The next day he took Petra out to set up the ship, hovering about three hundred feet up, he activated the amulet in his hand, the vast ship appearing directly beneath him. The pretty girl hovering next to him gasped. She wore a simple rust colored silk outfit and light, cream colored shoes, kicking her feet in excitement as he lowered the boat. Once it was in the water she landed on the deck instantly and spun a little, looking around, her face gleeful.
“Tor! I… How big is this thing?” The awe in her voice was gratifying.
That it floated and seemed stable was also gratifying, it was always so hard to be sure about things like that. Tor pointed to the front and then back.
“Five hundred feet long, one hundred and twenty wide. Five levels, but three are above the main deck, those buildings over there? In all there are sixty-five rooms, sixty below decks, five up here. The Captain’s is the biggest, of course. The rest up here are for Rolph, Karina, Ursala and Ambassador Mutta. The kitchen should feed us all, and is probably little overbuilt space wise, at the back of the ship, inside on the first floor. I mean deck. The tubs and showers a level down from that.” Tor looked over the side of the rail and saw that the water was pumping in and out already, so that was working right. Good. If worse came to worse a big boat with water at sea was better than a big boat without. Dying of thirst on the ocean would be ridiculous, but he'd heard of it happening in stories.
Tor gestured for her to take the glowing focus stone and hang it on the post right in front of the pilot house.
“There you go Captain. You have the ship.” Tor bowed to her, a low thing that would have fit the King himself.
She looked at him mouth half open and then smiled hugely, white teeth gleaming. Then she started doing a little dance like the combat giants all did when acting playfully gleeful. It was cute on her, but freaky when some of the others did it.
“Thank you.” Was all she said, her eyes gleamed brightly and her look seemed proud and happy all at once.
Tor didn't actually get why she was thanking him for dumping a whole bunch of work and responsibility on her without asking, but he managed a satisfied look anyway, as if he hadn't been expecting to have to beg her to do it. She was the only one he was certain could find the continent of Afrak in a boat though.
They had to load using air transport, but the rear deck was large enough they could set down all the vehicles at once. They were a little close for comfort maybe, but the doors opened on the sides for off loading, so it worked. It was tempting to take them, just in case of problems, but they had a half dozen people with magic vehicles, and while they didn't get as big as a full transport, there were more than enough for everyone to get a ride if need be.
It would work. It took three hours to load everything, the kitchen being nearly as far from the transports as physically possible, but with seventy odd people, it didn't take that long. They didn't make Mutta load anything, being a dignitary, but Rolph was set to work by Petra who smirked as she did it. At sea, by long standing tradition, she outranked him. Actually as Captain she outranked them all, hence the biggest room, even though she didn't really need it.
The ship was jet black on the bottom, but the top portions had been done in a light blue color, nearly white, The railing that ran around the deck was a light wood rail, on true white stone. Tor had textured the deck so that it wouldn't be slippery when it got wet. He was sure some things had been forgotten, but it would go where they wanted and they could sleep, eat, bath and drink fresh water all the time. There were lights in each room and the hallway. It wasn't really pretty, but was just plain, not shabby. Still, he kind of held his breath when everyone started getting their rooms. He went first, just taking the room on the first floor, near the stairs, so that he could be found easily if anyone needed help. Kolb grabbed the one across from him and Wensa the room next to that. Probably for the same reasons. After that he lost track.
No one complained about the rooms, which had large beds that made themselves, and a few pieces of furniture. They were the same in each room, identical, with red carpet floors and brown soft chairs and sofas, with a table and writing desk that looked like wood. There were large windows too, each about four foot around to let in natural light. It was all shield, so it was just as strong as the wall itself, clear or not. It gave people a view at least.
That was it though. No drapes, no decorative hangings. Just a place to stay. No one whined about it, not to him at least. He really didn't know what people got on a regular boat and hoped he hadn't stinted too much. He'd been running on kind of a tight personal energy budget in a way, so it was about the best he could do safely for now.
Tor went back to the kitchen to start setting things up, and making some bread for dinner. They had fish and giant bugs for the meal, those lobsters they liked so much in Printer. So that and some vegetables, carrots and peas? It was standard stuff, but with a spice cake for dessert, it should do. It was three in the afternoon when they left, so he had six hours to get something ready. The bread first, large flat loaves, so they'd bake quickly and sheet cakes, he made four, but decided to layer them. If he was in Two Bends it would have been enough for all three hundred villagers to have some, but here, with what these giants ate he just hoped two full cakes would be enough. The recipe was so basic that he didn't have to look anything up, which was good, since he didn't have anything with him to do that with. In their hurry, no one had thought to get a set of recipes in for the trip. That was fine for baking, obviously, since he could make a few hundred types of baked goods from memory. The rest of the food would probably be a bit plain if he didn't fight to make it more interesting somehow. At least they had plenty of spices, which always made cooking easier.
The only real concern was the big bugs. He didn't have a real clue there, except that he'd been told to boil them until they turned bright red and that he needed a big pot with a lid so they wouldn't be able to escape. The idea of boiling them alive frightened him, but Holly had assured him that it really was the way it was done. It seemed cruel to him, but what did he know? They weren't exactly something he'd ever made before.
Tor set the food out Warden style and let people get their own when everyone started following their noses in at about nine. He didn't have a clock, but it was ready, so he let them eat, hoping he'd gotten the amount they'd need, at least close. If not he was sure that people would tell him. Loudly. Possibly with hitting being involved.
With a bit of creativity, he even managed a few decent sauces, and melted butter for the sea insects, which he hoped wouldn't just go to waste. He'd only had it once himself and wasn't a big fan personally, but they had a lot of them in a salt water tank near the back of the room, enough for the first week. People took them when getting food, and made impressed and happy noises about it, so it must not be that strange to them. Then again, the royals always did weird things didn't they? Giant bugs… Eeek.
Petra came and took a seat without more than a nod to him, not even smiling. She sat at the table furthest away from the food and waved him over, then Rolph, Karina and Ursala when they walked in together. They had to sit and wait for Ambassador Mutta, who wondered in, looking around, a bit amazed by the space it seemed, as boring as the decor was, just having wooden tables and walls. Polished light colored wood though, so kind of pretty. Petra got her to come over too, and stood as she approached. Rolph did as well, which meant Tor needed to get to his feet he decided, feeling a bit tired already. Karina rose, and then bowed as Mutta approached.