Wizzal and I look down into the dark stone staircase as the sound of the empty falling crates echo through the empty passage way. I step into the darkness and Wizzal follows. No sooner do we step through the doors do the walls light up with white lines of magic relays heading into the dark. We walk forward in the soft glow of the relays. When we go about 20 steps down we hear the sound of the doors sliding shut behind us. The stairs wind through the dark passage for miles. The only sound is our feet and the drip, drip of water falling somewhere nearby.
When we finally get to the bottom and step onto the floor. Light assaults our eyes as Sun crystal blare to life flooding the room with their light. After a few minutes of pain we finally can open our watery eyes. Before us is a sight to behold a boat that is at least 30 feet off the ground and a huge gang plank leads up the side. The ship is at least 150 feet long or almost 46 meters long. Ropes the thickness of my arms hold the ship in place.
It is amazing the silver wood of the iron tree is bent to make up the bottom, it sparkles and appears to have sky blue stones embedded in the wood. As I get a closer look it appears that the crystals are actually fuzzed into the wood. Wizzal runs his hands over the wood in amazement and says, "How did they do this I mean to bend such a mighty tree to your whim is amazing enough but to make stones I've never seen before become part of that wood as well. This is amazing, it's truly fascinating."
I look up at the ships sails and they are like nothing I've ever seen. There are six of these sails and they are round like a propeller frame made of cloth. In the middle of each one is a huge Wind crystal the size of a fifty pound drum. Suspended in the air by metal cables that connect to the sides of the structure. Ruins wind up the cables. It should be impossible the biggest recorded crystal found is the size of a small fist.
I walk up the gang plank as Wizzal is still examining the ships hull. I can see the entrance to the captains quarters and a normal ship wheel. As I look around I wish I knew more about boats. I walk up to the wheel and grab the pegs turning the wheel. As I watch the sails/propellors turn and the ship creaks. I let go and they go back to normal. I look around and see a Wind crystal at my feet. I turn to my human form and place my hand on the plate.
I have yet to train my wind magic so all I can do is send a small bit into the crystal before I lose concentration. That small amount blasts gray light balls down the relay system and up to the huge wind crystals. The ship surges forward then comes to a stop against the ropes and stalls like a car without gas. I hear Wizzal yell as he gets smashed in the face by the boat and is thrown backwards. I hear him cuss followed by him running up the gang plank.
He comes up and says, "You could warn a guy you are about to start the ship. How did you do that?" I point to the crystal at my feet and he runs over to look at it as I start looking around the ship. I first head down to the kitchen all the pots and pans look like they were just put away. Not a speck of dirt anywhere. The stove unit is infused with fire crystals and there is a large fire crystal the size of my fist in the bottom. I push fire magic into the stone next to the stove unit and a fire bursts into life.
I look into the apple bucket and it's full of fresh looking apples. The bucket is infused with black Void crystals. I walk into the food shed and find the whole place is infused with Void crystals when I get through to the wine cellar the whole place is loaded with fresh wine, mead and vodka. The ships quarters stand empty and ready for use. Hammocks are sitting folded in a chest infused with Void crystals as well. I run my fingers over the wood in wonder, "How is it possible?"
Down in the belly of the ship stands 12 cages made of iron wood the bars are smooth and round. The connecting joints have a crystal I've never seen before. It's a shiny black crystal and looks like glass. No sooner do I touch it then I feel weak and tired. I pull my hand back fast and head back up the stairs. Wizzal is still examining the sails/propellers I lean over the ship and look around seeing a few doors and straight ahead is a see through wall it looks like it shimmers.
What I see beyond it looks like the other side of the crevice. I reach into my Void bag as I walk to the front of the ship and remove a stone from the bag. I throw it at the see through wall. The stone hits the wall and stops for a second before falling through. I look down and put my hand into the Space bag.
Into the bag
I find myself standing in the doorway of Wizzal's room. The bag is at my feet. I can hear Rayba behind me cleaning up the lab. I pickup the bag and head through the lab and into the library. I stop for a few minutes to pull the scrolls out of my Void bag and place them on the table. Stacks and stacks of them cover the table. I look at Neens as she comes over with big eyes and pass her a knife to carefully remove the thread. As I watch she tenderly handles the first batch. Satisfied I head down the hall and out into the village.
The village looks no different then before. The only difference I see is a sign as I pass the outskirts of village and head towards the woods, It reads.
Lost Village
I chuckle and pass it. Once in the wood I head to a nearby lake looking around I decide this is a good area. I reach into the bag.
Outside the Bag
I head over the to edge of the boat Wizzal is examining the steering wheel. Watching as the sails/propellers turn. I cut the first of the ropes and she turns to the left as I hold on. Wizzal says, "What the?" Once she settles down I run over and cut the rope on the other side. She turns again this time straightening up. I hear a creaking as she strains against the last two ropes.
I smile and walk over to the front. The back is hanging slightly higher then the front now. Standing at the wheel in back of Wizzal I say, "Hold on." I let two flame knifes fly from my hands. They slice through both ropes setting them on fire. I don't take the time to watch them burn the rest of the way through as I jump towards to wheel. I wrap my arm around the wheel and place my arm into the bag. No sooner do the ropes snap we vanish as they fall to the floor below.
Inside the Bag
We find ourselves on a rising ship. Wizzal is hanging on. I run to the edge of the ship and send out a line of thread using my magic I make it thicker and thicker till it's a thick rope and wrap it around a nearby tree. once I tie it off the boat stops rising at an angle. Wizzal is holding onto the wheel as I use my thread to climb the slight incline to the others side. I send my thread down to another tree and tie it off. Then slide back down to the first side and let the rope out till we are even once more.
Wizzal sinks to the floor of the ship breathing heavy and he says, "If I'm one of your most useful slaves then why do you keep doing shit like this to me?" All I do is laugh as I secure more ropes. Then I look overboard and smile there is no way of getting down and we are over 50 feet in the air. I let down a rope and start tying knots as I go.
Once it hits the ground I tie it off and hear Wizzal say, "If you think I'm using that thing, think again. You had better go get the gang plank. You were the one who didn't secure it." I laugh as I jump overboard and glide to the ground. I retrieve the bag and after walking a good 20 feet from the bottom of the boat I reach into the bag.
Outside the Bag.
So here I find myself back in the ships bay. I look over where the ship was and see half the gang blank still floating in the air. I walk under it in wonder as the part that was on the ship floats a good ten feet in the air. I smile walk up the gang plank and stand at the edge. As I look at the edge I see hooks. I put thread into the hooks and hold on as I put my hand into the bag.
Inside the Bag
My arm is now killing me as I stand on the edge of the gang plank. It feels like it almost got ripped off. looking at the ship that is now a good 20 feet away. I change my arm back to normal and wait for It to heal and the pain to dissipate. Once the pain vanishes I take flight and work on pulling the gang plank to the ship.
After struggling for a good 15 minutes and making no progress I see a Wind crystal on the edge of the gang plank. I fly over bend down and put my wind magic into the crystal. The tail end of the plank lifts up and the whole plank begins to rise. I can now pull myself to the edge of the ship. Once there I let go and the gang plank settles back onto the edge of the ship and I collapse back onto the gangplank exhausted.
Wizzal just watches me and says, "Serves you right" and goes back to his examination of the ship. I just lay there falling asleep. After a few hours I wake up with a lot of pain in my back. That was not a good place to fall asleep. My stomach growls and I roll off the gang plank an open my wings as I fall through the air landing softly on the ground. I stretch my back frowning before I vanish into the woods.
Once I'm done hunting I come back to the field and clean up. Wizzal is still on the ship. I look around as I pickup the Space bag and place the bag on the limb of a nearby tree as soon as my barrier is up reach into the bag.
Outside the Bag
Here I am once again in the now empty cave. I look up at the ceiling using my clear libs to look past the blinding light. What I see is a intricate design covering the ceiling with the same strange writing from the scrolls connecting the designs. I look around once more and zero in on the doorway. I head in that direction and come to a small hallway the ceiling lights up as soon as I enter the same way as the hanger did. There are three doorways.
I walk to the first and I see a library with a desk that looks like it's for experiments. The library goes into the darkness. When I step in the ceiling lights up and I can see for miles down the rows of shelves with scrolls. I step back out into the hall and the lights go out. The next room has a huge device it looks like hundreds of planets turning around a sun some have moons spinning around them one has three moons lining up perfectly slowly spinning in sink with the planet.
They are all connected to a small gold colored ball at the bottom. I walk over and watch all the gold balls turning around and spinning around the same large sun. I reach out and touch the small ball that connects them all to the platform below it. As soon as my hand closeness around it they all vanish sucked into the ball that's now in my hand.
I open my hand and once again the system appears floating above my head. I close my hand once more and the whole scene vanishes. I place the ball in my Void bag and leave the now empty room. I walk into the last room there is a huge table and in the center is a silver ball. When I touch the silver ball a huge holographic map suddenly covers the table.
As I look I can see what appears to be a map of the known world I can see the five known kingdoms stretching out across the ocean. i don't even take the time to examine it before I mutter, "Bilge Town." The map shifts zooming in on a kingdoms that looks like a weird turtle shape. Then a light shows on the map.
Reaching across the table I touch the light and it zooms in again. I see the House of Yotal and I touch the house and again the map zeros in on the house. A huge crowd is in the outer courtyard. I look at it and whisper the name, "Emma." Since that's the only person I know the name of from this town. The image zooms in and I see Emma being held by the herbalist at the front of the house. It looks like people are cheering as they look in Emma's direction.
I pickup the silver ball and the image shrinks so it can fits about a foot across and above my hand. I close my hand around the ball and the image vanishes. I head up the stairs and when I get about 20steps from the entrance it opens. I walk into the garden and hear the voices of a crowd yelling "It's a miracle. Long live the Yotals. Thank the god Nullver. He has answers our prayers." I stop listening and head back down into the stairway and to the library waiting within.
The Name Bilge part 2
Once they left England they headed to Africa to pick up slaves. When they finally got to America they would sell the Cobblestones and slaves buying/trading for supplies to bring back to England. To this day the streets of Portland Maines Old Port is lined with Cobblestones. In some places it was never covered in others the tar is breaking away revealing the Cobblestones still under the tar. From what I was told Cobblestone were never made in America.
Thank you for reading