[color=00AEFF]”Differing goals by the looks of it. Apparently it’s got to do with disputed borders and that big old treasure trove we dropped on that disputed border. Basically the same mess as back home, but with centaurs and magic.”[/color] Vigdis tried to sum it up to Arancini after retrieving her wristpad from Kerchak, [color=00AEFF]”He showed up with a platoon’s worth of troops in full kit and they’ve been tense at first sight. Though let’s not pretend I wouldn’t have shot Nellara out of fear when she first boarded the ship if my weapon hadn’t been unloaded at the time.”[/color] She added, staring in fascination at Kerchak’s display. She’d give her kidney to be able to do something like that. Just the ability to make her hand smaller would help so much with her work whenever some designer didn’t think about how a technician was supposed to reach something.

[color=00AEFF]”The Running sounds like a hoot, but as I’m sure you realize, we have plenty of our own problems to solve here.”[/color] To his credit, Silbermine was a lot more patient than Vigdis expected him to be. Either he was a very good politician, or there was more to him than Nellara made it out to be. [color=00AEFF]”And nope, never heard of your god. Like I just told Kareet, we’ve had over 2000 gods throughout our history alone, couldn’t keep track even if I cared to. How could we possibly know about your deities on top of ours when we didn’t even know this planet existed a week ago?”[/color] By all rights she should’ve been walking on eggshells, scared half to death of saying something that rubbed Silbermine the wrong way. But knowing Nellara - who obviously was no fan of Silbermine’s - was standing right over there provided no small amount of reassurance, even if it was perhaps a false sense of security, not to mention the very real possibility of saying something that angered her. [color=00AEFF]”Which means we’re [i]really[/i] far from home, because if a planet in the star’s goldilocks zone with an oxygen-rich atmosphere was close by, astronomically speaking, we would’ve known about it a hundred years ago and there’d be probes all over this place…”[/color] She got a bit lost in her own thought process before snapping back. [color=00AEFF]”And if you’re suggesting that our ship was created by this… I’m not going to insult you and your beliefs by trying to pronounce this sky god’s name, then that would make me and Dr. Ibarra here parts of said god, along with almost 3000 other people who worked to build it. If you don’t believe me, I could show you the ventral beam where the entire Hull and Structure team signed our names.”[/color] She shrugged, swallowing a remark about Kareet, Kerchak and Shirik being the first who found the Jotunheim and therefore the ‘worthy ones below’.

[color=00AEFF]”We don’t yet know if this is safe for us to eat. I trust you understand if we don’t join the feast right away and instead wait for our…”[/color] How to say this so it would translate? [color=00AEFF]”One of our scholars to determine that?”[/color] Vigdis explained to Silbermine & Co as she accepted the Glen bread before calling the command channel, [color=00AEFF]”We’ve got a food sample for Dr. Lambert if she’d like to come collect it. Looks like pastry that’s been left sitting out for a week.”[/color] Fuck, she should’ve muted the translator for that bit. The to her unknown knight's reaction to Kerchak was pretty much on track as far as her image of nobility was concerned. She’d seen elements of such a mindset on Venus, in the officers and managers who attained their rank and post not through work, but through nepotism or cronyism, and who were usually the ball and chain tied to the ankle of whatever organization they were settled in while considering themselves the best thing to ever happen to it, although it was interesting to hear that Mythandian nobles competed for positions of power directly as opposed to being assigned land and duties by the monarch based on favor like she expected.

When Silbermine asked about the droids, Vigdis turned to Nellara. [color=00AEFF]”You see, this is why I wanted him at the previous meeting. Now we have to explain it again.”[/color] She said before turning back to the Glen nobleman, [color=00AEFF]”We are looking for sources of food and materials, as well as learning about magic. In exchange, we are offering [i]some[/i] of our knowledge. Our cap- commander”[/color] She caught herself, using a word that stood a better chance of making it through the language barrier intact, [color=00AEFF]”would explain the details of what we can and can’t share better. Personally, I would gladly show off some of our more advanced capabilities if they won’t terrify you, but I can assure you neither side will learn much about our ‘golems’ as you call them. From our limited interactions, I can guarantee your finest minds would need decades to be able to understand them and the underlying principles behind their construction and function, nevermind the actual ability to build intricate machi- mechanisms smaller than the thickness of your hairs.”[/color] A late medieval society, however magical, building things on microscopic scale they likely couldn’t even imagine simply wasn’t happening in her mind, unless Silbermine just wanted the mechanical hardware to be given life through arcane means, which - although significantly easier - would still require a metallurgical revolution. The scary thing was, between Vigdis, Zhao and Ibarra, they had everything they needed to set that off. Explain atoms and crystal grids, show them the periodic table, build a blast furnace and a Hall–Héroult cell and they’d be off to the races. Even if they had to power the thing with enslaved lightning and/or heat mages, using human behavior as a template, there was no doubt in Vigdis’ mind they would do it without a second thought if they only knew half of what the new alloys could do for them.