Envelope Skin

In the Manifold Sky setting, goldbeater's skins are better known as 'envelope skins,' in the common vernacular. Alongside developments like endurastahl and fuel biosynthesis reactors, the development of envelope skins represented a sea change in vehicle technology, as all are fundamental elements of modern dieseltech airship designs.

History & Usage

Everyday use

Other than their original use in goldworking, these specially-treated lengths of bovine (and sometimes other animal) intestines can be folded and fused together to create airtight seams, allowing for the creation of dieseltech airship envelopes of every size and description. While rubberized textiles, sheets of synthetic rubber by itself, or even naturally-occuring buoyant spores are sometimes also employed in this capacity, envelope skins remain the most common material for lifting gas envelopes in places like the Free Faces League where livestock byproducts are more common than vegetable-based materials. By extension, because of this local trade source, nations in the Coalition of Breakaway Colonies buy up League envelope skins in bulk for use in airgoing vessels, with the Coalition Defense Forces being the largest customer by far.

Cultural Significance and Usage

Because of its usefulness to the aerostat industry, envelope skins are considered a strategic resource by most every nation involved in the War of Reunification.

Manufacturing & Products

The League agricultural town of Heiferstead is heavily involved with every step of the process of creating envelope skins and is the most prominent source of the material in the Manifold by far. There, oxen are raised, slaughtered, and parted out for (among other things) making envelope skins. The intestinal linings are sent to facilities where they are chemically washed, cured, and worked to create dry skins which will resist environmental degredation. These are the packaged and sent out for secondary processing and implementation in products by companies like the League Dieseltech Armory.

Distribution

Storage

Properly treated envelope skins kept in a dry environment can be considered imperishable; generally, a given stretch of envelope skin is more likely to be damaged in combat than by the passage of time. Exposure to harsh environments (i.e. the Distal Tesseract sun, polar radiation, or sea water) can reduce its lifespan considery, especially if appropriate protective layers (i.e. foil or armor) are not employed.

Law & Regulation

Because of its nature as a strategic resource, customs agencies throughout the Manifold keep a watchful eye on any shipments of envelope skin which cross internationational boundaries. While Petalcap Vale is not a party to the War, the Petalcap Vale Customs Authority watches such shipments both to maintain an air of neutrality and because any organic products might harbor invasive species (i.e. pests). Shipments tend to be tightly sealed and inspected also because the many folds of a skin shipment make for excellent hiding places for thin contraband items of all sorts (i.e. laundered currency, syringes of DCStim, or thin sheets of stolen Eudoxium).

Type

Textile

Rarity

Common