After several more days of recuperation – and being waited on hand and foot by Amelia, despite his protests – Zahnrad is finally allowed to move about without his 'nurse' hovering around him. Repairs to the dam have been coming along, with only a few minor setbacks here and there when people had to wait for a particular piece to be rebuilt.

Zahnrad has chosen this particular day to do a bit of research in town, since everyone else is busy with the repair work, or else wondering why Zahn's father Andre was invited to the town council meeting today – something of a precedent, since no Wingnut has been invited in generations. Even Amelia had to finally return home and report to her father about the Necromancer incident, so there wasn't anyone left who could tell Zahn to take it easy and rest.

Pottery Shoppe
Stonebarrow's pottery is supplied by the Potter family, naturally enough. The general lack of metal dictates that ceramics need to be used for certain things, such as cookware. The shelves of the store are packed with dishes, bowls, pans, pots, jugs, cups and jars. Behind the counter, between the store and workshop, are more shelves and racks full of ceramic pipes, fittings and other plumbing essentials, including hand-pumps, faucets and sinks.

A Skeek woman sits behind the counter, looking especially plump beneath her clay-stained apron. Like all of the Potters, her forearms are wrapped in cloth bandages to keep clay and silt out of her fur (and vice versa). The small claws on her naked pink hands have also been filed so that each one can be used as a different sculpting tool. "Why good day! How can I help you?" she asks, with typical Skeek perkiness.

Zahnrad leans his walking stick against the wall. "Ah, yes, you possibly can," he says and walks to the counter with a slight limp. "I'm curious as to how strong the ceramics you make here are. I have a certain … project that needs a strong, explosion resistant ceramic, made to specific shapes… "

"Explosion resistant?" the woman squeaks in surprise. "Do you mean for a boiler?"

"Kind of, yes. It needs to be able to resist high heat and pressure," Zahnrad says with a nod and leans lightly against the counter. "Two parts, really, a central core in the shape of a triangle, and an oblong chamber that it would reside in. I can provide exact diagrams. I'm just curious if you can make it… "

The Skeek considers this for a moment, then asks, "Well… that depends. Just how hot do you mean?"

"Around boiling water temperature. The outside would need fins to help keep the temperature down," Zahn explains.

"Oh, that's not a problem," the woman says. "At least, heat-wise. Everything we fire can handle that. But pressure is another matter. And… um… is this internal bit you mentioned supposed to move?"

"Yes, on a modified axle, producing a rotating motion," Zahn says with a nod. "It shouldn't hit the walls, merely glide against them. That does mean, though, the tolerances have to be really close."

The Skeek frowns in thought, then says, "Just a moment," before climbing down from her stool and waddling to the back shelves. There she busies herself looking through some boxes full of paper.

Zahnrad leans heavily against the counter and uses the time to straighten and contract his leg, working the joint. He winces a bit.

The woman sorts through various papers, selecting one out every so often. Finally she closes the boxes and brings the papers over to the counter, then takes out a pair of thick glasses from her apron pocket and looks them over more closely. "Hmmm," she goes, along with making several other noises as she reads the dense scrawl covering the papers.

Zahnrad cranes his head, trying to get a better look. "You file away stuff about as well as I do," he comments.

The Skeek shuffles the papers closer to her, to keep Zahn from getting a really good look. There are a few tables with columns of numbers, but most of the script is indecipherable. "Well, I'm not sure we can do what you want, Sir," she says, somewhat apologetically. "We can make things that withstand heat, and things that handle pressure, and things that move… but not all together. The best we can do is axle-mountings for carriages, and even those need specially ground and polished river stones to use as bearings. At the temperatures you mention, all of our lubricants would break down."

"Well, removing the issues of lubricants, can you make it?" Zahnrad inquires, not giving up that easily. "I'm certain alternative lubricants can be found to use. And I can provide the secret structural designs to work from, which I doubt you'd find anywhere else… "

"I suppose we could make the individual parts, roughly," the potter admits. "But finishing them to be really smooth… we're limited by the coarseness of the polishing grit we have."

"Right. Well, can you not polish them to a point, then use a light glaze on the final product to finish smoothing it out? That does give it a glass-like surface, doesn't it?" Zahnrad asks.

"We have some glazing that does that, but I don't know if it's been tested for heat or friction resistance before," the Skeek notes. "It's mainly decorative. I'm not sure if it can be polished down any finer than the ceramic itself."

"Well, anything new is always a challenge. Doesn't mean it shouldn't be tried," Zahnrad quips. "So, what would the costs be to attempt a rough prototype?"

"That depends on how big it is and how soon you want it," the woman says, smiling and perking up now that things are moving towards a deal. "And what grade of ceramic you want. We can go from cheap chalky clay from the Milk Run, or heavy clay from the Mint, or even glass – but that's really expensive."

"Well, I would want to build a quarter sized prototype for testing purposes before attempting anything really large. Materials wise, probably cheap to mid-grade, as it will at least help determine what would be needed. I suppose you'd need actual blueprints before you can quote a definitive price?" Zahnrad asks, then leans in closer. "And whatever plans you get from me would have to remain absolutely secret. I can't have the designs become common knowledge. The last thing I need is more nosy otters."

The Skeek blinks at this last part, and whispers back, "Oh my… are you a Wingnut? Is this something for the dam?"

Zahnrad arches his brow. "I'm Zahnrad Kettenrad Wingnut. And no, not for the dam. For a personal project I'm working in conjunction with … well, someone from another town," he says.

"Well… if you can provide a plan for each individual part, we can have different people work on them," the Skeek says. "Nobody needs to see or know about the other pieces, then."

"That I can do. The parts are moderately complex enough I'd need to do a design for each, anyway," Zahnrad nods in agreement. "I can give you the most complex upfront and could you work a cost off of it?"

"Yes, for that particular piece," the Skeek says. "Really, each piece would be a separate job and would need to be priced out separately as well."

"Yes, but I'm assuming I can do a rough extrapolation for all the parts, if the most difficult to build is priced first. It wouldn't likely be more than N times that cost, where N is the number of parts, or so I figure, anyway," Zahnrad remarks, then shrugs. "I can give you a couple of plans in a few days or so. It's not like I can do much else right now." He looks a bit annoyed about that, too.

"Well, that should be fine then," the Skeek says. "Oh, and I know what it's like to be out of the action. Ever since my pregnancy started to show, I haven't been able to work the pottery wheel. But if I'm not at the counter when you come back, just ask for Harriet. That's me, Harriet Potter."

Zahnrad nods. "Right. It was a pleasure to meet you. Thanks for talking to me about this. I should see you again in a few days," Zahnrad says as he pushed himself off the counter.

"Ta-ta!" Harriet says, and goes back to the shelves to return the papers she had dug out earlier.

Outside, the late-morning traffic of the town is a bit subdued. The town square is empty of stalls and carts today, with most business being conducted inside of shops and the tavern. The notable exception to this is the fountain, where a Lapi doe dressed in gauzy black lace holds court over a gaggle of younger girls. Adolescent male Kadies, Akwavi and Skeeks tend to slow down on their errands to watch – either with appreciation or apprehension. Many of the girls are also wearing bits of black clothing or accessories.

Outside of the Frog and Peach, a bird-man sits on a bench, along with a young antlered Lapi boy, apparently watching the gathering as well.

Zahnrad limps his way towards the gathering, leaning most of his weight on the walking stick as he approaches. He tries to listen in on whatever she might be telling those of the town who can't think for themselves…

Axel has managed to get some replacement clothes since his last bout with self immolation. He's wearing a copy of the outfit Miss Weaver made for him, and it matches his feathers beautifully. "Kalvin, you must never become a Necromancer," Axel whispers to Kalvin as the two watch the girls.

The women talk in whispers, not easily overheard without approaching much closer. The leader is clearly Clover Chalk, dressed even more bizarrely than before in a few layers of black lace that could have once been table-cloths or curtains, over black bandage-style underwear. Parsley sits next to her, dressed somewhat similarly, but all in white, and with undyed hair.

"Mmm-hmmm," Kalvin replies, more interested in gnawing on a sweetened stick than anything else.

Zahnrad being Zahnrad and lacking much tact, just approaches closer. "You should be careful dressing like that, given we just dealt with an undead invasion," he notes. "You might be mistaken for one of his followers."

"There will be a time when we must leave this place, and that time may be soon," Axel continues in whisper, being on a whole more lucid than usual today. He leans forward and peers at the approaching Zahnrad with those eerie red eyes of his. "Zahnrad is well. Did I help with that?" Well, not 100% lucid.

As one, all of the females turn to glare at Zahnrad, and a few of the Kadies even hiss in warning. Clover doesn't reply, but all conversation stops while Zahnrad intrudes on their space.

Zahnrad is unphased. "And you should know, evil isn't 'cool'. I've been closer to it than any of you. I've seen the abyss," Zahnrad notes, then shifts his eyes to Clover. "Well, closer than most of you, anyway."

"What does a Wingnut know about being cool?" whispers one of the girls, a bit too loudly, and the whole group begins tittering. Parsley smiles apologetically to Zahn, while Clover just ignores him.

"I know it's an illusion and a pointless endeavor," Zahnrad remarks, shrugging the comment off. "I'm here as a friend, more or less, to give Clover here a warning from someone who came close enough to death to open his eyes to a few of the secrets that haunt this area."

"Light … darkness … " Axel peers at the scene, and especially at Zahnrad, as he whispers to Kalvin about whatever's caught his attention now, " … and Zahnrad."

Clover does turn to look at Zahn now, with an amused expression. "Really, Zahnrad, just because Amelia beat you up is no excuse to go all dramatic. It's unbecoming," she remarks.

"Do you have any more of those sugar sticks Kalvin?" Axel looks away from the group to peer at the boy, and he looks curious, his brow raised.

Kalvin reluctantly offers Axel one of the chewing-sticks. "Parsley said I have to chew more," he says.

"Parsley is very kind," Axel tells Kalvin. His tone suggests that's as good a reason as any to do what she says.

"She is a pain in the backside though too," Kalvin claims.

Zahnrad chuckles, and focuses his gaze on Clover. "Corpses in the dark, Clover. A pile of death, beneath the soil, feeding that which should no longer live," Zahnrad replies flatly. "Being an unwilling participant in a Lich ritual gave me some … interesting and eye-opening visions on things that go on around here … and beneath here. Be careful of that which you play with in the depths, Clover. It will eventually destroy you. And all your 'cool' won't rescue you." And with that, Zahnrad turns and limps away.

The girls go back to whispering behind Zahn's back, but he can't tell what they're discussing now. The Kadie can see Axel and Kalvin on the Tavern bench ahead.
Zahnrad waves slightly over towards Axel, then makes his way towards the other two. "My knee still doesn't work right," he remarks to Axel when he gets close. "It's constantly stiff and aching."

Axel pops the sugar stick in his mouth and chews it, the stick hanging out of the side of his mouth and wiggling when he chews on it. "I think she cares," Axel says. He chews a moment as if thinking on it, and then nods. "Yep." He looks up. "Hello Zahnrad. You are looking awake. I do not know if you are awake." The bird peers at the leg the Kadie mentions, then asks, "Do you want me to try?"

"It would beat limping around slowly, yes," Zahnrad replies and leans heavily against the nearest building. "I'd rather be old before I'm this stiff and in pain."

Axel chews on his Lapi chewing stick a moment as he studies Zahnrad's leg. He opens his mouth, pauses, closes it, studies the leg more, then speaks, as if uncertain about something. "There are risks," he tells the boy. "I know that now. Are you certain?"

"Life is risk. If you never take a chance, you never soar," Zahnrad quips, then shrugs. "Go for it."

Behind the gathering of the girls, a Kadie shaped shadow slinks around. And then a flying ball of squirrel fury launches upward, then down, smack into the middle of the gossiping group. "Ahah! I've caught all of you. Hiding your secret meetings in plain sight! Plotting the usurping of the powers of darkness, no doubt," Gunther says and waggles his finger at Clover.

The bird-man nods knowingly. "Corpses, cool, shadows and light," he tells Zahnrad in a manner that suggests they were agreeing on the same point. To Kalvin he comments, "Watch closely," before Axel leans forward further. As the man reaches for Zahnrad's leg a heat haze envelopes his hand, a tell-tale sign that Axel is about evoke magical forces.

"Hey!" "Get him!" "Squeak?" come the various cries from the group of girls, and Gunther is suddenly tackled by several teenaged Kadies.

And the battle is on! Time to see if a gaggle of girls can hold onto a squirmy and determined Kadie!

Despite his willingness to fight dirty, Gunther can't help but be overwhelmed by sheer numbers. The three Kadies wrestling him slow him down considerably, and then the Lapis, Skeeks and Akwavi start to pile on when they see he can't hurt them.

Axel's hand feels like any other hand upon Zahnrad's leg – at least for a few seconds. Then, suddenly, his leg is in an almost uncomfortable feeling of heat. At the same time the human's hand bursts into flames which, luckily for Zahnrad, don't actually set him on fire. All this heat makes the boy feel better though, as if the heat is eating his pain and soreness away.

"Hah! My death will only spur on others to destroy your evil plot!" Gunther declares as he's finally wrestled down, then piled on.

As the healing flames do their work, the air begins to shimmer darkly over the pile of squirming teenagers at the fountain. Clover and Parsley both move away, as a few curls of smoke begin to waft up from the pile.

Zahnrad seemingly ignores Gunther and his dive into darkness. He probably gets to see that play out rather frequently. "Ow. Is it supposed to be that warm?" he asks, resisting the urge to pull away. He then sniffs the air and comments, "Do you smell smoke?"

Kalvin points to the pile at the fountain, and says, "I think they're on fire."

The bird-man's expression steadily blanks as he continues his healing. Zahnrad's seen other users of magic concentrate on their spells and it seems that Axel, like the others,must maintain some degree of concentration too. Given he doesn't exhibit this level of focus on creating fire the boy may guess that healing is harder work than burning things.

The girls begin to notice the building heat, and try to scramble away - but not quickly enough. With a loud WHOOMP! and flashes of fire, along with the rattle of items falling to the cobbles, the clothes of everyone in the pile puff away into ashes!

Zahnrad reaches down and taps the back of Axel's head soundly. "Hey you, stop. I think we have a problem near the fountain… " he says, sounding a little worried. "Er, check that, I know we have a problem… "

The healing flames cease immediately when Zahnrad taps Axel's head. The bird-man glances around quickly, looking a little lost, then stares at the naked women. "Are we getting naked then," he asks, sounding disoriented.

Squeals of alarm pierce the air, as the naked girls panic. All around the square, people stop and stare, and the boys in particular move in closer. This causes the girls to run around, some diving into the fountain, some Akwavi not bothered by it enough to stop grabbing up any spilled loot. In the center of it all, Gunther is still trying to squirm free of his captors, the cobbles around him littered with whatever gizmos he may have had in his pockets.

"They don't look hurt," Kalvin reports, and chews on his stick.

"No. We're not," Zahnrad says and grabs his walking stick. He makes his way toward the ash covered group. Gunther is just cackling manically as he fights for his freedom. "The Angels strike down all those who work in darkness," he declares. "Nudity to the betrayers!"

"Is that true?" Axel asks Kalvin in regards to angels cursing betrayers with nudity.

The Kadies holding onto Gunther suddenly realize he's naked now, and that they are as well, and all but one of them scatter! Unlike the Lapis and Skeeks, the squirrel-girls have no trouble escaping the square – the simply leap and climb over any obstacles. The remaining Kadie squeaks once, and then faints on top of Gunther. Some of the boys in the square give chase to the remaining Lapis and Skeeks, who do their best to dodge and vanish into alleys and doorways.

Kalvin just shrugs. "I've never met an angel," he explains.

Totally unphased by being naked, Gunther pushes on the fainted Kadie. "Vengeance is mine," he says smugly, and apparently unconcerned that he's completely naked. "Gunther!" Zahnrad snaps. "Do you have to always cause a scene?"

A few of the Akwavi girls who retreated to the fountain hoot and whistle at Gunther, while on the other side of the fountain Parsley has her paws covering her muzzle in a look of amused horror, as her eyes flick back and forth from Axel to the carnage. Clover has already vanished, somehow.

Axel nods slowly. "Angels must be very unusual," the bird-man comments, sounding mystified. He glances back to the fleeing girls and watches the slower ones. "Somehow, I think that this will not improve Clover's mood." The man stands up, wings flaring as he stretches. "I'm going to check on her." Then he's walking right towards her.

"Hey, I didn't do it," Gunther insists as he gets up to his feet. He winks towards the fountain, then faces Zahn. "It's not my fault that the powers that be sought to wreak havoc upon their … OW!" Zahnrad silences his brother by whacking the top of his head with his walking stick. "Go home," Zahn orders.

From her hiding spot in a shadowed alley, Clover seethes, and doesn't notice Axel coming her way at all yet.

"That was a neat trick," one of the otter girls says, coming up to Gunther. "Teach us how to do it?" she asks. Several other otters back her up, and a few boys who overhear look their way as well, muttering, "A trick to make girl's clothes disappear?"

Gunther polishes his claws on his chestfur. "Sorry, trade secret," he insists, then ducks as Zahnrad makes another swing for his head. "I'm going, I'm going!" he replies quickly to Zahn.

Hiding as the Lapi woman is, it takes Axel some time to relocate Clover. If she had simply fled the scene entirely it's doubtful he'd have found her at all, but eventually he does find her. Without a word he walks right up to her.

"What do you want, freak?" Clover snaps at Axel, shaking in anger.

Axel's wings flutter nervously at Clover's venom, but he presses on. "I was wondering," he pauses, tilts his head, the corrects himself, continuing, " … I am wondering if you are all right. I have heard you seem "down.""

As Gunther dashes off, Zahnrad rubs his temples. "I'm sorry for my brother. He's a bit … enthusiastic," he says in an attempt at an apology to the otters still present. "He's also an idiot," comes a cold, harsh, voice, from a nearby store doorway. And at that, Deirdre walks onto the scene. Today, she's dressed in yet another outfit made entirely from rope. "Boy, it just gets better and better," Zahnrad grumbles.

"I'm FINE!" Clover yells, and actually thumps Axel on the chest a few times with her balled-up fists. "You… you just stay away from me! You and that Zahn! You aren't burning me up!" Almost in tears now, Clover turns and runs away down the alley.

Half of the otters break off to chase after Gunther, while the others stay and smile to Deirdre. "It's DeeDee!" one chirps. All of the boys that where hanging around or searching for hiding girls suddenly have better things to do, and hurry away from the rope-clad Kadie.

"Oh." Axel says in response to Clover's insistence she's fine. He doesn't even try to stop her from hitting him, and when she' runs away he whispers, "All right." Only after she's gone does he reach up and rub his chest, looking down. After taking a half step away from Clover he stumbles a bit and catches himself on the wall with his free hand.

Deirdre looks rather smug as the others scatter. "They learn quickly," she drolls, then smirks. She nods to the remaining girls, then turns her attention towards Zahn. "And you, have you nothing better to do than cause more problems?" she snaps.

"Now look here," Zahnrad snaps back! "I've caused nothing here today. In case you haven't noticed, I'm not exactly able to walk well, much less cause a stripping riot."

Oblivious to whatever else is going on, Kalvin calmly crosses the square towards the alley he saw Axel go into, until he sees Deirdre. The Lapi changes course to approach her from behind, and actually tugs on her tail.

"What?!" Deirdre snaps, spinning around … and then has to look down at Kalvin.

Axel shifts to drop his back against the wall that propped him up. With his face now visible to the people in the square, onlookers can see he looks pained and even green in the face.

"How many knots?" the boy asks, looking up at the Kadie's face. He points to her clothing.

"One thousand, three-hundred and forty two. Eighty of them are slip knots, the rest are square," Deirdre replies. Behind her, Zahnrad sighs and tries to use this moment to slip slowly away.

"That's a lot of knots," Kalvin says. "Are they to remind you of important things?" Off to the side, Parsley is trying to avoid the Kadie girl's notice, as she makes her way towards Axel.

The bird-man tries to push himself straight again, then falls back as he grabs his mouth and shudders.

"Yes. They remind boys to keep their hands to themselves," Deirdre comments, grinning a bit. "No touching unless invited." Zahnrad has made a fair distance from Deirdre, when he sees Parsley scurrying off towards Axel. Concerned now, he heads that way, too.

Parsley reaches Axel, and puts a hand on his shoulder while squatting down in front of him. "Are you okay?" she asks quietly. "Did you wear yourself out with the magic?"

"Touching?" Kalvin asks, then looks around. "But they all ran away from you. Is it like a fishing net then? For catching fingers? What do you do with the boys who get caught in it?"

"Clover hurt me," Axel answers once he manages to speak without dry heaving. He looks up at Parsley with watery eyes, then steps towards her and, after putting a hand on her shoulder and looking her straight in the eyes, asks, "Do you like me?"

Here and there, a girl comes out of hiding to run off in some other direction, now that the boys are gone.

"Educate them," Deirdre says darkly. "And they've learned well, see? They all ran this time… "

Parsley smiles, and says, "Of course I like you, Axel! What a silly question." She even leans forward to kiss him on the forehead.

"What's going on? Zahnrad asks as he gets close to Parsley and Axel.

"I don't get it," Kalvin says. "If you wear this to catch them so that you can teach them to run away… why wear it?"

"Because beforehand, they didn't run. They grabbed," Deirdre comments. "You'll understand when you're older."

"Clover hurt him," Parsley explains to Zahn.

Axel suddenly smiles, and that green cast to his complexion melts away. He breathes a sigh of relief before hugging Parsley tightly. "Thank you," he whispers.

"Hurt him, hurt him how?" Zahnrad asks, looking back and forth between the two. "What exactly happened?"

"But… they ran away," Kalvin persists. "Do you want them to try to grab you? It doesn't make sense."

"No, I'll grab them when I want them," Deirdre explains.

"So… you want them to run so you can chase them later then?" Kalvin asks, looking confused. "I caught a frog once."

"Well … chasing them can be rather fun, yes," Deirdre concedes. "Why did you catch the frog?"

"She said … " Axel winces, looking a little nauseous again, " … I should stay away from her. That I'm not burning her up. I don't think she likes me." The last sentence seems to hurt Axel most as he clamps his mouth shut and hugs Parsley harder after it.

"I wanted to see what it felt like," Kalvin says. "It had black spots and was really slimy." He shakes his hands as if trying to fling off goo. "I let it go. Have you ever caught someone you chased?"

"Axel … she doesn't like anybody. Don't beat yourself up over that," Zahn points out and shrugs. "Why did she think you would burn her up, anyway?"

Parsley gives out a little squeak from the hug, and glances towards Zahn. "Clover was probably just afraid from the time Axel overheated me."

"Well, yes, I have," Deirdre comments.

Zahn's eyebrow goes up. "You told her that happened?" Zahnrad asks suspiciously.

"Did you let him go afterwards?" Kalvin asks, rocking on his heels now.

"She's my twin sister," Parsley notes. "I've never been able to keep anything from her, she always knows when I try."

"The next morning I did, yes," Deirdre comments, grinning a bit evilly now.

Zahnrad's eyes narrow. "You didn't mention where you were taken, did you?" he asks in a low voice.

"Did he ever come back?" the Lapi boy asks.

Axel seems to consider the comments of both before nodding slightly. He eases up on his hug, then says, "I didn't want to hurt you, Parsley."

"Well, not in detail," Parsley says. "Just that one of the Wingnuts had to cool me down."

"He doesn't have to. I just go get him when I feel like it," Deirdre notes and shrugs slightly. She pushes her hair back and looks around the square.

"My Rughrats always come back to me," Kalvin explains, and looks around as well, finally spotting a flash of crimson. "Sometimes they get lost and I have to find them though. Like now," he says, and walks off towards the alleyway.

"Did you tie him up though?" one of the remaining otter girls asks Deirdre, in a whisper.

"Ah, right. Well, good luck hunting him," Deirdre comments absently and waves to Kalvin. At least she seems to be a bit calmer now. She heads of into the shopping districts, muttering, "Come to think of it, I should go get him again… "

And to answer the whisper, she looks over her shoulder and says, "Yes, I did. He rather enjoyed it." She grins.

A train of otters follows after Deirdre, now that Clover hasn't come back to reclaim their attention.

Zahnrad rubs his temples and sighs. "Great. Just great," he mutters. "She probably thinks it was me."

"She said you should stay away from her too, Zahn," Axel says, nodding. "She ran away crying." He glances down the alley where Clover fled.

"Oh no, she's always disliked you, Zahn," Parsley says, trying to sound cheerful about it. "Because of the flying machines."

"And she dislikes that why?" Zahnrad inquires.

Leaning against Axel, Parsley shrugs. "I suppose because you get a lot of attention when you try them out," she says. "Or maybe that you might actually fly out of here one day."

"Flying is complicated. Flying without wings must be very hard indeed," Axel tells Zahnrad. It sounds like a compliment.

Zahnrad actually laughs. "I get the attention because the otters have a betting pool on how badly it'll fail. I think they even have a multiplier added if I die in the attempt," he explains. "I just ignore them and keep trying. And yes, yes it is," he comments to Axel.

"Do you like me, Zahnrad?" asks Axel.

"Yes. As a friend," Zahnrad says and takes a step back. "Do not kiss me."

"How are you recovering, Zahn?" Parsley asks, now that Axel seems to be calmed down and acting 'normal' again. "I don't see Amy with you today." Nearby, Kalvin sits down and starts gnawing on his stick again.

Axel blinks at the insistence that he shouldn't kiss Zahnrad. "Alright. I'm glad you like me." The bird-man even smiles, looking bolstered by the friendship.

"I'm stiff, but getting better," Zahnrad notes, flexing his leg a bit to test it. "No one will let me do any real work, though, so I'm bored. As for Amy, I'm not sure where she is today."

"Did I help you, Zahnrad? You are very complicated. Your spirit, and every other I have touched. I think it would be easier to set you on fire," asks Axel.

"Yeah, I think you did. My knee isn't so stiff and hurts less when I bend it," Zahnrad notes and taps his knee. "Though, I don't think I'll be doing much climbing quite yet."

"Bored?" Parsley asks, looking surprised. "Maybe I should tell Amy to do more of that belly-dancing for you then," the doe teases, then blinks at Axel. "You shouldn't be thinking about setting anyone on fire, Axel. Not even their clothes. At least, not all the time."

"Dancing? Well, er, she hasn't exactly done any of that for me yet. I think she's worried about hurting me more," Zahnrad notes as he goes back to leaning on his walking stick. "I'll probably have to ah, be the aggressor, so to speak."

"Well, Amelia isn't like Deirdre," Parsley says, nodding. "She won't just grab you."

The man nods. "I was still working when you tapped my forehead, but was interrupted." Axel gives Parsley a surprised, then suddenly worried, look. "I didn't mean … " he shoots Zahnrad a glance and upon seeing he doesn't look worried nods to Parsley, " … I meant to say that it would be easier to set Zahnrad on fire, not that I wanted to set Zahnrad on fire. Fire is easier. It is like breaking something."

"Too bad you can't use Axel's fire to make an airship go," Parsley jokes to Zahn.

"For which I'm thankful. I'd prefer not to be grabbed," Zahnrad notes, then looks at Axel funny. "You know, have you considered asking the local witches for help in learning control?" He then blinks, and then blinks again. "Who says I can't? I … hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm." That hmm is a bit worrying. He eyes Axel.

Axel looks at Zahnrad and does not seem to comprehend the dire threat of a Wingnut suddenly realizing he'd make a nice engine. "Asking a witch is very complicated. I have been told:" He ruffles his feathers as he clears his throat, and then says, ""We must find answers on our own," and "The path to wisdom is strewn with shadows," and things of that nature. I do not know what they mean. I think focus requires being mysterious." His mimicry of both Morgan's and Isolde's voices is uncanny, almost perfect.

"Oh no, don't you get any ideas about… did you say all that, Axel?" Parsley asks. "Can you do other voices too?"

"Heh, you should have asked that Natasha woman, then, while she was still here," Zahnrad notes. He shakes his head and looks to Parsley. "Can I ask you something?" he asks, sounding nervous.

"Other voices?" Axel tilts his head, looking puzzled. "I have only one voice – which is two."

"Oh… what is it, Zahn?" the doe asks, her attention momentarily split.

"I need advice on something, well, uh, nice to do for Amelia. I, er, well. I'm no good at being … romantic," Zahn admits.

"You could give her a chewing stick," Kalvin offers.

Parsley taps her chin in thought. "Hmm, romantic… and Amelia. This could be tough," the doe admits. "That's a side that Amy very rarely shows. Even when we were kids, I don't think she ever really talked about it."

Zahnrad nearly jumps out of his skin when Kalvin speaks. "Ack, don't surprise me like that!" he grumbles. "And I don't think that would impress her." He gives Parsley a disappointed sigh, then nods, "I'll improvise something. Hopefully it won't explode."

"Well, you could try just… a nice intimate meal, perhaps?" Parsley suggests. "Flatter her, talk about how you feel. She already likes you, so you don't have to worry too much."

"You could make her something, Zahnrad. A … " Axel's voice trails off as he seems to realize he has no concept of engineering what-so-ever. The bird-man shrugs apologetically, then waves to Kalvin.

"Armor?" Kalvin suggests, thinking Axel meant for him to say something. "Something frilly, like Parsley has on?"

"Heh, an intimate meal would require a secret place. You know what Gunther is like. He'll try to spy, somehow," Zahnrad notes. He glances skyward and says, "And I should be heading back home soon. Otherwise they'll get worried and I don't need anymore people worrying about me."

"You can't make armor out of lace, Kalvin," Parsley claims.

"Oh," Kalvin says.

"Well, you could always talk to your mother too," Parsley suggests to Zahn. "She might have some good advice."

"Amelia has brothers," Kalvin offers. "Maybe they would know what she likes."

Zahnrad snaps his fingers. "Right, I could ask her brothers," he notes. "Ah, discreetly, of course. Say it's a thank you gift for helping me recover."

"Carrot cake," Axel offers lamely. Apparently romance isn't his specialty either.

Parsley closes her eyes and goes mmmmmm at the mention of carrot cake.

"I think that only works with Lapis," Zahnrad notes.

"How can you make carrots out of cake?" Kalvin asks.

"I have not yet figured that out," Axel confesses to Kalvin. "I tried, but I was told what I made was not carrot cake."

As if to explain just what he made, Axel lifts his hands, makes a sort of lumpy form with his hands together, then spreads them suddenly as if to indicate an explosion.

Zahnrad shakes his head. "All right. Really, I have to go. You two be careful. Parsley, keep an eye on Clover. I suspect she's dealing with very, very, dangerous things down below. Things better left buried," he says.

"I will, Zahn," Parsley says. Then offers, "Oh, and Amy likes to be scratched just behind her ears."

Zahn nods, "Good to know." He then turns and walks off, the limp noticeably less than it was earlier.

"I hope Clover isn't a necromancer," Axel worries to no one in particular. Then he smiles at Zahnrad. "If your leg hurts, please, come and see me. I don't think there will be naked girls."

"Oh, Clover can't do any magic," Parsley says. "Because I can't. And I should get you two boys out of town before those girls come back looking for whomever made their clothes burn up."

"Oh. I'm afraid," Axel tells Parsley, and he sounds like he means it.