>>40127187She gestures to a burned-out husk to the side, one you didn't may much attention to. But now that you look at it, you can kinda see it. A blackened metallic skull, with powerful jaws and deep-set eyes. A neck structure, with a clawed paw still attached to it. The beginning of what should have been a wing. You feel shivers.
"It's a level of magical technology so far beyond what we know today that I don't even know where to begin!" She continues. "And you know what?"
You sigh. "...That's not even the best part?"
"THAT'S NOT EVEN THE BEST PART! With some components from this, others that I found around, and a few coming from the wrecked ships and Warstriders, I've found the pieces that I was missing to finish repairing and upgrading the Swiftrider!"
"The what?" You try to remember. "Oh, that First Age mechanical horse machine? Does it work fine now?"
"Well, it worked sorta alright even earlier, but now I've customized it." She says, grabbing a cloth draped over something lying around and pulling it off in a grand gesture.
When the dust clears, you see before you a sleek, compact machine crafted from orichalcum-infused brass, steel and gold, set with Jade and glass gemstones.
"...Whoa."
"I KNOW, RIGHT!" She sounds inordinately proud about it.
"...Doesn't this thing need a Hearthstone to work?" You point out, noting the visible votrtex of Essence powering it from within.
"It should, but I came up with a backup system where it can work with the same Essence cartidges I make for fueling Essence-discharge weapons. But on top of using those, it also drains the Essence of whoever uses it, so it's really inefficient. Still, it's a way of using it for now, until we can make more manses." She pats the machine proudly. "I want you to test it."
(cont.)
