Aya looked at Chā'i at the mention of the ship, before sighing ”It will probably be done in short order, given that there isn't much chat can be improved upon given what it's made out of, that being said, even with an upgrade we will still need to make a pit stop in Dylath-Leen to stock up on fo-” before she could continue she was interrupted by Maeve.
”With the situation in Dylath-Leen being as it is neither I nor Flint felt comfortable letting you stay even a moment there, so we used some of our savings and made preparations for you to not need to procure food and water for the trip” Aya looked over at Maeve, before mumbling something under her breath ”Oh I know we didn't need to but even so, you are family, even if that sister of mine is the black sheep of the family I will help in any way I can and it's not like it's a major drain on our income at any rate, so get off your prideful horse and just accept it”
Maeve looked at Aya wiith an determined expression, before she continued with her meal, leaving Aya looking somewhat helpless, a rather weird expression on her part, but one that were seemingly common where Maeve was concerned, given that none of the dwarves nor the young elementals raised an eyebrow at this exchange.
Still grumbling to herself Aya returned to her meal, looking quite annoyed, but also relieved at the news, clearly the pragmatic side of her were fighting and likely winning against the side of her that didn't want to involve others into their problems and if the news about what had happened in Dylath-Leen was anything to go by, it was probably for the best that they accepted whatever help Maeve and flint had mustered for them.
Chā'i for her part continued her meal in mostly silence, and as soon as she finished quickly excused herself to give the ship it's promised upgrades, clearly just as eager to be away from Aya as Aya were to have Chā'i out of her sight, and on her way out essentially manhandled flint to go with her, much to the amusement of both Maeve and the other two dwarves.
Aila for her part looked at the twins with an awestruck expression as they told their tales, looking even more starstruck than before, to the point she forgot all about her own meal after a few minutes of listening, eagerly latching on to every word the two said and eagerly asking questions whenever the two took a pause, eager to hear more.
Erfek took upon itself to entertain Fey and Korrie, seeing as it was pretty obvious the two weren't really hungry and it had already eaten plenty for breakfast, so it started to juggle a few nuts, an impressive feat, given each one were about half the size it was, though not as impressive as when it managed to slowly pal open the nuts, started to juggle the cores instead and ended with devouring them all, one at a time, at the end of the juggle.
As the meal ended Aya would send the others up to fetch any belongings they had left in their rooms before receiving what looked like a picnic basket from Maeve, though t was easy to guess what it was given that Aya immediately stuffed her hand into it and pulled out a rather fancy bottle containing a strange viridian liquid ”At least you didn't get scammed” she mumbled as she opened it and downed a lot of it in one go, before casually handing it to Maeve, who drank the rest with equal gusto.
”So it would seem, this is some good stuff, either way you take care now” she hugged Aya closely, before going over and giving more friendly and less intimate hugs for the rest of the group, even as Chā'i entered and informed them all she had upgraded the boat to be properly seaworthy, before she walked over to Korrie and Fey ”You two take care now, and thanks again for your help” she smiled gently and bowed ever so slightly, before she turned and walked out of the inn, without even waiting for a handshake or hug from anyone else, clearly eager to be gone from the place without insulting anyone.
The dwarves followed along the lined of Maeve, though their hugs were all quite more intimate, mostly because their shorter arms did not allow for anything else, while the fiery twins, who had been a bit sad to see Chā'i go clung to Fey and eagerly hugged her over and over while also practically demanding she return to play with them more sometime, the two clearly having taken a liking to her.
A quick trip up to fetch her bag and Aya were ready as she led the group out and over to the river where the boat where moored, a boat which looked quite a bit different now as it had a scorched look to it, but whatever else Chā'i had done to it it was clearly an improvement over the old steamboat as it no longer had the steamboat wheels to propel itself, in fact it was as if a completely new ship had been placed there in place of the old one, though a ship of obviously far better make than the one they had before.
Appearance wise the ships sootblack exterior had a strange metallic sheen to it, yet seemed crystalline and were warm to the touch, with the edges giving off a dim orange glow, the ship also now had a deck that was far higher above the ground and looked more akin to that of a scooner than the old river boat it had been, boarding it the sails could be seen to be like gossmar and shimmered like a soap bubble, though would be impossibly strong, as if they wre made out of steel when something touch them. The interior smelled faintly of cinnamon and sandalwood and were perfectly warm for everyone there, regardless of their heat preference.
The interior of the new ship was made out of what seemed to be mahogany and the furniture were artfully made with fire like patterns and dragons being the main motifs, though where were also a room with cats and other feline etchings and motifs and with two beds set close to one another that had been painted black and white, which made it pretty obvious who it belonged to.
Further down the hall were a room that seemed more like a pashas harem room than anything else, with a golden name plate spelling out Ayanthika in in stylized letters above the jumbo-kingsized bed, clearly intended for Aya to have her “fun” with and still have enough space for everyone to sleep comfortably afterwards, on the nightstand was a much smaller bed which was clearly intended for the Zoog.
Fey's room would have much more in the day of fire patterns and to anyone else would be dreadfully hot to the point of near intolerable, with part of the room literally being on fire at all times, despite not harming the walls or any of the other interior at all, nor did the flame produce any smoke.
Korries room carried the dragon aesthetic a lot and she had a big circular bed that had ben plated in gold and was encrusted with gems at first glance, though a closer inspection would reveal the gems to be made out of quarts and the gold to be paint, even so it seemed a fitting room for a pet dragon, it even ahd a giant circular blanket for korrie to use as a duvet.
There was also a smaller room that seemed to have cog-like patterns, a comfortable and exceedingly study looking bed and also a strange device that made Aila perk up at the look of it, if asked she would happily inform whomever did so that it was a maintenance bay so she could keep herself in tip-top shape without spending hours with simplistic tools and tedious rituals to ensure she wouldn't break down or malfunction, she seemed quite relieved at discovering that bay, it would seem that Chā'i had been informed about every member of this expedition and had made sure to make personal quarters for everyone.
The rest of the ship were following the main fire-dragon mix of patterning for the most part, though the engine room, which were giving of such intense heat that only Korrie and Fey would hope to get near it without several spells being cast were without much in the way of decoration, and that was because every inch of it's interior were now covered in the crystals from earlier and were surrounding what could only be described as a miniature sun that hovered in the center of the room and kept in place by what seemed to be a soap bubble attached to spiderweb like strings attached to the walls and ceiling, the heat it was giving off were so intense that no one could get anywhere close to it, not even Korrie with her amulet could withstand the sheer heat it was giving off nor could Fey though she would be able to get even closer than Korrie even without the amulet to aid her.
The crystals themselves were glowing brightly and pulsing light were disappearing from the tips of the crystals and into the ship itself, which explained the warm sensation on every surface, the ship also had a dining room which was also decorated with the same fire and dragon motifs as the rest of the interior and if anyone sat down on the chair an unseen servant would immediately present a menu with pretty much any food that the one sitting there could desire, upon discovering this Aya just shook her head ”This is just too much, with this we won't even need to make a stop in Dylath-Leen, as this is a Table of the Perpetual Feast, it will have any food you can possibly desire, in infinite amounts, the table alone is worth more than the entire inn! Not to mention the rest of the ship, if the old ship were near priceless this upgrade has a made it a damned national treasure in terms of sheer value alone, I am... almost afraid to accept this thing as a means of transport” she just shook her head, with an almost worried expression on her face as she tried to calculate just how much this ship was worth, though she stopped as she noticed a note on the table.
”Fey and Korrie, I hope you like the upgrades I have made to your ship, with this there should be no danger on the open sea that could pose a threat to you as the ship itself literally cannot sink due to the powerful enchantments enacted upon it and you will not want for food or drink due to the enchanted table, I feel like this is a far better reward for the two of you than the measly seeds we shooed you off with earlier, by the time you read this I will have returned to the Plane of Fire so it's not like you have any choice but to accept this either.
P.S Ayanthika I am sorry for getting you banned from the arena back then, it was immature of me to behave as I did and hope this can help as a means of apology for that incident as well as aid you in whatever it is you hope to accomplish here in the Dreamlands. I hope you will have a pleasant voyage. P.S I also added some clothing material in the hold as I know you are going to a very cold and inhospitable place, I am certain Ayanthika can make something useful out of it.
Thankful Regards
Chā'i
Aya just continued to shake her head and mumbled something about overkill, even as she sat down and ordered some wine from the table, which she downed in short order, clearly not sure what to make of this sudden bout of insurmountable fortune that had befallen them all due to Fey and Korrie's little skip and hop through time and space.
