Skutawig

Skutawig

The Skutawig, "Paper Glider;" one of the lost gusbol, ancient gnomish ships from the south made by the ancient Apadian gnomes from the southwest of Sarapadia. It is made to mimic Skíðblaðnir.

Its default appearance is that of a leather tome, the size of an atlas, maybe 18"x24"x3" thick. However, when given a command, it will unfold into a small ship with capacity for up to eight passengers and some gear. The ballast access reveals extradimensional compartments for stowage, whose contents are described each on its own page. Any asterto, control mechanisms, an Dragon Seeds used to power it are listed as well. The Windvayne is its default control implement and can be used with any asterto, and there is a globe fore on the ship to store up to a dozen dragon seeds, all of which can lend power and effect to the Skutawig, making it the fastest and most versatile exploration vessel ever conceived.

When loaded with four or more Dragon Seeds, it appears made of fine vellum with silvered edges, bound in thick rich red leather which evokes a scale pattern in its design. The corners and spine are reinforced and clad with thick silver corners and edgings, and a large circular motif of a seed in the center of the book shows a dull, glowing red Dragon Seed. The knotwork on the edges is a deep azure, and the centerplate knotwork edging is in a deep green. All the edging is frosted on the edges, blending like a small airbrush added frost. It is a truly amazing atlas, and the Dragon Seeds inside energize the book itself and make it work, according to the entry for the book itself on page 1, right before the Table of Contents. The Indices are ridiculous, and the Appendices detailed, with references to blank pages that, as the book explains, will re-image when those objects are returned. Pages are added when new articles are introduced, without ever making the book any thicker or heavier. All stored information ever recorded by Skutawig may be viewed on the apparently blank pages with some arcane knowledge, some spells Omen doesn’t recognize, or something called an Enchanter’s Loupe. Omen discovers from the entries of the Dragon Seeds themselves and then marvels at the cross-referenced table in Appendix D which stones can power which artifacts by name and function, if noted; otherwise a simple “x” marks a valid or useful interaction. The line for the Skutawig is full, with remarks on every color (red, green, black, white, and blue) and, an apparently new column for a Silver Dragon Seed and a comment, “increased performance.” Also on the table are two categories of machinery, mobile and fixed. The mobile ones are named for creatures they reminded the creators of, and the fixed ones are named for their function or their effect. This is also true for weapons, but those entries are few: the Sunspear, the Ingsrod, and the Viper. The fixed machines are many, but the information is otherwise blank as the names like Pump and Bellows and Sluice Gate are pretty straightforward. The mobile machines are divided into the eorthbol and the gusbol; the former named for terrestrial machines and the latter for sea fowl. Among the eorthbol are the names Mole, Badger, Beaver, Crab, Squirrel, Wolverine, Boar, Yak, and Moose. The gusbol are listed as Blaquïngle (Black Pelican), Skutawig (Paper Glider in honor of Skíðblaðnir), Risanqi (Albatross), Fiskur (Seahawk), Doska (Sea Shrike), and Erne (Giant Eagle).

The Skutawig was regrettably destroyed when The Party fought Baba Yaga and her Hut.