got up on Monday morning, feeling warm with the warm treehouse walls around us. The tree house had been tested the night before. With the furs on the floor and on the bed, the shuttered windows and the Mechagon power cell heater, it had been downright cozy!
Celeste figured the place would need a way to light a fire without burning the treehouse down if anyone was going to use it as a proper shelter. Something to think about for later!
“I think I’m ready to go back to lounging on a beach in a bikini and our comfortable home,” Celeste spoke as she and Nat and Dordy lingered in bed. “We’ve been in Grizzly hills for weeks now. Penny’s probably wondering if we’re still alive,” she added with a giggle.
I agreed; we'd been here for a month, the longest we’d ever stayed here, I think, and home was finally starting to sound nice. Yet still I was reluctant to go; I was in my favorite place in the world outside home, and I found one last little tidbit that may or may not earn us one final night in the tent by the beautiful, frigid creek...
"Hey, isn't there a thing potters do with hardened clay to make it fireproof and not crack? Or am I thinking of something else? We could make a chimney out of logs on one side, and coat the inside with something along those lines, if we don't wanna haul rocks up a tree...?"
''That's basically what I used to patch the roof between the logs and the walls,” Celeste nodded, “though to be able to make a proper fireplace, we could also add round river rocks and fill the cracks between them with fire-hardened clay. It'll be heavy, though, but we only need a small fire to keep this place warm. Oh, we could add a central fire, like in longhouses that the Vrykul use here! All we need as a chimney is a hole in the roof that we can cap to prevent the rain from coming in. It would be easy to make. Just a base with some rocks and a raised side!''
Celeste looked exited about the idea and stood up, in her sleepwear, to show me where it would be and its size.
"A central fire with a chimney hole would be far easier than an entire chimney, yeah!" I said. "Though we probably better search for rocks elsewhere; river rocks are usually really porous and can contain water. When that water gets hot, it creates steam, and the rapid expansion can cause the rock to explode pretty forcefully!"
''There's a lot of ruins in Zul'Drak,” Celeste replied thoughtfully, quickly returning to bed and under the warm fur blankets. “The place is creepy, but we can just pick up stones and bricks from there. We only need a few.''
"Prefabricated troll stones!" I exclaimed, lighting up. "Celeste, that's brilliant! We can snag a few only just over the border, even! Of course, any kind of sneaking would preclude noisy stuffs like the MUTT... maybe we can just make the trolls think that some of their voodoo has turned on them if we use our respective magics as a distraction, and then snag a few rocks and retreat in the mayhem! What a way to finish the trip and the treehouse!"
I had myself a good laugh at that image. It sure sounded fun!
It turned out that the solution was simple: Nosebleed! He had belonged to trolls before, after all! Celeste used some fur leftover from some of her hunts here and made some primitive-looking clothing. Then she asked me to add warpaint to her face and the exposed parts of her body. The paint was mostly wet river mud, but in the end she looked fearsome enough!
The plan was this: Celeste would ride into Zul’Drak with Nosebleed as a show of strength. Once the trolls keep a safe distance, I come clomping in with the MUTT and collects some stones!
"I love it!" I said with a grin. "Best way to get into someplace you're not supposed to be... dress up like the locals and walk in like you own the place! I doubt anyone will look twice at us, and if they do, our show of strength will keep them back! Let's do it!"
Celeste’s grin matched my own, and she summoned Nosebleed. The direhorn came eagerly through the portal. When he saw Celeste, he paused, looked at her sidelong and chuffed – he didn’t seem to like the troll look much; apparently, life with us has been much better than life with those stinky cannibals!
“It’s me, big guy,” Celeste said reassuringly to Nosebleed. “We’re just going to show some trolls who’s the biggest, baddest boy around! Make sure you’re extra loud, okay?”
She approached him, petting the scales around the horn on his snout. Nosebleed chuffed again, but didn’t show any other sign which meant he wasn’t perturbed.
I giggled at the scene, Blinking up into the MUTT and getting it cranked up.
"Commo check," I said over the comms, communicating through it to be heard better over the MUTT's engines.
“I got ya,” Celeste replied, now on Nosebleed’s back. Nosebleed plodded on, prompted by Celeste. It was a bit of a trek to get to the ruins of Zul’Drak from our campsite, and Nosebleed needed lots of room to pass through the forest. From time to time, I saw Celeste passing her hands over the direhorn’s back and head crest, using her magic to keep him warm despite the cool weather.
I smiled to see Celeste keeping Nosebleed warm, compensating for the one reason we didn't bring him before. Nosebleed seemed happy enough. Or at least, he was as stoic as usual.
As we got closer to the borders of the ice trolls' territory, I engaged the MAD mode on the MUTT, just in case, and also prepared to give the trolls a spooky "voodoo" show with my magic if need be. Hopefully, it'd be a quick infiltration and grab, then back to the camp. Hopefully...
Celeste had enjoyed herself a little too much, tromping to the edge of Zul’Drak with Nosebleed and making a show of being a scary troll, even going so far as to speak with the accent (amid giggles)!
I had myself quite a good time as well, tromping into Zul'Drak behind Celeste in the MUTT, watching her put on her troll show, ready to use MUTT or MAD or magic if needed!
It hadn’t taken long to find a toppled tower-like structure made of bricks that were the perfect size for the fireplace. The trolls hadn’t bothered repairing the tower anyway!
Unfortunately, the ice trolls didn’t see the intrusion as unimportant. Lanky troll warriors with spears and shaman wearing wooden masks came hooting and shouting challenges. Celeste fired her rifle in their direction (aiming at the ground) a few times to scare them off.
Also unfortunately, that’s when one of the spear-toting trolls threw his weapon at Nosebleed! OH GOSH! The direhorn had been mostly passive, chuffing in annoyance a few times, but otherwise standing still.
The spear clattered against his bony neck frill harmlessly, but Nosebleed took it as the attack it was.
The giant direhorn bellowed and raised up on his hind legs, then thumped his spiked tail on the ground a few times. Celeste had almost been thrown off, but Nosebleed had drawn a line in the sand, and the trolls by golly understood! HA!
When the trolls came, though, I knew a tiny moment of fear as a spear flew toward my Sun, and our big scalebaby, Nosebleed. My eyes widened in alarm as Nosebleed responded with bellows and rearing and tail-smashing, though I was quickly relieved to see that the ice trolls had thought better of their aggression!
Celeste's warpaint and acting skills were a great touch, I thought as I watched Celeste really ham it up. Her act was a success, and I decided to contribute a bit of my own, stalking forward in the MUTT until I was dead even with Nosebleed, making big, scary grabby-hands with the huge, sharp grabbing claws of the MUTT. Add to that a real, live dog made out of FIRE, and the trolls were yelling about the fierce troll warrior princess on her direhorn and the fierce voodoo magic servants she had brought with her! HA! YEAH!
They kept their distance after that! They did little more than watch from a distance while I used the MUTT to stack bricks and carry them off. Celeste and Nosebleed kept watch, but before she left, she raised her rifle in the air like a trophy, letting the trolls know she and her terrifying minions were leaving.
We returned to camp after that with our prize, and I helped Celeste check Nosebleed's frill for any nicks or cuts or scrapes from that powerful spear toss. There were none, Nosebleed's frill being the huge shield that it was, and Celeste built him a nice, huge fire to stay warm by. Nosebleed chomped on the foreign (to him) northern vegetation a bit as he lounged by the fire, looking content.
The fireplace in the treehouse was easily built when we got those perfect rocks back to camp, with the bricks and heated mud to act as mortar between them. Celeste then cut out a hole in the roof and raised the pieces of log she had cut out to cover the hole while leaving room for the smoke to escape.
While she worked, she tasked me with catching a last salmon for dinner. I caught a small one, as the larger ones were mostly already gone upriver by then, but it was a perfect size for a dinner for four (Dordy got two portions!). The fish had been stuffed with onions and herbs and put on a spit over the fireplace. My GOSH, it was so good! Celeste produced a nice, crisp white wine from her bags that was perfect for salmon, too! That was great!
My fight with the salmon was an intense one, with the little fish seeming stronger than it appeared. However, I’d had a month worth of fighting bigger fish added to the strength and skill I'd already developed fishing over the last few years, and I landed the fish without issue after the battle ended. The fish still being large enough for four portions, we were all well-fed and happy!
Dordy found himself a nice warm spot to cuddle up, in between the front legs of Nosebleed, who was snoozing next to the fire. Dordy curled up into a ball right there and snoozed next to his enormous friend, and the two looked like life-long buddies.
The MUTT, just on the off-chance that a war party of trolls might come this far south seeking vengeance, was left to click and whir quietly in MAD mode as it revolved around, scanning all around the camp. Celeste and I both strongly doubted the trolls would come this far south and attack something that had scared them so, but still, it seemed prudent to do, just in case.
Later in the evening, when the fire was reduced to glowing embers, Celeste “kidnapped” me and brought me to her lair (bed). That was fun… Celeste had kept the warpaint for the evening, and we had a great time pretending to be troll and captive! Hehe, that was a fun adventure as well!
That was last night, and now, today, we got to watch a grizzly bear come through the trees a good bit upstream from us and fish up a couple fish for his breakfast and then snooze on a big rock in the river! That was really cool too! We watched through Celeste’s rifle scopes, both her original one, and the new Darkshire Night Watch one I gave her a few years ago for Winter Veil as one of my gifts for her – a scope apiece – and enjoyed ourselves a really cool nature show!
We had a great big final camp breakfast, too, as we’re packing up to head home today… that’s sad, as this is just about my favorite place (besides the two places I call home) in the whole world, but still, we’ve been here a long time, and home and friends (and maybe some natural warmth as the area up here will freeze soon for the winter) sure sounds nice! It’s about time for it!
Anyway, the big, final camp breakfast had a bit of everything – omelets with all our favorite things in them (lots of spicy sorts of veggies like onions and peppers for mine, as well as cheese, tomatoes, and mushrooms, bacon, and ham, and douse it all in salsa!), buttered griddle toast, hash browns, bacon, sausage, and even a stack of pancakes! We wanted some of everything we’d enjoyed here, but, that being too much food, Dordy ended up helping contribute to the finishing of our meals, which he was only too happy to oblige! Perfectly-brewed coffee rounded off our big, hearty meal, and we’ve been feeling lazy and sleepy since, hehe!
But for now, I suppose it’s time to get started packing up. When next I write, I’ll have gone from a cozy, warm camp in an absolutely gorgeous frigid northern mountain forest to a tropical beach paradise… what a huge, instant change of climate!
I have loved every single second of this trip here, and I’m a little sad that it’s over, but gosh, I’m ready for home! And we had soooo much fun here! I can’t wait to do it again next year! And I can’t wait to see what’s in store for us when we get home, and to see what our next great adventure will be! YAY!
Nat heaved a happy sigh and smiled as she went through her mixed feelings on leaving. She closed her diary and returned her mechanical pen to its place in her mechanical inkwell, smiling fondly at the gift her Catch and their friend Penny had made for her. She took her things inside, then returned to her camp chair, and, despite writing of packing, she sank into it and took a food coma nap of her own.
She and Celeste woke a couple of hours later, with the sun overhead and shining directly down on them. Dordy had awakened them, zooming around the camp yip-yip-yipping at a falcon that had tried to come down and was wanting to investigate the scents coming from the now-empty smoker. The pretty raptor soon gave up and flapped off, and Dordy trotted over to his packmates looking quite proud of himself, his tongue lolling out. Celeste and Nat praised him for being a good boy and a good guard dog even though there was nothing for the falcon to steal, then got up for the regrettable task of packing up.
With the K.E.G. idea they’d come up with before traveling here, the packing didn’t take long at all, and soon all was stored away, the smoker was dismantled, and the tent was emptied and taken down. The drift lines over the river had already come out prior to this week. The fireplaces for their campfire and for the smoker were soon disassembled, the ashes covered and smothered in dirt, and soon after that, the campsite looked as clean, beautiful, and pristine as it had when they arrived!
Still feeling slightly reluctant to leave, yet still very much ready for home, they decided to meet in the middle next… one final toss of the line into the creek, to get fresh salmon for their Pandaria friends instead of smoked, the latter of which their friends down south still really loved quite a bit, yet the former being something they hadn’t tried with this rich, hearty, flavorful northern breed of salmon.
The fish fights ensued, and Celeste and Nat soon had comparable-sized fish to take out with them. Packed into a cooler with some of Nat’s frost magic, the two prepared to head out from their campsite…
After a final look around and the recounting of a few memories from this stay and others here, the two finally left. It had been quite a vacation, with many new memories made, and another victory against those dastardly goblins, but now, after a last look around and a last good fish fight against the final stragglers of the salmon run, they were ready to leave their awesome campsite!
Celeste made a portal, though this one was just for Nosebleed, as he wouldn’t be able to fly with them on the trips Celeste had planned for her little family. This one went directly to an anchor made by an archmage friend of the family directly to Turtle Beach, the same anchor, in fact, that had allowed Nosebleed to be summoned to them for the adventure the day before!
One last stop, however, before they left altogether…
Amberpine Lodge was serving a savory caribou stew for lunch, and they decided to stop in and say farewell to their friends there before just suddenly disappearing. A late lunch was enjoyed, with the entertainment provided by Celeste, who regaled them all with a tale of her, the human warlord princess, and her terrifying voodoo minions Nat, Dordy, Nosebleed, and MUTT (Onyx had been circling overhead, but the trolls had never spotted him)!
Celeste stood to tell her tale, pausing occasionally to take another bite of the savory caribou stew. The tale involved an army of trolls that rained spears like a hailstorm among them, though none of them were quite able to hit anything other than the MUTT and Nosebleed’s impervious frill, and how Celeste, Nat, Dordy, Nosebleed, and MUTT, had frightened them all away with Nosebleed’s noise, Celeste’s warrior prowess, Nat’s terrifying voodoo, and Dordy, who had charged them all down and driven them back with barks and yip-yips so loud, actual fire had been breathed out of his mouth at them!
And thanks to that, travelers going far north upriver of Amberpine Lodge now had a longhouse in the trees (which she promised would soon be camouflaged by Nat’s friend Nah the druid), complete with a Zul’Drak rock fireplace and a closable chimney hole, as well as a fur-covered, warm, cozy floor to provide comfort to those who stayed, sleeping bag or no!
The Amberpine Lodge men and women applauded Celeste’s story and her family’s efforts, and the two finished their meals and ales and took their leave. Flying back north upriver to circle around their campsite before turning west, they saw the grizzly bear wading from his rock, finally done snoozing, heading back to the west bank and back to wherever his lair was. The treehouse was visible from overhead too, something else to get Nah’s help with. They waved farewell at their grizzly pal and their campsite, heading west along the creek to the pretty little delta the creek made as it flowed into the much larger Dragonspine Tributary. It was here, at the border of the Grizzly Hills redwood forest, they made their landing and opened a portal to the Shrine of the Seven Stars in Pandaria, having already said farewell to their campsite and choosing this as a final farewell to the beautiful region altogether.
Nat took a final look around from Onyx’s back, with Celeste doing the same before she urged Nosebleed through the portal from the cockpit of the MUTT. Dordy was in his MUTT harness, his adorable aviator goggles on, reared up on his front paws on the front of the cockpit to take a final look around as well, and then he yip-yipped his own farewells and yipped his excitement to be traveling again as he disappeared through the portal.
Nat was the last one left, on Onyx’s back, and she giggled and smiled at the pretty place and all the little creeks flowing all around them before she, took, heaved a last, happy sigh, then gave Onyx a pat and let him know to move forward through the portal himself. She inhaled a last smell of the chilly, frigid, earthy, rich redwood and fir forest and its creeks all around, then disappeared through the portal.
The temperature difference on the other side was startling! Celeste had opened a standard portal to the Shrine of the Seven stars, and even though this land was not tropical, it was still very much not the Grizzly Hills in November! Celeste’s idea was to ease them into the warmer temperature of the Krasarang Wilds over the course of a flight to their home, as well as giving them more of a scenic trip to their home in the process. Nat thought that was brilliant!
A surprise was waiting for her there, too… Uncle Rugnar was there in the Shrine of the Seven Stars! Celeste had contacted him and he’d taken the portal, meeting them their in his own flying machine for a homecoming party Celeste wanted to throw!
Soon, they were airborne again, the MUTT, Onyx, and Uncle Rugnar’s own flying machine all flying in formation with Celeste taking point in the MUTT, and the golden Vale of Eternal Blossoms passed beneath them, eventually giving way to the Vale of the Four Winds on the other side of a narrow mountain range. A quick stop at Penny’s place and Suyin’s place was made, as well as a visit to Ji-Soo and Huo Stoutgarden. All were invited to a party Celeste wanted to throw to celebrate their homecoming, and all were eager to attend!
Another flight later, and the Vale of the Four Winds dropped off a cliff (literally) into the Krasarang Wilds, and Nat was grateful for the slow adjustment to warmer and warmer temperatures, as the heat and humidity here was quite noticeable!
One last stop was made, this time to Anglers Wharf, where their friends in the little stilt village were quite happy to see them back! They agreed to attend the party as well, and Celeste had a huge bonfire going on Turtle Beach in no time at all! A fishing party was had at first, and all brought their catches to the party’s dinner, and all had a few bites of the salmon from the frigid northern lands (two fish were by far not enough for the entire party, though there was enough for hearty samples for all!), and all agreed it was quite tasty, and noticeably different from their own land’s emperor salmon!
Celeste held the whole party in thrall at dinner, telling of treehouse-building, epic fish fights in the creek, and tales of hiking and hunting and camping that had the locals considering making their own trips to the Grizzly Hills (though it was generally agreed that summertime would be more suited to their liking!).
Celeste saved her biggest two tales for last… their triumphant entry as they thwarted the goblins, and their triumphant final adventure into ice troll lands to complete a shelter that would aid many! Uncle Rugnar had heard the tale of their goblin overfishing operation takedown already, and he winked at Nat multiple times as Celeste retold the tale, this time with far more hot air balloons, water cannons, and goblins. He had a few grins for the sheer number of trolls in the next story as well, and the fantastic nature of the voodoo magics and sheer amount of spears that all came their way, with Celeste and her little family only just dodging, blocking, or parrying the attacks while getting the building supplies they needed to help travelers in need.
The stories were listened to intently, with the crowd silent except for the chowing down on the bounty of Turtle Bay. At the completion of the stories for the goblin operation and the troll excursion, tumultuous applause and cheering erupted!
Eventually, the skies darkened, the food was all eaten, and the bonfire began to wane. The day was finally coming to an end, as was a most excellent adventurous vacation. The party left in twos and threes, and soon it was just Celeste, Nat, Uncle Rugnar, and Dordy.
The little family paid a visit to Nosebleed to check on how he was settling back in after his weird, cold adventure. The great beast was as stoic as ever, looking as though he’d never left, not the slightest bit stressed! He got lots of attention for a while, and eventually, he was left to his chomping of jungle vegetation with his good buddy Ebonhoof, the horse Nat’s father had given her for her eighteenth birthday that she still liked to ride through the Krasarang Wilds or take through a portal to ride home once in a while to visit her family and friends in Darkshire. Nosebleed and Ebonhoof both looked happy and content enough, and soon, the family took their leave once more.
Uncle Rugnar headed back through a portal at his insistence, citing a need to “take care of matters in Ironforge,” though Nat knew he wanted to leave Celeste and Nat to their homecoming and give them some privacy. She would have welcomed his company for the event, yet she was also quietly thankful for his thoughtfulness.
Celeste Blinked into the MUTT with Dordy in his aviators one last time, and Nat clambered up onto Onyx’s back, sitting sidesaddle as usual, and the two flew up off the darkened Turtle Beach, the bonfire doused and dismantled, the beach returned to its pristine state. They flew up, up, up the rock spire rising from the outer edge of Turtle Bay, up to the House-On-The-Spire, up to their place of peace, their creature comforts, their homestead they had built together.
Celeste used a remote to open the camouflaged hangar door on the back of the spire that faced out over the ocean when they circled around to it, and Onyx took his leave for some fishing of his own after Nat slid off his back and gave him a hug around his great neck and a few gentle pats. Dordy, aviators off, took off instantly, bouncing off the walls and yip-yip-yipping to be back in his primary territory, immediately making his way upstairs and out into the yard. Celeste and Nat followed him upstairs to let him out, and then looked around their front room as Celeste took Nat’s hand in the peace and quiet, gazing around with smiles on their faces at their comfortable digs.
They were home.
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Post by Natasha Ebonlocke on Nov 16, 2023 12:01:12 GMT
November the Sixteenth The warmth was different here.
It was a natural, all-encompassing sort of warmth, humid, and not caused by any local fire or magic. It had no underlying chill that penetrated through warm weather to cause the odd shiver, no cold wind, no feeling of warming up in a frigid locale.
This was the natural, tropical warmth of the Krasarang Wilds, and that meant HOME!
And, down in the sublevel delved into the spire that rose from Turtle Bay, there was not so much as a breeze to shield one’s self from, either. Out of the hot sun, delved underground (though this ground was far above the rest of the Wilds’ ground level), it stayed cool without the need of wind. The aircraft hangar that also served as Celeste’s workshop was a perfect location to serve as a bridge from the chilly environment where Nat had last written to where she wrote now!
Nothing had changed here. The mechanical fish still swam around in their tank, Celeste’s ingenious lighting arrangement there causing them to cast flashes and flows of light on the walls, accentuating what the lanterns lit. The smell of machinery and machine oil was still detectable in the salt sea air, with something of the earthy, warm, moist smell of the nearby jungle there as well. The sounds of seagulls and distant waves crashing further lent credence to their new (old) locale, and there were slight messes from Celeste’s half-finished engineering projects all over.
In other words, they were home, sweet home!
Celeste was at the workbench, already hard at work on the blueprints for her latest plans, plans she had shared with Nat yesterday. Nat sat next to her, her diary open before her on the workbench, her mechanical inkwell to the right, and her coffee with the little splash of liquid hazelnut creamer next to Celeste’s black coffee, their steaming mugs sitting in between their projects.
Nat looked over at Celeste’s plans, then stifled a giggle. She’d already covered the margins of her plans with doodles. There was a barge on the water, a smallish one, with a cabin big enough to spend a few days living in, with two women fishing off the back of it. Another was of a greedy-looking goblin looking at a small boat but getting splashed in the face by a water cannon. There was another of Dordy in his Dordy bubble, with lines to show him zooming around in circles after another goblin. There was another of Nosebleed wearing giant swimming trunks and sunglasses, reclined on his back on a cliff overlooking an enclosed water area, sunning himself with his front legs up behind his head, just lounging in a reclining beach chair.
Nat grinned at Celeste doodles, watching for a moment as Celeste began adding another of a tiny mechagnome girl with a big ponytail doing some surfing, then turning to her own work. It had been a nice, pleasant, peaceful week, and she was ready to write about it!
Dear diary,
Gosh, it’s been a quiet week, but that’s perfect for the first week home! We unpacked first thing, which left us the rest of the week to relax comfortably! We’ve had beach time, and time with Anglers Wharf friends, and time with Halfhill friends. It’s been really nice!
It was especially welcome after having returned from a hectic work week completely exhausted, but, after a day of rest and doing almost nothing, I was back on my feet and ready for adventure!
I woke up early Tuesday morning, cooking up my favorite meal of the day, timing its completion to be done right around Celeste's usual wake-up time so I could bring it to her in bed, a reward for those two mornings she’d helped rush me out the door to work on time when I woke up a bit late Saturday and Sunday!
So it was that, as Celeste began to blearily open her eyes in bed and blink a few times, the heavenly aromas of an omelet with all Celeste's favorite things in it, a biscuit covered with sausage gravy, a side of bacon, and a steaming hot cup of black coffee arrived in bed, just for her!
“Breakfast in bed?” Celeste said, waking up to the delightful smells. She reached for the coffee first, as I knew she would. She usually foregoes breakfast in favor of just coffee, though I knew she’d enjoy this one anyway! “What’s the occasion?” she asked, leaning closer to me to get a kiss.
I gave the kiss with a slight blush, smiling shyly. I climbed back into bed, still in my sleepwear, just to add some company for Celeste’s breakfast, and to start in on my own.
"Oh, no occasion," I said, digging in to my own noms. "Had a sorta rough weekend, and you were patient with me throughout and helped me out so much. This is me saying... thank you, My Catch!"
“I was happy to help you rush to work, you know that. So how about we go to the beach later on? Cut Dordy loose and just enjoy the sun?”
I was totally ready to just relax and recover my strength on the beach, so, after breakfast was done, I got my bikini that my bestie Nah got me for Winter Veil, the Shal'dorei silk purple one, put it on, and enjoyed the sun with my Sun. This day was shaping up GREAT!
Celeste’s bikini was a dark shade of red this time, with purple sea turtles patterned on it. Getting to the beach was easy, just a featherfall spell followed by an iceberg to bring us there, since Dordy shouldn’t go swimming without his bubble. It wasn’t long before the pup found a discarded shell and, when Celeste and I wanted to look at it, he turned into a game of Keep-Away! Dordy ran around the sand at full speed, throwing up little waves of it as he went, sometimes to evade us, sometimes just because he could. Soon tiring, we eventually left him to bark at crabs and turtles while we sat in the sand near the water, under Celeste’s large beach umbrella.
My rest on the beach gave me renewed energy for Keep-Away with Dordy. I had a great time chasing the pup around, even if I fell down a lot, as per my usual when I run. Good thing the beach is sand instead of stone!
When Dordy finally tired of Keep-Away and had his attention stolen away by crabs and turtles, I felt relieved. I LOVE playing with Dordy, but goodness gracious, I was getting worn out! Sitting with Celeste under the beach umbrella, just enjoying the slow, peaceful waves lapping at the shore, was perfect for the restful moment!
“Hey, I’ve been thinking about a new project,” Celeste said thoughtfully, piquing my interest. “That treehouse inspired me. I’d like to try building a house-boat or a barge. Remember our boat racing in the reservoir where the raceway used to be? It’s sunny there. The water isn’t too deep, and there’s plenty to explore in the water. If the goblins can build a barge there, what’s stopping us from doing the same? Work on salvage, fishing right from the front door. If the goblins are too bothersome, we could go just off the coast in Stranglethorn, where we dived for pearls. I like the flooded raceway, though. It’s got history, and it’s shielded from the tropical storms and doesn’t have sharks or Naga.”
"I love that idea, Celeste!" I said, lighting up, already prepared for a new adventure. "Hopefully the goblins and Bloodsail Buccaneers behave themselves. The pirates are another potential issue off the Stranglethorn coast as well. But yeah, going back to the flooded raceway sounds fun! We have some cool memories there! Let's do it!"
“Right,” Celeste replied, “but first we’re going to keep enjoying the beach. I’ll see if Penny wants to come, probably need plans, docking slots…” She was about to zone out that endearing way she does, but shook her head and smiled at me. She definitely wanted to enjoy our beach day alone together! Gosh, that was a great day, and such a change from the chilly northern mountain forest!
The following day, which was yesterday, we visited with some Anglers Wharf and Halfhill friends, dining with both, and had a great time with both! Today, I’m not sure what we’re gonna get into. Maybe have a shut-in day, now that everyone’s been visited. That’s a good, restful way to spend the last day of minication before I go back to what will hopefully be a less hectic week at work!
I gotta say, though, I’m really excited about this salvage-diving, barge/houseboat-building idea! It sounds like so much fun! I can’t wait to get started! YAY!
Nat smiled excitedly, her purple eyes lighting up over the idea of the new adventure. She quickly poked her pen back into its spot on the inkwell, then snapped her diary shut, running her things back upstairs to put them in their homes in her office. She took a short moment to look around. Gosh, she hadn’t written in here in a long time! She’d have to do that soon! Smiling fondly at her little space, she turned and hurried on back downstairs. Celeste was turned around on her stool, looking around at the workshop and sipping her coffee, no longer in her zone, so she noticed Nat coming downstairs this time. Nat saw that Celeste’s coffee was low when Celeste put the mug back on the workbench, so she ran the mugs upstairs for refills, then came back down, passing off Celeste’s steaming mug to her along with a kiss before looking down at Celeste’s plans.
They were shaping up well so far, but Celeste had been thinking of Penny, and told Nat that she was thinking of inviting their mechagnome friend over to help think of plans and help building the barge, which she’d be free to visit any time as thanks for the always-invaluable assistance. Nat agreed, and they gave Penny a call over their gnomish communicators, then went to pick her up.
Upon landing, however, they saw Penny hard at work chasing some vermin out of the farm, as well as handling some crazed vines that had sprouted and were flailing around the crops. Farming was amazing here, but it also lent itself consistently to some crazy issues!
With teamwork, the farm was all caught up, and the trio returned to the House-On-The-Spire to work on those plans. Celeste had doodled the water cannon just as a silly doodle, but Penny was wondering whether, given the presence of unpredictable goblins and predictably pirate-y pirates, whether a water cannon might not be a terrible idea. Plans were made to build one similar to the MAD mode on the MUTT that could be left to defend the barge in their absence, though Celeste, wanting a peaceful barge, was uncertain about the idea. Nat pointed out that their house was pretty secure with the arcane barrier around it, and that they could put one around the barge, refreshing the spell with occasional visits where it floated over the flooded raceway. She’d leave the decision on either magic or the cannon protection up to Celeste, as it was her project idea.
Eventually, the plans were basically finished, though bits here and there could use some tweaking. The day was getting late, however, and they were all excited enough about the project that they wanted to be on the water already. So, Celeste took them all down to the Wave Dancer, and, along with Other Nat, they decided to fish up dinner in Turtle Bay, with the ensuing fish fights providing fun and excitement in between restful, peaceful times enjoying the company of friends on the water.
The dinner they reeled in turned out to be a few Krasarang paddlefish, a meal Celeste and Nat had sort of missed during their time up north. The four (plus Dordy) enjoyed dinner back up at the girls’ home, cooked in their own kitchen, seasoned to perfection, and then, with bellies full (Dordy was doing the slow, full-belly Dordy waddle now), they got Other Nat back down to Anglers Wharf, and Penny back to Halfhill.
Upon returning home, it was getting late, at least by worknight standards, so Nat decided on a bath and bed. She smiled as she settled in to bed, already dreaming in the dark of the adventures to come. It was sure to be a fun, exciting time in the warm, beautiful flooded basin of the Thousand Needles, and Nat couldn’t wait to begin!
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Post by Natasha Ebonlocke on Nov 23, 2023 12:23:30 GMT
November the Twenty-Third The morning’s mist thickly shrouded Turtle Bay, keeping also the hot sun off of some fairly hard work for now. That was one of the reasons that this time of day was chosen. The mist made it difficult to see more than eight to ten feet past the edge of the boat, and all was an eerie, soft, somewhat dark grey-blue as the morning’s light attempted to light up the bay under the morning fog. Gentle waves could be heard lapping against the support posts of Anglers Wharf (most of which wasn’t visible), against the Wave Dancer, and against the nearby spire upon which a beloved home stood. Little other sound could be heard, the morning’s gulls were few still, and Anglers Wharf was only just beginning to stir, and the last bit was the low voices speaking on the mechanized boat and the metallic whizzing, whirring, clinking, clanking, ratcheting sounds of engineering work being done on deck.
Celeste, Nat, and their good mechagnome friend Penny sat in the middle of a very odd scene on the deck, surrounded by large mechanical parts of huge, bent metal tubes and an assortment of unidentifiable (to the non-engineers of the wharf) mechanical parts. The pandaren and other locals chuckled and shook their heads when they got close enough to see what the odd little noises were. The eccentric engineering friends were at it again!
Dordy emerged from one tube at the smell of an approaching hozen. Fo Fook, the hozen who’d had all the bad luck earlier in the year and had manifested a sha of bad luck trapped in a jade statue, was one Dordy was always wary of, and his scent drew Dordy out. Dordy didn’t growl or bark; he’d been taught that this was a friend, but he did carefully watch the hozen. His mind changed with the hozen brought him a small bit of fish. Dordy accepted the treat happily, returning to the bent metal tube he’d been in to gobble up his treat and return to a bit of dozing.
The hozen expressed a few ooks of confusion to his human friends, then returned to his sandbar he liked to fish from after an explanation of some grand ookin’ boat that shoots water. Humans!
The work itself was progressing well. For those in the know, the parts were water cannons built to take water from a pump and expel it outwards from the bent metal tubes. Penny was hard at work repairing the pump with some parts leftover from the last trip to Mechagon’s big junkyard, Celeste was disassembling damaged equipment that appeared to have been salvaged from somewhere, and Nat, awaiting completion of the first disassembly by Celeste so she could do her bit, had her diary in her lap, seated comfortably in her cushioned purple chair for now, her coffee thermos and inkwell in the cup holders in the arms of the chair. It’d be her turn soon!
Nat smiled at the latest visitors, Shen and Marzai, the pandaren angler buddies that had helped them build their dream home on the spire. She waved as Celeste stopped her work to explain, once again, what all the work was, and, once again, they got a few jovial chuckles and shaken heads. The engineering work the girls did always was a source of endearment to their friends here at the wharf, and here they were, at it again!
Nat giggled as Shen and Marzai left, poking the button on her inkwell that pops out her mechanical pen as the two buddies left to go find breakfast. She reflected on her own breakfast, biscuits and sausage gravy Celeste and cooked for her and Penny (Uncle Rugnar’s recipe, of course!). That had been a great start to a great day! For now, however, it was time to write!
Dear diary,
The next adventure has officially begun!
Celeste and Penny and I have begun the first bit of salvage and repairs we need to build that getaway houseboat barge in the Thousand Needles! No name yet; I suppose we might christen the vessel once we get it completed. That’ll be fun, too!
“I dunno,” Celeste said this past Sunday night after I returned from work, taking another forkful of her steak and veggie packet that was the lunch special I had pointed out in an earlier note. “I mean it’s not bad, but it really does all taste the same. Better than army rations, that’s for sure though. How’s yours?” she asked me, giving her forkful to a waiting Dordy sitting in front of her.
The family was visiting the farm. Celeste had brought her plans for the houseboat to show Penny and I. The day before she had finished her plans, and had spent the rest of the day trying the cloud serpent race course near the tamers. She hadn’t done it to break any records or to win any race. She just enjoyed the complexity of the course and to give Cloud Dancer a reason to show his agility. I love it when she has a chance to get out and have some fun!
"It does largely taste the same, yeah," I replied, peeling off a strip of fat and dangling it for Dordy to hop up on his hind legs and gobble up, "though I do think the flavors have meshed a bit more inside the packet. If nothing else, the packet itself provides a bit of novelty to the meal. Sounds like a perfect meal after a bunch of dragon racing!"
“The shrimp tacos were better, but veggies and steak is always a great mix. Dordy doesn’t mind, obviously,” Celeste said, taking a last bite before giving the rest to Dordy.
“When you two are ready, we’ll go over the houseboat plans together.”
"Hear, hear!" squeaked Penny, meaning the houseboat plans review more than the food, though she'd remarked on how much better it tastes than the tubes of grey nutritional paste she and her people had subsisted on in Mechagon.
“I’m ready!"
"I'm ready too!" I smiled, looking over to Celeste and listening as I finished my meal.
“Alright!” Celeste hopped from the steps to the farmhouse and went to retrieve her plans from the saddlebag tied to her flying machine. She took out her journal and a folded plan. She gestured for Penny and I to scoot over and, facing them while they sat on the stairs, laid out the plan on the top step.
“We’ll need to salvage some drums from the sunken racetrack and weld them so they become airtight. They used a lot of fuels there, so I’m sure there are plenty lying around on the basin floor. Unfortunately, we need a dry place to work, too. Our old barge from our race, when Penny expertly piloted the Penny Pincher to victory” – Penny beamed with a mixture of pride and shy embarrassment – “is barely able to float. I’m thinking we’ll have to either set up camp in Tanaris on the edge of the basin – it’s close to Gadgetzan where we can find supplies. The nights will be cool, but the days will be hot. Fortunately, the water in the basin will help us cool off. Nat, I know you’re not fond of heat like that. I have plans to set up shade both in camp and on the houseboat, but we can also set up camp in Feralas instead, and built the boat at the base of the Thousand Needles. We’ll just need to move it carefully out of the canyon once it’s done.”
I had scooted on down with the last bit of my steak foil packet, munching as I looked at the first bit of the plans with the empty fuel drums.
"Oh, yeah," I said in between bites. "Not a fan of the heat, but if we set up in Feralas, we'll be really, really far away from the basin where we wanted to work. I'll hang out in the shade and in the water with a Tanaris base camp, no worries!"
"So what's next after the empty fuel drums?"
“The structure itself and the deck. I think we’ll just salvage metal plates and weld the drums to them. That’ll give us a strong, solid base. Metal sheeting will get hot in the sun, so I think we’ll solve that with bamboo. As always, it’s easy to harvest and grows back fast. We can easily cover the deck with slats and use the round bamboo stalks to make our walls. I’m thinking an open design, so what breeze comes in from the sea can flow through. Sliding panels can close off the interior in case of storms. The roof will be far larger than the interior, so even heavy rain shouldn’t require to close the panels.”
“So all this means harvesting and cutting bamboo. Easy with the MUTT. Salvaging on the floor of the basin: I’m bringing the Wave Dancer for that and proper mobility. Setting up camp first. Getting our workbenches up and running. It’ll basically be a makeshift shipyard for us.”
"Bamboo will be really easy, yeah!" I said, finishing off my food and taking my Stormstout brew into my hands next. "And I love the idea of the extended roof! Not having to close the panels will be really nice during storms, and having closeable ones will allow us to lock up when we leave, too!"
"Agreed!" Penny nodded. "Celeste, can you think of any use for the COMPASS? I haven't taken the ol' Penny Pincher out for a zoom in a while."
“Actually I have!” Celeste said, smiling proudly. “I want to map out the basin sea floor. It’ll save us a lot of salvage time. The COMPASS will act as my drone did in the ruins: it’ll scan the basin while you have fun piloting it all over the place. The goblins’ve been salvaging there for a while. Finding salvage will require a more structured approach. So Penny, I’d like you to get in touch with Shalyra and see if we can outfit the Penny Pincher with her mapping tech. The problem will be resolution. The COMPASS is a fast-moving vessel. We’ll need an upgrade to my drone’s scanning system to get more than a blurry map.”
"Yes, quite so, as well as the question of distortion by water," Penny agreed. "Who knows what effects on the imagery the water might have? From stirred-up whitewater to currents and tides, we might get a pretty silly image of what's underneath us. I suppose I could ride fast until a metal detector finds something and then slow down and scan it while stationary. I can't think of any other option right off the top of my head."
“Metal detection?” Celeste mused. “For a preliminary scan? That’ll help for sure!. Anyways, it’s just something to speed things up. I’m expecting construction to take a few weeks. Hopefully not much more than two. I want to have fun doing this, so that means exploring the desert, going hunting and fishing, swimming in the basin. If we have fun, we’ll want to return, and that’s the point. Nat, I have a special job for you. I want you to work on building those water canons. You’ve picked up some engineering since we’ve been together. This would be a nice way to challenge yourself. I know the goblins didn’t salvage their hot air balloons in Grizzly Hills. I bet the water canons they used might still be at the bottom of the delta. We could go fish them out together, if you think we could use those and repurpose them. Think you’d like to try working on that?”
"Wow, really?" I asked, looking excited. "A quick trip back to Grizzly Hills? Heck yeah! Let's do it!"
"I dunno if the goblins considered them worth salvaging... hopefully they haven't already fished them out of the delta. Or maybe how fast we were onto them prompted them to leave them there, in case we come back and catch them at it? Who knows what lengths a goblin will go to with prompted by dreams of a fatter purse..."
"But yeah, I bet we could get them out with a dive into the creek to attach the Flying Nosebleed's winch. Gosh, that'll be so cold... Good thing we've got your fire magic!"
“So… you’re interested in working on those water canons then?” Celeste asked, looking at me with an amused smile. “Not sure if you’re excited for the quick trip to Grizzly Hills, or this project with the canons.”
"Heck yeah, engineering is fun!" I said with a laugh. "Combine engineering AND a trip to Grizzly Hills? I'm SO IN!"
“Awesome!” Celeste said then looked at Penny. “How about you, Penny? Interested in piloting the Wave Dancer while Nat and I salvage some goblin water canons? Just a day should be enough. How about the plans? Any changes you’d like to see? There’s space specifically for you in this, and a dock just for the COMPASS.”
"Of course I'll come! I appreciate the invitation!" Penny squeaked. "I can't think of any additional additions to the plans off the top of my head. I do like the COMPASS-docking idea. What will my role be with the Wave Dancer in the Grizzly Hills?"
“You’ll keep the boat close to us and operate the winch. I’ll need you to keep an eye out for goblins too. I’ll keep Nat warm in the water and help her salvage the water canon parts too. Hopefully we can find a pump we can use that’s not as big as the fish-sucking turbines they had.”
"Ah, salvage from boat instead of from FB?" Penny asked. "Well, that'll give us a lot more room to bring salvage aboard than the FB has. I just hope we can find a way to get the Wave Dancer over the rapids."
“The balloon wrecks were drifting down the delta to the sea near Venture Bay. The river would gave carried them down; balloon canvas is heavy and easily snagged by the current. I can bring the Dancer in from the sea, then well see how far inland we need to go. One of us can pilot the FB there. You’re right that we might need other options!” Celeste said as she rolled up her plan.
"I like it!" I smiled, finishing my brew and setting the cup aside. "The Wave Dancer will be able to take on lots of salvage, and we've got the FB to lift out anything that's above a rapid or something, which can winch it over to the Dancer as well!"
We made our plans and then, yesterday, all plans made, we packed the cold-weather KEG just in case we got stuck in the area (no one really expected that to happen, but, always be prepared!), and took the Flying Nosebleed and the Wave Dancer through a portal to Northrend Dalaran, carefully bringing the Wave Dancer down to the sea the Grizzly Hill’s southbound river emptied into and lowering it carefully into the water. Penny operated the Wave Dancer and occasionally lifted off with the Flying Nosebleed as needed, and Celeste and I dove with the winch to attach it to parts we wrested free of the wrecks.
With the help of the Flying Nosebleed overhead, it had been easy for us to find the goblin balloon wrecks. Two had washed out to sea, one was caught on some rocks in the river, and the last one had been dragged to shore. The latter had been stripped of anything valuable.
After inspecting the one in the rapids, we found a water cannon that still worked and took the extra time to drag the wreck ashore to clear the river for the wildlife and to keep the scene pristine.
The balloons at sea were fairly deep, though their patchwork envelopes were visible from the sky overhead.
Celeste and I had plunged into the frigid waters together. Holding hands, Celeste’s magic had kept us both really warm! She’s so great! Together, we checked the broken machinery at the bottom of the sea. A second water cannon was found with a large pump that Celeste later said should supply water to all the cannons at the same time. Nifty! We found a third cannon at the last balloon, but it was damaged. It took some effort to remove it from the wreck, but we finally hauled it on board!
Now we needed to properly inspect the pump and cannons. If we needed extra parts, it was better to find them now, while we were still in Northrend. The floor of the Wave Dancer was currently littered with mechanical parts and disassembled cannons. Celeste grumbled often about the sloppy work the goblins do as she inspected everything, while Penny reconstructed the cannons Celeste had taken apart. Each cannon was moved to the raised deck where my chair is with a tag giving me a general sense of the state of the cannon and what work or parts were needed to repair them. That’s gonna be super helpful when I get started!
Speaking of which, I guess I’d better! Celeste just finished the first one and brought it up to me to repair. The tag Celeste put on this one says it needs an o-ring replaced, as this one is cracked. We have those from Mechagon too! Oooh, she wrote instructions; this’ll make it easier… I have to open up the socket body, remove the sleeve spring from the spring, pull out the cracked o-ring, replace it, then reassemble it in reverse order, then… give Celeste a kiss?! HA! Sure thing! She cracks me up… I love this girl!
I’m really glad to be given engineering work to do all by myself; I’ve never done that before! Celeste’s faith in me is actually giving me some confidence to do this on my own, and the instructions help too! I bet I’ll get to a point where I can figure out how to do this stuff without instructions if I keep doing it on my own, too!
Okay, time to get started! Gosh, I can’t wait to get all this valuable engineering experience with these repairs, I can’t wait to adventure in the Thousand Needles flooded raceway again, not to mention the hunting and fishing and hiking and exploring she has planned, and I can’t wait to build and enjoy this vacation houseboat! This is gonna be SO much fun! YAY!
Nat snapped her diary shut with a smile, poking her mechanical pen back into its place in her mechanical inkwell, then stuffing everything back into her pack. Dressed in her working clothes and prepared to get her hands dirty, she dived in to the first repair job, completing it the way Celeste’s instructions said, including the kiss for Celeste written in as the last step.
Giggling and blushing a bit, she moved on to the next project, which Celeste had ready for her by then. A pressure gage needed cleaning of river grit and reattaching. Following Celeste’s instructions, she disassembled the collection of parts enough to get the pressure gage off, cleaned it free of river grit, reattached it, then reassembled the rest of the part, moving on to the final step of the process Celeste had written in… give Celeste another kiss. Ha!
Grinning now, she moved on to the next task. A metering and check valve on another part had been connected backwards. How had the goblins made this stuff work with such shoddy assembly? Nat followed Celeste’s written instructions again, disassembling the collection of parts until she could get to the metering and check valve, took it off, flipped it over, and reattached it properly, reassembled the parts, then… went to go find Dordy a treat and give it to him. Ha, alright! Other Nat was happy to give her a sausage he hadn’t eaten from his breakfast, his belly already full, chuckling at the quick story Nat told him about Celeste’s instructions. Dordy was all too happy to gobble the sausage up upon her return, by which point another project was there for her to work on.
Throughout the morning, Nat followed Celeste’s instructions, repairing different systems within different water pumps and cannons, repairing her way through the pumps and cannons themselves over time by fixing their disparate individual systems and parts, always finishing the job with a final step – mostly giving Celeste another kiss – but also petting Dordy, finding a gift for Penny (usually a treat like chocolate or a nice hair ribbon or something), or finding her own self a treat. Nat had a great time, repairing things, giggling her way through the final steps on each, and learning quite a bit more about engineering with all the hands-on experience she was getting.
Finally, all the water pumps and water cannons were repaired! The Wave Dancer’s deck, a complete disaster area earlier, was all cleaned up, with the parts that were lying all over the place now assembled into recognizable gadgets, themselves lined up in neat rows along either side of the deck. They were DONE!
As mentioned earlier, there was another reason for the early, foggy hour being chosen to do the work – the primary day of Pilgrim’s Bounty was today! A time of thanksgiving and family, there were big plans for this day! Celeste, Nat, and Penny got themselves cleaned up, and prepared for a day of travels. The first was a gathering with Anglers Wharf friends, in which a second breakfast (light for the girls, just as their first had been, as they had several stops to make) was had with them, then a departure later for lunch with Halfhill friends. Turkey and a few veggies were enjoyed, and time was spent with friends, and then, as their Anglers Wharf friends were now doing, their Halfhill friends departed to enjoy the rest of the evening – and the primary feast of the day – with their families.
Nat, insisting Celeste and Penny were family, invited them both to Darkshire for the Pilgrim’s Bounty feast with her father (as they had no families of their own to go to, each due to tragic events). They brought plenty to cook, treating Nat’s father, who had been looking forward to this for weeks! There was turkey, stuffing, vegetables, cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes, and so much more, including different pies for different people’s tastes: apple pie, apple cinnamon pie, pumpkin pie, and pumpkin pecan pie!
Nat and her loved ones thoroughly enjoyed themselves, and everyone (especially Dordy) had eaten enough that they felt ready to pop! Stories were told or retold, such as some embarrassing childhood stories about Nat that her father told, stories of Megan the Mecha-roach told by Penny, recounting adventures with a mecha-roach that tended to follow her around Mechagon Isle’s surface as she explored with awe-struck wide eyes and got into several sticky or comical situations with her mechanical little friend, stories told by Celeste of she and her brother getting into sticky or comical situations of her own, stories told by Nat of she and her sister doing things they ought not have (her father laughed at the stories these days rather than become cross as he might have done at the time of their childhood wrongdoing), getting into sticky or comical situations of their own, or pranks they’d played on their father. Many other stories were told as well, until all were tired from the day’s engineering, cooking, and traveling work (not to mention their full bellies!), and finally, the amazing day of holiday and family drew to a close.
The girls bid a fond farewell to Nat’s father, stopping to talk with a few other Darkshire friends that were out and about, making introductions for Penny, who was making her first stop there, and letting Dordy pack his belly even more full with Pilgrim’s Bounty treats given to him by others taking leftovers home. Eventually, they made it through a portal conjured up by Celeste, and soon found themselves back in Pandaria, in the Shrine of the Seven Stars.
A flight to Halfhill got Penny home, where the girls lingered a bit more before saying goodnight, and then the little family made their way back to their own home, in the House-On-The-Spire. Nat felt quite sleepy when they got in, and, after a bath and some wine with Celeste, she went to bed with a huge smile on her face. It had been an awesome holiday! They’d accomplished quite a bit that morning, and had the perfect holiday throughout the rest of the day with family and friends!
And, on top of that, they had the Thousand Needles houseboat adventure coming up soon, and it was a mix of the day past and the days to come that Nat dreamed of as she faded off to sleep!
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Post by Natasha Ebonlocke on Nov 30, 2023 13:54:40 GMT
November the Thirtieth It was a surprisingly cool spot, for a desert location. The narrow pass that led through the mountains and down to the water was barely wide enough to make a tiny camp in, the breeze off the water was pleasant, and the sun only spent a short time directly overhead enough to actually shine on the camp. Digging down into the cooler sand and pitching the tent over top of that made it even more cool and comfortable!
Another good thing about the camp was the tiny rock spire in front of it. It blocked the view of the camp from the eyes of any pirates or goblins looking for them. That was a good thing, considering how they’d reach this beach and its camping spot. It would make their work a lot easier and safer!
The camp itself was a simple one. A light KEG with warm-weather gear had brought along the tent, warm blankets – not the fur ones, however, but still, it being a desert, the nights were relatively chilly – and food and building supplies stacked up against the back of the rock spire. Other than that, the only other addition needed was the campfire for cooking and warmth.
It was still slightly chilly at this time of the morning, the sun still making its way in from the west. The smell of sandy beach, a faint hint of fish, the salt sea air, and the smell of machinery and oil – both their own, and those from the town of Tanaris through the pass on one side, and Fizzle and Pozzik’s Speedbarge coming in from the other side, out on the water, made this campsite quite unusual!
Nat looked around the camp. Everyone seemed content, getting started on their respective tasks Celeste had planned for them for the morning. They had all just filled up on an experimental breakfast idea from Celeste… she’d taken her spicy scorpid skewer idea and applied it to an omelet! The spicy scorpid meat, freshly hunted from out on the desert by the crew the night before, along with green and red bell peppers, onions, tomatoes, mushrooms, cheddar cheese, ham, and bacon, with hot sauce mixed in and more on top. Celeste had opted for a much milder omelet, while greatly spicing up Nat’s with hot sauce and hot peppers, the way she knew Nat liked. Penny, wanting the full experience, had opted for the hot as well, but, though she loved the intensity of spicy food, it was still something she needed to get used to after consuming nothing but the tubes of grey nutritional paste she’d had all her life on Mechagon Isle! Dordy had had his spicy omelet too, devouring the hot food as though the peppers and hot sauce did nothing to him. He’d enjoyed the hash browns and bacon and sausage as well, eating much of Celeste’s share, as she usually ate little to no breakfast, opting for coffee instead, and shared much of hers with Dordy after the fiery corgi had devoured his own portions.
Now that everyone had their bellies full and coffee to hand, each was in their own, happy little world. Celeste was working on drawing up plans to lay out the disparate pieces of the new barge – We still need a name for it, or a really cool acronym, Nat thought – in accordance to how each piece would be attached in order once they’d salvaged the empty fuel drums that would serve as the floatation devices. Penny was doing a last-minute tune-up on the COMPASS. Dordy was snoozing on one of Celeste’s prefabricated bamboo squares, sprawled out on his side, quietly yip-yipping and making little running motions as he chased something in his sleep. Nat had her diary next to the campfire, sitting in her folding camping chair with her coffee thermos in its cupholder, her mechanical inkwell on the little folding camp table next to that, the mechanical pen already in her hand.
Nat smiled to see her little family and their little friend so happy and content. She giggled as Dordy startled awake after seeming to catch his prey, sat up, and scratched himself before turning in a few circles, plopping back down on the spot, and going right back to snoozing again. She turned back to her diary with a grin, beginning to write.
Dear diary,
This is it! We’ve started our vacation houseboat barge thingy construction! We haven’t named it yet, but I figure we’ll get to that once we have the finished product in front of us. But we’re on site, camp is set, plans are laid, and we’ve begun!
It all started over the weekend while I was at work, really. Friday, Celeste and Penny worked all day farming bamboo for the house boat. Celeste operated the MUTT with its saw arm, cutting the stalks and stacking them with the claw arm. Penny would then airlift the bundles to Turtle Beach where it was easier to put everything temporarily until it was time to ferry everything over to Thousand Needles. Dordy had been left in the care of Uncle Rugnar, who had been quite happy to take care of the pup. Dordy was quite at home now in Ironforge, especially with those lava streams he could play over! He’s so adorable!
The two had paused for lunch at the Angler's Wharf. Since there was no rush to build the houseboat, Penny and Celeste took their time during their lunch hour, enjoying the company of their Angler friends. To thank her uncle for taking care of their pup, Celeste brought some leftovers from lunch and headed to Ironforge for dinner. She contacted me to tell me to meet them there. We’d would sleep in the guest room overnight as well, since it was closer to Darkshire anyways, and there wouldn't be a need to bring Dordy back the next morning. After dinner, Celeste showed me how to play the dwarven board game Miners and Ores, with Uncle Rugnar watching over me and giving me advice. It was a really fun evening, and Celeste was glad to snuggle up to me that night, tired as she was after a long day of work.
Celeste went back to Turtle Beach the next morning to continue working with Penny, this time on the COMPASS. The Penny Pincher was a vessel built for speed and agility. Thankfully, that meant it was also very light. Airlift to Celeste’s workshop had been easy with the help of the FB!
While Penny and Shalyra worked to add scanning tech to the COMPASS, Celeste kept busy by tying the bamboo together on Turtle Beach. Meanwhile, Dordy chased after the crabs and turtles or tried (unsuccessfully) to annoy Nosebleed.
Uncle Rugnar had come over to help Celeste, but still everyone eagerly took the portal that Celeste had created to Ironforge for lunch. There had been a batch of boar ribs ready for hungry customers, but it was dessert everyone was after. Celeste, though she wasn’t as fond of sweets, thought that the mix was full of flavors and refreshing. The gang returned to work in the afternoon. Nobody stayed for dinner, so Celeste and I had a comfortable evening in with our lava pup!
Most of the preparation was done on Sunday for the construction. The bamboo was stacked on the Wave Dancer along with whatever provisions we would need for the first week. Celeste planned on hunting and fishing locally, but being prepared helped. Penny would follow the Dancer in the COMPASS, and my task was to pilot the MUTT. The pump and water cannon would come later, airlifted by the FB.
Monday came, and we departed right after breakfast. Celeste opened a portal to Dustwallow Marsh. Dordy, with his adorable aviator goggles on, was with me in the MUTT. That was fun! Celeste waited until we had gone through before throttling the Dancer out of the glorious sunshine of Pandaria and into the hazy swamps of Dustwallow. Fortunately, they didn’t need to linger long and quickly turned south along the coast, giving the pirate ships a wide berth.
Getting into the sunken raceway proved tougher as the pirate ships there were basically blockading the basin! Oh, no!
“I hadn’t factored those ships when I planned this trip,” Celeste said on the comms, bringing the Wave Dancer to a stop far out of range of the pirate vessels. Any ideas, guys? I’d rather avoid those cannons.”
"What if we use the MUTT and the COMPASS to distract their cannons for a while?" I asked over the comms as we all hung back, out of sight around a cliff. "Chasing us around will eventually draw their focus, and the Dancer can get through unnoticed, if it works!"
"Best-case scenario, I suppose a distraction would pull their cannons to the wrong sides of the ship," Penny nodded in the COMPASS, checking her instrument panel and flipping a few switches as she prepped for a distraction race, if need be. "Worst-case scenario? We may need to use the MUTT to sink their ships..."
“Girls, I like your go get-‘em attitude. I’ll power the Wave Dancer and head for the gap between the ships. I’m not sure if the MUTT’s shoulder gun can take down a ship, but a few holes below the waterline will give them something to think about. I’d rather not drawn attention to us. We’re going to have a houseboat permanently here, after all. Show ’em your skills, though, and crank up the damage only if I’m in trouble!”
Celeste turned up her motor and started her course towards the breach in the basin wall. The Wave Dancer, laden as it was, was slower and would need time to pass.
"Oh gosh she's going in first!" I said, wide-eyed.
Penny needed no more incentive. She slammed the controls forward, popping a wheelie (or would have, if the Penny Pincher had any) and spraying ocean behind her in a surprisingly large wave for such a small vessel. Then the engine found purchase and surged forward, with the MUTT blazing forward directly overhead. The pirates, hearing all the noise, were alarmed to see three vessels -- including one airborne! -- charging right at them, and they heaved to, turning their cannon sides right at us! I pulled up, going above the arcs of the cannons’ fire (I'd seen enough friendly and unfriendly cannons in action to know where that'd be by now) while Penny began zigzagging erratically. The two of us were quickly far in front of the Wave Dancer, which was still out of range of the cannons. The distraction was working, at least so far!
Penny pulled even with the nearest boat, then turned sharply, merely a dozen feet from the ship. The resulting wave of ocean spray splashed right upward, blocking the cannoneers' view, soaking them, and... soaking their cannons! With wet fuses and wet powder, they were rendered useless! NICE!
I zoomed toward the next-nearest ship, starting up the saw arm and swinging it around. I didn't intend to hurt anyone, but it sure made those pirates scatter as I dive-bombed the deck and skimmed across it! Even the fiery dog wearing aviator goggles, in that scenario, was enough to confuse and terrify!
An over-eager cannoneer on another ship took a shot at me when I was low enough. The shot missed me, with the MUTT just being too fast to take proper aim at, and it smashed right through the deck of the ship!
"STOP BLOWIN' 'OLES IN MY SHIP!" the ship's pirate captain bellowed, rattled and panicked now. The boat was safe from sinking, with the cannonball having gone through the top deck instead of below, but still, that was an expensive mess!
That left one last pirate ship to deal with...
Celeste maneuvered the heavily-laden Wave Dancer directly towards the last vessel. With the MUTT and COMPASS causing so much confusion, she figured that most of the cannoneers would be watching us, not her. Still, she had one more trick up her sleeve. Leaving her console for a moment, she moved to the front of the ship and activated her hook drone. The drone took off and flew towards the last ship. Keeping an eye on the vessel, she piloted the drone and made it fly through an opened cannon port, then she pressed a button. Smoke started streaming out of the drone’s cargo compartment and onto the deck! Great billowing clouds that stung the eyes of the pirates! Oh gosh! Celeste had added dried pepper particles to the smoking alchemical compound she’d found in her mother’s notebooks. With the pirates now incapacitated, she casually piloted the Wave Dancer through and into the basin. The drone returned automatically to its port. Awesome!
“Nice job, girls!” Celeste’s voice came over the comms. “Those pirates were completely humiliated! Ha! I’ll bring the Wave Dancer to the Tanaris beach and we can set up camp. If we’re done early enough, I might be able to hunt some scorpids to make crispy scorpid skewers for dinner!“
Penny and I swung our respective vehicles around, giving the Dancer some cover. With the crews of all three ships scrambling from the sudden guerilla attack, however, the cover wasn't needed, and Celeste got through the gap with ease.
"WOOOOO US!" called I over the comms in response to Celeste, venting off some feelings with a few barrel rolls as she zoomed over top of the Wave Dancer. "GOT 'EM!"
"Indubitably!" Penny concurred, riding in circles around the dancer. "That was as nifty a bit of improvisation as anyone could hope for! Let's do it again sometime!"
I giggled at that as the two of us followed Celeste toward the Tanaris beach. It was time to get started!
Setting up camp didn't take very long. Celeste asked me to dig a large square hole in the ground about waist deep with the MUTT's shovel hand tool. While that was being done, she helped set up Penny's systems in the COMPASS to start mapping the bottom of the basin. As suggested, they would use a metal detector, and then Penny would go more slowly over the places she gets readings to get a clear image.
Once the hole in the ground was dug up, Celeste and I installed our largest tent over it. The hole would help make the inside of the tent cooler during the day, and shoring up the sides of the tent with the sand that was removed would help keep desert critters from crawling underneath the tent walls, Celeste explained.
I really liked the cooler area down in the tent pit. It already felt like it would be much more comfortable to sleep in during the night and work in during the day! I shuddered at the thought of critters creeping in amongst us while we slept. I was glad Celeste had the idea to block all that off with sand! Then, of course, the conversation turned to ANOTHER critter that had gotten into the camp once, a few years ago... Penny was held in thrall by the story Celeste and I told in turns, horrified at the smell of death and the MUTT's MAD mode seemingly shooting at ghosts, potentially even Tomlin's ghost... and then she had herself quite a laugh when she heard what the "ghost" had actually turned out to be! The desert skink, called a “sand-grave” skink, whose defense mechanism was to give off a stink as though it were a rotten, spoiled corpse had gotten into the MUTT and lodged itself right in the MAD mode’s targeting sensors, liking the warm spot during the day. It had set off the MAD mode’s sensors, however, making it think there was a huge target out there to shoot at, when really, when we looked, there was nothing there! It was funny that something so spooky was just a little lizard getting warm!
OH! That reminds me! I totally forgot to write about it somehow, but, the week after we returned from our Grizzly Hills camp for the salmon run, I took my bestie Nah up there with me to camouflage that treehouse, and I told HER that story too! We got onto the subject by me telling Nah about previous camping trips there, including the very first one, where the goblins had been trying to scare off other anglers from the salmon run by making a construct that looked like a huge undead abomination! Celeste and I had solved the mystery eventually, dismantled the thing, and spread the word that it was all a goblin sham, and that the anglers would be safe fishing there. Then I told her of the desert sand-grave skink story. She’s such a great listener for stories! She gasped and ooh’d and aah’d at all the right parts, all while using her druidic magic, as planned, to grow the branches of the trees around the treehouse. You can’t even see it anymore, and it all looks so natural! She’s so good at this! It took a long time to grow it all, though, so I was able to tell those stories, and get a good laugh out of her when the big sand-grave reveal was done!
Then, while she was growing additional camouflage over top of the treehouse so that anyone flying overhead would have pristine scenery to look down upon as well, I used what bit of mage illusion magic I’ve learned to set up a replica of our camp we had, with the live-in tent, the storage tent, and the smoker tent set up, our campfire and camping chairs and table, all the stuff in the tents, and the drift lines, explaining how those work. Ever the great listener, she smiled throughout the explanation, and told me what a wonderful camp we’d set up. What a great bestie!
Eventually, the growing was done, an the treehouse totally camouflaged, and it was time to leave. She had some Whitewind Company business to attend to, so she headed out, and I went back to Stormwind City to hang out for a while, just chatting up different friends I saw as I walked around. It was a really great day!
Thankfully there were no sand-graves around to stink up the camp this time, and the MUTT had been properly sealed back then against other critters crawling into its systems!
The Penny Pincher, having already been retrofitted in the workshop, only needed to be dialed into the receiver that stayed in camp. Penny would first zoom around the basin to get a rough hologram of the reservoir itself. Resolution wouldn’t be important, so she could go fast if she wanted to. After that, she would just need to switch to the metal detector and find some sunken debris. Celeste figured we would need at least a dozen barrels for the houseboat project. She wasn’t too concerned; there should be plenty lying around the sunken raceway.
Penny announced just then that she was able to head out. Celeste nodded with a smile, then checked her rifle and grabbed her spear, indicating that it was time to go hunting!
“Nat do you want to go scorpid hunting? If you’d rather stay at camp, you could monitor Penny’s progress, or just go for a swim to cool off.”
"Sure, we could go hunting!" Nat said, looking up from her diary. "I thought we'd all be monitoring Penny's progress and maybe fishing up meals, but hunting up meals works just as well! Lemme just wrap this up, and we'll go!"
Nat took a long sip of coffee, then dug in quickly, trying to make a speedy ending to her writing so she could go out on the day's adventure with Celeste.
“I’m not too worried. The system works great and by the time Penny circles the basin and starts looking for metal, we should be back. Scorpids aren’t rare in Tanaris. We won’t be gone long.”
"Ah, okies! Yeah, sure, let's get going!"
Anyway, back to the Thousand Needles. Things are unpacked, camp is set, Penny’s finishing up a final tune-up on the COMPASS as we speak, and now she’s about to begin scanning the bottom of the flooded raceway when she finds spots with her metal detector to use Shalyra’s holographic mapping technology. Celeste and I will go along with the Wave Dancer, but I think we’re gonna do some exotic hunting instead! That’ll be fun! We’ll be hunting up lunch and dinner while Penny works, so all will be working hard!
I’m really excited to get started! I can’t wait to get started building on the water! It was really fun to do last time! I can’t wait to see how it all turns out! YAY!
Nat continued speaking with Celeste a bit throughout the wrap-up of her diary, and was soon finished. She stood, stowing her diary and mechanical pen away in her pack in the tent.
Celeste took her floppy hat and plopped it on Nat’s head, giving her a once-over and declaring that she looked “quite dashing,” using a posh accent. Celeste gave Dordy his command word to be quiet and watchful: “Dordy! Sneaky.” The pup looked at her and then followed, not even barking when a tiny beetle scuttled in front of him. What a good boy!
Nat followed Celeste out from camp after relaying to Penny what the plan was. Penny nodded, donned her helmet with the rear-facing mirror goggles, climbed into the Penny Pincher, and zoomed off, already hard at work!
With the whole wide desert in front of them, there was sure to be a whole other adventure right here, right now, and Nat couldn’t wait to see what Celeste had planned for this last day of minication!
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Post by Natasha Ebonlocke on Dec 7, 2023 14:55:34 GMT
December the Seventh A chilly night was gradually transitioning into a warm day, as was the way in the desert. The smell of breakfast was fading away, though coffee and the salt air of the ocean water flooding the old Thousand Needles raceway lingered, as did that of the morning cookfire’s smoke. Gull calls could be heard, the birds cruising the skies in search of their own breakfast. Voices in the distance could be heard as well, and, on occasion, a thrum from Fizzle and Pozzik’s Speedbarge’s engines.
Hidden away in their little cove, however, with the rock spire giving their camp privacy and a place to work unseen, they could not see the things making the distant sounds, and that was just fine with them. They preferred to keep their work private.
A breakfast of scrambled eggs mixed with various highly flavorful Tanaris desert peppers (spicy for Nat) and cheese beside biscuits with sausage gravy went well with the local desert coffee, a strong, but not too strong, locally roasted blend that came in from trees growing in the nearby Un’goro Crater. Now that Celeste was well-fed and had her coffee, she was in the tent, all the way in her zone, making improvements here and there to her blueprints for the houseboat. Doodles lined the margins as always, including one of herself with Nat, Dordy at their feet, all standing inside a heart shape, Penny in the Penny Pincher jumping the tiny craft through the air by launching off a wave like a ramp, Dordy in the Dordy bubble, Nosebleed wearing cool sunglasses and swim trunks and swimming on his back, spouting water from his great beak into the air, and another of a goblin being blasted through the air by a water cannon fired by Dordy.
Nat, seated next to Celeste with her diary spread out in front of her, giggled at the doodles, then turned to look outside the open tent. Dordy was outside with Penny, who was telling him how to build a ladder off the end of a dock that descends into the water, while doing exactly that with some leftover bamboo. Dordy was paying her quite a bit of attention as she spoke, though it was mostly because she had some breakfast left, and was giving him a morsel here and there.
Smiling at her little family and their little friend (who was practically family at this point), Nat turned her attention to the next blank page in her diary. She poked the button that popped her mechanical pen from her mechanical inkwell – a gift from the two girls here, hand-crafted by them – and began to write.
Dear diary,
Well, we’ve sure had ourselves an adventure this week, even if it wasn’t the one we were expecting!
Penny's preliminary run around the basin while I was at work on the first day of my workend had given us a good map, and it was so cool to see it displayed over the holographic table! Penny had already found a few metal things and scanned those areas. There, the resolution was much better, and we could see tiny barrels at the bottom of the hologram and parts of racers. It will be easy to scavenge this way for sure!
In the morning, Celeste prepared her tools and the MUTT's own array of gadgets to put the barrels we would eventually fish out into working condition. The MUTT would hold the barrels, and then Penny or Celeste would solder them shut in turn. They also needed metal sheeting to solder to the barrels themselves, to make a strong base. After they returned from lunch in Pandaria (the chowder had proven particularly tasty), they found a few goblins sniffing around the hidden campsite. They hadn't stepped off their boat yet, but they were wondering what was going on. Penny sorted it out quickly, waving her right to scavenge, which she had won when she triumphed in the race. The goblins weren't exactly happy about it, but they left them alone. Still, Celeste was wary of their machinations, and decided to leave the MUTT in MAD mode whenever they weren't using it.
While Penny was out scanning more of the basin for the salvage work scheduled after my workend, Celeste stayed at camp and prepared a dock with some of the bamboo she had brought. We would need to use the Wave Dancer a lot, and Penny couldn't just anchor the COMPASS and swim back to shore each time! With the help of the MUTT, she waded into the water and planted some of the stronger bamboo stalks directly into the bottom. From there, it was easy to lash together a makeshift dock that was low enough to the waterline for Penny to easily use. Dordy was strangely quiet all throughout, playing with his newfound desert toy he found during a hunt with Celeste and I (more on that in a moment!). Celeste hadn't really thought about it much beyond how unusual it was. Dordy didn't seem to be ill or suffering. He was just really loving that thing! The two engineers didn't go for lunch like that day, preferring to join me at he place I suggested after I got back from work. She sent a message to me via our shared comms that they would wait for me there once my workday was done. They used the Wave Dancer to return to Theramore. Unloaded, it easily dodged the pitiful attacks the pirates angrily sent their way. All three of us (along with Dordy) enjoyed the new crocolisk skewers, and had a great time in Theramore!
Before the workend, after my last diary post, Celeste and I had gone hunting in the desert for more scorpid meat!
The Penny Pincher, having already been retrofitted in the workshop, only needed to be dialed into the receiver that stayed in camp. Penny would first zoom around the basin to get a rough hologram of the reservoir itself. Resolution wouldn’t be important so she could go fast if she wanted to. After that she would just need to switch to the metal detector and find some sunken debris. Celeste figured we would need at least a dozen barrels for the houseboat project. She wasn’t too concerned; there should be plenty lying around the sunken raceway!
With Penny able to head out, Celeste then checked her rifle and grabbed her spear. It was time to go scorpid hunting!
“Nat, do you want to go scorpid hunting?” she asked me. “If you’d rather stay at camp, you could monitor Penny’s progress, or just go for a swim to cool off.”
"Sure, we could go hunting!" I said, looking up from my diary post I was writing that day. "I thought we'd all be monitoring Penny's progress and maybe fishing up meals, but hunting up meals works just as well! Lemme wrap this up, and we'll go!"
I took a long sip of coffee, then dug in quickly, trying to make a speedy ending to my writing so I could go out on the day's adventure with Celeste.
“I’m not too worried,” Celeste replied. “The system works great, and by the time Penny circles the basin and starts looking for metal, we should be back. Scorpids aren’t rare in Tanaris. We won’t be gone long.”
"Ah, okies! Yeah, sure, let's get going!" I said, stowing my diary and mechanical pen away, now finished.
Celeste took her floppy hat and plopped it on my head, giving me a once-over and declaring that I looked “quite dashing,” using a posh accent. Ha! Celeste gave Dordy his command word to be quiet and watchful: “Dordy! Sneaky.” The pup looked at her and then followed, not even barking when a tiny beetle scuttled in front of him. He’s such a good boy, and Celeste has trained him so well!
Celeste headed for a bunch of giant bones protruding from the sand near some troll ruins once we got a good distance out into the desert.
“Scorpids usually stick around stones and rocks to hide under during the day and to absorb warmth the rocks accumulated when it gets colder at night. Let so see if dinner is napping in those ruins,” she said, pointing to the stones.
I followed along, nodding. I wasn't any good with firearms or spears, but I had some little bit of frost magic, and an extraordinary amount of fel, shadow, and summoning magic. I didn't anticipating needing either type of magic however, mostly along to learn, and to assist my Sun.
"Alright," I answered. "Hopefully we find a big one!"
They took a circuitous route, moving into the thin shadows of the bones in hopes of being able to watch the ruins with a bit of cover on their side. A couple of vultures who had been sitting on the too of the bones flew off with angry cries, unhappy about being disturbed.
“Right, this should work for us,” Celeste whispered as she leaned her spear against a large rib bone and unslung her rifle from her shoulder.
“Let’s see what we have here…” she said, raising her weapon and adjusting her Night Watch scope.
Next to me, Dordy seemed hard at work digging and toying with something in the sand, though he kept relatively quiet. I left him to his little adventure, paying more attention to Celeste, learning from her. I absently gave Dordy a few scritches behind the ears, which caused him to wag his tail briefly, but little other changed as he continued worrying his prize in the sand.
"So you think you might see a scorpid from here?” I asked. “Gonna just snipe it, I suppose?"
''I'd rather not step into a nest of them if I can,” Celeste said, still peering through her scope. “Those stingers are no joke. They have hard and flat carapaces, though. Sometimes bullets bounce off of them, like a stone skipping over water. Hopefully my first shot will stun or kill one and scatter the rest. I can finish it off with my spear after that.''
"Oh goodness... be careful when you go in there!" I said, worry in my voice after hearing Celeste speak. "I'll go with you after you shoot, just in case."
''Ok. I'll reload my rifle after the shot. Here, take this,'' she said, handing me her spear with a grin. ''It's easy; just poke it. Hard. With the pointy end.''
Oh gosh, I nearly dropped the spear from the sheer weight of it! I heaved it up, and the head of the spear dropped like a rock to the sand, causing the spear, cradled in the middle of the shaft with both of my arms and using all my strength, to send the butt end of it right up into her underarm.
"MMF-" I grunted, trying once again to lift the heavy, awkward weapon, teetering off-balance, and falling to my right, the weight of the spear bringing me down. "Wh-whoa, whoa, WHOOOOAAAAAA-- MMF-"
"G-gosh," I said, standing up and brushing the sand off of myself. I picked up the butt end of the spear with both hands, struggling to drag it back to Celeste. "Whew... weapons never really were my thing..."
Celeste laughed and took her spear back, leaning it against the giant rib bone again.
''I love that you tried, though. Let's see how this goes first,'' she said, sighting down with her rifle again. ''There's a scorpid there. Pretty big too. I think I can see another one, make that two others near it. Probably a least another one hiding under one of the rocks...''
I blushed at my doomed attempt with the spear, smiling shyly, a bit embarrassed at my failure. I took it in good stride, though, and held a hand over my eyes to shade them from the sun, peering out from the bones at the ruin.
"Oh gosh, yeah, I see some tiny shapes moving down there," I agreed. "Think you can stun it from this range?"
''If my shot doesn't kill it... Well, let's home its stunned.'' She glanced at me from her firing position ''You ready?'' she asked with a smile
"Erm... o-okay... I-I'm ready... Let's do this!"
Celeste aimed carefully, exhaled slowly and pulled the trigger. A thunderous BANG echoed over the desert. The scorpid she was aiming at screeched and skittered to the side, then slowly dropped to the ground. Near it, the other scorpids scattered. Slinging her rifle over her shoulder, she picked up her spear.
''Alright, time to get our prize,” she announced. “I think I got it. Dordy? What's that you're toying with? Hey, that doesn't look like some normal piece of bone... Look Nat, I think it's a direhorn... horn. The tiny one on their snouts. These old bones must've been an ancient troll's war mount or something!''
She knelt down and picked up the horn from Dordy's mouth. Turns out it was only a fragment, but the tip was still there, and part of the base. The horn itself had engravings all around it, etched into it. I watched, fascinated, as the archaeologist in Celeste came out, temporarily taking over the hunter. Deeming it safe eventually, Dordy was allowed to keep his new toy. Trying to take it away from him just made him try harder to get it back.
Celeste had managed to kill the scorpid with her shot and the others had wisely decided to skitter away. Scorpid skewers for dinner!
Things got heated on Sunday, however, when Penny and Celeste went to the Speedbarge for lunch. Some goblins stirred trouble, coming to their table where they chatted with some local gnomes. One bruiser even acted tough, trying to intimidate Penny, but the mechagnome had faced much tougher than him and wasn't moved. They threatened to sink whatever new project the girls were working on, saying they had no salvage rights here. Obviously this made Celeste quite angry, having faced this before. Penny had won those salvage rights fair and square! Thankfully, Penny's cool, calculating mind prevailed, and she managed to prevent Celeste from throwing a punch at one of the snooty goblins. They would have to put their work on hold while they brought this to the head goblin in Tanaris. Goblins could be conniving double-crossers, but they also abided by certain rules. A bunch of bruisers acting tough didn't mean they had the authority to be territorial in this!
I was quite glad to hear that Penny had stayed Celeste's hand and come up with a more peaceful solution when I got back to camp from work. I treated the two to drinks for Celeste's strong defense and Penny's cool head and good ideas in the face of fire!
Other than that, we had one more adventure: foraging! We were picking Tanaris desert peppers, and, after that, we made an excursion into the Un’goro Crater for coffee! The local peppers and coffee, both on the Speedbarge and in Tanaris, were entirely too high-priced, the goblins wanting to take advantage of the demand for such things by travelers to make some extra gold. Celeste announced that we’d just go get our own when she saw the prices – three times as high as anywhere else! – of the peppers and coffee. So it was that we ended up having ourselves a wild day!
First was the peppers in the Tanaris wastes. There was an oasis Celeste and I knew of from previous travels, and some of the most flavorful peppers in the world grow there! The only thing was, there were Wastewater Bandits roaming. This one involved our machines, and some stink bombs!
Celeste and I approached on foot, knowing the desert native humans may or may not be hostile. They let us get close and get some water, but, when we went for the peppers, they leaped to their feet and stalked toward us. No one owns the wild country, or anything in it, yet these guys wanted to stop us from foraging!
Cue Penny, overhead in the Flying Nosebleed! STINK BOMBS AWAY! The bandits coughed and spluttered and ran away, and the peppers were OURS!
But that was just the easy part…
The hard part was Un’goro Crater, and coffee!
We knew from reports of local travelers we met on the Speedbarge and in Tanaris that Big Grumpypants still roamed the Crater. Perplexed travelers told of an enormous devilsaur, far bigger than even the others of his kind, stomping around the crater with a horrible temper. But the perplexing part was the paint on him! Someone had worked up a lot of nerve and painted all sorts of girly scenes on him! Makeup on the face, Big Grumpypants painted up his sides, silly makeup-looking paint on his face, rainbow colors in a pattern on its tail, a small orange, almost fiery-looking corgi chasing a big green devilsaur around while the big dino flees in terror, another devilsaur further up the side of the great beast, this one wearing a tutu and dancing a ballet, a ridiculously adorable pink bunny with a big purple hairbow holding red, green, purple, and yellow balloons, a green devilsaur wearing yellow overalls and wielding a yellow wrench that's clearly bigger than its tiny arms, an adorable red kitten gamboling around with a ball of green yarn and wearing a blue hairbow that dwarfed its head, and yellow nail polish for all its claws on its hands and feet! HA! That was us, over a year ago now, and it’s still got the paint! Gosh, that feels like five or six months ago, but it was fourteen, right before LAST year’s salmon run camping trip!
Anyway, we were keeping a very, VERY sharp eye out for Big Grumpypants, as his comical visage didn’t cover up the terrifying one enough to fool anyone into thinking he was harmless… and we knew that from our own experience as well! The MUTT’s poor, mangled arm… So, we were collecting coffee beans from trees, with Celeste in the MUTT (there hadn’t been time to take it all the way home and rebuild it into the ARMUTT again), Penny with the Flying Nosebleed, and me with Onyx, in case we needed to make a hasty escape from Big Grumpypants or another big lizard.
Celeste, using her mother’s herbology notebooks, had known right where to take us to collect lots of excellent coffee beans, and we’d gotten a huge haul! We were just putting the last of what we could store in the MUTT’s and Flying Nosebleed’s cargo compartments to take home to share with friends and family, too (not to mention barter with the goblins, should the need arise), when we heard and felt it…
Stomp.
Stomp.
Stomp.
“Oh gosh, that’s a BIG one!” I said, looking in the direction the stomps were coming from, seeing treetops in the distance being brushed aside.
“Alright, girls, we’ve filled up anyway,” Celeste said snappily, her military leadership voice coming out. “Saddle up! Scatter pattern, as we planned! ENGAGE!”
Penny clambered back up into the Flying Nosebleed as I scurried up onto Onyx, sitting sidesaddle as usual, and Celeste had Blinked up into the MUTT’s cockpit again. We lifted off in unison, JUST as Big Grumpypants himself, paint from over a year ago fading away, burst into our spot, snapping his jaws ravenously and roaring! Celeste fired a few shots from the MUTT’s gun arm, which didn’t hurt the big lizard, but did annoy him enough to draw his attention. Penny scattered to the right, I scattered left, and Celeste zoomed straight upwards! With his prey going in every direction, the big lizard’s brain went into perpetual reset mode, head darting this way and that, spinning on the spot, with no idea which one to go for! A second or two later, we were free, rising above the upper canopy of the Crater jungle, and fleeing Un’goro back to our campsite, our prize in our cargo holds! We’d done it!
Now, today, everyone’s just kinda enjoying a well-deserved rest, everyone just kinda doing their own thing. Dordy’s worrying that direhorn… horn? with all the gusto he can muster. I think there’s a chance this new toy will compete with his other favorite, Celeste’s oldest wrench! Penny’s swimming, having just built a ladder to climb up out of the water onto the dock so that we don’t have to navigate through the watercrafts we brought with us back to the shore. Celeste’s alternately improving her houseboat blueprints and doodling in its margins. And I think I… am going to go swimming for a while!
Gosh, I can’t wait to go swimming for the actual salvage! I bet Dordy will even come along and help us in his bubble! That’ll be fun! There’s so much more to do on our Thousand Needles adventure, and I just can’t wait to get started! YAY!
Nat’s excitement caused her to break out into a wiggle for a second or two, smiling as she poked her mechanical pen back into its spot on her mechanical inkwell. She snapped her diary shut, taking her things back to her pack to stow them away. Drawing the tent flaps closed, she changed into her bikini, drawing a grin from Celeste, though she was still mostly in her zone. Nat was able to eventually snap Celeste out of it… there was swimming fun to be had!
Celeste was reluctant at first, however. Not so much because she wanted to continue work on her blueprints so much as her worry that, before the case was judged concerning their salvage rights, swimming here might make the goblins accuse them of acting before the case was done. So, she set the MUTT into MAD mode in the camp, and she and Nat disguised it with the invisibility illusion magic as well as an arcane barrier. That was about as much defense as they needed while heading out. Celeste joined Nat on Onyx, and Penny flew Dordy in the Flying Nosebleed, his bubble in the flying machine’s storage compartment (which still smelled like that great-smelling coffee from Un’goro Crater!).
Celeste led them to a place her mother had brought her, her father, and her twin brother countless times, though it was a first for Penny: The Twin Colossals! Celeste had stowed fishing gear first, this being a revered place in her family for angling, so she decided that the group wouldn’t swim atop the spires. A nearby favored swimming hole sufficed, and the group enjoyed the cool of the warm forest and the somewhat warm water, cooling down from their stay in the desert pleasantly. Dordy chased minnows and other tiny fish in his bubble, having a blast though they always eluded him. Penny explored the new scene with wide eyes as she swam. Celeste and Nat taught her swimming games of different sorts, and the little family had themselves a marvelous time!
Later, they got hungry, so some fishing was in order! The little family flew to the top of the spires, fishing in the beloved old fishing hole. There were Feralas Ahi aplenty in the water, and soon, after a handful of thrilling fish fights, they had enough for the four of them. The fish were excellent with the spices Celeste brought along, and they’d cooked them to perfection over a small cookfire.
After lunch, they decided to fish up a bit more to smoke for later, then took them and a bit of wood back to their Thousand Needles camp to build the smoker there. Dinner that night turned out to be steak and shrimp aboard Fizzle and Pozzik’s Speedbarge (the gnomes were always happy to see them there, and the goblins, though they frowned, were still quite happy to take their coin for the meal).
A dessert of an extremely delicious cheesecake was taken back to the camp and enjoyed there as the sun went down, and it was with a full belly and a tired body and mind that Nat went to bed that night, smiling happily at how well the minication had gone. It had been full of happiness, fun, and adventure, even when faced with various adversities, and she couldn’t wait to see what happened next!
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Post by Natasha Ebonlocke on Dec 14, 2023 11:59:53 GMT
December the Fourteenth The chill of the desert night was fading away as the morning kicked off, the sun just cresting an out-of-sight horizon to lighten the sky to a dull, though lovely, blue-grey tint. Lights from the also hidden Speedbarge – and its attendant party boat noises – could also be detected. Seagulls were beginning their first searches for breakfast for the day, their cries few for now, but soon to grow in number and frequency. The smell was of biscuits with sausage gravy, bacon, and scrambled eggs with peppers or whatever else one might want, as well as coffee, and the smell of the salt sea.
For now, the rising sun’s light still did nothing to light the wee hours of the morn, or at least, not to one whose eyes were adapted to looking into a campfire, or at the lit-up walls of the miniature mountain pass that led from the desert to the seawater-filled basin. The sky yet appeared dark, but the camp was active even so. A molten corgi stood with his front paws, shoulders, neck, and head all the way in the campfire, sniffing hopefully at the meal that cooked there. A young woman in a wide-brimmed fishing hat dragged him out, scooped him up, and tempered her scolding with a big hug and a placating treat. A young mechagnome woman was stoking the fire, and a second human woman was pulling a diary and a mechanical inkwell from a pack.
Celeste took Dordy over to the MUTT, harnessing him in and strapping on his aviator goggles after Blinking into its cockpit. Penny worked on some cooking, having wanted to take over from Nat, who had been doing quite a bit of cooking on the trip. Nat insisted she was just fine handling the cooking, but was still grateful for the break this time around, and let Penny take a stab at cooking, something she hadn’t done during her time on Mechagon Isle (where they all took their nutrition from tasteless tubes of grey paste), and had turned out to have a knack for it. Of course, it helped that she lived in Halfhill, where some of the best pandaren cooks lived and taught her the skills.
Nat therefore took her seat in her camping chair. With Penny cooking and Celeste and Dordy crossing the Thousand Needles canyon to Dustwallow Marsh to cut a few branches for firewood, Nat had naught to do but write her weekly diary entry. Nat took a sip of her hot coffee with the liquid hazelnut creamer, smiling that she’d remembered to remind Celeste to take her thermos with her for her trip. She’d be back soon; the MUTT usually made short work of firewood and bamboo gathering, and could haul quite a lot.
Nat inhaled the heavenly aromas of the breakfast being cooked over an open fire, heaved a happy sigh, and began to write.
Dear diary,
We’ve made a great start on salvage for the houseboat! There are several barrels and metal struts from the basin stored up already. Today, I think we’re even gonna start building the floats for the boat!
This past Friday, while I was at work, Celeste and Penny decided to trek through the desert to Gadgetzan and get this salvage rights thing cleared. Celeste was eager to get underway, and this whole thing with the goblins was annoying her, even if it was expected. They set out early, planning to join me for lunch in Theramore, as my workday would be taking me there that day. At least the desert trek was fun. Celeste kept her floppy hat to keep her freckled face away from the sun and added some goggles so she wouldn’t be constantly squinting.
While they made their way to Gadgetzan, she explained to Penny as much as she could about the desert and the creatures that lived in it. The days and the nights each held their own dangers and beauty and Celeste had lots of stories to tell about it.
They made it to Gadgetzan without any problems. The local goblins were friendly enough, though a few shot them glares. They met with the goblins’ leaders, who told them that they had no problems with them salvaging in the sunken raceway, but that it was possible that Grux still held a grudge, and that the problems they were facing were his doing. They didn’t plan on really acting against “the misguided actions of a patriot,” though, which only angered Celeste even more.
A few hours later in Theramore, while Penny explained how the visit to Gadgetzan had gone, I noticed that Celeste wasn’t really listening or enjoying her food. She was lost in her zone, no doubt planning on how to thwart the cheating Grux, her expression darker than usual. I know Celeste detests bullies and people who aren’t true to their word. This was weighing on her, but it was hard to say what would emerge from her mind…
In the end, Celeste postulated that if we wanted to beat the goblins at their own game, it would mean using a few underhand tricks. In this case, it meant that Celeste was working to retrofit the control mechanism of her flying hook drone into a small submersible drone.
While Penny was out mapping the basin, Celeste tinkered at camp. Just a few simple modifications, and she had a working prototype. Using the map data that Penny provided, her drone should quietly move below the water’s surface, grab something useful, and bring it back. That was the theory, at least. She would have to test it the next day.
For lunch, Celeste didn’t feel like seeing goblins again. Penny graciously offered to get something from the Speedbarge. It turned out to be fish sticks, like Celeste’s mother used to make. The ones from the Speedbarge weren’t as good, but it was still comfort food.
When I came back to camp, I found Penny and Celeste working in the guts of a large drone on the dock where the heat from the basin’s water made the night air quite comfortable to work in.
Penny and Celeste worked together on the drone the next day while I was at work, which they named the C.L.A.M. or Compact Low-depth Automated Manipulator.
The design had changed with some ideas Penny had. It would fetch salvage automatically, with coordinates acquired by Penny’s scans. They would keep it small, so as to be hard to see from the surface. It would reduce its payload, but the drone could work tirelessly day or night. Penny designed most of the two arms and tools they would equip it with, but she also suggested putting in a pilot seat inside the drone. Too small for Celeste and I, but good enough for a mechagnome, if a bit cramped. They would copy the actuators in the COMPASS. This way, it would be possible to get more delicate salvage with an actual pilot. However, that meant putting in portholes and a life support system. In its current form, the drone couldn’t go very deep, not built to withstand a lot of water pressure. It could easily reach the bottom of the basin, though!
Monday morning, the two engineers were finalizing some delicate parts of the drone. I had been given a new job: install the water cannon on the Wave Dancer! Celeste figured we might encounter bullying goblins, and wanted to be prepared!
The CLAM was far beyond my understanding as an engineer, though I thought it was an amazing device. Still, I was grateful for some engineering work of my own to do while the others were doing the CLAM work, so I wouldn't feel like a second-rate engineer. I was grateful to Celeste for that.
I got into the MUTT, using the claw hand to lift the heavy metal and the tool arm to bolt it into place. Once it was secured, I got the water pump attached. Then I got out of the MUTT and started hooking up the different cables and hoses and such that the device would need. It took some time to get it all done, but when I completed my project, I sure had something to be proud of! I even cleaned and shined it up until it gleamed in the sun!
“Good work, Nat!” Celeste said as she and Penny arrived to launch the CLAM. Penny piloted the MUTT, the machine carrying the drone in its arms. “It looks even better than the original goblin version! Hah! Can’t wait to feed them their own weapons! Just wade in with the MUTT Penny. I’ll attach the drone to the dock.”
"Awesome, we're making great progress!" I said excitedly, blushing a bit from the praise and giving both Celeste and Penny a thumbs up. As I watched them prepare to launch the CLAM, I couldn't help but feel proud of their accomplishments. I was definitely sharing their excitement!
"Lemme know if there's anything else I can do to help, and I'll get right on it!"
“We’ll send the drone on its way. I need you in the MUTT to grab what it brings back. Hopefully barrels. Bring them ashore and hold them up for welding. Penny will weld them airtight. I’ll help, and also monitor the drone on the holo map.”
"Right, got it!" I said, swapping out with Penny in the MUTT. "Looks like Penny's got everything dialed in really well... MUTT is set. Ready when you are!"
Celeste moved to the drone’s controls set up near the dock and punched in some commands. “I’m sending it to quadrant C-6. That’s not far and close to the pirates, probably why there hasn’t been much salvaging there. Penny got us a nice scan, and there seems to be at least eight barrels there.”
The drone immediately turned on and sank beneath the waves. Dordy ran alongside it on the dock, barking at it until it was gone from sight. I’m glad he’s having fun too!
"Got it," I said. "I'll stand by. That's gonna be lots of barrels! But be careful of those pirates!"
“The CLAM’ll pass underneath them without getting noticed. Its propeller is actually a turbine. More contained, and less noisy, too. I’m not worried. Okay, so here’s the plan for the base of the houseboat. Once we start getting enough barrels, we can weld them to any sheet metal we salvage.“
Celeste brought the others to a work table and flattened out the schematic. “It’s fairly basic except for the crossbars to provide better stability. Those might be tougher to salvage.”
"Oh gosh, how will we find some of those? Do you think there are any down there? I don't remember any bars last time we dived that were bigger than the little racers. But then again, I suppose we could just get lots of those, straighten them if possible, and then weld them end-to-end?"
“Actually…” Celeste said with a grin, “long bars were used to make the frames of the bleachers overlooking the races. Spent a lot of time on those. I really loved the races, watching the contraptions zooming recklessly around the racetrack. There should be some around the East and South of where the racetrack was. Penny hasn’t found any yet, but we can go exploring ourselves tomorrow.”
"Oh yeah!" I said, perking up. "Yeah, that would work perfectly! We may need to repair some or all of them after this long submerged in salt water, but I bet we can make those work!"
“I’m expecting some water damage, but thankfully steel doesn’t rust as fast as iron. It does mean that we need to grind away the rust… or sandblast it. Penny? Think we can use parts of the water cannons we have leftover to make a sandblast gun?” Celeste asked Penny as she prepared the welding tools. “We could hook it up to the MUTT, and there’s lots of sand right here in Tanaris. Just need the right mix of sand and compressed air.”
"I like the way you think, Celeste," said Penny, nodding her approval with a smile. "We'll want to take it up into the desert, no doubt, to keep from spraying sand all over the camp and our boats and aircrafts. Probably just up the pass and around the corner will do. I'll get to work on that right away. I, can you use the MUTT for the heavy lifting on those? We can work on assembling that while the drone is busy getting the bars."
"Sure, I got it!" I smiled. I Blinked up into the MUTT, grabbed the heavy equipment we'd need, and began walking the MUTT at a slow pace to match Celeste's and Penny's as we proceeded up the pass.
We set up near a rock formation that provided a semi-circular screen. It would be easy to place an item against the rocks and blast it with sand without causing adverse effects to the local desert areas. Celeste worked on adjusting some seals on the MUTT to prevent sand from mucking its gears while Penny overhauled the water cannon with my help at the controls.
The drone had already dumped two barrels in the shallows near the dock by the time we were done. The barrels were rusted through in sections, but still had their shape.
While Celeste programmed the drone to find sheet metal and bars, Penny and I removed the rusted sections from the drums and sandblasted away any dirt and rust remaining until they gleamed in the late afternoon sun.
Working in the hot desert sun wasn't my favorite thing to do, but I did it with enthusiasm anyway -- this was going to be our vacation houseboat, and I’m was getting to help build it!
I worked the controls the way Penny showed me, pausing when Penny called for a stop so she could make little adjustments here and there with the tiny tools in her mechanical fingers. I blasted everything Celeste’s CLAM found that day, then helped clean it up after Celeste got things welded the way she wanted.
That night, after a very productive day of work, the three of us plus Dordy lounged around the campfire. Celeste had cooked up dinner: winter squid tentacles wrapped around a spit and cooked with dune pepper and lemon. The squid was accompanied by a yucca mash seasoned with thyme and roasted garlic. Goodness gracious, it was so good!
Now everyone had a chance to enjoy a hot chocolate (with or without a dash of whiskey – without for me!) to ward off the nighttime chill.
“If the drone works as intended,” Celeste mused over her hot chocolate, “the bottom of the basin around the docks should be littered with drums, bars and sheet metal. Fishing it out of the water shouldn’t be hard with the MUTT, and we can always use the winch on the Dancer too. I’m expecting to be done with the base by the time Nat gets back from work.”
Celeste spoke while snuggling closer to me as we sat in the sand wrapped in a blanket with our backs up against a large driftwood log.
After the productive day in the desert, I really enjoyed dinner and, as the sun went down and the bottom dropped out of the temperature, some hot chocolate, cuddled with Celeste against the driftwood log under the blanket, telling and listening to stories and playing Miners and Ores with her friends. Dordy opted to keep Penny warm, since Celeste and I had each other. Such a smart, good-hearted boy! The evening passed quite happily as the little family talked.
"Oh, don't forget, Celeste," I replied to Celeste with a happy smile. "I'm not actually going to work on Friday. I'm on vacation, remember? I'll be free to help all weekend long!"
''Oh hey, that's right! Wow, I got so caught up with things I forgot about that! I'm glad you can be here for this. I need you to help me with the actual house part of the boat.''
"I'm looking forward to it so much!" I said. With that exciting thought, the rest of the evening passed happily, and we went to bed quite late, too excited to sleep at a normal hour.
Today, I think we’re gonna get started making the floats for the boat, and after that, I think we can get started with the layout of the living area itself! That’s gonna be so much fun! I can’t wait to get started! YAY!
Nat smiled at that happy thought, and smiled even wider when she heard the distant drone of an engine. Celeste must be on her way back! And just in time for breakfast to be completed, too! She poked her mechanical pen back into the inkwell, then stowed that and her diary back in her pack. At that point, she could hear some excited yip-yip-yipping. Yep, it was Celeste, alright!
The brilliant engineer landed, unharnessing Dordy from the MUTT and blinking out, taking his adorable aviator goggles off him and setting him loose. Dordy ran around the camp in circles, barking excitedly, knowing the food was ready. Nat placated him quickly with a plate, not wanting him to wake up anyone still asleep at this hour with his yipping. The molten corgi dived into his food with obscene gusto, and the girls served themselves up a plate apiece as well. Breakfast was hearty, as more hard work was to get underway soon.
Once the meal was done, Celeste started directing the team, and the barrels and the metal bars salvaged and sandblasted so far were put together. It wouldn’t be long before they had everything they needed to finish that!
Nat worked hard through the morning, using the MUTT to take things from the drone at a wading depth, then taking each piece up to sandblast it with the MUTT’s new sandblaster cannon arm fitting. Celeste’s idea was taking shape, and Nat was really excited to start to see it in the physical realm! The little family was quite excited about the project finally starting to come together, and soon, with enough materials, they’d have a platform put together to build on, and they couldn't wait to see it!
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Post by Natasha Ebonlocke on Dec 21, 2023 13:13:08 GMT
((Note: The following post contains a short, mild bit of adult themes. This post is not intended for reading by those under eighteen. ))
December the Twenty-First The middle of the day was hot and humid, enough so to drive those not used to it indoors or into the water to seek relief from the uncomfortable weather. The sun shone brilliantly overhead, a dazzling orb of light in a bright blue sky devoid of even the slightest feather of a cloud. The salt tang of the air mixed with that of fishing piers and fishing boats around the water-filled basin, the occasional whiff of cookfires or campfires detectable as well. The cries of seagulls was a constant sound, a pleasant sort of beach sound that nonetheless faded into the background after one became accustomed to hearing it consistently. Joining the sounds were the sounds of shouting sailors and partygoers above the local pleasure barge, as well as the motors of boats designed primarily by gnomes and goblins.
Another boat was going to be heading out soon, a particularly advanced boat that would carry four passengers: two human females, one mechagnome female, and one male molten corgi. The Wave Dancer would be heading out into the water as soon as it was deemed safe to do so.
Celeste was aboard the craft now, checking, re-checking, and triple-checking all the systems she’d designed and maintained personally over the last couple of years. In light of recent events, she wanted to make absolutely certain it hadn’t been sabotaged in any way..Penny was doing the same with the COMPASS. Neither of them expected issues there, as the MAD mode with the Wave Dancer’s water cannon had been an efficient deterrent thus far, but better safe than sorry!
Dordy was on the bow of the small craft, laid out on his side, legs stretched out, sunning himself and enjoying the heat. With no food or play currently going on, he’d opted for a nice snooze in the sun
Nat had already finished her tasks, reloading all the munitions for the MUTT and checking they were set properly, on safe mode, and checking the Flying Nosebleed over. Checking for sabotage on watercrafts was beyond her ken as an engineer, so, her tasks complete, she had her diary out in the shade of the tent, being the one person in camp that didn’t care much for hot weather.
With a thought occurring to her, she got up from the tent’s camp table and went to the cooler (kept cool with her novice frost magic) and got a few bottles of juicy drinks. She took one each to Celeste and Penny, reminding them to hydrate out there in the hot sun, as well as a bottle of water to refresh Dordy’s water bowl. It still struck her as odd that a fiery dog could enjoy water. She was never sure whether he really needed to drink or not!
With a few words exchanged with Celeste and Penny, and a hug and a kiss for Celeste, Nat retreated back into the tent with her own bottle, sitting back to the camp table and poked the button on her mechanical inkwell that popped her mechanical pen out. She plucked it up, opened her diary to the next blank page, and applied pen to paper, beginning to write.
Dear diary,
Goodness gracious, it has been an unexpectedly intense week! Worry about everything from goblins to devilsaurs has been a thing this week! But, through perseverance, hard work, determination, and more than a little engineering ingenuity, we’ve motored through!
Things started off alright. Thursday morning after I finished my diary post, the drone was stopped near the dock. As expected, it had worked autonomously all night. The shallow waters near the docks were full of salvage. Oil drums, long and short bars, sheet metal, even old parts of racers and engines were in its hold! Celeste wasn’t sure how the drone had decided to pick these up, and guessed it had done so after having brought back everything else of value.
Getting everything out of the water, sanded, and welded would take a lot of work but, true to her word, Celeste wasn’t planning on making anyone work non-stop. The immediate concern was breakfast and coffee!
“Alright, looks like our secret drone salvaging operation paid off. We have a lot of materials and not a pesky goblin in sight. Ha! Outsmarted them again!” Celeste said, smiling as she stood on the dock and made a list of what the drone had brought back.
“We need to sandblast anything we take out of the water,” Celeste said, “or the contact with the air will accelerate the rusting process. So we need to be strategic here or we’ll be forced to work ‘round the clock.
“I suggest we start with breakfast. How would you feel about making us some breakfast burritos, Nat? I have some tortillas from Gadgetzan left over as well as some squid bits. There are fresh veggies and salsa and everything you love in the cooler in our tent. I’ll help you! I can start on the coffee and then you can direct me to chop or stir or whatever you need!
“Penny, this morning I think we should check the drone. It might need some maintenance after its long work night. Could you use the MUTT to bring it ashore? I’ll have coffee ready for you soon!”
"I could cook, too, if you would like," Penny offered. "Then Nat can learn to do some maintenance on that drone with you."
"Oh, that's nice of you, Penny!" I said. "Though I know I'm not getting tired of cooking. Still, I suppose a break and the opportunity to learn something new sounds nice as well!"
With that, I went with Celeste, and Penny tried her hand at Uncle Rugnar's biscuits with sausage gravy. With the meticulous attention to detail characteristic of a mechagnome, Penny replicated the dish wonderfully. Celeste wanted to get some more firewood before the drone work started, so I took the time to write a bit in my diary. By the time Celeste and I were done, Penny was too, and a breakfast worthy of a day of fun with the houseboat project was enjoyed by all!
I got started on the learning project with Celeste after that, gleaning quite a bit of knowledge about maintaining the drone. It had turned out to be a pretty good morning!
''So the drone mostly just follows a sort of simple order,” Celeste was saying as she talked me through the drone’s maintenance, “linked to where it’s told to patrol. Go here, follow this line, etcetera. That's sort of its basic task. Like, for example when you breathe. It just happens, you don't think about it. Now, once that's understood, we add a few simple things. For instance: pick up this object. We use the hologram to teach it what the object looks like.''
Celeste showed the program she wrote into the drone as she spoke. ''The motivator is like its brain. It tells it how to pick up an object, how to maneuver around an obstacle etcetera. Thankfully, the motivator we got from that drone in Mechagon works well, and really upgraded my own drone. Without it, we'd have to basically tell it how to do each tiny little thing. Go forward, at a certain speed. Go right, at the same speed. Go down a bit, at a slower speed. Stop. Reach out with that tool, open, close... you get the idea. It's easier with a motivator. So, after last night, we need to check if the drone still works properly. Mechanical tests, sure but we also have to test the motivator. First though, we'll take a look at how it is physically.''
Celeste moved to the MUTT and Blinked into it then waded into the water to pick up the drone and bring it ashore. She kept it held aloft by the machine, but Blinked out again. Once on the ground, she moved to the access panel on the side of the drone and gestured for me to join her.
''First we take a look at the chassis for any signs of damage, then we'll check the wiring to make sure nothing is wonky.''
I followed along, nodding, already feeling slightly in over my head. But that's what this was for – a learning experience! Once I learned some more, I’d be able to help do maintenance! The excitement of that thought won out over her intimidated thoughts, and I paid as close attention as possible, looking at the chassis for signs of damage with Celeste, then looking at the wiring itself, mentally recording everything as I checked.
"I'm always amazed by how you can understand and work with all these advanced technologies, Celeste," I said, giving her catch a playful nudge with her shoulder. "I wish I could have your technical mind. You're like a walking robotics encyclopedia."
As we examine the drone's chassis and wiring, Celeste seemed so intently focused on your task as per usual, but I couldn't help feeling a hint of jealousy. Although I’m happy that Celeste is passionate about her work, I sometimes feels light years behind when Celeste engrossed in her projects. Then again, that's what this training is for; to help me catch up to Celeste a bit in engineering knowledge. I love to be involved in whatever my Sun is doing, even if I don't fully understand it!
As Celeste and I progressed through the training, we exchanged a few words about the drone's condition. We both felt satisfied with what we found, and we were ready to fix whatever needed to be fixed, until it was time to test the motivator. Celeste went around and around the drone, and I followed, eager to learn more about this fascinating technology. I knows Celeste is really good at what she does, and I am quite proud of her!
''See?” Celeste told me. “Engineering is just a matter of building simple things, then adding them together into something more and more complex. Really though, usually it's just a matter of being creative and trying out things until you get it right. This drone here started off as a small remote controlled device. Sure, it has a lot more functions now, but I added those over time. These wires are simple metal cables. Maintaining these just means looking at each of them for signs of damage and replacing those that need to be replaced. It's like that water cannon you built. All those parts we cleaned and checked? You added those in a logical way until you had a new, functioning whole.''
Celeste continued, showing the wires of the drone to Nat ''You're smart and creative, Nat. You're already making a lot of progress with engineering just by watching me work. I think you're more of an engineer than you believe yourself to be.''
I blushed at Celeste's kind words, smiling shyly at her.
"Oh gosh, erm... th-thanks, Celeste, heh... I-I'm trying hard to be!"
I checked the wires for damage as shown. There didn't seem to be any, but I did find one that was coming loose a bit on one end. Determined to fix it without needing to ask for help, I grabbed a nearby screwdriver and loosened the bolt holding the wire in. I wound the end of the wire a bit tighter around the bolt, then made sure to fasten the bolt as securely as possible without over-tightening and stripping it out.
"There... now the wires look pretty good!" I said, smiling hopefully up at Celeste.
''Yes, you did a great job,” Celeste nodded proudly with an encouraging smile. “Don't worry too much about making mistakes, too. I learned a lot with those, and there were quite a few when I started out. Looks like our maintenance is done, though. This drone is ready to go. We'll need sheet metal, I think. There should be some where the former buildings around the raceway used to be. We should install a cutting tool on the drone, though. Want to help with that? You'll need to replace one of its claws with it. Use the same wiring. The wires to open and close the claw can be used to speed up or stop the saw instead.''
She made a motion of closing and opening her hand as she talked about the claw, then pointed to a box of drone parts near the hologram table.
The maintenance went well, and we repeated the process every couple of days throughout the week. Yesterday, however, is when things started actually getting harrowing…
''I'll set up some shade for you so you can work out of the sun; it'll be a hot day today,” Celeste was telling me as I worked on trying to do as much of the drone maintenance as I could on my own, hoping to not need too much help figuring things out. “How about we go swimming, once the drone is out doing its stuff?''
"Oh, that sounds fun, yeah!" I said, nodding in agreement. I gave Celeste a playful grin before helping with the drone modifications. I carefully took the claw out and set it aside, then started attaching the cutting tool in its place, following Celeste's instructions closely as she went along.
"I'll never forget the first time you introduced me to this profession, this hobby," I said. "I remember being fascinated by the intricacy of it all. It was you who taught me to be brave in the face of challenges and to not be afraid to make mistakes. I guess that's part of the learning process too, right?"
Smiling, I continued working on the drone, rewiring the cutting tool as the claw had been. Once I finished the modification, swapping out the claw for the cutting tool, I looked at Celeste to see if it looked like it was done right.
''Yeah, I actually figured out how to make a lot of things work by making other things not work as intended. With the saw blade attached, it's best to stand behind something solid when you first test it. Just one loose bolt and the blade could detach and go spinning away. I think you made the connections properly though. Let's test it out.''
Celeste picked up a piece of sheet metal and leaned it against the workbench and tugged me closer so we stood on the side opposite the drone. She flicked a switch and the saw started spinning in its socket, then flicked the switch off, and the blade stopped.
''Perfect!” Celeste announced proudly. “We can put the drone back in the water. I can finish programming its course while you do that. Tomorrow, I think we'll wire the water cannon controls to the Wave Dancer's pilot console. And maybe add a MAD mode to it too! That would be awesome!''
''Gosh, I'm so excited to see this invention coming to life! And I can't wait to test your water cannon tomorrow. It's going to be an awesome addition to our boat. We'll practically have our very own battleship! And put it in MAD mode? Sounds like a blast -- literally!''
I giggled, smiling and giving Celeste a kiss on the cheek.
''I'm always impressed by your creativity and resourcefulness. You're such a genius, My Catch!''
''I'm only inspired because I have you in my life'' Celeste said, wrapping her arms around me and nibbling my ear, just to see me blush.
I did indeed blush, especially as we were in full view of Penny. I giggled a bit, smiling bashfully and squirming.
Penny finished up about the same time as they did. They packed a quick lunch of nuts and fruits with some dried jerky and headed over the water on the Dancer. Not wanting to draw the goblin's attention to the drone now looking around the old raceway buildings, they moved closer to the Thousand Needles and anchored the boat there. In the shadow of the great stone spires, they enjoyed an afternoon of swimming and exploring the bottom of the basin. Dordy in his bubble chased after slow-swimming sea turtles relentlessly.
As the little family motored across the water, the sun's rays reflected off the surface, casting a golden glow on everything they passed. I grabbed my share of the nuts and fruits and jerky from the basket and handed the rest of them over to the others, with an especially generous amount of jerky for Dordy.
"Lunch is served!" I said with a grin.
We took a few moments to enjoy the peaceful surroundings, soaking up the sun's warmth and the gentle lapping of the water against the boat. As I reached over to give Celeste a playful nudge, I noticed her focused gaze on the old raceway buildings, visible under the water with the boat blocking the sun's glare. Concern flashed across my face, and I asked, "Everything alright, love? Are you concerned about the drone? I know we don't want to attract any unwanted attention..."
I squeezed Celeste's hand reassuringly and said, "Don't worry, though; I've got your back. So does Penny... and Dordy! Let's head over to the Thousand Needles like you planned for now."
As we anchored the boat in the shadow of the great stone spires, I gave Celeste a quick kiss. With the drone's presence in the back of our minds, we couldn't help but feel a sense of adventure and excitement as they started to explore the basin below us.
Swimming around, we marveled at the beauty and mystery of the underwater world. Dordy, floating in his bubble, joined in the fun as usual, chasing after the slow-swimming sea turtles with an infectious enthusiasm, yip-yip-yipping as he went. I had a great time too, swimming with the others, diving after interesting things with the underwater breathing spell on the group, enjoying this moment of carefree exploration in the midst of what could easily become a dangerous mission.
After a fun day of swimming and exploring (Celeste had found an old gnomish team racer helmet and decided to restore it for Penny), we returned to camp in high spirits!
That is, until we saw the smoke rising from the camp! Celeste gave the pilot’s seat to Penny, telling her to get us there “RIGHT NOW” Even in her colorful bikini, she looked fearsome as she loaded her rifle, an angry look on her usually gentle freckled face. She barked orders, in full on soldier mode.
“Secure that gear, power up the water cannon! Dordy! Heel! Stay!” Before we even arrived, she was crouched in a firing position in the front of the Wave Dancer, eyes ahead and a murderous look in her eyes.
I was angry and heartbroken that someone, goblin or otherwise, might have committed arson in our camp, all we'd built there, the old tent with YEARS worth of memories, and all that was usually within. I powered up the water cannon the moment Celeste barked the order, glaring through teary eyes at the camp, ready to douse the fire, but also ready to blast any arsonists to kingdom come.
As we neared the hidden camp, we first noticed the wreck of a small boat, sunk into the water. Its prow jutted out of the water, surrounded by debris. The bamboo dock was on fire. The MUTT stood on the beach where Celeste had left it. Scoring on its front plating showed where the goblins had tried to take it down. There was no other signs of the invaders, and the camp beyond the MUTT looked unscathed. Celeste stood up and flicked the safety back on her rifle.
“Looks like the MUTT’s MAD mode gave our sneaky friends more than they could handle,” she said. “Penny, bring us to dock. Then I need you to check the MUTT for damage. We should have some bamboo left, the dock will need to be repaired. Nat, could you check the goblin’s wreck? Look for anything useful and maybe proof of who attacked us. It’s Grux, but we’ll need more to convince the local baron to act. Meanwhile I’m going to check where the drone is. I programmed it to stay idle away from camp if the MUTT’s MAD mode was engaged. Hopefully it worked or else the goblins will have found the drone already.”
I felt an ENORMOUS sense of relief when I saw that the camp was unscathed. We'd worked hard on that dock, though, and there would be retribution for this one for sure!
"Shall I hose down that dock and put out the fire?" I asked from the water cannon's controls, turning to Celeste.
“Yeah, put out that fire. Looks like they tossed torches on it. I’ll join you around the wreck once I’ve checked on the drone.”
Celeste hopped off the boat, wading into the shallow water until she reached the beach. She moved to the drone console, first checking it was ok, then checked the drone itself. After a while she frowned and leaned forward to peer at something, biting her lower lip.
I got the hose going on its minimal volume, not wanting to entirely blast all the bamboo away in the process of putting out the fire, hoping that at least the underwater parts were still salvageable. I powered down the cannon once the fire was out, then followed Celeste ashore.
"What's wrong?" I asked. "What do you see?"
“The drone… it looks ok. The diagnostics came back clean, but something is off. It’s stationary, but three feet east of where it should be. See the level indicator? It’s also listing to the side a bit. NUTS!” Celeste said, banging her hand on the console and growling angrily. “Argh! Those damn gobbos booby-trapped the drone! Probably rigged a submersible mine to it. It would explain the listing…”
"Oh gosh, and we already replaced the claw arm with the cutting tool, so the drone can't take it off. You've had that drone for years; they can't just blow it up!"
I thought for a moment, then spoke up again.
"Does your S.E.L.F.I.E. camera work underwater?” I asked. “We might be able to get a picture of a goblin land mine, if that is indeed what it is, as further evidence of arson, vandalism, and sabotage by those grody gobbos."
“Hmm no,” Celeste replied thoughtfully, “not in its current form, but making it waterproof shouldn’t be too hard. We could scan it from overhead with the COMPASS, but I’m sure the goblins placed to mine to trigger if a boat arrived overhead. Probably to get us while we came to fetch the drone. They don’t know you can cast the spell to breather water though, or about my S.E.L.F.I.E. camera. I’ll need rubber to create seals. I can get that in Un’goro…”
"Yeah, I figured it would have to be from a safe distance underwater. Maybe with a zoom feature, if yours has one. That sort of leaves us in a bit of a bind, though – we need the MUTT for Un'goro's dangers, but we also need it in camp in MAD mode if we go there..."
“Yeah, that’s why I’ll go on foot. Shouldn’t take more than a day or two. It’ll be easier if I go alone. I can sneak through the brush with my VINE suit.” Celeste said, determined. She avoided my gaze though, clearly expecting pushback.
"On foot, all that way across the desert, without your tent and supplies, past trolls and scorpids and the Wastewater Bandits, then into the jungle that has giant killer dinosaurs, with nothing but your rifle? Celeste, that's a bit much, just for rubber..."
“I’ll take the FB to the edge of the crater, then go in on foot… We need those goblins caught red handed,” she replied, refusing to budge.
"And who watches the FB? Who watches YOU?"
“The FB will be fine; I’ll cover it with brush. I’ll have my comms,” Celeste replied, leaving the console and heading to the tent, probably to change out of her bikini.
I watched Celeste go out of sight, knowing I was running out of ammunition as far as reasons Celeste shouldn't do this. Celeste was bound and determined to go do this alone, and wouldn't be talked out of it. All I could do was make an attempt to get Celeste to grant one final concession...
"If you're going to do this alone, at least take your comms with you and alert us the moment anything might endanger you. We'll come screaming in with the MUTT, stinkbombs, magic, whatever you want, flying fast."
''Look, '' Celeste said, half-undressed as she looked around for her clothes in the middle of removing her bikini. ''I'm not interested in being a snack for Mister Grumpypants. The VINE suit will be great for sneaking around, and it turns out the rubber trees grow on near the edges of the crater. I'll be careful, and I only need a bit of rubber, okay? Yes, I'll keep my comms ready. I need you and Penny to stay here. Those goblins might try again, and they will have learned from their mistakes. They might be happy to wait for us to blow up getting the drone, or they might want to try something else. I'll bring Dordy if it'll make you feel better. He knows how to be quiet, but he can growl when danger is close too.'' Celeste looked at me, still determined but obviously not wanting to worry her wife.
"O-okay... erm... i-if you're taking the FB, then you'll be flying there, going just a bit into the edge of the crater, getting rubber, and coming right back? It w-won't be for two days?"
''Probably not, unless I can't find the rubber trees immediately. I might have to stay overnight but I'll keep in touch all the time, ok?'' Celeste found her favorite casual outfit and quickly got dressed. She then moved to me and put her arms around me. ''I'll have Dordy with me. You know I won't be reckless with him at my side. He's your pup too.''
I hesitated, then nodded. I put my arms around Celeste as well.
"A-alright... just... be safe... keep Dordy safe too, and listen to him if he's telling you something's up... See you soon, okay? I-I'll help you get the Flying Nosebleed loaded up for supplies for two nights, just in case, even if you'll probably just be back later today or something. Penny and I will hold the fort here."
''Good. Thank you. I'll be back, I promise. I left my rifle in the boat. Penny should have it docked by now.'' She put her wide-brimmed hat on top of my head and headed out to fetch her gear and weapons.
"Okay," I said, smiling faintly at Celeste’s gesture with the hat. I followed Celeste to the boat to help bring in the gear, worry etched over every feature of my face, I’m sure, although after a moment, I blushed, chuckling ruefully.
"Ohmigosh, I'm being silly, aren't I? You blasted an entire room of Torghast denizens to ashes, stood your ground against a Zandalari troll riding a direhorn, and survived Light knows how many attempts on your life by your brother, and here I am worried about you sneaking a few feet into a forest."
''Well, to be fair,” Celeste conceded, giving me a kiss on the cheek as she took the gear I handed to her, “there are a lot of giant angry beasts in that forest. Man-eating plants and angry gorillas. Not helping huh? You're allowed to worry. I don't find it suffocating. I've learned to be more careful since those reckless days. I have so much more to live for now.''
I smiled, feeling loved and reassured after that.
"Alright," I said as I handed the gear over with a blush. "I-I'll support you in this. Be safe. I'll see you soon, okay?"
“I’ll comm you once the FB is hidden near the crater, promise. You should set the water cannon with a MAD mode. Penny can help you with getting it linked with the MUTT. Keep your eyes peeled. If you do get the water cannon to be on the lookout on its own, put the MUTT inland. The goblins might try an approach from that way this time.”
Celeste paused, looking at me lovingly, then whistled for Dordy to follow her.
I nodded, unsure of what else to say. I watched until the FB was out of sight, then told herself not to worry, and got to work on a MAD mode for the water cannon. Penny directed the process, first inspecting the MUTT's internal workings, reverse engineering it to see how it worked, then got the MUTT put back together with my help, repeating the process on the water cannon with the MUTT's back-up parts.
The work took the majority of the day, but, when we were through, we had an inland defense and a waterfront defense. With that done, I wanted to get the dock done next, but Penny advised leaving it in its current state as proof to any Steamwheedle goblin investigator out of Gadgetzan.
The shadows were long when my comms crackled. Celeste had apparently used her portable holographic device, because her image appeared on my bracelet. Her VINE suit covered her completely, and she must have painted her face; it looked like I was talking to a bush!
“Hi Nat,” the Celeste-bush greeted me. “We’re ready to set out. The FB is hidden in a secure place. I managed to fit it in a small crevice where none of the big baddies here can reach it. It’s covered with brush, too. I’ll head west into the crater and find a tall tree to sleep in. I should be back for lunch tomorrow, if I can find some rubber quickly enough.”
"Oh gosh, be careful in there!" I pictured hologram replying to Celeste over her bracelet. "Sounds like you've taken care of pretty much everything. Thanks for letting me know you're okay! We've got things handled here. The MUTT and the Wave Dancer are in MAD mode now. We're leaving the dock as is for whenever we get an investigator in from Gadgetzan to see it as evidence. Just about to start dinner now. Be safe!"
“I will, and Dordy’s watching over me, so I’ll be fine,” Celeste said and shut off the comms.
It was deep into the night when I was awakened by the bright light of flares, the churning sound of the water cannon, and the thump of the MUTT throwing flashbangs! Oh my gosh! The burst of sound was accompanied by the surprised cries of goblins, too! We were under heckin’ ATTACK!
I leaped from the bed, tossed something on, and darted outside. Without Celeste there for leadership, however, I didn't know what to do, so I just allowed the MUTT to throw flashbangs while the water cannon made a wet mess of the goblins. ALL WAS CHAOS!
"Celeste!" I shouted over the din into her comms. "A-are you there? We're under attack! What do I do?!"
“It’s just a bunch of bullies, Nat, “Celeste responded quickly, but in a calm tone. “You’ve faced fights with the Whitewind Company, you can handle this. Regroup with Penny. You’ll have time; the goblins likely didn’t expect you to be prepared. While they are confused, you get Penny to the COMPASS. She can do interdiction against any goblins in the water. Once she’s away, you get into the MUTT. If the goblins are attacking to hurt, you turn on the lethal weapons of the MAD mode and stay in the cockpit while it tears those little assholes apart. Okay? Comm me back once you’re in the MUTT. Go ahead and bring out Mek-Barash, scare the little shits any way you can. You can do this!”
"Goodness gracious!" I boggled, my eyes wide, not quite so used to Celeste's speech containing quite so much profanity and violence. "O-okay... I'm moving!"
I got Penny to the COMPASS, summoned Mek-barash, and then started throwing Fear spells left and right while Mek-barash stood there blocking the beach on one side of the little rock spire and I covered the other with the MUTT. The goblins were blasted into the water by the MAD water cannon, Feared into jumping into the water themselves, panicked by the MUTT's noise, terrified by the giant wrathguard that had come out of nowhere to guard the beach, and herded by Penny back to a tiny strip of rock that stood roughly at water level along the cliff. It was all happening so fast, and so noisily!
Before long, the goblins, terrified and battered with a good few injuries, climbed out of the water and got onto the strip of rock, where Penny and I guarded them from our respective machines. We’d done it! We’d beaten their invasion, and quickly so!
I next contacted Celeste again, updating her on all this and wondering how the heck I'd get a goblin official there without letting this lot go free!
“Wow, you two really scored!” Celeste said, pleased “I knew you’d triumph. I got a little protective earlier. Giving you orders like you were a soldier. Sorry about that. You could take my SELFIE camera from my pack. I didn’t bring it here since I’ll make the seals in camp. That should be proof enough. The basin is shared with the gnomes on the barge. Like when we challenged Grux to a race, they helped us make sure things were fair. Penny can reach the barge and be back in minutes. Get the authorities there and hand off the criminals. Just keep an eye on them with the MUTT.”
"Oh gosh, no need for apologies;” I reassured Celeste. “I was very happy that you were here, after a fashion, and in charge! I'll get Penny over to the gnomes, yeah. I'll get on that right away!"
I covered the goblins with the MUTT's gun-arm, the exhausted, battered, soaked perpetrators slumping on the little ledge at the edge of the water. Penny sped off at top speed toward the Speedbarge. She didn't even need to go aboard; the noises and lights of the flashbangs, the water cannon roaring to life, and the screams of the goblins, not to mention Mek-barash roaring his displeasure to the entire basin, had all the gnomes and goblins lining the rails to see what was going on.
Penny returned with a mixed contingent of gnome and goblin officials, following the COMPASS in their own motorboat, to pick up the perpetrators. It being the middle of the night and there having obviously having been a (very one-sided) battle on the shore, there was no question from the gnomes that the goblins had tried to invade in the middle of the night, and even the goblins had to agree. Penny and I also told of the likely sabotage to the drone and the invasion earlier in the day that had resulted in the burning of the dock, as well as pointing out what was likely Grux’s boat wrecked in the water by the burned dock, and promised pictures of the sabotaged drone upon Celeste’s return as well.
There was nothing left now but to wait on the word of the Speedbarge officials, and especially, for Celeste to come back.
The peace in the basin was somewhat fragile, held up only by an understanding that existed when the raceway was still sending cars speeding at death-defying speeds over the sands. Goblins, gnomes and any one else could try to win their place in the annals of glory, but that could not exist when competition turned to violence and war. Grux had gone too far in the name of pride, and this time, there would not be a second chance. No one could ignore the torches they had brought to burn the hidden camp, or the weapons made from scrap metal. Grux had come for blood, to destroy. A group arrived from the Speedbarge and picked up the sodden goblins lying in check under Nat's watch. Though they had enough to soundly convict Grux and his cronies, the group said they would respect the girls and wait for Celeste to return. Proof of a deadly device would only cement Grux’s case even more.
Celeste returned before the dawn broke the next day. Using her goggles to see in the dark, she had fetched the rubber under the cover of night and made haste back to camp. Though the sound of the FB returning was undoubtedly what woke me up, Celeste slipping under the covers to show her just how proud she was undoubtedly helped, too. Thankfully Penny had a tent of her own or things would've gotten awkward...
Some time later, the two of us snuggled in bed, just enjoying the moment.
''You know,” Celeste mused thoughtfully from her pillow, “I think Penny should have a say in Grux's punishment. It's her triumph that he's spitting on. She won, despite their cheating. If we leave it to the Speedbarge leadership, they might just set him loose. Penny was bullied a lot on Mechagon. She knows how bad bullies can get. We've had our share of bullies too, but they aren't around anymore. If she agrees, I'm willing to encourage her to decide what to do with Grux.''
I was flat-out exhausted by the late-night visit from Grux and his cronies, and the excitement of the night had her wired enough that it took some time for her to fall back to sleep. Celeste's early return cut sleep short again, but this time, it was an exceptionally welcome early wake-up (especially the manner in which Celeste reacquainted herself with me), and I found myself even more exhausted than before at the end of it!
Before drifting back off to sleep, however, I thought on what Celeste said for a moment, and then nodded.
"I-I guess so, yeah," I mused. "Goodness knows you and I can relate to Penny in regards to the Mechagon bullying. And now there's more of it going on, or was, before we got Grux shut down. And there will be again, you're right, if Grux gets kicked loose by biased goblins...
"But do you think the Speedbarge will grant corrective authority to outsiders? I'd love for Penny to have a say in the consequences Grux must face, but I don't know of a judicial system in the world – outside of archaic cultures – that grants corrective sentencing authority to anyone outside its own judicial system. How would we convince them to do that?"
''Well, you're right,” Celeste replied thoughtfully, “but in this case, I think the peace between the goblins and the gnomes is fragile, or at least one of convenience. The goblins will try to get Grux off easy, and the gnomes will want to make an example out of him. Maybe we can be a middle ground, or at least a neutral party. Neutral negotiators are often used in situations like this. I saw those in the army all the time when a soldier accused an officer of misconduct.''
"A mediator?" I pondered. "Where could we find a neutral third party? There isn't much in the way of civilization in the entire southern half of Kalimdor, and most of what civilization is, is just the Steamwheedle Cartel themselves..."
"Another thought – what if we discuss going public with what Speedbarge employees have done? For the gnomes' sake, I don't think it would be much more than a bluff, but if the goblins hear that public opinion of the Speedbarge might get marred by the occurrence of violent crime, they might be much quicker to appease us. Heck, then they might even let Penny in on the sentencing after all, especially since they know from the boat race that Penny is very fair."
''I didn't mean that we'd have to find a mediator,” Celeste clarified. “Just that we might be a good third party, but you know, you're right. They need the races here for their coins. Tell 'em that winning a race gets you caught up in a murder plot where you're the main star of the show, and no one will come 'round here. Let's try that!'' Celeste said, finally getting up and dressed. ''I'll go make some coffee then look at how I can vulcanize that rubber to make proper seals. See what Penny things of the plan?''
"Yeah, I'll go and check with Penny," I nodded. "Hopefully she's awake this early."
Penny, as it turns out, was already out at the fire. She clearly hadn't slept a wink since the previous night, not having Celeste's and my experience in combat. The attack was a very new thing for her, and she'd been awake ever since, waiting on Celeste and I to wake up.
"I think hitting them where it hurts – their coin purses – is an excellent tactic to persuade them to investigate the incident impartially," Penny said after Celeste and I told her the plan. "Goblin solidarity historically goes right out the window when finances are threatened."
''Great, then we have a plan,'' Celeste said, handing Penny and I some coffee. She had some of my creamer on hand, and obviously kept hers black. ''So vulcanizing the rubber... I need some heat. That's easy. Sulfur. Got that in Un'goro Crater actually. I think I can get some seals for my camera so it'll last long enough to take pictures of the drone safely. Since my magic will help me control the heat, the process shouldn't be too hard. It'll just be a matter of forming the rubber into the proper shape. Which means I need to take my camera apart for that. Since we have some time before we go to the Speedbarge, I think the two of you could fix the dock now? Then we have everything we need to finish the base of this house-boat! I want to celebrate Winter's Veil on that boat!''
"Ooooh, Winter Veil on the new boat?" I said, lighting up. "That sounds wonderful!"
"Indeed," Penny said. "An excellent way to christen the new luxury vessel!"
Penny and I went and worked on the dock, salvaging what bamboo we could and replacing what couldn't be saved. With the foundational verticals already in place underwater, it was much quicker this time. The rest of the dock came together as quickly as resetting the existing bamboo and lashing the new pieces on. The process took slightly longer than Celeste had to take with her camera, we they had a third person to help us finish off the last bit of the dock, including Penny's ladder she'd built on to the end.
''Well girls,” Celeste grinned, “when we decide something gets done, we really get it done! You know, how about we NOT let those goblins ruin our day? My camera is ready. Let's take the Dancer and go swimming near the drone. The sunken ruins of the raceway will be fun to explore. Those old buildings might have some interesting artifacts left in them. I'm not abandoning my drone. If I can disarm that bomb, I'll try, but I'll need some help. Both of you, actually. Dordy can keep chasing turtles to his heart's content.''
"Alright," I said, feeling worried. "Do you know enough about underwater demolitions? Do you think you can disarm it? How far away should we anchor the Wave Dancer from the drone, if there is actually a mine?"
“Let's start with taking a look,” Celeste suggested, “then we'll see what we can do about it. I promise I won't blow up the boat you gave me as a gift!'' Celeste said, laughing and coming closer to hug me to reassure me.
I giggled at that, returning the hug warmly.
"Alright, let's go see."
I went into the tent and changed into my purple Shal'dorei silk bikini my bestie got me for Winter Veil a couple years ago, then followed Celeste to the Wave Dancer, ready to head out for a dive and a swim.
Celeste held us up after that, the frightening thought occurring to her that a goblin diver might have managed to sneak aboard the Wave Dancer and sabotage it somehow ahead of their attack last night. Goodness gracious! Penny went to go and do the same on the COMPASS. I checked out the MUTT and the Flying Nosebleed, but I knew nothing would be wrong with those; the Flying Nosebleed was in Un’goro Crater with Celeste last night, and the MUTT had its MAD mode armed, with no way for a diver to sneak up underneath it undetected, as the MUTT stayed on land. Still, I was grateful for something to work on, even if it wasn’t as potentially dangerous as checking for sabotage aboard the watercrafts. I got the maintenance done on those before Celeste and Penny did on theirs, because they have to be super careful and triple-check everything, and mine was just routine.
Right now, though, it looks like Celeste and Penny are wrapping things up, so it’s time to go for that swim! It looks like the houseboat will be built while I’m at work, as Celeste wants to do Winter Veil’s primary day aboard the finished product, so I’ll miss building that. Grimy goblins messed that up! But at least we’ll have a really cool place to do Winter Veil!
After this thing is done, we’ll need to put the arcane barrier and arcane invisibility illusion spells on it to keep it safe any time we’re gone from the raceway basin. It’s close enough to the Theramore portal that refreshing the spells once a week or so will be super easy!
Gosh, I can’t wait to get back to messing around with this thing when the workend is over again! It’s going to be so much fun! And for now, I get to go swimming with my family! YAY!
Nat smiled at that having happy silver lining to temper the danger of a potential active underwater mine that needed disarming. This would be extremely dangerous, but they’d handle it just fine, she was sure!
The trip started off as just a fishing trip. Without the exact coordinates of the drone relayed to anyone on Fizzle and Pozzik’s Speedbarge not sitting in a brig cell, it seemed to those aboard the enormous vessel as though the Wave Dancer had simply found a nice spot to fish. Getting dinner and having fun fishing were great, fun covers for their real reason for being in that spot, which was to check on Celeste’s drone.
After the fishing came the swimming. Playful, at first, just splashing around, making short dives, often climbing up onto the deck of the Wave Dancer to dive, cannonball, or flip into the water. (Nat trying anything but just a normal jump in, clumsy as she was, resulted often in a bellyflop. Oof!)
At Celeste’s signal, the diving and swimming casually moved to a side of the boat that was blocked from view from the Speedbarge and the more distant pirate ships alike. The odd appearance around the corner kept them visible to the Speedbarge, though they gradually slowed down their appearances, making it become normal when they’d disappear for minutes at a stretch. A clever ruse!
After that was established, the search for the drone itself began. With water-breathing spells on everyone from Nat, and Dordy in his bubble, the group made their dive.
Nat wasn’t sure exactly what they’d find when they came upon the drone itself, but she was sure it would make for an interesting diary post next week…
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