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[Dwarmin]

Ispil thinks both yes, and yes-the pipes could probably be closed tightly enough, and by hand...thought he would probably want to wear a pair of thick gloves to do so, lest he be burned.

Getting there is an entirely different matter.

[UXLZ]

He tries to remember if the place he needed to go to had any security. The captain seemed sure of the sturdiness of her ship and it's not like they would be expecting sabotage so even if there was any it would probably be pretty lax.

Finding the gloves could be a pain, but presumably there would be some in the room itself.

He beckons farewell to the Fire Elemental.

"I hope you've had your fill. There's a matter I've got to attend to, so goodbye."

[Dwarmin]

She(?) gives you a flaming waves, embers spitting from her(?) fingers.

"Well, keep yourself out of trouble fleshling. My name is Brenna, by the way...in case you ever return..." She(?) comments wistfully, laying back down on her bed of coals.

....

Ispil makes his way one deck up...he hasn't actually had to visit here before now, he reflects.

He pauses before his destination, looking down the hall, and judging the scene carefully.

There's a metal fence, with a inset door-padlocked-blocking progress toward the end of the hall-beyond this fence, he can see a number of pipes and steam-spitting instruments that no doubt connect to the furnace below him. Sitting astride the fences door is a chair, and what amounts to a guard sitting in the chair-a cabin boy a few years younger than yourself. He bears some strong family resemblance to Captain Catherine...he's currently lounging in the wooden chair, reading some sort of paperback book avidly. He does have a shortsword at his belt, though.

He doesn't notice you, yet.

[UXLZ]

'Brenna', huh?

What was an Elemental doing with a human name?

Ispil regains his focus on the task at hand and wonders if he'd be able to sneak passed the boy and complete his task without him noticing. It was doubtful as the swaying of the ship could make him lose his balance, and closing the pipes would probably be quite loud, regardless. Stealth wasn't going to work here. Perhaps he could convince the boy to go elsewhere. It depended on if he was here to guard, or just to be out of the way.

he wanders over, letting the boy have the first say.

[Dwarmin]

The boy looks at you over the rim of his book as you approach with a sullen teenage air. He seems to be glad to have some responsibility, though.

"Hey, ya...matey. Yer a passenger, so no admit-tance. Ain't ne'er a reason for ya to be back here. This here's the room for the fancy engines, and wot not. Wot you don't need for no reason anyhow."

He goes back to his book.

[UXLZ]

Ispil inwardly sighs. This was going to be extremely aggravating.

"I'd probably just get in the way above deck. That or get tossed overboard by the waves."

He was curious as to what the boy was reading, though. The way he spoke was... Odd, for someone who could read, and his accent was a lot stronger than his mother's. If he was the captain's son, that is.

"What's in that?" Ispil queries, motioning to the book in the boy's hands.

[Dwarmin]

The boy hides the book from your glance.

"I...um...it's ah...very...salicious...ah, matey..." he stammers.

[UXLZ]

A dawning of comprehension flashes in Ispil's mind. The boy was faking his 'Sailor's accident.'

"You... Don't have to speak like that, you know. All it really does is make you harder to understand. What's in the book, really? I don't think you'd be embarrassed if it really was something salacious, I'd take a guess that it's some sort of high-class poetry, but that might be a little too far fetched."

[Dwarmin]

He blinks.

"Um, ah...wot...matey..." he tries, obviously faking now.

"Well, okay, you caught me. Mom told me I shouldn't speak too...fancy...with the rest of the crew. Even though she teaches me how to act properly otherwise. She said that shouldn't act like we're better than them. So I bust out the sailor slang, is all. Sorry about that. It gets to be a habit.

And I'm reading...uh...well, here..." He shows it to you.

From what you can tell, it's some sort of well written adventure novel-the art does depict a woman (only semi-salicious) but she seems to be the hero of the book, rather than mere centerfold material. A dark haired woman with a saucy demeanor, no doubt-you can guess some parallels to his mother...it's got art, but the writing appears to be at least semi-autobiographical in nature, a recreation of her own journals. In the page he shows you, the woman is battling a giant crab with a spear.

"...It's the story of Jenny Crowlander, and her adventures in the New World. She and her friends were real heroes-they were the first ones to explore this place, back with Captain Maeloc-who was her, ah, boyfriend....back when there were real heroes, you know." He says, bashfully.

[UXLZ]

Ispil smiles.

"Well, I'm a passenger, as you said, so it should be alright with me. Though I don't see why speaking differently is acting like one is better than another."

Motioning to the book, he asks a few questions.

"Is it accurate to what the New World actually contains? Do you mind if I quickly glance over it? It might help me there, if it has any information on that place's... Inhabitants. I'm interested in them."

He wanted to avoid the mistake he made with Brenda, at least for the time being. From what he could tell of his personality, Ispil thought the boy would actually be impressed and curious rather than indifferent like the Elemental. He might be able to use it to help him achieve his goal, though he wondered.

"Actually, come to think of it, why are you reading in here? Wouldn't the humidity from the boiler be bad for the pages?"

[Dwarmin]

He shrugs easily, but doesn't seem willing to part with his treasured book.



"...It says alot of things...I'm not sure if they're true. Like, she fought Giant Crab Monsters with a spear, but she couldn't hurt them very much...she had to light them on fire, to cook them from the inside...or that Captain Maeloc once negotiated with the Parrakoa-the green bird folk-by speaking in riddles, which apparently is the only sort of words they understand..." He turns back to reading.

"...And, I'm only reading in here because my mother said she didn't want me to get washed overboard and have my bones turned into flutes by Merfolk...that the ship was fine, but until I was more experienced with the sea, she'd be happier if I was down here...on guard duty. It is an important job, you know. Otherwise, someone could just walk in here and blow up the ship!" He says, peering at you over the top of his page.
 

[UXLZ]

Did the boy actually suspect Ispil? He wasn't sure, it seemed unlikely. Actually wanting to blow the ship up would be ridiculous - to most people. Besides, he didn't actually want to blow up the ship, just wreck the boiler system enough for the Elemental to be free of its slavery.

"Hm, I'll have to keep that in mind then. Though I probably won't be running into too many Giant Crab Monsters. Does it mention anything else? I'm particularly interested in creatures, of the non-sentient variety."

Those would have to be done on a case-by-case basis.

"Wait, blow up the entire ship? How? Surely there's some sort of failsafe to stop that from happening so easily, even if it trashes the boiler system. Anyway, why would someone want to do that to begin with? Do you have rivals or something?"

[Dwarmin]

"...Well, there was this interesting part about the Dancing Dead. Apparently, if you make the mistake of talking to them, they follow you forever and ever, no manner how times you kill them...they can't cross water though, which is the only way to escape them...otherwise they grab you and make you dance with them...until you die...

Oh, and In the stories, there's always a villain who does something bad-like blowing up a ship. Bad people don't really need reasons. The Heroes stop the villains, usually-that's their job...life isn't like a story, but sometimes it's fun to think of it that way..." He says, arching his eyebrows.
 

[UXLZ]

Ispil thought about the boy. He seemed quite fanciful, and not likely to leave his post. He also thought about the deadline he was on, and wondered how much time he had left. He could probably free the Elemental some other time, the ship would at least have to stay wherever they docked for repairs. If it didn't seem feasible, he'd have to delay, though he'd prefer not to.

"Skeletons? Zombies? Ghosts? I wonder what they are. It'll be interesting to find out, assuming they're real. Have you ever run into anything from the New World personally, or do you spend all your time on the ship?"

"What do your stories say about monster hunters?"

[Dwarmin]

"...Me and my Ma' leave the New World for the foo...er, the professionals. We make plenty of gold, without risking Skeletons, Zombies and Ghosts...

And, the book says most real monster hunters end in the monsters bellies. That you should stick to buisness, trading and wise investments, if you really want to claim the New World. Pretty ironic..." He claims pointedly.