Tinkering demonstration - goal to get cobalt load to floating city portal

<ooc - ran this in marketplace today>

Awdz] *ahem* would it be okies for me to do a bit of an impromptu tinkering demonstration now? <ooc - roleplay here, not actual location>

Awdz] *starts pulling out gear and laying it out in several locations* i recently finished the smelter by the cobalt fields, and got to thinking that there is no portal really close by
Iaslansandi] *Peers down from the top of the roof she is currently laying on and blinks at Awdz.*
Jenaia] *tilts head in curiosity* "And thought to create a portal?", she asks.
Awdz] *checks her [<!--LI 8432625 12792805>Journal of Copious Notes<!--/LI>] and makes adjustments to the piles of gear* i realized the floating city is relatively close, and it has a portal

Pastle] *licks a tree*
Awdz] so i started tinkering a variety of contraptions in hopes of getting to the floating city without going back to tazoon
klor] Pastle! Hi!
Awdz] see, coming from the cobalt fields, we're up on the mountain ridge, almost at the same level as the city
Awdz] i just need to cross the air between
Awdz] *stands by the first pile, stumbles, and spills the contents of her [<!--LI 8432625 12936100>Really Overstuffed Backpack<!--/LI>] in a heap* awww crumblies!
Awdz] <ooc - just hit the auto arrange button, going to be slow finding things as i want to link them>
Iaslansandi] *Tilts her head to one side then the other, watching Awdz.* "Need a hand there?"
Awdz] *rummages through her stuff and pulls out [<!--LI 8432625 13773180>Spiked Thornwood Longbow <!--/LI>]* well if you can find what i'm looking for before i do and pass it to me, that'd help
Iaslansandi] *Reverts to khutit form and slips off the roof, before rummaging through the pile.* "I can certianly try."
Awdz] *ties [<!--LI 8432625 12190619>Magical Wire<!--/LI>] to the end of [<!--LI 8432625 14419212>Star of Merrasat<!--/LI>]* this first contraption is called 'gears on a wire'
Awdz] *carefully places the star on her bow like an arrow, aims it at the portal on the floating city, and lets it fly*
Awdz] *the non-aerodynamic star falls short of the airborne island*
Iaslansandi] *Hmms.* "I could carry it up there for you, but somehow that feels like less fun."
Awdz] awww crumblies, i'll have to try that shot again. *pulls the wire back up to retrieve the star*
Awdz] *star gets stuck on hillside below her*
Awdz] ummm... iaslansandi, if you could unstick the stuck star, that would help
Awdz] i want to try aiming it above the portal, so that when it falls short, it catches on the portal after all
Iaslansandi] *Takes a step back and reverts to her natural form. She pushes off and flies over to where the star landed, giving it a very gentle tug, well, gentle for a dragon.*
Awdz] *happily pulls up the star*
Awdz] *takes carefull aim well above the floating island, centered over the portal, and lets the [<!--LI 8432625 14419212>Star of Merrasat<!--/LI>] fly again*
Iaslansandi] *Tilts her head back to watch the progress.*
Awdz] *star drops on the far side of the portal, wire sliding down the side of it to one side*
Awdz] *uses [<!--LI 8432625 10291291>Socketed Mithril Fitting Mallet <!--/LI>] to pound [<!--LI 8432625 11240626>Ancient Sword of Vandus<!--/LI>] into the ground where she is standing*
Awdz] *pulls the wire taut, the star scraping across the grass of the island until it catches on the side of the portal and stays stuck*
Awdz] *ties off the end of the wire on the hilt of the sword*
Iaslansandi] "So... What are you going to do with that now?"
Awdz] okies, the track is set
Awdz] *pulls out an odd assortment of [<!--LI 8432625 14637309>Adamantium Tinkering Gear<!--/LI>] and [<!--LI 8432625 14608255>Adamantium Tinkering Strut<!--/LI>], carefully setting it atop the wire*
Awdz] *the contraption falls sideways onto the ground*
Awdz] no worries, i just don't have the counterweight in place yet
Awdz] *strings a [<!--LI 8432625 11214406>Specially Oversized Bucket <!--/LI>] onto the contraption, on the opposite side of the wire from it*
Awdz] *sets the contraption upright again, tests that the gears turn on the wire when pushed*
Awdz] *with a running jump, pushes the contraption across the wire into the air, leaping into the bucket to give counterweight*
Awdz] *the contraption remains right side up, but the wire pulls so hard the spikes on the [<!--LI 8432625 14419212>Star of Merrasat<!--/LI>] bend and give*
Awdz] *the contraption slides down the wire beautifully as the far end falls down to the lake below the city*
Awdz] *crashes on the lakeshore*
Awdz] *sits up and casts [<!--LI 8432625 10563534>Improved Revitalize III<!--/LI>] on herself* wowsers, that will require some retooling
Iaslansandi] *Flies after the contraption and lands next to Awdz.* "You are lucky you bounce."
Awdz] thank you, i'm a gnome with practice *gathers up everything, including bucket splinters and escaping [<!--LI 8432625 14637309>Adamantium Tinkering Gear<!--/LI>], and trots back up to piles of gear*
Iaslansandi] *Follows after.* "Perhaps a better anchor next time?"
Awdz] good thinking! *scribbles in her [<!--LI 8432625 12792805>Journal of Copious Notes<!--/LI>]*
Awdz] okies, plan A needs retooling. time to try plan B
Iaslansandi] *Lays down, watching.*
Awdz] *pulls out a special backpack lined with mithril pounded thin and stuffed full of [<!--LI 8432625 15995279>Festival Fireworks (large)<!--/LI>] with fuses out the bottom*
Iaslansandi] "Uh oh..."
Awdz] this requires additional preparation *casts [<!--LI 8432625 12062063>Flame Resistance III<!--/LI>] and [<!--LI 8432625 12062065>Flame Ward III<!--/LI>] on herself*
Awdz] is there someone who wants to light the fuse for me?
Iaslansandi] *Looks around then snorts a spark of fire onto the fuse before backing several steps away.*
Awdz] thank you! *turns and leans to be aimed a little above the floating city*
Awdz] *blasts into the air in a high arc, not quite reaching over the island even with legs pumping as though to run on air, when the pack explodes into a shower of multicolored sparks*
Awdz] *gets flipped upward head over heels, braids flapping in the air, then plummets into the lake below*
Awdz] *SPLASH*
Iaslansandi] *Winces then flies after Awdz to retrieve her if need be.*
Awdz] *cannot swim*
Awdz] *cannot jump high enough to reach air*
Iaslansandi] *Looks around and dives after Awdz*
Awdz] *tries to grab iaslansandi's tail*
Iaslansandi] *Lets her grab onto the tail then swims towards shore.*
Awdz] *runs out of air before reaching shore*
Awdz] *spinning dizzy view when drowned* iaslansandi you're going in circles
Iaslansandi] *Pulls the gnome out onto shore.*
Awdz] *realizes she cannot move* aww crumblies
Awdz] *recalls, then returns as quickly as she can to her piles of gear*
Iaslansandi] *Looks around as Awdz recalls.* "How does anything move that fast..."
Awdz] let's see... plan b requires [<!--LI 8432625 15995279>Festival Fireworks (Extra-extra-large)<!--/LI>] if i'm to get the distance needed, we'll have to submit that formula request to the empire
Iaslansandi] "Perhaps something... less explosive..."
Awdz] okies, plan c *pulls out a long thornwood board and centers it atop a contraption that looks a lot like a [<!--LI 8432625 11049855>Great Big Cooking Spit<!--/LI>], the board going perpendicular to the bar*
Iaslansandi] *Peers at the contraption.* "What is Plan C?"
Awdz] *walks onto one end of the board* well if you can jump onto the other end of this board, you'll see
Awdz] you can fly, so you can reach it
Clusterflap] oh dear *hold claw in front of her eyes* I can't watch
Clusterflap] *peeks through* I must though
Awdz] *waits for the dragon to land on the other end of the makeshift teeter-totter*
Iaslansandi] "What if... You make yourself some wings?" *Paces over to the board but doesn't jump on yet.*
Awdz] i'm still retooling those from the demonstration off the spire
Awdz] besides, i don't know if i can manage to pull a disk while flapping wings
Awdz] remember, i'm trying to devise a shortcut for getting a diskload of resources to the nearest portal
Awdz] in this case, from cobalt to the floating city
Iaslansandi] "What if they don't move, like a giliding dragon?"
Awdz] i need lift, not just downward slope
Awdz] <ooc - for reference, i figure the piles of gear were set up about 22391/27470>
Iaslansandi] *Nods and shrugs, dropping her jaw in a grin.* "You're the tinkerer." *She jumps on the end of the board.*
Awdz] *gets flung up into the air, pumps her legs as though trying to run toward the city, but comes back down on the cliff edge next to the contraption, breaking the edge of the cliff and sliding down to the valley below*
Awdz] aaaaahhhhh.... felt that through my crafting armor
Iaslansandi] "Well... at least that didn't involve exploding or drowning."
Awdz] hmmm... that gave me lift, maybe it would work with those immobile wings
Awdz] *scampers back up to her piles of gear and scribble furiously in her journal*
Awdz] okies, this next one actually has been tested on battlefields, but not really with a plan to salvage what gets thrown
Awdz] *sets up a catapult made of yew, winds the throwing arm tight, tries to aim it for the portal, and clambers into the bowl*
Iaslansandi] *Watches with interest*
Awdz] *equips her cargo disk, then releases the arm and gets flung head over heels through the air, cargo disk similarly spinning and dumping contents on the way*
Iaslansandi] "That seems... less effective..."
Awdz] *splats into the side of the floating island and clings desperately to the dirt*
Awdz] *disk embeds into side of island next to her*
Iaslansandi] *Flies over quickly to try and catch Awdz before she falls.*
Awdz] *clambers up the side of the island with the dragon's help*
Awdz] *brushes off dirt and takes stock of results* i made it! but not by myself, and i lost all the cargo on my disk
Iaslansandi] "Scratch that plan." *She nods*
Awdz] i'll have to retool this for some way to be more aerodynamically stable
Awdz] oh! i think i can test the next one from here, on my way back!
Awdz] *pulls out [<!--LI 8432625 10520017>Gangaf's Experimental Boots of Speed<!--/LI>], revised further with massive [<!--LI 8432625 14599173>Adamantium Tinkering Sprin<!--/LI>g] affixed to the bottom*
Awdz] *equips disk and uses [<!--LI 8432625 15931229>Class 6 Recharge Cell<!--/LI>] to power the boots*
Awdz] *jumps off the side of the floating city, forgetting there is lake beneath*
Iaslansandi] *Flies after Awdz again.*
Awdz] *slams into the water, shorting out the boots; springs bounce her back up just onto the shore of the lake and get embedded in the grass*
Awdz] *flops forward onto the grass as boot springs get stuck*
Awdz] ouchies... aww crumblies, these springs were so promising on paved roadways
Awdz] *removes and stows boots, then heads back up to gear piles and makes notes about retooling to avoid entanglement*
Awdz] okies i have one last contraption to try. it's sort of a combination of the backpack and catapult
Iaslansandi] *Lands next to the piles.* "Perhaps that will work."
Awdz] *rolls a giant hollowed-out log and balances it between two rocks, setting the lower end so that when she looks through it she can see the top of the portal on the floating island*
Awdz] *dumps all the [<!--LI 8432625 15995279>Festival Fireworks (large)<!--/LI>], [<!--LI 8432625 15931229>Class 6 Recharge Cell<!--/LI>], and [<!--LI 8432625 14502146>Festival Fireworks (small)<!--/LI>] she has left into the log*
Awdz] *blocks the lower end of the log with [<!--LI 8432625 2005924>Unknown Artifact<!--/LI>], a single fuse coming out past it**
Awdz] *clambers in the higher end of the log, pushing all the fireworks and other explosives to the bottom as much as she can with [<!--LI 8432625 1214668>Crested Fine Yew Round Shield <!--/LI>]*
Awdz] *voices echoes out of the log* awww crumblies, anyone care to light the fuse for me?
Awdz] that's the first thing that will need retooling on this one
Iaslansandi] *Steps behind, shaking her head and chuckling before snorting out a burst of fire on the fuse.* "Safe travels."
Awdz] *positioned with back to shield and facing the floating city, gets blown half-way across the valley as the log explodes behind her*
Awdz] *trajectory causes her to plummet into the edge of the lake*
Iaslansandi] *Ducks and covers her face with a wing to avoid splinters.*
Awdz] *this time is able to scramble out before running out of air*
Awdz] wowsers, that one has severe durability issues
Iaslansandi] "Definately a one off."
Awdz] *scampers back up to her remnant piles and scrawls intently into her [<!--LI 8432625 12792805>Journal of Copious Notes<!--/LI>]*
Awdz] thank you all for helping me demonstrate my latest tinkering devices
Awdz] maybe next time, some others would like to demonstrate some as well?
Awdz] *notes [<!--LI 8432625 9960051>Water Clock<!--/LI>] and sighs wistfully*