melodiesofeternity | Nerds of a Feather Learn Together

Who: Open to everyone!
When: Consistently in the evenings of May 9th-12th
Where: Curti Center Library, a larger conference room.
What: The howling hordes of airship pilot- and engineer-wannabes gather in one poor, poor place. And other nerds could probably study there, too.
Warnings/Notes: Feel free to write your own top-levels like with Makoto's birthday.

Wholly out of the blue, a message pings into your iMog slate, through the Kali Shashidhwaja Linkshell. When you open the notification, a horrible sound plays, and the text message's contents burst onto the screen in an explosion of confetti.

So I might've raided the Curti Center's library for everything on space, airships, piloting, and magitek. I also might have conquered conference room 3A in the library for the next few evenings. Come keep me company!

Please. It's quiet and lonely and I'm scared to leave by myself.
And I have cookies! ლ(❛ω❛ლ)

For whatever reason, you decide to head on over to the Curti Center, and you're met with a large conference room, with piles of books on the table divided by a few trays of cookies, and a few dry-erase boards because chalk is for bohemians. One, clearly at Hunk's corner of the table, has a sketch of an airship with arrows and chicken-scratched notes pointing to seemingly-random areas, as well as a blue-marker doodle of a bizarre creature circled multiple times and surrounded by question marks.

Another board across the room is partially taken up by a chart titled SKILLS! and broken into three columns: PILOT, MECHANIC, SCHOLAR. Hunk's name is written beneath each, but maybe you should write your own- there's a reason you're here, after all! And resting in the marker tray are about seven pamphlets on the Vaikuntha Pilot License Examination.

Oh, and there's a moogle sitting sternly upon the lectern next to the door, munching on a kupo nut as he gestures towards the bowl next to him, with "Donations" scribbled onto a piece of paper taped to the side.

Go wild, but shhhh! You're in a library!

( Potential baby top-level ideas include "asking your study neighbor what in the world something means," bellowing "HELLO YES I AM PILOT," and "I wandered in because free cookies but I don't want to be here and can't leave without causing a scene, help." )

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"That's why I started with the books covering the development of each type of airship. There are some almost familiar designs early on, but the presence of magic changed the approach to their later developments and the rate at which each milestone was reached."

She turned the page in her book, eyes going over the text.

"I was wonderin' about that myself. These things use magic, right? As in, real, actual magic?" --Ah, licenses and schedules; that sounded like what he was looking for. He hefted a chunk of the pages and flipped the entire thing ahead.

"But they still look like old-fashioned zeppelins. If they really DO run off of magic, why do they still need to be so--"

A blink. Then a scowl as he rereads the page.

"Ugh, there's some kinda required apprentice period."

"It might be a chosen aesthetic..." Or it was all that worked for some designs. Certainly there was a stark difference between those that looked like hot-air balloons to certain dreadnaughts.

"There is, but it might be possible to skip that if you can prove your experience."

"Doubt it. They didn't believe me when I told 'em I could handle a mecha, either-- wouldn't even let me near the controls." Grumbling, red adjusted the bone back between his teeth as he breathed out a sigh... "Can't imagine they'd let me take a crack at piloting something ten times bigger without a fuss either."

"...Y'might be right, though." He flipped to the next page. "I hear some airships run on some kinda... special air-magic. The balloon might be in case the magic runs out."

Blink. "...Does magic run out?"

"When you go to apply, just ask." At this point, that was all he could really do. They'd probably stop having so many questions in another few months.

"Hm, I know magic does have its limits, but haven't reached that part yet regarding how magic acts precisely inside the airships. I'm still looking over models and their redesigns. I need to know the structure before emergency procedures."

"Emergency procedures?... Huh, you got a point there- maybe the balloon's for if the magic tank runs empty." Or... whatever it is these airships have that runs off of the magic. Red started impatiently thumbing through the pages- hopefully, he could just skip the section on flags and get to that later.

"Hope they've got more interesting stuff in that book than what we saw in the hangars on the way in."

"Perhaps. The problem is not all these airships have balloons." Some of them were literally boats with wings or propellers. There was just something she hadn't read yet that would be the answer.

"There are some interesting titles scattered around the room in the possession of others right now..."

"Oh, good, so some of them have kept up a little bit." Speaking of which-- here's a little snippet on proper landing protocols. He slows down to glance at it a bit more thoroughly-- now this book is getting somewhere.

"No, I mean, the airships it talks about! Y'see anything good in there? Any models that catch your eye?"

"Hmm... There is an interesting Magitek Airship in The Art of Warships. I can't recall the model from the top of my head, but you'll know it when you reach the chapter on fleets. It's part of a more recent one..."

She only skimmed the book, but she'd look at it more thoroughly again later.

...A glance back to the pile-- yup. The Art of Warships. The big, heavy, loud-to-fall, dense-looking one. "...Maybe a little later."

"That, uh... that ain't required reading for the test, right?"

She shook her head.

"Again, I wanted to see all the models this world had. For personal and commercial piloting, The Art of Warships isn't a requirement. That is, unless you intend on enlisting in the future."

"No thanks- I prefer doin' things my own way." Plus, considering he'd barely been here a month, it would be a little bit too early to get involved with politics.

"Besides, I know how air battles go."

Nodding, she could agree with that approach. Taking on actual positions could result in some unneeded restrictions when it came to necessary actions.

"And? How do they go?"

"Ain't somethin' you can fit in a book. Sooner or later, ya gotta learn to improvise. Catch the cannonballs and throw 'em back. Y'know, feel it out and trust your gut."

Edited 2018-05-18 18:45 (UTC)

"Oh..." She sounded disappointed by the information. "That applies to everything though."

"Well, whaddaya want me to say? Ain't like you could just put all the different strategies on paper," He rather smartly remarked, leaning his weight against The Art of Warships.

...And taking in a slow, awkward pause as he glanced down at the title.

"...Okay, some of it's common sense. Don't be too afraid of clouds, for one thing-- any airship worth its oil is gonna be able to fly through 'em, and gettin' a drop on your enemy means it's over that much faster. A lotta battles are decided simply by one ship gettin' the other off guard and fillin' it with holes before it can turn to its guns. You wouldn't think somethin' as big as an airship could be sneaky but it can happen, and you'd wanna be the one doin' it."

Similar to him, she looked down at The Art of Warships and then back up at him. And she thought the boys could only be so tactful.

"Yes, those all make sense..." He seemed to be having a moment; she would refrain from ruining it quickly again.

Nerds of a Feather Learn Together

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But don't EVER show him Top Gun

Nope, not her style

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