The Inventor- Mending the Mystic Wave

The last time we saw our hardened handsome heroes, the giant eel’s attack left the main mast of the Mystic Wave destroyed, laid-over in the sea in disrepair. While the Mystic Wave, still had steam power and the forward and stern sails, the Wave would lose the bulk of its speed losing the main sail, as well as much of its maneuverability. While an angry Captain Crimson stewed over the destruction on his new ship, the Inventor brought forth his newest creation, a forging mech, to help repair the broken sail. After preparing materials for the mast’s resurrection, we find the Inventor ready to fix the mast.

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The Inventor jumps the mech back down into the hold for a few minutes, and re-emerges carrying the detached hammer attachment in a new vice grip arm attachment that the Inventor has attached.

The Inventor flips the mech’s saw into the forward position, and fires up the aggressively sharp chain. Using some of the heads up display technology he learned from working on the Gunslinger’s eye, the Inventor uses a function he created to help measure how much of the mast’s splintered stub he could cut off. After all, better to measure once, cut twice, and that was made all the easier by the measuring function he created.

The Inventor grips the splintered end with the vice grips and begins to saw through the mast. About midway through the cut, a voice calls out from the foremast. 

“Hey guys, we need to hurry up with that mast,” calls out the Marksman, hanging from the foresail line with an eyeglass in hand.

“What be the problem, Marksman,” shouts Captain Crimson in reply. 

“It’s the first ring,” yells back the Marksman.

As the heroes lift their eyes to the horizon, the long ring of upheaved Earth creeps over the horizon, towering taller and taller by the passing minute.

“We’re going to need the mast to navigate the lock,” says the Marksman, “there’s lots of white water foaming at the mouth and the loch looks quite narrow indeed!”

The Inventor turns his attention back to the task at hand. He turns a dial, causing the mini boiler grafted into the back of the mech to work double time. Steam erupts from the mech’s back and the gears and pistons now function at a blinding speed. 

The Inventor lays the saw blade back into the mask, cutting a double the speed now. Now being hastened forward by the advancing wall of rock, everything seems to be moving at a snail's pace. The Inventor finally cuts through the mast, creating a smooth face to reset the mast. The Inventor then takes the barrel and, using the saw, cuts the barrel in half. The Inventor reattaches the hammer and begins to work the top part of the barrel, now a metal ring, down into the bottom part of the barrel thickening its metal walls. He then uses it as a cap for the cut end of the mast. Then, the Inventor lights the butane torch attachment, heating and hammering the end-cap onto the mast, creating a perfectly tight fit.

“Hurry men,” calls the Inventor, “Run and tie rope to the top of the masts, I’ll need help raising and eventually steadying the mast!”

The Hero and Marksman run to the middle of the deck, grabbing several lines of rope, and then take off crawling across the downed mast, tying off in various strong points along the mast. The Inventor turns his attention to the splintered stump of the mast jutting out of the deck of the ship. He sets his saw to the stump, cutting through at blazing speed although, like the other end of the mast, it feels like an eternity to the Inventor.

The Inventor cuts through the mast, and the severed portion of the stump falls to the deck. The Inventor whips around and fires the pneumatic hammer, launching the stump. The stump flew long and far, out of sight of those on board. The Inventor turns his attention back to the remaining piece of mast still attached to the deck. He fitted the steel end-cap for the remaining mast end, finishing it with a flash of steel and flame. Then he takes the remaining lids and sits them on the cap, applying heat from his torch and hammering until the metal glows bright white.

“Hurry men, hoist the mast,” instructs the Inventor.

Every person on the ship pulls with all their might, determined to erect the large mast once more. The Barkeep and Distiller strain against the mast’s weight. Dr. Wolf transforms into The Wolf and grabs a line, pulling at it like a dog with its toy. The Gunslinger and Scribe grab a line, striving together. The Hero, Marksman, and Captain Crimson grab the mainline, pulling hard.

The mast raises, guided by the arm of the Inventor’s mech. As the mast starts to raise, the Inventor realizes that it will be difficult to get the fallen mast’s end cap to meet the stump’s end cap. 

“Barkeep, I will need help lifting the mast to meet the base,” cries the Inventor. The momentum and the weight-bearing of the lift has now shifted, so the Barkeep ties his end of the line off to the railing, then runs to help the Inventor. They would have to lift and set the mast down at just the right time, too late and the full weight of the mast would be on the base, making it impossible to lift.

The Barkeep and Inventor get a handle under the base and as the momentum starts to tip towards the end, they lift and set it on the base.

“Help me hold it steady,” instructs the Inventor as he focuses the flame of the torch, beginning to weld the base and the mast together.

The mountainous line of rock approaches quickly, the rushing loch will be upon them in but a few moments. The Marksman and the Gunslinger take off, climbing up the mast to reattach the sail, as there would be no time to once they reached the loch. 

The Inventor finishes the weld, with only a few minutes to spare.

“Drop the sail,” calls Captain Crimson, the flow of the water quickening around the mouth of the loch. The Mystic Wave disappeared around the bend of the loch.