Ming, Tse, Belaletrix, and Dirk were drinking at one of the new taverns that had opened on the square. Belaletrix asked the group, "What do you think the Zonian's want more than anything else?" Dirk said, "To conquer us, and turn us all into slaves." Belaletrix smiled and said, "Sure, that is their end goal, but right now, what do they really want?" Ming leaned in and said, "Gun powder, and the secret of our guns." Belaletrix pointed at him and said, "Exactly, and what are we doing right now?" Tse got a horrified look on his face and said, "Sending small ships with guns onboard out on their own.....to be captured!"
Kaiya, Portsmith, the head of the shipyard, and his lead designer were drinking in the shipbuilding. They were talking about how to build the fastest ships. Kaiya started sketching a ship unlike anything the others had seen before. He said, "Long before the days of the current ship building, my ancestors built ships like this. They were basically two canoes with beams across them to make a deck. They called them waka-taurua, and they were the fastest things on the sea. Tightest turning, most stable thing you can sail. With the right sails, they could do 30 knots." The others crowded around his sketch, they offered upgrades based on their experience, and ended up with a design that made them all smile. Portsmith added his new sail design and said, "How fast could we build one?"
Ned had gotten pretty bored; he hadn't caught a mouse in weeks. All this time on land didn't sit right with him. He saw that one of the newer, smaller ships was going to be leaving at the wharf soon, so he snuck onboard. The little ship was on a two-week mission to watch for invasion fleets, and that was just fine for him. After they had cleared land a good way, he came out on deck and made himself known. The crew laughed at his presence and chided him for sneaking on board, but they were happy to have him.
Arya got the ping from a telepath on one of the search ships that just went out, "Ned is onboard with us." She laughed to herself at that cat's antics; he sure did love to sail. She and Beth were starting the twins on school lessons. Beth said they needed to begin their lifelong learning process, and the longer they waited, the harder it would be. Bran seemed fascinated with books, and her daughter wanted to swing a sword, chip off the old block she was. Arya laughed and remembered her father teaching her. She missed that man and her mother badly. Beth started teaching Bran words, and Arya took up one of the tiny wooden practice swords they had given their children and began to engage Catelyn in battle. Catelyn tried to copy her mother, holding one hand behind her as she swung. Arya commended her, recalling how her instructor had taught her. Syrio Forel had trained her very strictly, and so she began to begin the same process with Catelyn. Any daughter of hers was going to know everything about how to wield a sword.
Through the telepath that was with them, the treekin council was privy to the deepest intel discussions of the defense forces. The particular question of how to undo the Zon's fog tactic was uppermost in their minds. The treekin understood magic far better than anyone else in Westeros, and they hoped that they could craft a counter to Zonian magic. They discussed at length spells to cast that would dissipate fog, and in fact were working hard on spells that would disrupt any magical spells. One of their eldest sages said he remembered a ring that one of his teachers had that would dispel any magic cast around it. They searched through the treasures they had brought with them and found it. They studied the spell that had been cast on the ring deeply. After several days, one of them had an idea of how the ring had been enchanted. They began the work of perfecting enchanting other objects with the spell and increasing its range. A fog spell similar to the one the Zon witches used was cast, and the newly enchanted statue was brought into the fog. The fog cleared wherever the statue went; they had a functional fog deterrent, but it also negated any other magic in its vicinity. They made 10 statues like this and sent them on the next vehicle north. They had to carry them in the last car, because the statues disrupted the propulsion magic for the lead car.
The Kaiya launched three weeks later; it had 4 wind propulsion tubes and was 50 feet long. Its mast was 35 feet tall and carried one triangular sail, with attachments for sails in front of it. They put a statue on the front of each hull. and it had three guns, aft, prow, and center that swung 360 degrees. Portsmith gathered a crew from young and old sailors; he wanted them to learn the new sails and the new craft. A couple of bored men-at-arms went with them, and Kaiya went to try to teach them this new boat style. One of the telepaths who had never been to sea wanted to try it out, so he went too.