Pre-War Airships

Editors Note: The following report summary was found in the ruins of an old Del Coran research facility.

Development and History

The Rainfall Initiative was a special project commissioned by the War Directorate to explore the concept of aerial support for the Del Coran military. The idea was to design a war platform that could function equally well over land and sea. Early prototypes were so promising that 3 ships were commissioned and built before the revelation of a fatal flaw stopped all production indefinitely.

Withdrawal From Service

The arcane-catalyst cores that power and shield the airships are highly susceptible to outside interference. Under normal conditions, the vessel’s leyforge specialist is able to compensate for the effects of this interference easily. However, in the first live combat situation involving the airships, specifically the Ellindor in a skirmish over Belora, it quickly became apparent that the high level of arcane energy expended in combat exceeded all efforts to stabilize the core. The Ellindor managed to safely ground out the core’s energy and make an emergency landing before the airship could detonate over the city, but the magnitude of the potential disaster was undeniable. All three ships were withdrawn from the front, pending a solution to the core stability issue. They are currently serving as high security transportation vessels for government researchers, administrators, and VIPs.

Names and Specifications

The Ellindor

Designed to serve as the vanguard of a new fleet, the Ellindor is the largest of the three ships, sporting heavy armor and strong offensive capabilities. To support this armament, the Ellindor employs a newly developed dual-core system. This system not only allows for a high level of power output, but increases the tolerances available for the ship’s leyforge to use in his stabilization efforts. Captained by Gerald Tyman, the Ellindor is an impressive force despite its vulnerabilities. The name “Ellindor” was derived from the sylvan word for albatross, a nod to early hopes that this vessel would be deployable overseas in a possible Yari invasion.

The Starfall

A lighter ship designed for reconnaissance, the Starfall is the fastest of the three Del Coran airships. It is currently used to carry emergency orders to conflict areas, and to provide intelligence on enemy movements along the northern coast. A small chemical engine can be used to “glide” over magically disruptive areas for short periods, allowing the ship to oversee small-scale combat, though it does not provide enough power to engage in combat directly. While its core is relatively stable, the rest of the ship’s mechanical systems have gained a reputation for being unreliable, necessitating frequent on-the-fly repairs.

The Ivalise

Smaller than its sister-ships, the Ivalise proved ill-suited for the transportation duties or long-range assignments commonly assigned to the Ellindor and the Starfall. The ship was designed with several experimental systems, and was intended for use as more of a proof-of-concept than it was for front line use. After the fiasco at Belora, the Directorate discussed decommissioning the craft.

The week before the decision was to be made, the helmsman on duty accidentally flew the ship over a live-fire training exercise and discovered that the unique system configuration was highly resistant to destabilization. It was eventually determine that the small size of the ship, working in tandem with a set of extremely high-capacity energy relay systems that had been installed with a prototype weapons array, allowed the ship to even out the destructive surge effect. The ship spends most of its time in the service of military research teams trying to find a way to adapt the system to the larger warships. A secondary result of this proximity to R&D is that the Ivalise is constantly being refitted with newly developed weapons and shielding for experimentation, much to the envy of its sisters’ crews.