A week from now, it'll mark 2 months since I started the first one... it hardly seems like so long, too.
Anyway, I tend to post these updates around the same time of day every day :p
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Blitukus sat then held the seemingly reality-bending lens down by his lap. He took in a deep breath, then let it out, staring into the lens.
Fale, my mother... you have had a grand adventure that will be remembered throughout history, and have set an example for future heroes and leaders. I have also embarked on a grand adventure that very well may be remembered alongside of yours... may my work set an example for future scholars and be a beacon of hope for those who have, like me, lost a loved one... it seems, perhaps, my childhood was an adventure that we both took part in... I love you, and no force in the universe will overpower that love. Indeed, this love has tamed the forces of nature through me.
In the early days of his quest, he had hoped that his mothers death would drive him to his greatness as her familys death had drove her to hers. It seemed it was becoming so. He thought about it... if he wasn't able to prevent all of this happening... he would still reach his mother, no matter what. Their souls both faced hostile forces, and the universe, friendly as it was, had a desired goal involving both him and his mother, it seemed.
Perhaps our next adventure together has yet to begin...
He looked down at the lens, and let a breath out through his nose, slowly and deeply. He stood, and set the lens down gently. He had already passed the hardest trials in the construction of this machine... now all that was left was finishing. He walked to his bed, and sat, reviewing his designs and sketches regarding the particle cannon... to handle the enormous current, the coils would have to be adamantine. It worked by tearing electrons from their parent particles, charging the particles. Then, these particles were confined and propelled by magnetic fields created by coils, and by electrostatic forces permeating on the surface of the crystal glass. A crystal was used as a lens to focus and filter the moving particles, and extreme magnetic fields fired the particles out of the barrel at unheard of speeds. As a weapon, these particles would impart their energy and charge into whatever they hit, causing the target to heat up at an enormous rate and become highly charged itself. Blitukus had another intent in mind... as these particles became entangled in the magnetic field of the portal, they would be compressed into the center of the portal, their mass and energy confined to one single fundamental region of space by the enormous magnetic field. As the total energy of that one region became very high, its gravity due to the mass equivalent would far exceed that of the planet or the portals anti-gravity... when the charge was spent, the gravity would become so strong that not even light could escape, and the fabric of space would be torn open. This rift would then be spread out by an enormous factor by the anti-gravity of the portal, propping it open to a size which perhaps a kobold could walk through. The torn ends of space and time in the heart of the portal would be controlled through the silver spheres, and would during that brief moment of the portal opening, connect with another point in space and time... a distance of miles upon miles, or a distance of decades, could be rendered effectively shorter than one foot. Blitukus smiled... most would regard this as the idea of an insane person, a rabid kobold... but Blitukus felt particularly sound of mind... he had not just known true unity and the dimensions of space, he understood them.
He reviewed his design... he needed 4 lumps of crystal glass to make into the inner barrel, 10 lumps of green glass to make into insulation and the outer barrel, 8 stacks of bronze bars to support it solidly, a stack of magnetite blocks to make the coils with, his lens to filter the particles, keeping the desired, exotic particles within the barrel that would normally either fly off or be annihilated in a collision, emerald and ruby to direct unwanted particles safely out of the barrel, and plenty of adamantine to make wiring and coils from. First, he would go after producing the crystal glass... it was the steel of glass, requiring several steps and precious materials to produce. He left his room, and switched his pickaxe for an axe. He then proceeded up the tunnel, and chopped down the tower cap that had grown in the halls. He brought the wood back, then stopped for a drink. Then, he proceeded to burn the wood down into ashes. He stopped to eat part of the way through, then continued. Unfortunately, he found he lacked something important make the requisite amount for the pearlash...
Blitukus Siegedriven cancels Make Ash: Needs wooden logs.
He needed one more... and there was one just outside of the farm room, in a normally inaccessible place. He traded his axe for a pickaxe, then dug out the far wall of the farm room, exposing the otherwise inaccessible tower cap. Then, he took advantage of the moment and dug the needed space for an ashery... he had now maximized the space, and eventually number of workshops he could place, in his work room. He traded tools once again, then chopped down that tower cap, using the wood to create the rest of the ashes. Now he needed an ashery... and he lacked a bucket. He would stop the glass production there, and leave to make bronze. He would use the extra bronze to make a bucket. He retrieved his pickaxe and went down his tunnels, digging out the needed malachite. He then hauled the malachite and cassiterite back to the smelter, and started smelting them into bronze. When he had finished pouring the molten metal into bars and waiting for them to cool, he used the extra bars he had made to forge a bronze bucket. He found he still had left-over bronze. He then retrieved a boulder and chiseled it down into blocks. He used the blocks, bucket, and a barrel to construct the ashery. He then began turning the ash into potash. It was his first time doing so, and he was slow with it... yet another skill added to his abilities. He then took his 5 year old wood furnace apart, then used the materials there to create a kiln. He did not make a magma kiln since he didn't have any more room to channel magma. He stopped for a drink after finishing... he would need 4 coke to refine the potash. He took up his pickaxe, and proceeded down the tunnel, digging out 2 lumps of coal. He noticed he was beginning to feel the effects of exhaustion... but he still had enough energy to work. He brought the coal back to the smelter, one lump at a time, then processed it into coke bars. Then, he baked the potash into pearlash. Now he needed rock crystal. He took up his pick once more and proceeded down the tunnels, digging into the rock crystal which he had previously saved for a future purpose, that purpose was here. He dug out all of the rock crystal formations that he had found, and dug out exactly 4 suitable lumps. Next, he brought the rock crystal and pearlash to the glass furnace, baking it together to form crystal glass. Half way through, his exhaustion finally got to him, and he stopped what he was doing, proceeding to bed. He reviewed his designs, and then allowed himself to sleep. That day, his subconscious brought back the dream that he had had those years ago, the portal complete, yet he didn't see his mother on the other side. He looked around... he noticed there were a couple odd devices he had never included in his design added to the machine. At the end of the portal, lay not his mother, but the landscape of another world entirely. He looked through, and found that upon crossing over, he was suffocated and sucked apart by a thin atmosphere, radiation and heat burning down on him. He immediately leapt back through the portal, and the dream ended there. He awoke, and sat for a few moments on the side of his bed. Was that planet the other world from which he received those coordinates? What were those devices?... perhaps his subconscious just tinkering with the ideas his conscious had tucked away. He stood, then continued producing the crystal glass, stopping to eat 'breakfast' and drink. He finished the crystal glass... now he decided to cut an emerald lump and a ruby lump into proper vents for unwanted particles.e walked down the tunnels, and dug out a cluster of ruby, taking the large lump of ruby back to his workshop. He cut it down into a proper shape, then did the same with a lump of emerald. Next, he chiseled out the magnetite blocks. Now all that was left was simple green glass. Blitukus began the process of collecting sand and melting it down into raw green glass lumps. He stopped for a drink early on, then continued. He found that the water of the river had always been and likely will always be the best tasting water he had known to exist. It was free of the grit common from wells, and the trace minerals within gave it a slight sweet flavor. He continued and finished producing the green glass. He now had all the raw materials he needed, although the glass still needed to be processed. First, he cut the crystal glass, forming the tubes that would compress the particles down the barrel with its electrostatic charge. Then, he cut the green glass down into structural components, the outer tube of the barrel, and insulation.
Next, he walked back into the chamber and dug the sizable alcove the device would rest in. The particle cannon alone wouldn't be that large, but Blitukus allowed for enough space for lead shielding. The unwanted particles would otherwise bounce around after being vented, playing havoc with materials they encountered. Lead stopped this. Blitukus then gathered as many materials as he could fit in the room.
It is now summer.
He stopped to eat... the plump helmets were always fresh, a sign that the plant had been conditioned by selective breeding over long periods. He then finished and stopped to drink. When he finished drinking, he went back to hauling. Soon after, the cave river gushed... his farm room had been dug open! This meant the cave river had done him a favor, and watered his farm for him. He smiled and thanked the river. He continued hauling until the day bad arrived. He stopped, feeling worn out from the night spent essentially moving heavy things. He went back to his bed, and immediately allowed himself to sleep. That day, his subconsciously generously offered him the dream to continue perfecting his designs... but a strange noise woke him up in the middle of the day. He couldn't identify the noise, or locate it... it was likely just Dracha having fun, taking a break. Despite not being fully rested, he finished the hauling, then smoothed the alcove to make a proper surface to build on. It had to be aimed exactly... if the beam missed, the results were guaranteed to be instantly lethal. He finished smoothing, then looked around. The cavern was littered with materials and stone that would likely have to be cleared.
:p
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Topic: A Kobold's Quest II (Read 76152 times)