From a forum conversation on technobabble: “we’re running low on pixie dust and the containment breach can’t hold any more rabbits so the ship is going to explode from thermal expansion and kill us all”
Responded to with: “Pfft, everyone knows pixie dust is self-containing.”
They called it the Ark.
“So… you got all the StarMetal that was ever made, and turned it into… this?”
“There’s also magically re-enforced Dweomer Steel. It’s all been turned into an alloy, and used for the plating. It’s charmed to hold together and keep the air inside.”
“Air,” repeated Jogoth the Mage.
“Well, yes,” explained Featherleaf the Crafter. “The higher up you go, the less air there is, so we need to take it with us.”
Jogoth boggled at her. “Where are you taking this… abomination to the eyes?”
“Up,” Leatherleaf chirped. “The StarMetal comes from the sky, far above the moon, right? So in order to get more, we have to get up into the sky.”
“Right. And you used all the StarMetal you could get in order to get more.” Jogoth shook her head. This was something that usually required a padded room.
“YES!” Featherleaf jumped and clapped as she grinned in enthusiasm. “StarMetal is rare because it doesn’t fall so very often, but if we get it before it can fall, we can have tons of StarMetal. Can you imagine having tons of it? The progress we can make! StarMetal vehicles! StarMetal re-inforced buildings! StarMetal everything!”
“And you’re certain you won’t die,” prompted Jogoth. “…taking all the StarMetal with you…?”
“That’s what all the wards are for. The air stays in. The dangerous things stay out. And anything that tries to impact will be slowed and then it will just stick to the outside. With the right levitation spells, we can return safely to where we started.”
“And you’ve tried this?”
“Just to the edge of the stratosphere, so far. I collected twenty ounces.”
And it took a Karat’s worth to make a StarMetal sword. “Twenty…”
Featherleaf dashed into her workspace and returned with a small box. The StarMetal inside were jagged fragments, not the rounded nodules that Jogoth was used to seeing. Nevertheless, it was several kingdom’s ransom worth of the stuff.
And she’d casually put it in a plain wooden box without a lock.
“There’s tons of it up there,” whispered Featherleaf. “Tons. The sky-band we can see through telescopes? It’s all made out of floating StarMetal mountains. And I need all the mages I can get.”
The sheer potential had her hooked. “Consider me hired.” It was insane, of course. But the potential to pay for all the cool stuff a Mage could ever want or need. Both, belike.
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