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Nick, in a full environment suit like any sensible person would wear in untamed wilderness, is overseeing a small swarm of robots harvesting various useful plantlife from the uninhabited parts of a sparsely settled planet, when something suddenly comes tearing through the undergrowth towards him and it's not showing up on scanners-
He raises his hand-phaser, notices it has a mirror for a face and hesitates a little too long. And then he is in a clearing, cut off from his ship and 'bots, with all available sources of data telling him he just went through a jump.
What.
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So he loiters and applies tools to his armor. It'll never be quite as strong again because the inner layers will be ruptured, but once it's at least in the correct shape he re-inserts it into the suit.
"Then I will make communication things first. The easiest communication things involve running wires to the places you want to communicate with, but I'll just skip straight to wireless kinds. Expect it to take at least two weeks, and there will be chores to keep them working."
"Changing drained batteries for fresh ones, keeping a fire under a generator that produces the electricity they need and stores it in batteries, managing the way they are linked together if you add more."
"I can go over it in more detail when I actually have some communication things to present. For now, I'd better get to work. Have a nice couple of weeks!"
And he goes and finds that moneylender's grandson and explains the 'hiring him' condition on the loan, hires him, and sees about getting raw materials and a workspace.
Four days later he has a miniature generator on wheels that will take heat from a woodstove under it, and a long string of electric lights. He rents a wagon and drapes it in brilliant light and drives it around the city to advertise this new product.
And he goes and finds that moneylender's grandson and explains the 'hiring him' condition on the loan, hires him, and sees about getting raw materials and a workspace.
Four days later he has a miniature generator on wheels that will take heat from a woodstove under it, and a long string of electric lights. He rents a wagon and drapes it in brilliant light and drives it around the city to advertise this new product.
The electric light is a curiosity indeed. People keep coming to look at it.
When he has a decent crowd he launches into a sales pitch about oh how much brighter these are than candles, and they don't make smoke, and you don't need to change them every few hours, all you need to do to light an entire mansion is keep a fire going, who would like to have them installed in their building?
People want to know how much this would cost.
The lights cost three copper each, installing the wires will cost about two copper per light. The generator costs eight silver, but several people who are neighbors can share it.
This prices out a lot of people. He gets one immediate order from someone who runs a theater, though.
So he makes plans with the theater-owner, hires some extra help for the next day he's free, and spends it installing lights all over his theater wherever directed and explaining how to work the generator and use the switches he installs. The generator is designed to be easy. Light the fire under it, give it a good shove, and off it goes.
While he starts working on radios, he investigates buying an empty lot and building a large plant from which he can distribute power to homes without having to sell them all a generator. Are there any inconvenient laws or bureaucracy that threaten to interfere with this project?
While he starts working on radios, he investigates buying an empty lot and building a large plant from which he can distribute power to homes without having to sell them all a generator. Are there any inconvenient laws or bureaucracy that threaten to interfere with this project?
The city has walls around it and is a little cramped, so an actually empty lot is hard to find, but if he's willing to settle for "unoccupied" he can get one within his means in an undesirable part of town.
Adventures in being a utility company, what fun. It should be profitable at least. He starts assembling a large generator and substation in the run-down property. Before that's done, though, he has radios ready for the paladins.
He has a wagon of gear including a generator to hauled their compound and tries to find Kaja.
He has a wagon of gear including a generator to hauled their compound and tries to find Kaja.
The gate guard is able to tell Nick that Kaja is in the temple.
"Could you please have her or the Bright Sister informed that the communication devices I promised them are ready?"
"It'd be easier for you to go in and tell them yourself, I'm not supposed to leave my post."
"I was not sure I would be allowed entry. Thank you."
He goes in and asks an initiate where the temple is and whether it would be rude to enter, as he wants to speak to Kaja.
He goes in and asks an initiate where the temple is and whether it would be rude to enter, as he wants to speak to Kaja.
The initiate says he probably shouldn't go in the temple if he's not even planning on becoming a paladin.
Wait, or bother the Bright Sister?
He elects to wait outside the temple, even if it's a while before Kaja is finished. Best to be polite to those with the attention of gods, and magic.
He elects to wait outside the temple, even if it's a while before Kaja is finished. Best to be polite to those with the attention of gods, and magic.
winterlight
Kaja comes out with some other paladins in about half an hour. "Hello, Nicholas. What brings you here?"
"Your communication devices are ready. You can call me Nick, by the way. To make them work best I will need to place equipment somewhere high up in the compound, and the generator that will power your batteries requires a fire so it should ideally be shielded from the rain but in a place that is in no danger of catching fire. I can also install candle-less lights, if the Bright Sister wishes."
winterlight
"The lights would be most useful in the kitchen, probably, and perhaps an empty stall for the generator, the stable being made of stone and needing to be kept warm anyway? Unless it would disturb the griffins and winged horses. The tallest point of the compound is the temple spire but I don't think you should put things on it; perhaps the top of the novices' dormitory."
"The generator makes some noise, but I am not familiar enough with animals to guess if they will be disturbed by it. The novices' dormitories would be sufficiently high. I'd like to explain the radios to you and the Bright Sister before installing these things."