Edanian Rail Riders

Connecting Luminar, the heart of The Shayador Empire, to all of it's various provinces is a vast network of trains known locally as the Rails. The idea was first submitted to the Imperial Senate by Caius Palpellius Lovernius who suggested using a mass public transit system to overcome the communication issues between Luminar and it's furthest settlements. Partnering with members of the Artificer's Collegium, Caius was able to provide a design of mass transit vehicle based around the principles of Aspect Binding.

Design

While simplified compared to the Dwarven Ornithopters, the Rail Riders are still made up of an intricate list of components all working together to achieve movement:

• Aspect Core - As with any modern machine, the Rail Riders are powered by an Aspect Core. The Aspect Core in a Rail Rider is bonded with the essence of an earth elemental. The essence of that elemental is then laced through the hull of the rail rider creating an aspect field that has an immense strong magnetic field polarized to the two rails beneath the track. The result thereof is that the cars of the rail rider lift off the ground about a meter or so.

• Cars - The rail rider is composed of usually around ten to fifteen cars connection by narrow pivoting walkways. The cars are made out of a highly conductive alloy allowing the smoothest transition of power from the aspect core throughout the frame.

• Rails - Spread about three meters apart and fixed into the ground by pylons sunk a meter into the ground. The rails themselves are power by a massive aspect core located at the rail hub in Luminar. This aspect core, the first of its kind, actually has three separate cores powering it and is able to run three different railways simultaneously. Using air elementals, the Luminar Super Core applies an electric field to the tracks in waves in ever increasing intervals depending on the rail rider's direction. This electric field, combined with the magnetic properties of the aspect field around the cars, propel the rail rider down the track at incredible speeds.

• Braking System - Built one to a car, the braking system is a set of clamps that, controlled by a lever in the piloting car, extend from the underbelly of the cars and latch on to the rails. The Braking system is usually extended moments after propulsion is achieved and their tension on the rails is controlled by the pilot allowing him to control the cars' speed.

Utility

The rail riders are primarily used for public transit across the empire, but at least one of the cars in each run is set aside for cargo. Smuggling has been known to happen, and in many cases the empire has a tendency to turn a blind eye to it. Furthermore, the valuable cargo that the riders tend to carry makes the rails a tempting, if dangerous (considering the speeds at which they travel) target for bandits.

Parent Technologies

• Aspect Binding

Inventor(s)

Caius Palpellius Lovernius, an Edanian black smith, and former Consul of The Shayador Empire, proposed the idea of the rail riders to the Empire in order to solve the communication problem between imperial provinces.

Access & Availability

The Rail riders, locally just called the rails, are actually available to the public for use, although the longer the distance the more costly the ticket so not every member of the peasantry can afford to go much further than the borders of their home province by rail.