It was then that a Glen approached. Not Silbermine, good riddance, the blacksmith that had been part of Kareet’s group. [color=00AEFF]”Hello again.”[/color] J’eon had questions too. What the heck, she was there, she had the answer and she saw no harm in sharing it, might as well. [color=00AEFF]”What, you mean the gunshot? When the Tekeri hunting party approached our team? That’s just what some of our weapons sound like. The older models, when not fitted with a suppressor. Be careful around humans who look like they might be shooting something, these older weapons are actually loud enough to damage our hearing.”[/color] She still remembered how strange shooting coilguns felt when her basic training company first went out to the range. Discounting the sonic cracks if firing supersonic, the muted ‘click’ of a coilgun was no louder than the snap of a crossbow’s bowstring compared to the loud bark of powder-driven firearms.

She stopped herself short of offering J’eon a seat by instinctive reaction before answering Kareet’s questions. [color=00AEFF]”Yes, we do wear clothing all of the time, except a few very specific occasions. Being undressed in public can land you in trouble with the Poli- the guards.”[/color]

Something in Kareet’s voice brought Vigdis back to her childhood, hearing a hint of the same awe and wonder she experienced when her father was telling her five year old self about the ships he flew and the planets he flew between. [color=00AEFF]”More than a thousand years and thousands of scholars. You may think of us as some incredibly wise people, but really all of us that you see here are standing on the shoulders of giants.”[/color] She took care to sound properly humble as she spoke of the scientists who came before her, whose labor made for the foundation and staircase that they used to reach the stars.

[color=00AEFF]”Your inventions?”[/color] For a moment, a hint of admiration of people like Ixtaro or apparently Kareet, those who discovered the new rather than just taking the known and implementing it into practice as she did appeared in Vigdis’ voice. [color=00AEFF]”I’d say most of your inventions could be improved by what we know, seeing as any non-magical invention of yours has been known to us for hundreds of years by now, judging by the way your societies are organized and the sort of technology - such as weapons and armor - you’ve demonstrated and comparing to how long ago we used these things. That’s assuming magic hasn’t surpassed what we could do without it. I’ve also said already that I don’t want to do that for the benefit of one nation.”[/color] Vigdis reminded Kareet, [color=00AEFF]”But now you have me curious, what have you invented? If or when the political negotiations go horribly wrong, trying to preserve the balance of power will get thrown out the window as we turn to fully supporting whoever helps us survive and any improvements to your designs could be implemented faster if we had time to think about what you have.”[/color] She leaned forward with anticipation.