Deception - Class Taidakic Airship

Large, obsolete airship once used by the Tastein nation of the Tebburus Unification War.

The Deception - class was used during the very late medieval era. At this point in time, gunpowder was commonplace and floating Aetherium crystals were well known. By using a large number of these crystals, and constructing a large hull comprised mainly of wood and metal reinforcement, they were able to place their first heavier than air airships that were not completely organic (e.g. tamed megafauna) into the air. The Deception class was revolutionary, being incredibly well armoured. No other weapon at the time could defeat such a strongly-armoured air unit, but of course counters would be developed shortly. It still gave this airship a huge advantage over all its predecessors. It was comprised of a wood that was fire resistant, and the metal reinforcement made it more resistant to fire attacks. The airship also set off the technological trend of allowing a ship to rotate by exploiting the Taidakic Field, but the Deception - class did not do that. 

Armed with a huge number of cannons that greatly exceeded that of other airships, it became a flying fortress. Many more were built, as it has the range of artillery, the accuracy of direct fire cannons and the firepower of a warship, and could deliver that on a platform that could traverse all terrain.

When counters were developed, such as even larger Heavy Tension ballistae, there were already about 50 Deception - classes in service. Other nations tried copying it, but it's mechanism of floatation would not be revealed until well after its introduction when some Tasteinian spies (of other nations) finally discovered the Taidakic crystals. They designed their own heavier than air airships. 

This discovery would happen at different times across the globe, but it was Tastein that discovered usable aetherium first and built the first airships using it. One group eventually even went so far as to build a city that floats on the Taidakic field...

And so it was that the Deception - class would have rivals. The airship has been upgraded with a number of new weapons to counter more heavily armoured targets that fly, but Tastein remained ahead in airship development for many years, until Takanal was built. The nation that built Takanal needed a very significant airship force to keep the city well protected and possibly help carry out repairs to the city if needed. It started out as a massive wooden structure but was soon upgraded to a metal structure, as metal was found to be more reliable, fire resistant and stronger. Takanal also had a number of weapons of its own. It would soon become apparent they would use these weapons a lot as the city has been attacked many times and the nation used it as a mobile artillery emplacement.