As the man begins to sketch something out, Donnie eases out of his seat to gravitate a little closer so he can see. It doesn't look anything like an airship, there's more than a few things it seems to be missing to fly, but maybe...if it's for somewhere beyond the sky, the things that apply here don't apply up there?

"My little brother's the artist of our family. I'm the tinkerer, I guess."

He nods, eyes still studying the simple lines that had been scratched onto the paper. "Yeah, that's what brings people from other worlds, at least that I've heard of. The Empire pulls them in to be servants..." His expression darkens at that as he subconsciously rubs at where one would have had a suppression band fitted. "I didn't know they brought ships too... That gate must be huge..."

He reaches over to pull the drawing closer if he's allowed, eager to focus on something else than the Empire and its questionable methods.

"No floating lands? Does it not have Ether? Or has the environment already been damaged from mining it?" Donnie asks as he glances back at Harlock. That seems a believable case given that they've got ships built to go beyond their world. How much Ether would it take for that? Maybe they needed to leave it?