[Chyril 27, TT] Up, up, and away - Notwen's Inventions

[Gim Sprockett]

The door of this little shop in King's Court said: “Notwen’s Inventions, We have everything you need and orders can be made”. The door was sturdy and reinforced with iron.

Inside the shop it was quite a mess. Tools were scattered all around the place and structures and utensils littered the environment in unexpected ways. A gnome walked around hastily as if he was looking for something. An older gnome, who was working on a complicated contraption, sat in the back.

The younger gnome greets each visitor “Can I help you? We have everything you need, if not, we’ll make it for a fair price.”

Gim stared at the huge door in front of him, eyes widening perceptibly. The though of a gnome opening or closing such a door by hand seems rather... stupid. Why waste such energy when there can be a handy gadget to operate the monster door? Perhaps they already had one; it is Notwen's, after all. Gim's father had told him about Notwen and his store, though until now, Gim had not been bothered to visit.

Today, however, was different. Seemingly at wit's end as to obtaining his dreams of boarding an airship, Gim felt that perhaps this enlightened gnome would be able to point him in the right direction. At the very least, they might have some new schematics he could purchase, or even information about the airship. For weeks Gim have been trying to determine how the heat exchange in the Tonklin Piston could be so efficient.

Still contemplating the door, Gim walked into the store.

“Can I help you?" a gnome suddenly asked. "We have everything you need, if not, we’ll make it for a fair price.”

Caught unawares, Gim jumped back and swivelled his head around, marvelous inflected moustache flinging in an arc. He then saw the gnome, and all of his excitement welled up in him.

"Notwen? Are you Notwen?" Gim sputtered, speaking rapidly. He jumped to the gnome and shook his hand fervently when he noticed the older gnome. "Wait, is he Notwen? Who's Notwen? Why are there two of you? Shouldn't the store be named two names then? Strange!"

Gim jumped around the shop, being perfectly at home in the mess.

"You know your door? You should gadget-ize it! Or have you already?" The tiny gnome swivelled his head, staring at the two gnomes. "No matter! I'm here to ask about airships! AIRSHIPS! Do you know what airships are?"

Without even pausing for an answer, Gim grabbed one of the tools lying around and held it over his head. He waved it around aerobatically, making sound effects of propellers while doing so.

"Airship! I want to get on one! Do you know anyone? I want to work on one!" Finally the gnome paused with a wide grin, more out of breath than courteously waiting for the shopkeepers to answer. He was still holding his 'airship' above his head, gliding it around imaginatively.

[Danomel]

Without even looking up from the contraption in front of him, the older Gnome speaks up. “Argrie, tell yon youngster to quit waving me tools around! And see what he wants by the way.” The older gnome continues to maintain his concentration, obviously working on some delicate mechanical operation.

Argrie glances back towards the older gonme and nods. “As you say…”

Turning his attention towards Gim, he smiles. “Yes as you say Mr. uhh…, or I guess you really did not say did you?”

“Well whatever, Welcome to this humble establishment. Air ships did you say? Seems Worlds Mouth would be the place for such things. We don’t sell them, to big to fit in the building. Interesting use of magic and mechanics though. Can quite understand you fascination. Now what do you want again?”

[Gim Sprockett]

Gim's pretend airship froze mid-air, its pilot wide-eyed and agape.

"'Interesting use of magic and mechanics'?" The little gnome's voice wavered, and colour began to flood into his pale face. " It is the penultimate marriage between the two! It is ingenuity, and perseverance, all rolled into one! It is a miracle of the mind, and, and, it is simply amazing! You've no appreciation!"

Gim stopped his speech and took a few mouthfuls of air; too much excitement caused him to get lightheaded at times. His moustache drooped noticeably, faced with apathy. The gnome blinked, and blinked again. Then all of a sudden, he recovered and beamed once more, eyes glittering; it would seem like ill feelings did not last long within the young gnome.

With a shrug, Gim threw his 'airship' over his shoulder and spoke. " My name is Gim Sprockett, tinker extraordinaire. Or maybe ordinaire for now." Gim took a dramatic pause while stroking his moustache. "I thought that other enlightened gnomes should also be amazed of airships! Fascinated, even! I am here for information. Any manuals or schematics related to airships you might have or know of, I want! And also! Obviously I know that World's Mouth is where I should go! But I hear that that might pose a problem for me. Some sort of troublesome war. Do you know how to get me there?"

If Gim could get to World's Mouth, he would be infinitely closer to realizing his dream, not to mention that he would be in the hub of technology. Just thinking about being in such an advanced city made his already racing heart kick into overdrive, and he will no doubt get there eventually. However, such a thing might take years! Patience is one of the many things that the gnome lacked.

[Danomel]

Argrie eyed Gim as if in some doubt about his claim to be a tinker, extraordinary or otherwise. “Yes, I can see how the uninformed or enlightened might be of that opinion. However Master Notwen managed to design a much more efficient and…”

KLUNK! Was the sound of an odd shaped bit of metal hitting Argrie in the back.

Glancing quickly over his shoulder at the older gnome, who wasmaintaining an inscrutable expression. Argrie quickly amended his speech. “Yes, well I should not be boring you with such things.”

Notwen looked up from his work and eyed Gim. “Ther be a notebook over yonder,” Notwen points with a screwdriver towards a corner bookcase literally bursting with notebooks, scrolls, and other such items. “with some notes and observations I has jotted down awhile ago about said aireo ships. You is welcome to have a look. Just don’t make a mess as I has a very exact filing system.”

Gim notes that the corner bookshelves look anything but organized.

[Gim Sprockett]

Gim rubbed his little chin, unfazed by the thinly veiled attack at his knowledge and intelligence. He was, however, rather piqued by the mention of another, more efficient device akin to the airship; now there was something to figure out. In the meantime, a treasure trove! Something about the old gnome's loyalty to his work and his throwing arm led Gim to think that he was rather accomplished, and his work worthwhile.

Giggling with glee, and painfully lacking a mention of gratitude, the little gnome hopped over to the bookshelves, eyes gleaming. Notwen definitely had a very exact filing system! Gim's house and bookcase were much the same, organized in what he dubbed 'entropic filing'. Very much familiar with the mess, Gim cracked his knuckles and made no attempt to suppress his mighty grin. He dove.

Looking through the notebooks and various other works, Gim did not only look for the ones labelled airships, but rather anything that was remotely interesting; especially anything that can fly, and also things that roll, or bounce, or dive. Oh, and things that blow up. Definitely. This was a gnome set to soak, and soak he shall!

[Danomel]

While Gim finds the documents, especially the pictures, interesting in many of the journals he finds most of the writings somewhat beyond his ability to comprehend. The mathematical parts are probably the hardest.

Notwen, having finished his little project, declares, “O.K. Let us see if it works this time.”
Notwen has been working on something that looks like a large metallic frame of a hand and fore arm with lots of gears, pulleys and wires inside. Many of the wires run down a cable to a glove which he is fitting to his hand.

Placing a brick in the large metal hand, Notwen makes a fist of his gloved hand. The fingers on the large metal hand all contract, crushing the brick.

“Excellent power amplification” is Notwens only comment.

[Gim Sprockett]

"Hm." Gim grumbled to himself. He tilted his head, and proceeded to rotate the pages. Nope, didn't make too much sense to him at whatever angle he is observing the notes at. Disappointment felt like a frigid drop of water upon his forehead; chilling, but refreshing. He must learn! Gim, having peeked into troves of complicated knowledge, knows exactly how little he knows. Learning, however, drives his heart.

Regardless of the complicated pages of mathematics, the pictures were definitely intriguing. The little gnome made it a point to himself to burn some of those images in his mind, perhaps to write down when he returned home to file for further observation and scrutiny. Having gobbled up as much information as he could hold, yet still hungering for more, Gim decided to take a small breather from his readings. Just as he lifted his head, both hands clutching his inflected moustache, he observed Notwen operating his metal hand.

Curiosity sparked in Gim's brain, and his eyes widened as he saw the brick crumbling in the mechanical appendage's grip. Questions upon questions suddenly bloomed in Gim's overactive brain, and without hesitation he sprinted towards the device. He placed everything under scrutiny, trying to figure out where the wires led, and what the gears did. This was definitely something worth studying.

"Notwen! That is amazing! Prodigious!" He exclaimed as he cocked his head from side to side, trying to peer into the hand's secrets. "How did you amplify the power? What is your power source? Magic? If there's anything I know, its that you can't get something from nothing!"

[Matiel Escariot]

OOC: My name is Matiel, Danomel previously just gave me the permission to join, and I truly hope I'm not intruding. I'm sure it would be a pleasure to game with you.

IC:

Matiel didn't enjoy his morning once more. He was able to spend four hours in a dreamless state of rest, but that did nothing to his countenance. There were still heavy bags beneath his eyes when he faced his mirror. There was still and ache paining his head for every step he took. He made a promise to himself to get more sleep, but the striving scribe didn't trust every single word he said of it. He had his breakfast early again of course, thankful he didn't have to meet with the family. His mother would disapprove of his unhealthy labors. The Lady Escariot was a wonderful women who cared for her family deeply. After dealing with two boys who grew into rough manhood so much like their father, Matiel was the only one left she could baby. It didn't help Matiel much that he looked so much like a girl. The eyebags and weariness did nothing to remedy that. He was still very much her baby. Matiel didn't like that at all.

Matiel was a man devoid of gruff and grit. He blamed his mother for it. He didn't like being called a girly man. He wanted to kill everyone who called him a girly man. Of course, sanity still had a hold on him. Though sometimes, especially during the class he had with Durette earlier, he wished he was insane enough to just strangle the narrow minded dolt.

The door of this little shop in King's Court said: “Notwen’s Inventions, We have everything you need and orders can be made”. The door was sturdy and reinforced with iron.

Matiel relaxed when he saw his Master's sign. He always enjoyed his time here with Notwen. Yes, the gnome scattered his brain from here to the nethers, but that was just a part of his brilliance. Matiel made it a point to try and understand Notwen's brilliance. He tried to organize it and even tried to make his own notes at home to keep the Masters ideas in files he could actually read and classify. The old gnome's system was a mess to everyone but his own self. Matiel hoped the old gnome would teach him soon the basics of his system.

Inside the shop it was quite a mess. Tools were scattered all around the place and structures and utensils littered the environment in unexpected ways. A gnome walked around hastily as if he was looking for something. An older gnome, who was working on a complicated contraption, sat in the back.

Matiel was never a lover of clutter. He sincerely wished he could place all these tools in an organized on some shelf or cabinet. The shop never lacked of that of course, it was just the nature of gnomes. Matiel was familiar of it, accustomed to it, but disliked it. He was human after all. Chaos and order were good, but only to a degree he could work with. This, this was something he had to endure just so he could learn from Notwen.

The younger gnome greets each visitor “Can I help you? We have everything you need, if not, we’ll make it for a fair price.”

"You know exactly what I need Argrie," Matiel greeted his co-apprentice with a nod as he looked for a place he could set his satchel on, "When are you going to clean this place up Argrie? I mean seriously, it's kinda getting harder and harder each day to move around."

Matiel tried, but he couldn't find it. He was too scared of losing his bag so he just held on to it and faced Argrie again,"You know a place I could set this without it getting lost beneath stuff?" Matiel pointed at his bag and gave the gnome a wondering look, almost helpless and too lazy to find way through this clutter.

[Danomel]

Matiel notices that there is another Gnome present whom he has never met before. The other Gnome is talking to Notwen, as they are both examining something that looks like a metal frame resembling an arm and a hand.

Notwen is explaining that he was having something of a control problem with the apperatis. And that it was indeed powered by a type of magic.

Argrie frowned at Matiel and points a thumb to a door in the back. “Yea put it in the store room for now, on one of the upper shelves. They should be pretty empty. And what do you mean messy? I just cleaned up this morning.”

[Matiel Escariot]

Argrie frowned at Matiel and points a thumb to a door in the back. “Yea put it in the store room for now, on one of the upper shelves. They should be pretty empty. And what do you mean messy? I just cleaned up this morning.”

"Ah, forgive me Argrie," Matiel feigned a sigh and looked down at the shorter being, "But as a simple human I am still unable to understand your gnomish system for organization. Forgive me, this must be what I have been trying to figure out: Calculated Chaos. I guess I'll have to talk to Master Notwen about that."

Matiel moved away from the heap of instruments, tools, and generic forms of trash under the guise of complex mechanisms. He moved towards the store room with his treasured bag in tow. As he walked carefully through the trinkets on the floor, and stacks of ill arranged journals, his eye glanced upon Notwen and another gnome he had never seen before. He immediately saw another prospective student, for the gnome seemed easily amazed at the work Notwen was doing before him.

Not that the metal brace and pulleys were ill impressive, but Matiel had already seen most of Notwen's more intricate works. The gnome wasn't just a gnome, he was an extremely talented gnome. That was why he was even here.

Matiel forgot for a moment, what he was trying to do. He moved away from his course and changed it towards his teacher and the newcomer he was presenting his latest creation too.

"I was wondering when you were going to finish this, is your arm really that bad? And crushing a brick even, isn't that too much, or are you practicing for something much heavier than clockwork?" Matiel of his teacher, and then turned his eyes towards the younger gnome, "Ah, a new apprentice perhaps? A good tide to you, sir. My name is Matiel, an apprentice to the Master Notwen. I see he has done it again, in mesmerizing another visitor to his shop."

[Gim Sprockett]

OOC: The pleasure is all mine. Pardon my character, though, he's a little rude.

IC: Notwen's mechanical arm seemed to be a fascinating invention indeed, but its current limitations raised the skeptic in Gim once more. There was no doubt in the quirky gnome's mind, however, that this apparatus will have some function, somehow. While making a deep throated grumble, Gim scratched his chin in thought.

"Well..." Gim wondered, partly to himself. "I think you're just trying too hard. Parsimony! You have a metal hand. A metal hand! And you want to control it based on your hand! A dextrous gnomish hand, at that! How much dexterity do you wish to muster with that monster? Perhaps a simpler control system, a lever, would prove much simpler to use!"

Gim took a moment to hop around the arm, looking at the other side.

"A lever to control when it grips, and how much it grips! Unless you want to pick your nose with this thing, you probably won't need that much dexterity and complexity of control. Oh, and if you want to pick your nose, I have just the contraption! Alas, I digress. Perhaps if you made the hand into a simpler shape, maybe a scoop or a claw, and at a much bigger scale! Then you could aid in heavy lifting, or, or... Pebblemaking?

"But of course, if you want something that looks humanoid... Well, I tend to stay away from golems myself. Icky magic, too complicated."

The strange gnome poked gingerly at the metal arm, wanting to get a feel of it when a human suddenly spoke to him. Being subject to both tunnel and horrid vision, Gim did not see him coming. Jumping a few inches off the ground, and very much irritated, the gnome swivelled and faced the large intruder. Or rather, his knees. Angling his head up, Gim looked for the man's face.

"You uncouth... Giant! Lumbering all in here like, like... A warthog! Yes, that's it. What did poor Gim Sprockett do to you to deserve such a shocking! My heart, my poor gnomish heart." Gim raised a stubby index finger and took several deep breaths. "I am no apprentice of Notwen's. Simply an interested tinker. Now, with that said."

Gim turned back to Notwen and the arm, grumbling something about tall menaces.

[Matiel Escariot]

Matiel chuckled at the gnome's surprise and muttered to himself, "Fee Fie Foe Fum, I smell the blood of a gnomish son."

The tallest being in that entire shop left the tinker with his master and moved on to place his belongings in one of the top shelves in the back room. Once more he had traverse an entropic maze that ceased to allow the sanity of patterns the moment Notwen owned them. Matiel could almost see some inherent calculation and deliberateness in the clutter. It was almost beautiful and poetic to a point, but then again he was merely human, compared to the genius of gnomes.

As we walked through the mess, he sang a little rhyme to himself, "Be he 'live, or be he dead, I'll grind his bones to make my bread."

When he was done getting ready, he returned to the shop and turned to Argrie, "It seems the Master is busy, have we anything to do today?"

[Danomel]

Argrie glanced around. “He is going to be busy with that contraption all day. Honestly I don’t know what he hopes to accomplish.”

“I need to finish these books, or we will most likely end up in the poor house. There seems to be a large discrepancy on several orders. Maybe you can find out what yon interloper wants.” Argri jerks his thumb towards Gim. “Besides being a general pest that is.”

[Matiel Escariot]

"I think I already know what the interloper wants," Matiel fixed his gaze on Gim as he spoke. He had already voiced his own stance on the matter, and if Argrie was too much of a rigid ass to put up with it, too bad. Matiel looked down on Argrie again and spoke, "I'd think it better if you let me accompany you with those books, and don't say a word on how humans can't handle gnomish mathematical genius. These are books, add one, take away another, sort them out, there you have it. Simple, tedious work a child could handle, but wouldn't cause it's so boring listening to a mother's beddy bye story is a hell lot better."

"But, I think I can handle this for a while," Matiel nudged his head yonder Gim's and Notwen's way, "So just make sure that when I'm done here I could do some real work. I didn't get myself here to be a clerk, Argrie."

Matiel turned his back on the gnome and went towards the other two huddling around the metal arm. He let his little joke earlier dissipate in cheer for him, as Gim turned from amusing visitor to someone he was told to deal with.

"You," Matiel called upon him, "We here have work to do. If you're not here to be an apprentice, or a customer, what is it that you want, and be on your way. Trust me, the Master didn't accept me just because I like twiddling with twinkly things."

Matiel then turned to Notwen, "Sire, is this really all you have for the rest of the day? Argrie set himself on the books, and we still have orders to fill for them. Please tell me you didn't forget you have four extra hands here working for you. Please tell me there are actual orders to be worked on today."

[Gim Sprockett]

Completely oblivious to the rising irritation of the people around him, Gim simply resumed staring at the hand. Too many things were sprinting in his head to care much about what the others thought, too many questions inwards to bother looking out.

The gnome's pensive reverie, however, was interrupted by the annoying giant's inquiry. Being asked of what he wanted, however, sparked another hundred things in his mind. What did he want?

Airships! Gim exclaimed to himself. But too vague. Being in a rather tight pinch, stuck in a city with a narrow view, the gnome must find a way to realize his ultimate dream.

A light illuminated in his mind. A flame lit in his overactive heart, boiling Gim's blood. He shall prepare for his eventual meeting with his dream machine. He will make himself worthy!

The gnome hopped back to the messy pile of books, the strange mechanical hand completely slipping his mind. He gathered the notes on the airships, and sprinted back towards the giant and Notwen. He flipped through the complex pages in a frenzy, and finding an especially complex page of mathematics, he turned the book to show this giant by the name of Matiel.

"I want to read this! Can you teach me?! Can anyone?!" Gim swivelled his head between the old gnome and the apprentice. "Learn. That is what I want. I want to learn. If that involves playing apprentice for a while, so be it!"

[Danomel]

Argri casts a menacing eye towards Gim. “Yea and I did not sign up to be a baby sitter either. Maybe you could just show him the door.” he mutters under his breath.

Turning his attention back to Matiel, he comments in his regular voice; “Once you handle that one, there is a gearbox that needs to be assembled. It’s for that new fangled cart project of Notwens.”

[Matiel Escariot]

"This?" Matiel eyed the book pushed into his face, but was still left there looking down on the gnome. Being called an interloper was too good for this visitor. This one, this one had a yearning he could not control. This one, had something Matiel might be able to understand, and ultimately use.

"Let me explain something to you," Matiel spoke once more, refusing to lower his stature as he continued, "This bound collection of notes you have here are all gibberish. The only way you'd ever be able to understand it is if you were Notwen. So, unless you're Notwen, give the book up and place it where you found it. If, and that's a big if coming from me, you really want to be Notwen and read those notes, stay here. Beg Notwen, on your knees, to forget his personal arm project for a while and pay attention to you as a prospective apprentice...student. And even if you are an apprentice, the chances of you learning anything is minimal. Even I can't read the fundamentals of that piece beyond it's baser mathematics. Notwen has his own system for everything related to construction. It'd take a miracle to make him give up his own time to frequently teach us all that he has devised concerning his system."

Matiel started to back away, "So yeah, talk to the Master, if you think you can pull his mind off his arm, for even just a little bit. Till then, you might want to follow me, that is if you actually want to learn something concerning what it is we do here."

Matiel smiled at Gim in conclusion. He then turned to look for Argrie. He found the gnome gathering some of the shop ledgers and tottering off towards his desk. He called after him, "Where's the gearbox you mentioned? I might as well deal with that before I die of youthful recklessness."

[Gim Sprockett]

The gnome opened his mouth to go into another rant, but something stopped him, for a change. With a tight lip Gim turned the pages of the notes. He saw interesting pictures, but also scribbles. Scribbles he knew held great insight. Scribbles he knew not how to read. And yet... he felt no despair, no frustration. The gnome was taken back to his childhood, when he first smashed a gearbox in a tantrum, and instead of reprimanding him, his father walked him through its reconstruction. What little functional connections Gim's then-adolescent brain could comprehend... amazed him.

Airships excited Gim to the core, but right now... he was not excited. Something beat inside him, something akin to his heart, but not the same. There, glazing through the pages, the gnome touched something within him he nearly forgot. The drive to learn. To gain knowledge. To whet a desert within.

Slowly Gim turned to the old gnome, so fascinated with the arm.

"Notwen." He said, with more brevity than Gim ever mustered. "I beg you."

The gnome's eyes gleaned.

"I want to learn."

And that was all Gim could say. Even if he was turned away, Gim would only return when he knew how to read those wonderful scribbles. He didn't have a choice.

[Danomel]

“So you want to learn do you?” Notwen suddenly spoke. Despite apperances to the contrary, he was obviously aware of everything that was going on in his shop.

Stabbing a screwdriver in the direction of Gim, Notwen spoke with a obvious fervor in his voice. “You may have the desire, but do you have the will, the patients for true learning? I wonder if you have even the vaguest notion of where you might be in a fortnight? This is not some ideal request you are making. So be sure what you are asking!”

[Gim Sprockett]

The odd calm that has possessed Gim drained away slowly; he could feel his bouncy excitement returning. It was an incredibly draining task to be serious for the gnome, for his passion translates most easily into hyperactivity and hypertalkativity.

Faced with such a question from Notwen, however, his deep underlying starvation for knowledge drove him to say a simple sentence:

"I think that this is the only thing I have the will to do."

Gim's life has always been dedicated to the pursuit of technological marvels, including both airships and knowledge. Both his freedom and livelihood have been forfeit years ago; Notwen's warning did not faze Gim.

[Danomel]

“Very well then, we shall see.” Notwen turns his attention to Matiel. “And you, do you also claim the same convictions as our young and enthusiastic, but somewhat impatient guest?”

Notwen glares from one to the other. “Tomorrow, after breakfast, we shall see how much the two of you actually know. Then I shall know where to begin and how you will be going about earning your keep.”

[Matiel Escariot]

Matiel was already moving, on his way to find Argrie's gearbox and appraise the contraption. Notwen's call made him turn and finally take notice of what these two gnomes were going on about. Here, it was apparant how detached these too have always been.

He sighed, "Notwen, I've been by your side for several months now, doing the grunt work of clerks along with Argrie. I had thought by then that I was already your apprentice."

Matiel licked his lips and glared at his old master, "With all due respect, master, it sickens me to the core that you would have to ask me that, to doubt my convictions with the kind of work you do and my need to learn it. I had thought you'd care enough to know me better. So yes, yes to your question. My conviction is solid steel. Now, if you will excuse me, I have something to attend to."

Matiel turned his back on his master, slowly of course, to step on towards the backroom. He glanced at Argrie walking towards his ledgers and called after him, "Where's this gearbox you mentioned and do call me if you need help with the numbers. You're not the only one here with math in his head."

[Gim Sprockett]

Silence slipped away from Gim within moments; whoever knew brevity could be so exhausting? It took several moments for the gnome's synapses to reboot and return to his excited, albeit obnoxious, self.

Then it sank.

With a cheer Gim hopped in the spot for a little while, waving the notebook around. Finally, he turned back to Notwen.

"Thank you! You're awesome! Uhm, d'you mind if I keep this notebook?" Gim's moustache seemed to quiver. "Oh, oh! One more thing! What do I do until tomorrow morning? And, and... A test?! How exciting!"

How much do I know? Gim thought to himself. Was he worried? Excited to show off? No, neither of those. He was, after all, in the business of learning, and the more he learned, the more he figured out how little he knows. A test would be a good probe for Gim to figure out what he needs to learn. After all, an airship is filled to the brim with the forefront of technological innovations of the time; to even dream of working with them without mastery of the knowledge is nothing but time withered away.

[Danomel]

Notwen frowned at Matiel’s receding back. Humans, what was one to expect, he thought to himself with a slight shrug of his shoulders.

Turning his attention back to Gim, Notwen responded, “Leave the notebook, but copy it if you wish!”

Nortwen glances around the room. “Both of you, we will be starting bright and early tomorrow. Obviously the first thing that needs to be done is to start your own notebooks. You need to be able to write and draw legibly!”

[Matiel Escariot]

Matiel waded through the clutter once more and finally found himself where he'd left his satchel. He wasn't done with his day yet, and Argrie had yet to tell where that gearbox he mentioned was.

He took it upon himself to find it on his own, knowing to well that whatever it was Notwen did, it always stood out as char does on paper. That turned out to be harder than he expected though. Everything Notwen did stood out of the sane and simple, true, but when placed with others of it's ilk there was little difference from one box of misbegotten gears to another box of misbegotten nuts and bolts.

He waited, sighing, for Argrie's directions once more. Everything in the back room, a uniformity of confusion.