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| {{Info technology
| | #redirect [[Airships]] |
| |inventor = Dwarves, Ailor
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| |user = Dwarves, Ailor
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| |commonuses =
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| *Transportation of goods
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| *Rarely military engagements
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| |rarity = Rare.
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| |proficiency = Requires 25 in Metallurgy to construct, unable to be flown in Regalia.
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| |}}
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| A pinnacle of modern Ailorian and Dwarven innovation, Airships are the literal sky-ships of Ellador and its surrounding lands. Able to bridge great, inhospitable tracts of land and sea alike, they quickly rose to the mundane in their homeland, but only recently has technology improved enough to allow these machines to travel over the seas to new environments. This has provoked a mixed response from Ailor, primarily, who still have a budding and uneasy trust for the machines. Dwarves, however, continue to innovate to this day, with wildly varied results. This innovation has undeniably caused a diversity in transportation, leaving an unsettling feeling in the hearts of the more conservative races.
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| ==History==
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| With the short-lived alliance of Regalia, and Dwarves alike the infrastructure of the stout-folk innovated heavily, and their abilities stemmed from utilizing Regalian Black Powder which is how the first of Airships were created. With the help of this powder, and advanced Dwarven engineering primarily utilizing hot air-balloons that were before seen in the more basic mine-lifts in the great veins of Grebor the flying machines were born. To this day the inventor has not made themselves known, many believe that he sold his blueprints off to the Dwarven government for good coin, staying unknown.
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| This new technology puts a shock in the population of Ellador, the flying machines rising high above cities and even some mountains offered some defense against the horrid Isldarian Wyvern's that have given the Frostlings an advantage by sky for ages. The Dwarven people, unlike most other races were proudful of their innovation, and make use of it they did. Not only in land-skirmishes, though transporting exports across seas, and whatever else was crucial for the Dwarven empire which led more Airships to be developed in 306 A.C to many varieties.
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| Earlier airships, whether primarily by Dwarf or Ailor design, all had several key traits. Steam Power was absolutely necessary for them to function. These early airships used hot air to fill their balloons, and the raging fires to produce the steam doubled as a means to heat air, with the engine itself acting as a pump to keep the balloon filled, or to allow some air to escape in order to descend. Propulsion was achieved with side-mounted sails, which were fragile and struggled under strong winds, but could be retracted and extended independently to allow the craft to turn. All of these features improved as the years went by, and saw their peak at the transitional period around 299 AC.
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| Around 296 AC, entirely steam-powered craft began to appear. These were infamous for their coal usage, but didn’t rely on the wind for propulsion. Instead, these crafts used large, cloth-spanned propellers to move, and were widely known for their loud, foreboding rumble and bulky profiles.
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| Regardless of the type of ship, airships saw common use in Ellador as trade ships, and some even saw conversion into gunships, though these only saw effective use against other airships. Their improvement slowed to a crawl for a few years, with quiet, but constant improvements to design, airships began to have the range to cross the small seas that separated Ellador and Jorrhildr. From there, Ithania was only a short trip.
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| Only in late 303 AC did another significant breakthrough come. Loftoren Gas, a gas of decent stability with properties lighter than air, was discovered by the Dwarves. This gas was quickly put to use in Dwarven airships, and by 304 AC, Ailor airships have adopted the gas as well. Steam power is still necessary to pump gas in or out of the balloon, but now the majority of an airship’s power can be diverted to their propellers. Modern airships are leagues faster and have better range than even those just a few years older than them.
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| ===Airship Technology===
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| Airships are still a young and budding technology, and so far have only found manufacture at the hands of Ailor and Dwarves. Ailor-crafted ships were entirely Steam-and-Sail craft until the recent discovery of Loftoren gas. Since then, Ailor-made ships have begun to expand into new territories. This has proved frighteningly innovative by Ailor standards, but the ingenuity seems to have paid off, which some of the riches noble families purchasing decadent pleasurecraft to cause a stir. These ships and standard trade airships, however, make up the extent of the Ailor spectrum.
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| Dwarven ships, on the other hand, continue to innovate to this day, with the same hit-and-miss results they received twenty years ago. Warships are constantly proposed, but prove to be only effective against other airships. New designs that barely resemble traditional ships have even begun to emerge, but so early and so unsteady in their development, they receive little to no attention.
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| Outside of these communities, Airships are a foreign curiosity. With the limited range of Airships, they rarely fall into particularly foreign hands. The extent of their adoption by foreign races is usually the use of wreckages that land in Jorrhildr as shelters by its Url, Velheim Ailor and less intelligent inhabitants.
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| ==Procurement/Construction==
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| Airships are strictly illegal to be flown in Regalia, not that they’d be easy to procure in the first place. Constructing an Airship costs enough that only a higher noble family could afford them, and then that would be near impossible due to the financial nightmare that Airships pose. It is estimated everytime an airship is flown for more than a few hours at a time, there is a one in every sixteen chance a mechanical failure occurs and it is forced to make a landing, often with damage to the internalized Steam Power engines. As a result, those skilled in [[Metallurgy Arts]] are a necessity aboard any vessel, and they cannot be flown over large cities without careful planning.
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| ==Characteristics==
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| ===Physical Characteristics===
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| ===Steam-And-Sail===
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| The earliest airships are the aptly named “Steam-and-Sail” ships. Their design is simple, with only modest reliance on steam power. A small engine is still needed to fill the balloon and heat the air, but propulsion comes from sails. Fuel consumption is low for these ships, and these were the favoured vessels for Ellador merchants until the discovery of Loftoren Gas.
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| ===Steam Ships===
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| In 296 AC came the ships powered solely by steam power. These were plainly named “Steam Ships”, and are known for their infamous, thundering rumble. These ships are often faster than Steam-and-Sail ships and have bulkier hulls, but consume fuel at a much, much faster rate. These ships were and still are popular for more urgent rolls, including combative needs.
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| ===Gas-And-Steam===
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| The most common modern airship is the “Gas-and-Steam” ship, which use Loftoren Gas to produce lift, but rely on steam power for propulsion. These ships are the fastest of the lot, and sport a decent efficiency too. Gas-and-Steam ships can cross the sea from Ithania to Regalia, and are quickly phasing out plain steam ships, which are easily converted to support Loftoren Gas.
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| ===Gas and Sail===
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| The final, and one of the rarest breeds of airship is the “Gas-and-Sail” ship. These are sometimes adopted by the boldest and most ambitious of traders. While not the fastest ships, Gas-and-Sail ships are eerily silent and incredibly fuel efficient. Steam power is still used to fill or empty the balloon, but in sustained flight, steam is barely used at all. With a sufficient payload of fuel, it is speculated that these ships could make the journey to Farah’deen, but no such journey has ever been attempted.
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| ==Application==
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| In terms of crew, one or two pilots are always necessary, as are navigators, coal shovellers, and canoneers, if the ship is armed. Crews vary in size, but rarely reach above 40, unless the ship sails, in which case the number is around 60. Airship crews are famed for their specialization, but also their necessity to multitask. It’s not often that a gunner will know how to pilot the ship on which he’s stationed, for example. The bravest crew members are also expected to be “Patchers” if the need arises. This was a roll devised by Ailor, as Dwarves had trouble climbing their balloons. For this role, a crewman must climb a balloon’s rigging, and potentially onto the balloon itself to locate a rupture and patch it with a strip of airtight fabric and a needle and thread. For this reason, most airship crewmen are taught to sew.
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| Maintenance wise, airships are fairly forgiving. With no sea to gnarl and chew at their hulls, their woodwork remains fairly untouched unless exposed to cannonfire. However, all airships require fuel in varying amounts, as well as clean water. The more steam power a ship utilizes, the more coal it will consume. Water is consumed more as well, but to a less exponential degree. Balloon fabric may also need to be replaced as time goes on. Patching is a viable temporary solution, but a fresh balloon holds air far more reliably that one sporting a dozen battle scars. Frequently replacing these can be expensive, however, and it’s not uncommon to see airships sporting heavily patched balloons. Airships are famed for their resilience to cold climates, which perpetuated their popularity in Ellador.
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| ==Custom Effects==
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| Flyer’s Sickness effects most who fly for the first time. Glancing down at the ground from an Airship is known to give new flyers the shakes, and an intense round of vomiting. Along with repair tools, water, coal, and other supplies, empty wooden buckets are often kept on deck, though more often than not a sailor will simply wretch over the side of the ship, to the utter dismay of those below glancing up at the flying vessels.
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| ==Trivia==
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| *Crew members who frequently work on steam-powered craft are famed in [[Ellador]] for their powerful voices. Due to the noise these craft generate, the crewmembers are often forced to yell to communicate, which helps develop a powerful set of lungs.
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| *Airship production has been spurred on by the ascent of King Andinn Blackhammer in Ellador, with potential research into an Airship’s ability to combat winged creatures.
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| {{Technology}}
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| {{Accreditation
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| |Writers = LumosJared, WrongChat
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| }}
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| [[category:technology]] [[category: Mechanical Technology]]
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