This brings back memories, I haven't done this since the spiders chased me in the elven city. This time I am not in danger, I am just doing it to avoid having to deal with the city guards. While I could easily kill them, I don't see any point to, they have done nothing to deserve death. Lin says "Watching that was very satisfying, but what was that spell? I have never seen lightning act like that!" "It is basically Chain Lightning, but it is sustained as long as you feed it mana." Lin says "Chain Lightning bounces around, it doesn't create a web like that!" "It only worked like that because of their metal armor. You need to understand how electricity works." Lin says "Can you teach me?" So, as I am running across the rooftops, I start teaching Lin about how electricity works. It feels weird to be talking about science as I am running around like Spiderman. Yet at the same time, Lin feels really good in my arms and she smells good too. The looks on the faces of the city guards who are manning the wall are priceless as we fly by. When I land outside the city wall I quickly run into some nearby trees. The last thing I want to do is to give the guards time to shoot arrows at us. Once we are a decent distance from the city I stop, gently put Lin down, and drop shapeshift. Then, once Lin has climbed onto my back, I take off and fly back to the ship. When I land on the bridge, Stillwater, Brightfire, Silverstream, and Silverleaf are waiting. Brightfire says "How was it?" "Fine, I got the charts. I scanned the city but could only locate four elves. I will go back tonight to double check." Silverstream says "Only four? Do we even need to raid them?" "Probably not. If there are only four when I check tonight, I will just save them myself." Brightfire says "That's no fun!" Lin says "If it is fun you are after, you will find plenty soon." "What do you mean?" Lin says "From the charts you asked for, you are planning to sail into the northern waters?" Brightfire says "Yes, that is the plan." Lin says "The northern waters are the most dangerous waters known. Even military ships won't sail alone in those waters." "Oh? Do you know what makes them so dangerous?" Lin says "Monsters, pirates, and storms. You name it, the northern waters have it. For that reason, most of the northern trade goes by land. There are very few ports on the northern coast." "Hm, that's odd. The charts I just bought show four ports, but the map I have shows six." Lin says "That map isn't up to date. Those two ports were wiped out in the last year. One was destroyed by monsters, the other was taken by pirates. The pirates are probably using it as their base now." Brightfire says "These pirates sound like they will be trouble. If most of the trade goes by land, how do these pirates even survive?" Lin says "They use the many rivers to go inland and raid. They move so quickly that the militaries of the kingdoms cannot catch them." "It sounds like if we stay away from the coast we may be able to avoid them." Lin says "Possibly. That is all I know about them." "Just curious, but how do you know so much? The northern waters are a long way from the Magic Kingdom." Lin says "You know what my situation was like. My only social contacts were women like Henrietta, female merchants. They shared a lot of knowledge about the rest of the world with me over tea." "Oh, that makes sense. Merchants do tend to have the most recent news." Lin says "In exchange I kept them up to date with events going on in the Magic Kingdom. Especially anything that would be an opportunity to make money. I always knew what was going on because all of my suitors would constantly try to brag to me." "I can't imagine how annoying that must have been." Lin says "There were many times I tried to think of ways to blow up the entire city!" "It is a good thing we will be a long way from the kingdom when I teach you how you could do it." Lin says "You know a spell that could destroy the capital?!" "Yes, but it will be a while before you get to that point. For now we need to decide what to do about the northern waters. Originally, I had planned to wait to modify the ship, but now I am thinking it might be better to do it now." Silverstream says "You are going to make it into an airship??" "No, I can't. I am still missing some things, but there are other things that I can do now. The main problem is that everyone would need to be off the ship while I do the modifications." Brightfire says "According to these charts, there is an island close to where we will enter the northern waters. Maybe we could stop there?" "That could work. It will depend on what the island is like. It won't work if the island is too dangerous." Stillwater says "We can head there and take a look. If that won't work we can just find a cove or something. How long would you need for the modifications?" "I'm not sure. Maybe a day or two, three or four at most." Stillwater says "We can protect ourselves fairly well, thanks to you. Four days shouldn't be a problem." "Alright. Once we have rescued the elves here, the island will be our next destination." With the plan made, Lin and I return to the cabin where we find the kids playing. The babies have woken up from their nap and are currently chasing Nala's tail. Nala has what can only be a grin on her face as she teases the two of them with her tail. Since the kids are occupied, the first thing I do is put all of Lin's bags by the bed. Then I go over and tend to the fire before making a chest of holding against the wall nearby. I put all of the coal and all of the meat that I have collected in my pouch into the chest. In order to do the modifications I am going to need to get more gems from the island. I plan to go alone and leave Lin here to take care of the kids, but she will need supplies. By putting everything in the chest, Lin should have everything the kids need. From the charts, it should take around five days for the ship to sail from the city to the island. That should be plenty of time for me to go and mine the gems that I will need. Other than the gems, I have already collected everything else that I think I will need. I give the kids some attention, then move over to the sand table and create a model of the ship. Then I spend some time studying the model and planning the modifications I want to make. I think about how the ship handled in the storm and try to think of improvements I can make.