2: Horizon
Akane checks in on a special project.
It was really quite rare for Akane to come visit the dockside workshops and foundries– which is why whenever she did, it caused something of a fuss. This time had been expected, however; a project was in the works, one that Akane herself had commissioned and funded. Mighty in undertaking and grand in ambition; as were many of the goals of the Queen of Spiders.
She trotted along one of the catwalks from the workshop entrance that hung suspended above the deck of her project, her heels clacking loudly throughout the hall. Her people waited for her upon the platform at the end of the walkway; all of them clean and in a uniform line, save for one, who hadn’t bothered to do either. At the very least she was clasping her hands behind her back this time.
“Miss Darwall,” Akane greeted, with a slight bow of the head. “How goes things?” Cordalia Darwall nodded her head in a greeting of her own– which wasn’t really a bow but was close enough. The woman cut a rather fine figure in tough leather pants and a thin singlet, despite being stained with grease and ceruleum. Or, naturally, because of it.
“The Chiheisen is comin’ along splendidly, m’lady,” she offered in her Ala Mhigan drawl. “Your people ain’t so good at the mechanical side, so until the folks from Ishgard deliver their blueprints, she’s not gonna fly. But what they can do is shape wood finer than a Gridanian carpenter full o’ so many splinters they’d make a passable porcupine.”
While Akane had absolutely no idea what that meant, she did appreciate how the Chiheisen was turning out. At a little over three hundred fulms, she was indeed a mighty piece of Hingan craftsmanship. Mighty and sturdy, painted and lacquered in deep crimsons and jet blacks, trimmed in gold– and the grim oni serving as figurehead. Were she a sailing ship, she’d easily rival those used by the Confederacy– unfortunately she wasn’t going to go very far until the engine was actually complete. Akane couldn’t pretend to know the specifics of it, but Cordalia had mentioned something about being able to do the broad-scope work with their craftsmen but needing specialists to produce the parts necessary to get further west than Aldenard.
“Are the blueprints from the Ishgardians the only thing left to resolve?” Akane posited, tapping her gilded claws upon the railing.
“Aye,” Cordalia nodded. “Though even when they get here, it’ll take time to set everything up. It’s a process, y’know? Gotta make sure it all works, make sure it all works safely, make sure we won’t plummet into the sea if something fails, make sure that we’ll float safety if we do need to plummet into the sea–”
“Cordalia,” Akane interjected, “please make sure we don’t plummet into the sea.”
Cordalia could only laugh at that. “Aye, ma’am, I’ll do my best.”
Akane turned away then, trot-trot-trotting her way across the catwalk again. “Keep up the good work, everyone. Before long the Chiheisen will take to the skies, and even the New World will not be beyond our Lord’s reach.”
