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

[Danomel]

Back in the corner of the storeroom was a large cart. Upon the cart was a metal box like structure. There were several shafts protruding through holes as well as several empty holes. Inside were several sprockets and worm gears on some of the shafts. Additionally there were several inside shafts that looked like they might slide on their mounts. Everything inside the box was covered in a light coat of grease. Lying sideways next to the box was its cover with a large lever protruding through it. The lever forked on the inside and had a large ring on the outside. Just as obvious the box was in some state of assembly, not yet complete. Matiel realized that this had to be the gearbox, as there was nothing else even close in the store room.

Back out in the lab Notwen glanced at Gim. “Well, if you are just going to sit there, go lend a hand with the gear box!”

[Gim Sprockett]

Gim, lost in thought for a moment, snapped back with Notwen's orders. He grinned at the prospect of working on an invention! Not some ruddy mechanism for drawing water out of a well.

"Aye, aye, sir Notwen... Sir!" With an exaggerated salute, Gim turned towards the storeroom and waltzed in.

In his rush, Gim managed to crash into the legs of Matiel. With a yelp, Gim rebounded and fell onto the ground on his bony behind with a thud. Quickly standing up, he kicked the giant's foot in frustration, only to be hurt another time.

"Ow! Curse you and your... giant-ness!" Gim whined. He then rubbed his hands together and walked around Matiel to the gearbox. The sight of the intricate machinery of gears and screws sent shudders up the gnome's spine. He couldn't wait to get his hands on it!

"Oooooh!" The little gnome exclaimed in glee. Eyes widening to the size of cantaloupes Gim studied the unfinished box. Then he scratched his head. "Uh... Hey, fatty, what d'you make of this?"

[Matiel Escariot]

Gim startled Matiel, but the young man chose to make out nothing of it. Gim had proven himself to be quite amiable, if not irreverent, to others. He was almost of a mind to offer Gim an opportunity, but held back a moment. The gnome's attitude towards craft was not something he trusted. The enthusiasm ensured passion, but overran care. Yet, something like this could always be useful.

"I can make nothing out of this Master Gim," Matiel stepped back from the gnome, allowing him ease in both voice and space, "I may have been here for over a year, but alas my skills are nothing like those granted to gnomes at birth. Please, if you have an inkling of what we are to do with this, go with it. I'll try to assist you."

He let the gnome lead this time. Ideas are better than the actual work itself when there was nothing to work with yet.

[Gim Sprockett]

"Eh, well. At least you admit it!" Gim grinned, neck deep in his own egotistical stupor. "Well! Let's see here!"

The little gnome stuck his right thumb and index finger into his overactive mouth and then used them to curl his inflected moustache; as is his habit while in thought. He poked at some of the gears and picked up the cover, staring at it in every possible angle. Staring at the empty holes, Gim scratched his head.

"Well! Obviously!" Gim exclaimed with fervor. "This box is not yet constructed!"

The gnome beamed at his brainchild, more oblivious than legitimately stupid.

Gim's head swiveled around like a panicked squirrel, looking for any signs of the parts and tools that were needed to finish the gearbox. He was confident that with the pieces, he would be able to puzzle out how they fit together with his self-proclaimed 'gnomic brilliance'.

[Danomel]

Gim had no better luck than Matiel. While there were several shafts and various types of gears within the box, and several holes protruding at various angles, none of the shafts seemed to fit properly in any of them. There was also a long lever like affair that was mounted to the side of the box and forked out into several flat paddle like protuberances within the box. Sitting in the bottom of the box was a medium size cloth bag stained by grease and oil. There were also several blocks of metal with shaped indentations in them that did not look like they belonged to the box at all.

Argrie took a moment to stroll back to where the two were looking at the box. Glancing at Matiel, he nodded in an extremely serious fashion, for a gnome that is. In a low voice, he whispers to Matiel, “His memories worse today. Worse than its been in awhile.”

Argrie sighs. “Healers still say there is nothing they can do. Just old age they say! Just be glad you were not here last night, he had a delusional episode.” Argie kicks the gear box in frustration.

[Matiel Escariot]

"I'm not glad," Matiel whispered back at home, hoping Gim wouldn't notice their exchange. A matter such as this was something only them had the business to concern themselves with. Notwen as the master, they were the apprentices, the senior ones. Matiel had known Notwen for over a year now, learning what he could from this shop. It'd be unlike him not to care, even though he wished he didn't, "I should've been here to help with the problem. I'm an apprentice same as you. When the boss goes down, he brings us with him. This shop, is the only one of it's kind here. We can't have it's proprietor go to hell on it now, can we?"

"And besides, what cane healers do with age, anyway?" Matiel softly murmured, enough for Argrie to hear, and finished his words with him, "The problem here is that he's letting it get to him. What he's been doing with his arm earlier is already a sign. He's feeling weak and he's hoping to use his brain to help him. This could be another of those things."

Matiel stepped away from Argrie and moved towards Gim's side, "I've been here for a longer time than you, so please step aside a little and gather what you can of those metal pieces scattered about the thing. Then, try not to do anything else after that." Matiel stooped down and gathered five pieces for his own inspection, and felt the cloth bag at the bottom of the gear box.

The metal pieces he looked at and compared to each other, trying to see if each piece was different, or was a copy of each other. Then he smelled the grease coming from the cloth bag, tried to know what it reminded him off, before he touched the cloth bag again to see if he knew the texture he was feeling. Then, he took the gear box and tried to carry it, hoping to move it to a place with better light and maybe some magnifying lenses.

[Gim Sprockett]

Much too busy trying to figure out where the pieces fit, Gim neither noticed nor heard the whispers between the two. The gnome was now in his own world of thought, gears, and wrenches. Inside his head, the gnome rotated, penetrated, and reasoned out the gear box, trying to figure out its inner workings, and its completion.

In hope of figuring out with the parts, Gim examined the mess strewn about as well. Deep in thought, Gim did not hear Matiel's orders, which he would not have followed, regardless.

Feeling out the little pieces on the cart, imagining them connecting together in some fashion, the little gnome struck a block.

"Hrm..." He muttered to himself. "This just doesn't add up!"

Though his ego outsized him many folds, it was not unbeatable. Facing problems he could not reason out by himself frustrated him, but then again, that is what wakes him up in the morning, and keeps him up at night. Giddiness at the thought of learning something new flushed over him, and he glanced up at the giant.

"All right, then! Show me!" Gim beamed, ready to observe and learn.

[Danomel]

OOC: are we done here?

[Matiel Escariot]

OOC: That depends. Are you willing to go on with this thread? Matiel and gim are still working over the gear box. Matiel's action was observing the gearbox parts and the metal pieces surrounding it. So far, I still have no idea where to go with this and so is Matiel. He's just blindly going through with it.

[Gim Sprockett]

OOC: I've been hesitating on writing my summary post due to the condition of Notwen's mind. I'm not sure how that will affect Gim's learning from Notwen, and was hoping that this thread will enlighten it some. However, if you think it won't affect anything, I guess this thread can be ended, and the gear box's fate left a mystery (Probably destruction, where Gim is concerned)