Airships
Airships are a very new invention in Ardrim. They were first developed by Tanithael a mere 53 years ago. Since then, their use has skyrocketed. They have a maximum carrying capacity of 30 tons, which may seem like a large amount, but in reality, constrains its uses greatly. Also, their range is limited due to difficulty in maneuvering in stormy weather and violent gusts of wind. This prevents them from being used to cross oceans safely, as well as making them difficult to use to cross mountain ranges, deserts, and other such extreme environments. Naturally, it still can be done, but not reliably throughout the year in a safe and/or stealthy fashion.
In military use, their carrying capacity limits their effectiveness to that of a light assault vehicle or a light transport vehicle, since this carrying capacity includes all of the inhabitants of the airship as well as weaponry, cargo, etc. A more recent development in their use is the fitting of Bombing Bays. Granted, modern bombs are not incredibly powerful, but a sufficient payload can still deal large amounts of damage, especially to structures. Their limited range can be overcome by transporting them through the use of nautical ships that tow them through the waters whilst they are put under an antimagic field to prevent them from naturally hovering. This is still incredibly rare though because antimagic fields are expensive, as well as difficult to create and maintain; and the action of towing this ship greatly slows down a fleet.
However, this constraint becomes less of an issue when used in a mercantile setting, since such vehicles require far fewer defenses and weaponry. However, their use in this fashion is far more uncommon, due to their incredibly high price and limited range. As such, they are generally only used by very wealthy merchants, generally rented by a powerful merchants' guild. It is nearly unheard of for private citizens or guilds to own any.
Another of their uses is in the form of luxury transportation. Any available airships are usually rented out by the government that owns them for a steep price. The price is made worth it due to the ease of transport and the incredible luxuriousness of these rentals. Of course, should they be damaged or destroyed while being used for such frivolous things, the renter is usually fined a large sum of money as well as being forced to pay for any repairs that need to be done.
In military use, their carrying capacity limits their effectiveness to that of a light assault vehicle or a light transport vehicle, since this carrying capacity includes all of the inhabitants of the airship as well as weaponry, cargo, etc. A more recent development in their use is the fitting of Bombing Bays. Granted, modern bombs are not incredibly powerful, but a sufficient payload can still deal large amounts of damage, especially to structures. Their limited range can be overcome by transporting them through the use of nautical ships that tow them through the waters whilst they are put under an antimagic field to prevent them from naturally hovering. This is still incredibly rare though because antimagic fields are expensive, as well as difficult to create and maintain; and the action of towing this ship greatly slows down a fleet.
However, this constraint becomes less of an issue when used in a mercantile setting, since such vehicles require far fewer defenses and weaponry. However, their use in this fashion is far more uncommon, due to their incredibly high price and limited range. As such, they are generally only used by very wealthy merchants, generally rented by a powerful merchants' guild. It is nearly unheard of for private citizens or guilds to own any.
Another of their uses is in the form of luxury transportation. Any available airships are usually rented out by the government that owns them for a steep price. The price is made worth it due to the ease of transport and the incredible luxuriousness of these rentals. Of course, should they be damaged or destroyed while being used for such frivolous things, the renter is usually fined a large sum of money as well as being forced to pay for any repairs that need to be done.
Power Generation
Iadant (soarwood), Elemental Bindings, Powered Fabrials
Propulsion
Elemental Bindings
Weapons & Armament
Ballistae, Cannons, Harpoons, Arcane Carronades, Bombards, Firespouts
Armor and defense
Plating, Hull Reinforcements, Arcane Warding
Additional & auxiliary systems
Can be modified/customized by the owner for whatever purpose they wish to use it for
Hangars & docked vessels
Small boats (requires installation of required infrastructure)
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