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.If there is just a moment to spare, there is the longer short form of it, which should take no more than a half hour, or the full form, which-" "Another time, perhaps," said the dragon with finality.The gnome fell silent."Lemborg, you may call me Kalkon, which of course is the short form of my own name.I will not trouble you with the longer form." The dragon lifted its snout the slightest bit."I complimented you earlier on the manner of your arrival here in the so-called Northern Wastes of Solamnia.The show was pleasingly extravagant, as spectacular as the great sand-devil of 353, which carried off the Great Temple's western tower here.I watched the scene in its entirety from the doorway of the constables' main barracks.A very destructive expenditure of energy, to be sure, and one that required a spell of healing on my part to aid your recovery"-the dragon put emphasis on that last part- "but I do applaud your style.You must be well regarded among your fellow wizards." The gnome's mouth drifted open in surprise."What? Oh! Not a wizard, thanks, but rather with the Mount Nevermind Aerodynamics Guild instead.Not a wizard, no, no relation at all.And thank you for the spell.Quite pleasant, actually.Eh." Lemborg turned again to look around the room, a huge empty hall."Just landed a technojammer here, but.um, it seems to have been misplaced just now.Seem to have misplaced the landing zone, too-was aiming for Mount Nevermind.Hope that new-model technojammer isn't lost or.anything.Perhaps some light could be shed on just where that silly thing seems to have-" "You are a tinker gnome from Sancrist, to the west," interrupted the dragon, nodding once with understanding."Your people build mechanical things that blow up." Lemborg grimaced."Well, now, not all of them do, of course.That is something of a myth because less than ninety percent of all gnomish inventions for the last twenty fiscal years really ever blow up or need to be recalled for catastrophic defects in design or workmansh-" "You called your flying device a technojammer," said the dragon-Kalkon-patiently."What exactly does a technojammer do?" "Oh." Lemborg's forehead furrowed in sudden concentration.He had tried explaining this before to humans, but with little success.It was such a simple thing, too."Well, that vessel, which of course has been misplaced, is a technojammer, and technojammers fly, rather like birds only without the flapping of wings and feathers and such-more like, um, powered gliding, um, the way that spelljammers fly-or glide, rather-only technojammers, unlike spelljammers, use no magic, only machinery, though both were designed for travel into wildspace-that being the, um, nothing that lies above the world, or around the world, or really between the different worlds, and these technojammers can, um-" "You arrived here on a flying ship that could travel between worlds," interrupted Kalkon.Surprised that the dragon had caught on so soon, Lemborg nodded his head vigorously."Were you returning from another world, then?" "Oh, no, took off from here, absolutely," said Lemborg.He stuck out his chest a bit and pulled on his short white beard in pride."In fact, first-ever successful flight of an Aerodynamics Guild technojammer! A miracle of modern achievement after only twenty-seven tries, not counting the eighty-six previous programs.Got out and took the old Spirit of Mount Nevermind, Mark XXVIII-B up for a spin at dawn this morning and." Lemborg stopped.His gaze dropped, the color running out of his brown face until he was almost gray.The dragon waited, watching Lemborg carefully.Lemborg looked up, licked his lips, and swallowed."Um, pardon for having lost the thread of the current conversation," he said distractedly."Perhaps best to exchange names and addresses now and get together again as soon as scheduling allows.Yes.Certainly would be a good thing right now to find the way to that technojammer, if it has indeed been seen, then stay in touch later after the Nevermind Postal Guild strike has been settl-" "Tell me," said the dragon."Tell? Tell what? Oh, the address, it, ah, would be best to mail it over when-" "Tell me now." "Really cannot remember it right now, but-" "No.The truth." Lemborg's face radiated anxiety."Ah, nothing, really, just thought that it would be best to go before [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]