"I got him, Draegar... I'll try to keep him alive while you fix the damage." With Forg down, he refrained himself from drinking the second potion Draegar game him, just in case he wasn't able to give Forg a first aid.
Draegar, seeing Forg is somehow immune to the hot metal, drops him on the walkway. Esdras moves over and tries to stop his bleeding like he did with the man earlier, but finds that the wounds are too numerous and bleeding too heavily. At one point he tries to put down pressure in multiple places but only succeeds in making his chest wound tear open further. Seeing that Forg may be on the verge of death, Esdras takes the potion and pours it down Forg's throat.
The man's wounds stay open but the worst of the bleeding stops and allows Esdras to finish dressing them.
Draegar goes to the main controls of the ship and quickly takes diagnostics of what has happened. The problem seems to have a few prongs on it, all designed to create the heat and steam they see in the bowels now.
All of the safety mechanisms designed to prevent overheating (or at least warn of it) have been manually disabled. That's an easy enough fix, just turning those back on.
Normally if there is excess steam or heat, it would be vented into the surrounding ocean. The one-way vents must have been closed, which requires manual work to open again. In addition emergency vents have been left open, normally only accessible for maintenance and if there is excess steam that is overloading the machinery, but it's currently the source of why the hot acrid steam is everywhere instead of building up inside the machines. An easy, if time-consuming job, made somewhat dangerous due to the hot metal of the machinery.
Lastly, the most complicated bit. The boilers have had their contents tampered with. Normally they are mostly full of water, and they have a few chemicals in them to keep the water from getting stale or full of bugs when not in use, and there are a few adjacent tanks with various chemicals to help with a number of issues; a lubricant to help moving parts from gunking up, a corrosive acid that doesn't effect metal to eat away at blockages, an aggressive sterilizer if the water gets contaminated, and dyed water that helps the technologists diagnose issues on the ship by running it through to identify leaks. Draegar would have to climb on top of the main reservoir (right behind him) to see exactly what is wrong with them, but every single reading on them is completely out of whack.
Draegar has a host of problems to deal with, but there's one above all else; how is he going to get all this done when the machines are too hot to touch? The switches he can quickly hit and just wrap something around his hands, but the vents require grabbing a metal rod and turning for several seconds, and to diagnose/fix the reservoirs he needs to climb a metal ladder, and probably lean against the metal tank as well.
"Check Forg's pockets. If he has a pair of weird looking gloves, toss them this way," Draegar said to Esdras.
He started with the easy tasks first. He reingaged the manual safety switches, using the handle of one of his tools to touch them, clicking them all back on in sequence. By the time he finished with that, his automaton returned from below . He pulled a small rod from a long pouch on his fest and used it to take manual control of his robotic companion.
With Draegar's precise directions, the construct went about the process of closing the emergency vents
Esdras does as Draegar instructs. He then watches as the large man does his work. "Forg is stable and is going nowhere... Could I be of any assistance to you while you tamper with these machines? I'm not used to engineering, but I consider myself keen enough to at least help you... otherwise, I could look for more able help, perhaps Cass or other technicians that this ship might have."
"We need the ladder usable. Tell Cass to go for help, and bring as much water as they can carry. Leather gloves, or other ways to insulate against hot metal would be good too. If Cas has a rope to lower down you could loop it underneath Forg's arms and haul him out of here. Breathing this air is going to kill him eventually, regardless of how stable he is."
"Oh, and see if the ship's engineers have heat-proof gloves anywhere. That will make my job a lot easier."
Esdras searches Forg's pockets, finding a number of curious items, but he doesn't spend time to examine them as he looks for gloves. Not finding any he informs Draegar. How Forg isn't getting burned is still a mystery. He makes sure Forg has a mask securely attached. Between that and his mysterious immunity to the heat, he should remain stable.
Draegar reengages the safety mechanisms, and almost instantly an eardrum-shattering alarm blasts through the bowels. After recovering from the shock Esdras and Draegar continue their conversation with shouts. Following Draegar's instructions Esdras relays the information to Cass, who nods and runs back into the ship to seek help.
Draegar begins the lengthy process of getting all of the vents switched over. He shortens this significantly by going around the normal quality checks (verifying the vents are closed, testing leakage) with the idea that getting at least the majority of the vents transposed over should alleviate the worst of the situation. He moves to each location, sending out his contraption and guiding it with instructions to open the exterior one-way vents and close the interior emergency vents. As he moves between vents he has the contraption ride on his back (heated bottom facing away) so that it can cool and prevent overheating. Eventually he has them all switched over and the air, while still unpleasant, is not nearly as hostile or suffocating as it was, and the temperature is lowering.
As Draegar works on the vents Esdras scours the area for any equipment that may be useful.
It doesn't take him long to discover a pair of hatches near the rear of the ship. He stares at the metal handles for a moment, then uses his sword to raise the lever and painstakingly opens the hatch. Inside he finds a large storage area that has all sorts of technologist equipment he doesn't recognize. But piled up in one corner are about twenty thick, coarse blankets that seem like they would protect from heat. He also finds ten pairs of gloves made with a thick white wool-like material. Testing them he finds they completely protect his hands from the hot metal.
After returning with everything he found to Draegar, Esdras waits for further instructions. He finds himself much more calm now, already feeling the difference in the temperature and knowing that Draegar indeed know what he was doing.
Draegar was starting to feel the heat, so when he found the heat blankets and gloves he was thrilled. He handed the gloves and the pile of blankets to Esdras.
"The ladder. Drape these on the rungs. Those alarms should have the ship's engineers scrambling. Put the gloves at the top of the ladder for them. Keep one pair for yourself, and come give me a hand."
He pulled on a pair of the gloves and started looking for any technical manuals that might give him an idea of what the water-to-chemicals ration should be.
Both men put on a pair of gloves, their fingers made somewhat clumsy by the thick material but allowing them to touch nearly any kind of heat without worries. Esdras drapes half a dozen blankets over evenly spaced out rungs on the ladder and throws the rest of the gloves to the top, through the hatch.
Draegar looks for a technical manual and it doesn't take him long to find one. Quickly scouring through he finds the area on the reservoir and the chemicals, as well as procedures for resetting the system.
Draegar continues the search and finds the various chemicals he needs in heavy metal containers. He and Esdras lug them over to the reservoir, along with smaller chemical-proof containers that can be used to transfer carry-able quantities up the ladder.
Using the gloves to climb and touch the machinery, and a few blankets to lay over the top of the reservoir so he can lean and climb on it, Draegar begins repairing the system. He flushes all of the tanks, completely clearing them out into the surrounding ocean. With that done he has the engine take on ocean water; not the cleanest, but with some of the aggressive sterilizing chemicals it should suffice until cleaner water can be used. Then he fills each side reservoir and runs a full system diagnostic. He aggressively cleanses any blockages in the pipes (which turn out to be quite a lot based on the slow rate at which the chemicals deposit as they try to burn through), then runs some dye through to diagnose any problem areas. He has Esdras run out and replace some pipes that are damaged beyond repair. Once everything is cleaned and replaced he runs the lubricant, then finally hits the master power to get the ship running again.
The ship sputters and chokes like a dead man being brought back to life, but after a minute is humming along pleasantly. Further care and maintenance should definitely be done at some point, but the ship is operational again and should be able to make port, barring any future problems.
However by this time nearly an hour has passed, and nobody has come down. No technologists responding to the alarm, no Knights of Theveste to help secure the area. Even Cass hasn't returned yet.
Draegar dusted off his hands as the ship went back to a low rumbling purr. "Now that's a happy engine."
It slowly dawned on him that backup had never come.
"Sonofa..." he muttered. "Can't ever just be easy."
Without explaining further, he headed for the ladder and hoisted Forg onto his shoulder. "Go up. I'll hand him up to you," he told Esdras.
As he climbed the stairs, Esdras could not stop himself from commending Draegar. "Now that we are done, I must congratulate your for your job, Draegar... very well done. I believe it is safe to say that you've saved the life of everyone on this ship."
Once on the top of the stairs, he signaled Draeger he was ready to pick Forg.
"Thanks. I happen to be on the ship, so it seemed important," Draegar grinned.
Draegar and Esdras get Forg's unconscious body up the ladder without much difficulty. The room beyond the hatch looks like a museum gallery dedicated to the ship, including schematics and miniature replicas and paintings of the ship during various stages of completion.
"Hum... weird... still no one is coming." Esdras muses as he looks around. "Well, lets look for them then..." He moves for the door, still carrying Forg's body after tying him just in case he wakes up.
Esdras slings Forg's body unceremoniously over his shoulder and leads out the only exit to the room. They find themselves in a corridor with dozens of doors spaced out in either direction, almost identical to the residential cabins they were shown to earlier. The distant noise of the main chamber reaches their ears; they must be on the same level they were previously. As they begin to move one of the cabin doors opens and an extravagantly dressed Briecan noblewoman steps out. She seems distracted with tidying up her immaculate dress when she sees Esdras and Draegar. She looks from Forg's body to the blood splatters to the still-bleeding wounds (mostly from Esdras) that are staining the wooden floor. Her eyes go wide in fear and her already-pale skin goes ghostly white as she stumbles back against the wall. "Es...Esdras?" She says with sudden recognition. Her eyes flick to Draegar and she doesn't seem any more reassured by the bloody half-skive behind him. "By the Five, you really are mad." She says in a horrified whisper.
Esdras smiles and nods at the noblewoman, acting as if there wasn't anything weird in their meeting. "Excuse us Milady... it appears we've got ourselves in a small cleaning missing... we are about to throw the trash away." Passing her by, Esdras mused if the comment about him being mad was against or in favor of his objectives...
He kept moving, still looking for a Knight of Theveste. He turned to Draegar "It now occurred to me that perhaps we picked the wrong route... a more private pathway would have worked to our advantage."
"Ma'am, there's a lot of bad things going on right now. If you want to be helpful, go track down Sir Ronius Apelles and tell him where we're at. He's probably in the medical bay," Draegar said in what he hoped was a conversational tone. "If you can't find him, any knight will do."
The woman seems to be made even more on edge by Esdras's comments. When Draegar speaks she glances at him in fear for a moment, but then gains a tinge of confusion as the skive is the one who is trying to be nice.
She does not seem reassured at all by Draegar's words, but suddenly gets a bit of life as she finds common ground with his request. "Yes, I will most assuredly get a Knight of Theveste at once! And they will get to the bottom of this!" She says with sudden confidence. She jabs a finger at the two of them. "Don't you dare move from this spot!" She says, as if she has the power to command two potential-murderers with just her force of will. She turns in a huff and begins briskly walking up the length of the ship, although from her slightly odd gait she likely has shoes on that are impractical for anything but looking good at the expense of comfort.
Esdras rolls his eyes and curses as the woman departs. "Taking everything in consideration, I envy you Draeger, for not being born in a noble family... believe me, in my case, the troubles far surpass the benefits..."
He then rests Forg against the wall.
"Nobility does seem to be a mixed bag. Gotta deal with a lot of obnoxious customs, rules, and family expectations. On the other hand, you don't get accosted on the streets by the people who are supposed to be protecting you. Also, not starving seems nice."
Draegar once again dumped Forg on the floor and found a wall to lean on while they waited. "Wonder where Cass got off to."
Esdras and Draegar take a short break, letting Forg lean against the wall. Several minutes pass. Eventually a few nobles start peeking around the corner and whispering, and soon after four Knights come from the leftward direction of the ship. The noblewoman is behind them and points at Esdras and Draegar with a haughty expression. "That's them!"
The Knights take in the scene quickly, and one of them reaches for his sword before another Knight holds up a fist, halting him. "Lord Martalen, Master Ironhide. We would have an explanation." He lowers his fist and the Knights remain where they are, staring intently. From the other side two more Knights appear, ushering the crowd back before blocking off the other direction.
"You had a saboteurs aboard. We stopped them and sent for help. Where's Caspian? Where's Sir Ronius?" Draegar asked, holding up his hands to show they were empty.
Esdras nods at the knight's request. "Indeed, and I'd be pleased to give them, but in private. I believe there is no need for such commotion amid the guests of the High Cardinal. This man..." He points to the unconscious Forg. "Is a criminal, a saboteur as Master Ironhide said. He tried, and almost succeeded, to sabotage the ship's engines... if not for Master Ironhide, it is entirely possible that we'd would be having this conversation on the afterlife or amid floating debris." He decided to make this information public. In his eyes, Draegar saved all of them and he would prefer that the other nobles looked at him as the hero he was.
Back to the leader of the knights, he contiuned. "I believe you'll prefer to order your men to carry this criminal instead of us... it will generate a lesser confusion from the onlookers. We'll follow your quarters for the promised explanation, of course. Also, on a side note, is the Knight Ronius Apelles faring well?"
The nobles all start whispering among themselves and gasping.
"Saboteurs?!"
"How could this happen?"
"He's a Skive, probably made it up."
"The High Cardinal will be furious."
"Always knew he was mad."
"Good thing he was caught."
"You're delusional!"
The Knights look to each other for a moment, then with some quick hand signals one knight takes each direction, slowly herding the nobles away from the scene. The remaining four, three to their left and one to their right, approach slowly. The one in front speaks up again. "I'm must ask for your weapons. If everything is as you say it is you have nothing to fear."
The Knight looks down at the unconscious body, then half-turns to his brothers. "Does anybody recognize this man?"
The knight on the right side speaks up. "Lord Tarian. He boarded early and asked for a..." He pauses a moment. "A tour of the engines of the ship."
"Sir Ronius?" The Knight says, again looking to his fellow Knights. This time the one on his right shoulder responds. "He also accompanied a tour group down to the engines, although that was over an hour ago."
The main speaking Knight's face is obscured by his helmet, but even through it one can practically feel the weight of his frown. He turns back to Draegar and Esdras. "It does seem there is some credence to what you say. Surrender your weapons, we will get to the bottom of this."
Esdras waits for the nobles to be escorted away before answering about the weapons. "I beg your pardon, but I can't let you take my sword. It... has an enormous personal significance to me. If you pay some attention to rumors, you might have some about me, Esdras Martalen, being crazy... one of the main reasons is that I'm never seen without this old sword." Esdras almost said the truth about his sword being cursed, but gladly he refrained himself... they would not believe him in the best case scenario and attack him in the worst case.
He reaches for his pocket slowly, coming up with a set of fine but strong chains and locks. "This set of chains and locks are used in situations like this... it will lock my sword inside it's scabbard, making me, or anyone, unable to free it. I'll give you the only key I have."
"I'll also give you my word. A Martalen's word is not written in sand, but in rock, as my father always says."
Draegar didn't protest. He handed over his two throwing spikes and his big knife. If he needed a weapon, he was sure he could get his hands on one.
"S%!+," the big skive muttered once they took his weapons. "I think we have a medical issue to deal with before we do anything else. Someone go get a healer and meet us at the other entrance to the engines. The rest of you, try to keep up."
He started moving, giving any knight who tried to block his path a look that said in no uncertain terms that he would go through them if he needed to. He picked up speed as he went, heading to the other end of the ship where the other entrance to the engines was.
Two Knights approach Draegar and takes his weapons carefully, one of them looking at them curiously for a moment before stowing them away.
The 'lead' Knight drums his fingers against his sword hilt. "Lord Martalen, I hope you pardon my bluntness, but feigning madness will not sway me. Even so, I would be more adamant about disarming a madman, not less." He seems very firm, but not wanting to force Esdras if he can help it. "Please, understand my position. What I see is a representative from a foreign nation standing over the body of a local nobleman. Even a simple guard would be fired if he did not disarm the suspect. I would be excommunicated."
As Draegar gets ready to take off the Knight in front of him stops him, although he takes a step back at Draegar's deadly look. The lead Knight pauses for a moment, then nods. "Go with him. Master Ironhide, I am trusting that this is not a thinly veiled escape attempt. Please humor me and do not outrun my brothers in arms, weighed down in their armor as they are." He points at the other Knights. "But you two do your best not to slow him down. Now go."
"Ronius might be dying. If I get there too late because I kept pace with all that armor, that's on you." Draegar said bluntly. Then he was off at a run, staying within sight of the knights behind him.
Esdras shakes his head. "It was not my intention to feign or claim madness... my only point was to point out that I'm never seen without my sward. I carry it with me, locked of course, when I can't scape a ball or a wedding. I was carrying it last morning when the High Cardinal invited me to join this voyage and I never used it against anyone that had not attacked me first." He then opens his arms and spins around to show his wounds. "Look at my wounds knight. I acquired them just an our ago when I was attacked by whom you call a local nobleman and I'm only standing because Master Ironhide had a healing draught with him."
"You flatter me insinuating that wounded as I am, with a locked sword within its sheath, that I'll be able to present any danger to anyone while escorted and surrounded by so many knights of yours." He shakes his head once more. "I'm sorry to stand my ground, but I'll not be treated like a criminal, not after risking my life while defending this ship from exploding in a rain of shrapnel even if I'm a guest from an allied foreign nation that had no formal obligation to do so."
"If you all are worried about getting excommunicated, then lets forget we had this discussion and proceed with moving this man, whom is alive, to a cell and we to a proper place where we can talk about what happened and its ramifications. I'll then talk to your superiors and to the High Cardinal myself and make sure to commend all of you. Otherwise, you are free to attack and knock down the man who saved the High Cardinal's life... you'll have my sword, for I don't attack innocent men, but how do you believe the High Cardinal will react to this act?"
~~~Esdras~~~
The Knight stares at Esdras for a long moment.
He seems rather unhappy but finally bends. "Fine. But all other weapons are surrendered, and you will be searched for any other keys."
The Knight nods, signaling for his fellow remaining brother in arms to pat down Esdras.
As Esdras is searched the lead Knight watches him. He seems to be trying to figure out what game Esdras is playing at, but doesn't want to open up the topic when more pressing matters are at hand.
~~~Draegar~~~
The Knights quickly start breathing heavily to keep up with Draegar, who makes it to the room in two minutes. He peers in and sees the room, and the staircase leading down, are empty.
Draegar swore under his breath and quickly looked around. Spotting the wet spots on the wood, he kept moving hoping the droplets would show him the way.
"He went this way!" He called to the guards behind
Esdras nods in agreement, even helping the knight to find the weapons. "Agreed. Besides the sword, I carry with me a dagger and a kukri. The dagger is hidden on my right boot while the kukri is on my waist." After locking his sword, he handles the knight inspecting him the key.
"These are some amulets I collected during the war... each one of them pertained to a fallen companion of mine. One of them is a key and you are free to confirm that it won't fit the lock, but take care not to break it... they might look a bunch of worthless junk to you, but to me they represent a memento of each one of them." Esdras can't help himself in showing a bit of emotion at this moment, mostly guilt.
Draegar follows the droplets to the north of the ship, and luckily tracking sweat on wood is a hard enough task that the Knights catch up.
Esdras is searched thoroughly, and when the key is found they hold up the two against each other. After scrutinizing it for a moment they attempt to use it in the sword-lock, and finding it doesn't fit at all they return it to Esdras. "Of course. We must honor our Veterans. A thousand apologies for this, I am sure your word is good."
Once done they move, setting a brisk pace to catch up to Draegar and the other two knights. After a couple minutes they find them, Knights following Draegar with a puzzled look while he scrutinizes the ground and walks at a casual pace.
"He's...tracking." The Knights somehow express befuddlement through their visors.
"The engines were dangerously hot, and the air was full of poison. In all that armor, Sir Ronius started flagging fast. We got him out and sent him for help, but I think he must have passed out before he could let anyone know what was going on," Draegar explained while he walked. He started pointing out the trail of sweat. "What's this direction? Where might he have been going?" he asked the knights behind him.
Esdras follows the knights silently.
The Knights listen intently to Draegar, and seem to be coming around as he explains more of what is going on. He hears one of them mutter. "We really should have lighter armor for the colonies."
"Uhm, it seems he's heading towards the bow. The bridge, the wardrooms, the High Cardinal's cabin. The head technologist is often on the bridge, so if he was wanting to report on engine troubles that's likely where he would be headed." One Knight advises.
"I'll keep tracking in case he did something unexpected. One of you want to run ahead and see if he made it to the bridge?" Draegar asked.
One Knight nods, darting ahead down the hall. After a few moments he vanishes around the corner.
Draegar continues tracking, although his progress slows. When the hallway ends and opens into a moderate sized room that has doors leading further forward on the ship, as well as towards two large rooms on the left and right. He frowns and scrutinizes the ground closely. He assumes that if the Knight went towards the bridge, the other Knight will find him, so he ignores that path and focuses on the others. After a bit the Knight comes back and shakes his head. "Bridge is empty, which it shouldn't be. Something is very wrong."
Draegar finally finds a sweaty hand print at eye level on the left cabin, indicating Sir Ronius leaned against the wall for support here. The door is closed, and after quietly trying the handle it is also locked.
Draegar held up a hand for quiet and put his ear to the door.
"Anyone have a key to this room?" he whispered.
Draegar hears nothing. The room seems quiet.
The Knights shake their heads. It seems they've really come around and start taking defensive positions around the door, ready to either defend from attackers in the room or breach through the door.
Esdras steps back, making room for the knights. He whispers back to Draegar. "Draegar, it might be wiser to let them handle this... we are unarmed after all..." The last bit he says smiling to the knight in charge, savoring the irony of the situation.
"I'm never unarmed," Draegar shrugged.
"Alright, we might be going into a hostage situation. Kicking in the door will be too loud and take too long. I'm going to do something you're not going to like, but it will make the job a whole lot easier."
He tapped his backpack and said "support routine, mechanical". His automaton reached out a limb, it's claw unfolded revealing a small tool, and it inserted it into the lock. Then Draegar pulled out a small mechanical device and fit it into the lock just above his contraption's claw. With a few quick adjustments, he pulled the trigger and tried to throw the tumblers inside.