The Skyship
The Greatest Invention of the Age
Skyships: The greatest modern marvel of science and magic. Created only fifty years prior to current dates, skyships harness the power of potent, condensed wind magic to lift and manipulate a boat-sized and shaped vessel into the sky . Skyships revolutionized travel around the world, and enabled cultures who had never really interacted to come together and collaborate. This invention also led to the relative peace known in the world today, as the invention of skyships led to the rapid end of many wars around the world; the side with the skyship was usually the victor in the conflict.
Utility
Mainly used as exploratory, cargo, and travel vessels, skyships can also be outfitted for war, though anti-aircraft weapons have become increasingly common to counteract this potent military advantage.
Manufacturing
Skyships are built of light but sturdy wood and metals, and outfitted with tough cloth sails much like a regular ship. However, skyship sails are located on the sides of the ship, with possibly one on a mast at the top. In addition, in the center of the vessel is the mana crystal chamber, where the skyship engineer monitors the strength of the output of the mana crystal, which keeps the vessel aloft. This piece of the vessel is the most complicated, as the chamber itself acts as both a housing for the crystal and a focus for the energy to be distributed around the ship. If any of the glyphs that are pressed into the metal of the chamber are damaged, it could be extremely dangerous for the ship's integrity in the air; damaged chambers have a penchant to release all the mana crystal's energy at once, causing a great explosion of magical energy.
Access & Availability
The process for creating skyships is not a publicly-available piece of information, though those in high intellectual circles, the military, and the nobility have access to the knowledge.
Complexity
Skyships are highly complex, though only in their inner workings. Their basic function is exactly the same as that of a regular sailing ship, and the process of sky-sailing is more or less the same; it is just the magical apparati that enable this function that are complex.
Discovery
Invented by a gnome artificer in the Gnomish kingdom of Windgrace, skyships were contracted and built for multiple other kingdoms, including Arkham Country and Stygia.
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