(070) Dnulnefluv

[waysoftheearth]

The skiff is already a distant thing in the blasting wind; 200 or more yards nearer to the Alcazar. It's difficult for Dieter and Olaf--squinting into the wind--to see whether Olaf is aboard at all. But it is apparent that the air-ship has righted itself and is turning about, toward them...

[Eris]

Olaf continues to maneuver the skiff back toward Dieter and Torban. He will try to reduce the boat's airspeed and look for a way to make it go lower for a landing. Maybe there is a lever or second wheel that turns up and down rather than left and right...

Olaf's goal is to land the skiff near Dieter and Torban...hopefully land, not crash.

[waysoftheearth]

Olaf soon gets a feel for the skiff's helm; the great wheel is 3ft broad and requires much turning for a relatively small change in the angle the skiff's three banks of sails. Each of the main vertical mast, and the two masts that lie almost horizontal (one reaching forward to either side of the skiff) carry a bank of kite-sails. Altering the angle at which the wind deflects off these walls of canvas and impels the boat at a counter-angle.

There are also two hand-over-hand cranks; a stride to either side of the helm. These require two hands to turn and would ideally be operated by other crew, but at a pinch Olaf can employ one of the three mechanisms at a time. The crank to the right controls the pitch of the skiff; angling its bow up into a climb or down into a dive. The crank to the left controls the yaw of the skiff; angling the bow left or right without changing the direction of travel.

So now he unsteadily guides the skiff in a huge arc to circle, he presumes, the location he last saw saw Dieter and Torben jumping among the red dunes--a few hundred yards back. Soon the sharp wind is buffeting across his left shoulder and the Alcazar is behind him, and within another minute he finds he is forced to tack the skiff hard to the left and hard to the right alternatively to come back into the fierce wind.

It becomes slow going; Olaf feels he could almost jump off and run quicker, but when he spots Dieter and Torben again in the dunes he realises this isn't so...

It seems plausible that Dieter and Torben could jump up onto the skiff if it made a low, slow pass. Landing it might prove... tricky?

[coffee]

Dieter is willing to try to jump for it.

[verhaden]

Torben

Torben looks back at Dieter and nods.

Why not?

[waysoftheearth]

We'll just wait to see whether Olaf still wants to attempt a landing, or merely a low pass...

[Eris]

Olaf jumps back and forth between the controls as he tries to slow and lower the boat. He is aiming to land it in what looks like a sandy area just beyond where Dieter and Torban are standing.

Olaf, not knowing that Dieter and Torban are thinking of jumping, is still going to attempt a landing. Heaven help us all!

"I hope I don't kill myself trying to land this thing!" Olaf mutters under his breath.

[waysoftheearth]

Landing the skiff would normally require three crew who know what they're doing to work together. Olaf has just barely come to terms with the helm, and is but one man. The ref gives him a fool's hope of pulling off a miracle landing: 2d6=5, but Alas! The Gods turn a blind eye...

Olaf, Dieter, and Torben please prepare yourselves for a grand entrance into thread 73

Please do not post until I write the skiff into play...