"I have no idea. There's only one door. But there's nearly infinite worlds out there, so it's probably not impossible."

Of course a safe place was too much to hope for.

"Are you taking passengers?"

"For most people, no. Bad memories. For you, a Valanda, sure. I think you're the kind of person who won't be an ass just for the hell of it, and will follow the rules if they're reasonable and I don't try to control you. And you kinda deserve a good turn after suffering as a slave, you know? It's the morally upright thing to do."

Well, he didn't interact with Valanda that much, this is mostly going off his knowledge of Har and his (don't overestimate yourself, Nick) skill at reading people. But he'll be keeping an eye on the guy and a sun mage is a really incredibly valuable resource, here in Cloudbank, it only makes sense to be as nice as possible and make friends. 

"I'm starting to really like morally upright people. How much will passage cost me?"

"Oh, let's say, half a kilo of gold." He winks.

"Sure, what do you want it made from?"

"I have some scrap wood. Can you make hydrogen, or only make heavier things out of things?"

"I can make hydrogen by taking heavier things apart. Is that how these islands stay up, there's hydrogen somewhere?"

"Nice. Yep. The rock is alive, and makes hydrogen when it eats nutrients and drinks water. A lot of the plants and some of the less Earthly animals do, too, like the ones with the floating seeds. We use those to get it most of the time. Not that this isn't an interesting conversation, but I should probably go start unloading Kar's purchases, we can talk later? Oh, I'm Nicholas Vauners, nice to meet you, Valanda." He holds out a hand to shake.

Handshake! "Nice to meet you, too. Should I be helping somehow with unloading things?"

"Not necessary. Though you can help if you want to learn how an airship works."

"I'd love to learn that."

"Then follow me aboard and I shall ramble as we unload."

He clambers quickly up a rope and unrolls a ladder for Valanda to climb from one of the doors.

He climbs carefully, aware every moment of the lack of force mages.

The ladder sags slightly as the ship adjusts to his weight. 

"First thing's first, let's teach you how to use the safety harnesses. So if you fall off in the open sky I can haul you back in. You probably shouldn't be in places you need the harnesses anyway, but better safe than sorry."

"That sounds like a very good idea."

So he demonstrates the proper use of a safety harness, throwing in a couple of jokes, and making Valanda do it himself with step-by-step guidance so he knows how.

"There's also safety rules on an airship. It accelerates and tilts, so heavy loose objects, or loose sharp objects, are a no-no. And the lifting gas is extremely flammable, so fire is also out. I can cook in a little fireproofed kitchen, though, if I'm careful. Don't throw anything overboard if you can help it, unless I say so. And please stay out of the engineering areas and my room unless absolutely necessary."

"Okay! How will I recognize the engineering areas and your room?"

"You'll get the grand tour in a minute. I think you've got the harness down well enough, though please do ask if you need to use one and can't remember how. Now, we don't have force mages, so the islands and ships stay in the air by the principle of bouyancy. Just like a boat can float on water, a ship can float on air if it's light enough. Hydrogen is very light. I can vent some hydrogen to make the ship heavier and go down, or dump out some ballast - usually water - to make it lighter and go up. My engines burn hydrogen and convert that heat into motion, which can push the ship forward..."

He continues explaining airship fundamentals as they walk through hallways into a large room full of shelves and crates and some strange machines near the roof. "And this is the cargo bay. Let's pile Kar's buys onto the cargo elevator and I'll show you how to work it.

He listens. He'll carry any boxes he's told to that are light enough.

There's some packing of various objects into boxes that he can do, that speeds him up.

The elevator runs off springs and pulleys and weights, and is very clever given that there's no force mages.

"I like your elevator! Are those common around here?"

"This one I designed myself. But things like this are fairly common, yes. We have to move things around without force magic sometimes, you know."

"Oh, wow. Do you design a lot of things like this?"

"Indeed. And I'm very proud of myself - I'm good at it. Built this entire ship about ninety percent by myself, if you don't count sourcing the raw materials."