A Visit to the Spaceport

And now, for something we've been hinting at, but not addressed directly yet: Spelljamming!

Imagine a world with powerful mages wants to head out into space, how would they do it?

Well, OBVIOUSLY not rockets and shuttles and so on, they have magic!

Picture these two words "Star Ship", what do you imagine? Now, picture each separately, very different pictures, right? But, why? Ships are built to make very long voyages into the far reaches of unknown territory, aren't they? If there was just a way to make them sail in space as they do on the water...

And here's where the magic comes in.

Picture it, the legendary "age of sail" taken into space, dashing sword fights, the roar of cannon, pirates and navy captains battling for supremacy!

This is the Final Frontier of the Bandersloop Empire, and it is one they mean to conquer, for, while their own world is safe and stable, there are many evils yet abroad among the stars, and they are not going to rest as long as this remains the case...

We will cover the dangers posed by the Ilitheds, Negoi, and Hive Tyrants in later chapters, but, for now, suffice it to say there's a lot of evil out there yet for the Paladins to fight, and the Empire's fleet is out there fighting it with ballistae and cutlass!

3rd Argentum, IRSY 1066

Crule vicious mean spirited brutes!

Oh you sexy thought receptacle I've had an awful day! I mean, parts of it were nice but it was utterly spoiled by those idiot porters and that clumsy oaf of a crane operator! Why I'm hurting so much right now Mars and I didn't even have SEX!!! You have to realize by now how awful I have to be feeling to miss a day!

Let me back up and explain in proper order...

As third-floor manager for Lockson Magic Fabrics, Mars was called into work today to oversee a shipment being delivered to the spaceport. Normally everyone's on vacation until a week after calibration but this is a rush job for the navy so someone had to supervise, and he's low man on the totem pole right now...

Well, I'd never BEEN to the starport, (I've lived here nearly four years and never been till yesterday, though I've seen it at a distance hundreds of times, and if this is how they treat safety down there I should think it will be at least half a decade more before I go back!) and I've heard the shopping is choice. So I decided we'd make a day of it! Go down, oversee the loading, check out a few stores, maybe have an Ice Planet, book a trip to one of the moons for our combination birthday/anniversary celebration, you know...

Well! I most certainly should have stayed at HOME!

Things were ok at first, we got to the factory, got the cargo loaded, headed out with all the Drovers through the under mountain paths, and I was reminded that there are many women and a few men that would dearly love to break up my marriage, either because they want me, (unsurprising, I'm beautiful, but anyone who wants me for my beauty had better keep walking cause this ring means "TAKEN" and makes a decent knuckle duster,) or my husband, and that's the one that worries me. I trust him, I DO, he would never deliberately hurt me, (except our first time, and he warned me first,) but what the hell does he still see in me? I'm a succubus, just a demonic sex machine he took in like a lost puppy, and he's had all the sex he wants for four years, he's going to get tired of me, I just know it! Men want variety in their sex life, and I ran out of new positions to try years ago! I guess we have a history now, but that's inertia, and inertia runs out after a while...

Oh how the Drovers starred, and oh how it made me squirm having their lustful eyes upon me! I wanted to fuck my husband right in front of them just to remind them who I belong with. I should have done it, at least we wouldn't have missed the day! But, no, Madness was with us, no sex in front of the children, that's the law...

Anyway, when we got to the starport we split up, Madness and I to do some shopping and Mars to oversee the loading of the cargo ship. I admit I had a nice day out, for the first three hours at the starport... The long lake was busy with ships of all sizes and I admit things were going well, I'd ordered some Silurian Ice-Honey Brandy and a few other small purchases to be delivered to our home, when I went to bring Mars the Lunch I'd bought for us to share, and every possible thing went WRONG!

I was walking up to the freighter, minding my own business, when out of nowhere this stevedore spun on heel, dropped the bolt of cloth he was positioning to be winched into the hold, and went bombing down the gangplank knocking his fellows right and left and chasing a two men carrying a large chest, and moving quickly! Bolts of cloth went flying and one was headed for madness stroller! I did the only thing I could, I dove over my daughter and shielded her with my own body! One bolt hit, and that was bad, but then another cold clocked the crane operator and he was stunned, letting go of the winches and letting an entire ten-bolt-load fall directly on top of me!

The next thing I knew, I was in a hospital room, my wings, which you know are sensitive, were on fire and in a cast, and Madness was screaming "Wake Up Mommy, Wake Up! Don't Leave Me And Daddy!" In my ear!

I reassured Madness wasn't going to die and she calmed down then wanted to nurse, and I thought it quite appropriate to steady both our nerves. I asked the doctor how long I'd been **** and he told me it had been three hours, I had a pretty severe concussion and a crack in the back of my skull if the stroller hadn't collapsed under me absorbing some of the **** of the blow I might have died! Mars was out of the room at the time, apparently explaining the disaster to a constable but came running back in and begging me for forgiveness, as if any of it was his fault, the silly man! (Beyond letting me come to the docks with him, at any rate, and he's been there on this same sort of job a dozen times without trouble...)

Of course, our medical coverage is even better than the universal package, but that still does not mean they are approved to use diamonds, so I'm going to have to heal the old fashioned way. A few castings of Cure (Blank) Wounds over the coming week and a lot of bedrest.

You know, there was something OFF about the men carrying that trunk... I can't put my finger on it, but they had an unsavory aura to them. I should have mentioned it to the constable...

Yes, a constable came in to see me about the incident, took down my statement and ruled my injuries 'misadventure' and thus no-fault. At the time I was still dazed and not thinking clearly enough to mention the two men and the trunk to her, but I should have, I must recall every detail while I can...

The trunk was about five feet long, three feet high, and two feet wide, with Caspian idiographs all over it. It had iron handles on each side so it could be carried by porters, one on the narrow ones and three on the other side that I could see, but I sensed by the way the men were walking that it was not empty, as it should have been for being carried by only two. It appeared to be made of oak, but I'm no judge of woods, and it was stained and sealed which would further throw off my assessment. It was definitely made of wood though, and good pieces, I saw no joins except at the seems.

Thats all I can remember, but I hope it helps when I report it tomorrow.

Anyway, time for sleep, tomorrow, the healing begins...

P.S.: WAH! I want to fuck my husband, but I'm hurting too much to enjoy it!