[Luna POV]
Once the city was in view, it didn’t take long to find a place to dock the ship. Once everything was settled, I checked to see if Skadi and Ophidia were ready for me to pick them up, but there was nothing. I then turned to Velvet and Soleil and spoke.
“First things first, lets head to the guild branch that I was told close to here. I want to get the guild’s opinion on sky creature materials. If they can’t tell us anything here though, I’ll go to the Main Office later and do it.” (Luna)
“Alright.” (Soleil)
“Sounds good to me. But what will we say if they ask where we got them from?” (Velvet)
“We’ll think of that when we get to it.” (Luna)
“Why would I expect anything else?” (Velvet)
I went below deck and placed all the materials in my inventory.
{Luna, why didn’t you just keep them in there in the first place?}
“I took them out when those inspectors were boarding. It would be pretty suspicious if a ship wasn’t carrying something in the hold after all. And we both know that S-rank status isn’t a get out of jail free card.”
{I thought we agreed to wipe that thing from our memories.}
“We did, but it needed to be brought up in this particular situation as an example.”
Once I was done picking everything up, I rejoined Velvet and Soleil on deck and we then disembarked from the ship. I then stored it in my inventory which caused me to get several surprised looks from other people.
“Fufufu. Those surprised faces are nice in a way.” (Luna)
“Luna, just how bored are you right now?” (Velvet)
“My boredom has accumulated a bit, but it’ll be alleviated when we go around this and other dwarven cities.” (Luna)
“Soleil.” (Velvet)
“I know. I’ll keep her in check.” (Soleil)
‘Tamamo, how do I respond to that?’ (Luna)
{I don’t think you’re supposed to.}
“Let’s go.” (Luna)
I then started walking in a direction and my two companions quickly followed behind me. After some time of moving around a somewhat crowded dock, we managed to find the guild branch and headed to it.
“Ugh. I hate crowds, especially with my particular constitution.” (Luna)
“I agree. Though I’m also impressed you managed to avoid touching anyone with your tail. I didn’t think you’d manage for a minute or two.” (Velvet)
“It was way harder than you think since my other tails are only hidden, so I was basically waving all seven of them around frantically avoiding people.” (Luna)
“Is it bad that I kind of want to see that?” (Soleil)
“No, I feel the same. It would be a funny sight.” (Velvet)
I ignored their comments and just walked into the guild branch. Inside was the usual cliché kind of guild branch. A quest bored on the wall, bar on the side, reception counter along the back wall. The only thing that made this one unique was that the bar was busier than the rest of the guild. We walked up to the reception counter and spoke to the dwarven receptionist. He was a dwarf as expected and his beard grew to just below his belt. It was braded with some kind of metallic thread that reflected in different colors depending on where the light hit it.
“What can I do for you three ladies today?”
I placed my card on the desk and asked for a private room and someone that handles appraising materials.
“Right away, ma’am. Please follow me.”
The reception dwarf was actually pretty calm when he saw my card and he led us into the back of the guild to a large room.
“I’ll go get the appraiser.”
He quickly left the room and about five minutes later he returned with a tall demon man. He had leathery looking wings, eyes that were purely crimson, and wore one of those things that people wear when they inspect jewels. He also wore a black and red suit. All in all, the air he gave off was like he was about to ask for a contract where I’d use my soul as payment.
“Madam Luna, I am this guild branch’s appraiser. Pleased to make your acquaintance.” (Appraiser)
“Nice to meet you, as well. As you know, I am Luna, and these are two of my party members, Velvet and Soleil.” (Luna)
The two nodded in the appraiser’s direction and he moved to sit in front of us. The receptionist then bowed to all of us and left the room.
“Now, may I see the materials you need appraised?” (Appraiser)
I pulled out a few of the sky creature materials and placed them on the table in front of us.
“I have the appraisal skill, so I know the information about the materials themselves, but I don’t have a clue what they’d be worth if sold or what they would be useful for.” (Luna)
“Hmmm. I’ve never seen materials like these.” He picked up what looked like a scale from that sky alligator. “Extremely light, and it feels durable. Might be useful in making armor and shields. Can you tell me where you got these and also if there are any more and of different types?”
“That’s a difficult thing to answer. There are more types from different things, and we do have a lot of the stuff. The difficult part is where we got them. It’s not that I can’t tell you, but more like nobody else will be able to acquire these for a long while.” (Luna)
“Hmm. That is a bit of a conundrum. How about this, you give us as much of this stuff as you can and the guild can pass them around to trusted crafters. They try to make things from these materials and depending on what they figure out, we price them according to that. As for the place you got these from, it would probably be better to say, even if a more reliable way to get them from more people is still a long ways off, it’ll be better for the guild to know so when that time comes, we’ll be prepared.” (Appraiser)
I glanced at Velvet to get her opinion and she subtly nodded her head.
“Alright. The place these materials come from is the sky. More specifically, in and about a mile under the clouds.” (Luna)
“Eh? But how is that possible? How were you able to travel at that altitude and withstand the pressure up there?” (Appraiser)
“There’s pressure up there?” (Luna)
“Of course, there’s pressure up there. And at the altitude you’re talking about, it should be so much that you’d pop like a bubble.” (Appraiser)
“Hmm. Well, that’s a whole other thing that’s even more difficult to explain.” (Luna)
The room stayed silent for several minutes while all of us tried to figure out what to say. The first one to speak was the appraiser.
“*Sigh* This is all above me in what I can do. I feel like this inquiry needs to be taken up with the Grand Guild Master. While I will still hold to the offer of letting craftsmen here look to see what they can do with these materials and pay you accordingly, I’m afraid I don’t have the knowledge or experience to deal with secrets even S-rank adventurers can’t part with. In my personal opinion, only the Grand Guild Master and those in central can deal with advising you in this regard as they are the ones that manage all S-rank adventurers in the truest sense.” (Appraiser)
I looked at Velvet and Soleil to get their opinions on the matter and they gave me their opinions telepathically. I then turned back to the appraiser.
“I think it’ll be best if we take this up at the Main Office. Thank you for your time and I apologize we couldn’t give you all the information you probably wanted.” (Luna)
“Worry not, Madam Luna. These things happen. If you ever change your mind or have more materials you aren’t sure of and are in the area, please feel free to ask for my assistance again.” (Appraiser)
We all stood up and shook hands. The appraiser then left and I turned to the others.
“Well, now that this is done, shall we go and explore the city while we wait for Skadi and Ophidia?” (Luna)
“Might as well.” (Velvet)
“I wonder if they have any specialties here. Food or trinket wise.” (Soleil)
“If you’re hungry, just say so.” (Luna)
“I’m hungry.” (Soleil)
“Fufufu. Then let’s go and find something to eat.” (Luna)
We left the guild and entered into the main part of the city in search of food.
Chaos Realm:
Grey: OI! Don't foist that responsibility on me. I don't know what to do with that stuff either.
Calm down, Grey.
Order: You'll figure something out.
Atmos: I believe in you.
Grey: Atmos, where did you get a cheerleading outfit?
Atmos: Crisis.
Grey: ...Do I thank her, or ask her why she gave that to you in the first place?
Atmos: I don't know.
Anyway, now they know why flying races don't fly that high or know about sky creatures.
Order: Is it due to Luna's ship being divine artifact that they can survive the pressure?
Well, Luna would probably be able to survive it normally, but for the most part yes. That's why the first generation of flying ships are going to be forced to fly lower.
Grey: Well that's to be expected. I give the mortals around 300 years before they figure out a way to survive the pressure of where Luna likes to sail.
Atmos: How generous. I give them 700 years.
I'll throw in my own opinion and say 900.
Order: I put my money on 500.
Grey: Guess we wait and see now.
Indeed.
Now I imagine harpies with old school diving suits. The ones with the big metal hemets.
...and wore one of those things that people wear when they inspect jewels.
You mean one of those... monocle-ish microscopes? A jeweler's loupe or something along those lines iirc?
Yes
@Paytoechip a jewelers loop isn't really something you just wear. For one the magnification is so much that you wouldn't be able to see much from that eye regularly and secondly it wouldn't really be comfortable to hold with your face for any extended period of time.
A series of magnifying lenses than could be swung up or down Infront of a pair of glasses would be better but would still be a noticable addition of weight to the glasses, think like double the weight of regular glasses.
Source: used jewelers loops for a while at work and have a set of magnifying lenses that clip onto glasses.
Grey: ...Do I thank her, or ask her why she gave that to you in the first place?
obviously both
My money is on Atmos, she is after all the Goddess of fate.
But I’m a Fate-weaver, so I have a pretty good chance as well.
Grey: ...Do I thank her, or ask her why she gave that to you in the first place?
Atmos in a cheerleader outfit? Thank, obviously.
“Of course, there’s pressure up there. And at the altitude you’re talking about, it should be so much that you’d pop like a bubble.” (Appraiser)
So, I'm a little confused... I'm assuming he's talking about the lack of pressure at that altitude, but it doesn't work like that. If you throw someone in a hard vacuum they still won't "pop" or anything... they'd rupture some stuff like ear drums, some exposed liquids would boil, and I forget if you freeze before asphyxiating, but you still end up as a frozen lump of meat. There's not nearly so much gas, dissolved or otherwise, to win against the tissue strength. If my memory is correct... in theory, provided you don't try too hard to hold your breath, you should be able to survive a vacuum for at least a few moments. That's how not popping it is.
My boy, magic.
It is as the appraiser said. Cause, remember things up there dont fall, They float. So the pressure difference in the sky fish and the atmosphere is enough to counter gravity and make the fish float. Still doesnt make sense how there is high pressure in a high altitude place, though.
Still doesnt make sense how there is high pressure in a high altitude place, though.
A magical world where common sense is broken, I mean stars don’t exist
@Anameaname
So the pressure difference in the sky fish and the atmosphere is enough to counter gravity and make the fish float.
Buoyancy has a requirement that the thing floating (the sky fish) have a lower density than the medium (the atmosphere in this case), so there's no way that can be an explanation if the pressure is super low. If things would "pop like a bubble" then the potential displacement difference to anything with lower density is negligible.
@kaithar Hey people, Payto said, Magic
@Crisis I'm fine with magic as an explanation as long as the rules are self-consistent to the extent it doesn't break the immersion. I have no issue with flying fish being magic, it's the mundane humans and basic physics I'm concerned about
@kaithar No, I mean, there is gravity magic, so maybe the fishes have resistance against it or something. And also, there is nothing outside of the world, just void, so maybe that could be it.
@kaithar I'm not saying that high up is low pressure. Its high pressure up there. Thats why I said
Still doesnt make sense how there is high pressure in a high altitude place, though.
.
@Crisis yeah, that's fine for why the fishes are there... it's just that the danger is not how fleshy beings in vacuums work. Heck, it doesn't exactly explain why the fish wouldn't suffer the same fate, since the small ones shouldn't be strong enough to resist something that would inhume the party members.
@Anameaname High pressure has ever bigger problems, like an upside down atmospheric gradient, the risk being implosion, drag increasing meaning that flying that high would significantly slow the ship... having high pressure up high means one of three things:
1/ Enough atmosphere to make a correct pressure curve down from there - Everyone on the ground gets crushed by the pressure.
2/ Some weird gradient reversal using gravity magic so that the pressure increases as you gain altitude - I think the biggest problem would be the crazy amount of exceptions and handwaving to allow weather to function correctly... I'm not entirely sure how water would behave under that much atmospheric pressure but I think mid-air puddles are possible from what I remember of gas giant mechanics... wind wouldn't be sensible for sure, compression heating might make the upper atmosphere hotter instead of colder... Basically, the gods would have to do way more work to keep everything survivable if they made it this way.
3/ At some point, as you gain altitude, the pressure stops dropping and starts increasing... either gradually or with a hard layer boundary supporting a second pressure gradient - Cursed on multiple levels and highly noticeable... Luna would definitely have immediately realised something was screwy and wtf'd at it.
Basically, if the pressure was high up there, Luna should have noticed pretty quickly that their speed dropped as they got higher in precisely the same way submerging into water goes. It's a total drag.
@kaithar Idk, a racial ability maybe or something.