[b]Numburg[/b]
After being cut off by the other woman, Ukundiza Kjerstin politely waited for her to finish. She was quite good at waiting, having served in the Vanjanan military. Up until now, all they ever did was wait. Of course, the moment she decides to go and do something important, half the army is sent to put down rebels in various exciting and important manners. While the other woman was talking, she decided to make sure all of her papers were in the correct order and not crumpled. She was somewhat annoyed by the other woman's words, especially because they were connected with the (in her opinion) somewhat underwhelming throne. It didn't seem to carry any symbolism, no significance other than the fact that the money used to build it probably could have fed every starving person on the continent. To her, a good throne was comfortable, but also beautiful and symbolic. While being expensive was probably considered symbolic in other nations, she did feel like anything expensive should be constructed to look good, not just be expensive. The throne [i]did[/i] look impressive, but the cultural gap made it seem much less so to Col. Kjerstin.

After the other woman had finished her speech, Col. Kjerstin gulped. She would probably seem incredibly underwhelming to Lord Finch, after all, she was a Siege Engineer for the 'Army That Doesn't Do Anything'. The other woman was an [i]ambassador[/i] who just delivered a solid silver throne. With this in mind, she gave up on trying to sound at all official. The middle ground between 'I'm sorry for existing near you' and 'This other person is commoner scum' is never a good place to be. Although she had heard that outside of Vanjana being the latter was considered better for some reason. This was alien to her, as in Vanjana, the first was interpereted as showing extreme respect.

She bowed once more after the other woman had finished speaking, and held out her papers.

"Apologies for taking your time, I am Colonel Ukundiza Kjerstin, Siege Engineer for the Vanjanan Imperial Army. I have come here to assist with the flight project, I have letters of mark and recommendation from the Representative House and the Jade himself. While the VIA may not have, well, [i]done anything[/i] up until now, I have a peer-reviewed design concept for a Heat-Assisted Lifting Mechanism, which people will no doubt refer to as the 'Burner Drive'. As such, I am applying for the Flight Project. I have all the requested papers."

[b]Kwedolobhakalle, United Vanjanan Empire[/b]
"Mr. Gwandoya, I still don't see why we can't discuss this in the palace."

Sigfrid and his most trusted adviser, Patrik Gwandoya, had met in the garden once more to discuss the state of the empire, the colonies, what flavor the crushed ice at the next ball should be, the usual things like that. Sigfrid, however, still couldn't see why they had to meet in the garden to discuss such things. Especially the flavor of crushed ice, that had to be kept secret until the ball. Actually, that was really the only thing he wanted to keep secret. 

"The Garden is a relaxing place. It takes the stress away." Replied Patrik. The statement surprised Sigfrid, Patrik was usually ice cold.

"Okay then... ah yes! I have an order that must be carried out immediately!" Said Sigfrid, Patrik couldn't tell if it was something important enough to warrant his excitement or if he had simply decided what flavor of crushed ice to use.

"What is it, Jade?"

"I want new ships built, five Barques and one Ship of Line. Our Navy could stand to be more powerful, besides, if Miss Kjerstin's design works, we will want to have something to attach the contraption to. I think a flying Ship of Line would be intimidating and useful. But mostly intimidating." After Sigfrid had finished his statement, Patrik was pleased to know that Sigfrid was actually exited about something important. As well as the fact that Vanjana could afford to build those ships.

"Speaking of Miss Kjerstin, I do find the idea of using steam power in an aerial warship frightening. Yes, it has proven to be useful in limited use within workshops and the like, but within a wooden vessel?"

"All of our scientists say her design is safe, so long as our alum-treated cloth fireproofing works. So farm, it had worked just fine on tapestries. We haven't lost a single one to a knocked over candle since we treated them. Helps with the dying process too. With any luck, humans will soon take to the skies!"

"Are these the same scientists that still say wood is made of fire?"

"No, they're the ones that said that we could fly above the air."

"Oh. Those ones. Well, maybe someone could crank the air... screw... thing."