Dragonlance - Age of Mortals - Conundrum by Jeff Crook

Author:Jeff Crook [Crook, Jeff]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fantasy, Action & Adventure, Magic, Fantasy - Series, Gnomes
ISBN: 9780786919499
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast
Published: 2001-12-01T08:00:00+00:00

Chapter

14

In two weeks” time, the Indestructible looked quite a different ship than the one that had sailed from Sancrist. For a solid fortnight after the adventure of the haggis burial party, Commodore Brigg had worked the crew relentlessly, re-outfitting the ship with various improvements and changes necessary for the last unsubmerged leg of the journey. For one thing, the mast and sails were gone, replaced by Doctor Bothy’s Peerupitscope. Commodore Brigg declared that they would either be a sailing vessel, or a spring-powered vessel, but they couldn’t be both any longer. Besides, they were now within a few days of beginning the underwater portion of their journey, at which time they wouldn’t need the mast and sails any longer. The mast was removed and sold to a Palanthian timber merchant, and the sails were cut up and made into new hammocks for the crew. The forward sail compartment was converted into an oil storage space and private cabin for Chief Oilage Officer Conundrum. He had his own small hammock stretched over several dozen large amphora jars filled with various local oils, and a locker for his extra pair of clean new woolen socks. The oils were for oiling the gears and springs—something that would require all his attention now that they were using only the spring engines to power the ship. Aft of the Peerupitscope, they installed the Snorkel. A network of pipes and tubes running all through the rafters of the Indestructible were connected to this Snorkel, which was in turn connected to a large bellows. The bellows were meant to pump the smoke out of the ship once the torches were lit and the ship submerged. This was a sound principle, though it hadn’t been tested yet. However, the haggis burial party’s discovery of the glowwormglobes had made the Snorkel prematurely obsolete. In the two weeks it took to re-outfit the Indestructible with the Peerupitscope, Snork, Conundrum, and Razmous spent their days building a small, compact glowworm farm in the dark hold of the bilge. Fed on a rich supply of moss, the worms multiplied quickly enough to fill several dozen small Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html

glass globes in just two weeks. These were placed strategically throughout the ship—the bridge, the engine room, the kitchen, and the head—with an ensign assigned to conduct regular feedings at least twice each day. Razmous helped Conundrum collect enough moss to make sure they could feed their ever-growing population of tiny light sources.

They were sailing south by southeast, steering for the island of Saifhum. They had no intention of stopping there, but Saifhum guarded the entrance into the Blood Sea of Istar. By the time they sighted its shores after ten days of steady going, Conundrum was nearly worn out. The ship’s spring engine provided plenty of power to push them along at a good clip, but it needed constant oiling. Finally, Commodore Brigg realized the enormity of his duties and reduced an exhausted Conundrum to the sole duty of

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