Airship

Vessels that can sail through the sky with the help of magic and lightweight albar at their core.

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Overview

Airships are all the rage right now and are the most popular way of travelling mid range distances across the country. Their early constructions look similar to that of large sailing vessels and the ships have a large albar core at their center which is the same gas-filled rock found in the floating islands that migrate around the world.
With the relatively new invention of this technology, a surge of exploration has swept the nation in an excited rush to sail above the seas, stand upon the highest floating islands, or maybe even see who can circumnavigate the entire world in one trip.
When empty the ships have a natural resting altitude, which typically is designed to be just above ground level so that it can be accessed and loaded via a raised platform or docking area. Many ships have flattened bottoms so that they can rest on land if needed. Their design evolved directly from seafaring ships and has only changed a little over the years.
The size of the ship, weight of the cargo, and the skill of the crew will impact on how fast it can fly, but most commercial airships can travel between cities in a matter of hours.
Adventurers and naturalists aren't the only ones with an interested in aviation however. The military forces of the world will have an unmatched advantage over land based troops, and buildings have rarely had to defend themselves from above. Furthermore, the arrival of airships has given rise (quite literally) to a whole new kind of pirates...

Movement

To gain altitude, the crew uses heat magic to agitate the gasses trapped within the albar core, causing it to become lighter and raise the airship, and to lower it they simply use cold magic.
The ships have magnificent sails much like those of seafaring vessels, and a large fin-like rudder at the back that protrudes more upwards rather than down, as it doesn't need to sit in any water. With their combined wind magic, the crew of the airship uses skillful collaborative effort to move the air into the sails for extra propulsion.

Docking

Magic casting begins as soon as cargo is loaded onto the ship in order to keep a steady balance as weight is loaded. Each vessel has its own maximum capacity but stays within limits to be able to control altitude easily. Many of the heavy crates and barrels have albar slabs beneath them to help lighten their loads.
Then it comes to unloading, the crew maintains the balance of the airship by using cold magic so the vessel doesn't suddenly rise up when cargo is offloaded.

Contents

Components
Albar core
Related articles
Magic
Floating Islands
Academy Island
Academy of Arcane Sciences