[FONT=arial] Thane Brogar stood upon the decks, impatiently waiting while the ship descended upon the Imperial town of Eisental. Beneath him, he could see the makeshift dock tower coming into focus. A number of dwarfs stood ready to grab and secure the stay lines.[/FONT]

[FONT=arial] “It’ll be good to be on solid ground again.” said Alrick as he moved to the gunwales beside Brogar. “I reckon we will be down and secured within the hour.”[/FONT]

[FONT=arial] Brogar only grunted a response as the engineer turned to survey the pipework that carried the steam up into the balloons above. Where he stood he could hear the steam being vented instead of being carried on into the balloon core.[/FONT]

[FONT=arial] Alrick had questioned the design for years as the ship was being prepared. It was a sturdy design, based upon lessons learned from both gyrocopter and war balloon designs. The frame was made of wutroth and mountain pine. The pine was light weight while the wutroth would support the weight of the goods loaded.[/FONT]

[FONT=arial] A small, lightweight steam engine was housed at the rear of the craft. A pit of Ghomor, a high grade coal, sits nearby as a fuel source. The steam engine has a series of pipes that lead to either one of three turbine driven propellers, up to the galley above to be used by the cook to prepare meals, or into a series of pipes that lifted the steam to heat the interior of the balloon core above. The steam vents Alrick now studied were part of this latter system.[/FONT]

[FONT=arial] The balloon core, the key to the Airship design, was actually a collection of balloons filled with a blended gas mixture that rose when heated. Having multiple balloon chambers gave a better ability to control lift. If more balloons are heated, the ship will rise faster. Having more balloon chambers also safeguarded against accidental deflation.[/FONT]

[FONT=arial] Currently all steam was being diverted from the balloon chambers so the ship was sinking rapidly. As the ship neared the ground, pipes would be re-sealed until the vessel could maintain altitude and be moored.[/FONT]

[FONT=arial] The rest of the ship was designed to be functional. The helm was housed at the front of the vessel to give the captain, Kazgar Grimmson, clear view of his surroundings. A series of small cabins were directly behind the bridge and acted as sleeping quarters of the crew. The long middle section was the cargo hold. At the rear of the vessel, right next to the engine room, was a ramp that led up to the galley where meals were prepared and eaten. A door in the galley led out onto the upper deck of the vessel. [/FONT]

[FONT=arial] The reinforced forecastle housed a small, 3 pound cannon. This was Alrick’s main concern as he had been hired on to use the cannon to protect the ship. Along the gunwales on either side of the vessel were two ballistas that could also be used to fire bolts in case the ship was attacked. The balloons were secured to the vessel by a number of thick ropes and even a couple of metal cables above this deck.[/FONT]

[FONT=arial] While the vessel could normally carry around 30 tonne of goods, it currently was mostly empty. The cargo hold had been rigged with a number of cots to house the many dwarfs and humans that were making this maiden voyage to establish a trading route. With all the personnel traveling, the room and weight couldn’t be spared to trade goods. The fact that this trip wasn’t making Brogar any money wasn’t lost on him.[/FONT]

[FONT=arial] As the ship leveled out and was secured by a number of anchored ropes. Many of the villagers turned out to see the dwarf airship. A murmur went through each tavern as patrons moved outside to watch the show. This in turn led to accusations of patrons forgetting to pay their tabs in their haste to see the to do.[/FONT]

[FONT=arial] Anyone out in the street could see an honor guard of Eisental’s Margrave Hermann Mach’s household at the base of the tower. Herr Mach could be seen waiting with important members of his household as a ramp lowered and Thane Brogar Silvenback descended.[/FONT]

[FONT=arial] After some pomp and fanfare, the guards moved to disperse the crowd that had gathered as an older dwarf, Sindri the ships quartermaster and cook, setup a table at the bottom of the tower to sign aboard volunteers and check in those who were part of Herr Mach’s representatives.[/FONT][FONT=arial] A Fredrick Rikter, the steward of Eisental, was to lead the representation of the Empire on this adventure. He was a tall, thin man with a greatly angled face. He considered himself shrewd with money so was spending the time till departure trying to renegotiate those in his employee on this trip to lower the wages they would receive.[/FONT]

[FONT=arial] Thane Brogar, a portly dwarf with a midnight black beard, meanwhile, moved about the dwarf recruits as they were coming aboard and welcoming them aboard. He also informed everyone that a ship meeting would be called at sunrise the following morning and that everyone was required to attend prior to lift off. Once aboard, he recommended staying aboard but didn’t forbid anyone to leave again if they needed to gather any further supplies.[/FONT]

[FONT=arial] Anyone on board soon figured out that the important people to note were Fredrick Rikter and his bodyguard Pieter Dexter from the human delegations. Thane Brogar and Captain Kazgar Grimmson were the leaders of the dwarfen entourage. Alrick Ragnisson stood near to the cannon piece to keep anyone else away from it that didn’t belong while “Seven Finger” Sindri oversaw the loading of supplies and the restocking of Ghomor from Karak Kadrin.[/FONT]

[FONT=arial] Other dwarf and human mercenaries mill about the area and even a friendly game of chance has broken out between the two factions that is welcoming all new comers.[/FONT]