Gnitch - Tales of a goblin

[Khorvis]

The High Inquisitor received the letter while on errand in Orgrimmar. The sun drifted past his zenith, beating down upon the dusty canyons with his seasonal fervor, and the sweat that An'she summoned from the choked pores of Khorvis could drown a gnome. For once the blackened plates of his armor made no sound as he marched into the shade of the Drag, so well lubricated were the joints with orc perspiration. Coming to Zilzibin Drumlore's shop, Khorvis commandeered a pen from the wily troll and set about his response.

Supplicant Gnitch,

Your haste does you credit. We both do know that the war waits for no mortal, and every moment that we do sacrifice in sloth, the Alliance does devour with their own machines of destruction.

I do wish to see this craft with my own eyes, goblin. You must make time at once for my inspection of this "Flotsam" and her innards. Delays only kill more loyal Horde. Inform me of the soonest time and I will take to her deck.

High Inquisitor Bloodstar

The letter is covered in sweatstains and runny ink.

[Skalla]

Skalla groaned and tore at her forest green pigtails in frustration. "No no NO! This won't work at all!" she cried, crumpling the sheet of parchment and throwing it amongst an ever growing flood of litter. When she first secluded herself in her workshop, the floor had been clear. Now there wasn't so much as an inch of it that didn't have crumpled paper reaching past her ankles. She didn't know exactly how long she had been down there, desperately trying to create the perfect propulsion formula for Gnitch's airship. After forty eight hours and having made little progress, she decided to not even bother returning to the guild hall and moved her cot in to her workshop so she could work uninterrupted. If her Jeeves-bot hadn't insisted she eat a Kodo-loaf sandwich once in a while, she probably wouldn't have eaten anything either. But now... even after Fel knows how many days of constant work, she was no closer to creating the formula. Fireweed was just too unstable! It wouldn't coalesce with the other components! She buried her face in her clawed hands. Chemical formula's were never her strong suite. That was always...HER area of expertise. The thought of seeing her again... of walking back to her with her tail between her legs... was almost more than she could bear. But there was nothing to it now, she HAD to. No one would say that Skalla Blastsprocket left a job half done!
Several hours and a long airship flight later, Skalla knocked at the door of her sister, Hyxie's, apartment in the Goblin Slums of Orgrimmar. When Hyxie opened the door, the two sisters acknowledged each other silently for a moment. "Skalla? Ya look like cleft hoof dung, what have ya been doing?" Hyxie said.
"Nice ta see ya too, sis. I need your help with something." Skalla flashed her partial formula lazily and stepped in without being invited.
"Some things never change." Hyxie said.
"I'm working on a propulsion formula for an airship... only, mines not working."
Hyxie glanced at the paper for a second for snorting back laughter. "Well of COURSE it aint working. Geez, what in Thrall's name are ya using Fireweed for? It's WAY too unstable!"
"I was thinking I could..."
"Well obviously ya couldn't, or ya wouldn't be here." Hyxie walked away to her desk, pondering the parchment, then immediately started working. After a half hour, she said "Well, the good news is you aint as stupid as you look. You actually had a good idea started here. It's the Fireweed that's the problem, you need something with the right juice, without the combustibility."
"And what would that be?" Skalla said with a scoff.
Hyxie flashed her the paper. "Arrow bloom, kodo brain!"
Skalla looked at the paper, her mocking grin slowly fading in to awed disbelief as she worked out the formula in her head. "This...ugh... this could work."
"It WILL work, no COULD about it." Hyxie snatched up two earth root blend cigars and tossed one to Skalla before lighting them.
"So, you go to the Midsummer Fire Festival?" Hyxie said, settling back and puffing away. "Pretty great show, huh?"
"What ya mean? That's not for a few weeks yet." Skalla replied, still pondering the formula.
"Sweetie... what day do ya think it is?"
Skalla scratched behind her bat-like ears "Uuhh... I couldn't have been in my shop for more than a week..."
"I'd check a calendar, if I were you..." Hyxie handed Skalla a day counter from her desk and grinned with humor as the green slowly faded from Skalla's cheeks.
"Three weeks! I've been away for THREE weeks! Gnitch is gonna kill me!" she screamed, snagging the formula from her sister's expectant fingers and pelting out the door.
"Let's do this again some time, sis." Hyxie said with a laugh, puffing on both hers and her sister's discarded cigar.

[Skalla]

Skalla groaned and tore at her forest green pigtails in frustration. "No no NO! This won't work at all!" she cried, crumpling the sheet of parchment and throwing it amongst an ever growing flood of litter. When she first secluded herself in her workshop, the floor had been clear. Now there wasn't so much as an inch of it that didn't have crumpled paper reaching past her ankles. She didn't know exactly how long she had been down there, desperately trying to create the perfect propulsion formula for Gnitch's airship. After forty eight hours and having made little progress, she decided to not even bother returning to the guild hall and moved her cot in to her workshop so she could work uninterrupted. If her Jeeves-bot hadn't insisted she eat a Kodo-loaf sandwich once in a while, she probably wouldn't have eaten anything either. But now... even after Fel knows how many days of constant work, she was no closer to creating the formula. Fireweed was just too unstable! It wouldn't coalesce with the other components! She buried her face in her clawed hands. Chemical formula's were never her strong suite. That was always...HER area of expertise. The thought of seeing her again... of walking back to her with her tail between her legs... was almost more than she could bear. But there was nothing to it now, she HAD to. No one would say that Skalla Blastsprocket left a job half done!
Several hours and a long airship flight later, Skalla knocked at the door of her sister, Hyxie's, apartment in the Goblin Slums of Orgrimmar. When Hyxie opened the door, the two sisters acknowledged each other silently for a moment. "Skalla? Ya look like cleft hoof dung, what have ya been doing?" Hyxie said.
"Nice ta see ya too, sis. I need your help with something." Skalla flashed her partial formula lazily and stepped in without being invited.
"Some things never change." Hyxie said.
"I'm working on a propulsion formula for an airship... only, mines not working."
Hyxie glanced at the paper for a second for snorting back laughter. "Well of COURSE it aint working. Geez, what in Thrall's name are ya using Fireweed for? It's WAY too unstable!"
"I was thinking I could..."
"Well obviously ya couldn't, or ya wouldn't be here." Hyxie walked away to her desk, pondering the parchment, then immediately started working. After a half hour, she said "Well, the good news is you aint as stupid as you look. You actually had a good idea started here. It's the Fireweed that's the problem, you need something with the right juice, without the combustibility."
"And what would that be?" Skalla said with a scoff.
Hyxie flashed her the paper. "Arrow bloom, kodo brain!"
Skalla looked at the paper, her mocking grin slowly fading in to awed disbelief as she worked out the formula in her head. "This...ugh... this could work."
"It WILL work, no COULD about it." Hyxie snatched up two earth root blend cigars and tossed one to Skalla before lighting them.
"So, you go to the Midsummer Fire Festival?" Hyxie said, settling back and puffing away. "Pretty great show, huh?"
"What ya mean? That's not for a few weeks yet." Skalla replied, still pondering the formula.
"Sweetie... what day do ya think it is?"
Skalla scratched behind her bat-like ears "Uuhh... I couldn't have been in my shop for more than a week..."
"I'd check a calendar, if I were you..." Hyxie handed Skalla a day counter from her desk and grinned with humor as the green slowly faded from Skalla's cheeks.
"Three weeks! I've been away for THREE weeks! Gnitch is gonna kill me!" she screamed, snagging the formula from her sister's expectant fingers and pelting out the door.
"Let's do this again some time, sis." Hyxie said with a laugh, puffing on both hers and her sister's discarded cigar.

[Khorvis]

Khorvis frowned again at the sky above the Grim Hall's courtyard. He had been expecting some sign of the Flotsam these two weeks past. Or at least a report! He began to worry that Gnitch had fallen into the bowels of whatever engine would power the airship.

"If I do have to make the peons scrape that Supplicant's sorry corpse from the airdock, I do swear to the ancestors I will have the Tempest raise him so that I might smash his skull again!"

The High Inquisitor continued to scan the sky.