Sky Ships

To sail the skies, one requires Cloudstone. Ships will be constructed with small spheres containing Cloudstone crystals. Sky Ships exist in many different sizes, from agile sloops used solely as scouts and messengers, to galleons that carry large numbers of troops. Solitary traders will use agile smaller ships, while larger trade fleets will combine large cargo ships with smaller scouts and warships.
Aside from trade and warfare, Sky Ships are also used for transporting labourers, both seasonal and permanent. There are even ships for tourists. However, since only the rich can afford being tourists, these ships are a beloved target for Sky Pirates. As such, both tourist and commuter vessels tend to stick to safe areas, since otherwise they require protection.

---

Propulsion

Sky Ships sail the winds, manipulating multiple sails to steer in their desired direction. As they are at the wind's mercy, without it they have practically no method of propulsion available. As such, a windless day is even more dangerous than a storm.
There have been experiments with fans and Cloudstone paddles, but only the smallest ships stand a chance at its crew overpowering air resistance. Places known as losing wind, are marked on maps and desperately avoided. Even then it still occasionally happens that a ship is discovered with a starved crew, having spent weeks or even months without a single breeze.

---

Weapons & Armament

In very rare cases, ships might be equipped with grappling hooks. The constant danger of permanently losing resources, keeps most from using large weaponry.
Some ships will have rams as part of their bow, to prevent enemy ships from escaping.
Crew members may be equipped with long pikes, or bows. Fire arrows are a weapon used by the most foul Sky Pirates, willing to completely destroy an enemy ship if its crew refuses to surrender.

---

Armor and defense

Most ships have heavy wooden plates on their sides, to protect against bows and all piercing attacks.
Sails may be treated with materials that make them harder to set alight.
Some ships may contain either Cloudstones in barrels, chained to the hull to be released from the hold in desperate times. This will make the ship sink lower without permanently losing altitude. The risk in such a maneuver, meant to prevent being rammed, is that if the barrel is lost, the ship may not ever recover.
The reverse is done with heavy-ballast barrels, though these are unpopular because ships using these require far more Cloudstone in the manufacturing process. Used as defense against arrows, the same risk applies the other way around: If the barrel is lost, the ship may sail too high to dock anywhere near.

Flying Ship by Kirillslov