Somewhere high above a foreign land, a dirigible flew. The dirigible was lifted by hot air and was powered by a very primitive form of internal combustion engine, using gunpowder as its fuel. It had two helms, allowing it to change directions without turning around, and it was armed with 6 breechloading falconets. Its pilot, who had also designed the craft, was none other than Hetman Kazimierz Bogdan Gorski the Mechanist, the elected leader of The High Tatras circa the 17th century. Also aboard was a crew of about 60 and his best and sometimes only friend, an orange tabby cat named “Amber”.
“This is without a doubt the most frightening thing I have ever attempted” said Kazimierz. “Meow!” said Amber to Kazimierz.
“I assure you that experiment was perfectly safe, it was in a controlled laboratory environment. It is not my fault that there was a catastrophic explosion that may have sent a few people to the hospital. I suppose you believe that I shall someday die by becoming entangled in the cogwheels of one of my own inventions?” replied Kazimierz to Amber.
Amber rolled her eyes at Kazimierz. The “frightening thing” he intended to attempt was to meet the Princess Alcestis Atali de Angulo of Soldati senza confini, and hopefully to initiate a romantic relationship with her. This would be no easy task, as many men had already attempted to do so, but none seemed to be good enough for her. Nor were they good enough for her overbearing father, King Carolus, who was very enthused with his daughter and had very high expectations of any potential suitor. To make matters even more difficult, Kazimierz had never had any kind of romantic relationship before. Only quite recently had the possibility of such a thing even occurred to him.
Kazimierz meticulously studied the flowcharts he had created based on what he had learned from a dancing master back in his homeland.
“I promised my Babushka that I would dance with a lady at least once every year. I must memorize these convoluted steps, no matter how ridiculous they may feel. We can stop twirling now, Amber.”
A few moments later, Hetman Kazimierz Bogdan Gorski the Mechanist and Amber both boarded a Da Vinci-esque ornithopter from their dirigible and, after a short flight, violently crash-landed somewhere in the vicinity of the entrance to a palace.
“I think that landing was about as graceful as my dancing” said Kazimierz to Amber.
