"Captain's" Log, Twelfth Entry

Shan Derakuth's unfamiliar to me, which is an unusual feeling after a decade of roaming the skies. We never went too far Firewards - the storms, you see. A trade city this big without any kind of skyport ain't natural, but you know what they do have? These huge fuck off rings and spires, made of some unfamiliar metal. They remind me a bit of the conducting spikes on the Tantsor, and Andraea and Chuck seem to think they might serve the same purpose. That makes me real nervous. I'll state for the record that I ain't scared of a little stormy weather, but if you've sailed as long as I have, you hear a lot of stories about Fireside weather. Enough to give you pause.
 
One thing I've found that's familiar - one of the bandits had a rifle. He won't be needing it anymore, so it's mine now. Been a while since I had one in my hands. I remember when they had me serving as a powder monkey for a couple of months, and the kick the cannons made when they went off still made me flinch. That seems like it was centuries ago - just looking down the barrel brings back memories. Gonna have to spend a bit of time stripping and cleaning this one, but it'll be more than serviceable. No luck finding more shot for it, but I managed to get my hands on a bit of powder. It's something. If I had a glass bottle and a bit of scrap, I could make something of it, but that'll have to wait. Was always better at tossing powder flasks than making them, but I remember how, at least.
 
You know what we did have luck finding? We were making the rounds of the city's stables, trying to figure out how we were going to get around, and we passed a scrapyard. We noticed this weird contraption. It looks like a carriage, but there's nowhere to hitch horses. Chuck knew a lot about it, and apparently it's a... I think they called it a mobility oscillator? A mobile fastener? Whatever the fuck it is, it's like a magic wagon. It's about as useful as nipples on a breastplate without a powerful component of some kind to act as its core, but it's supposed to move faster than any horse. The people of Akarathia made it - how it got here without anything to power it is anyone's guess. Anyway, the scrapyard owner charged us a bit to take it out, but Chuck just kept pointing out flaws in the build until he broke down and let us take it for a pittance. He's not gonna be pleased when he sees it rolling along, but somehow I think I'll survive the guilt.
 
Basicallly everything but the frame had to be thrown out or replaced, and it cost us some coin and a few days to help Chuck slap together a makeshift core for it, but it's fixed now. It's not a terribly comfortable ride, and every now and again Andraea or Chuck have to charge it a bit to get it going, but it rolls along at a quick clip, and Andraea made a cloth roof to keep the sun and dust out, so I can't complain. I wonder if they'd let me drive it?
 
Anyway, now that we're reasonably sure we'll be keeping up a good pace, we have a few stops to make along the way. Villagers at the edge of the desert are having a bit of a snake problem, so that's where we're headed first.