"Little Skipper" Air ship

In the winter of 580, a test was conducted on the usage and capabilities of the Empires current pet project: the air ship. This would be... less than productive. The failure of the Imperial backed airship was largely a result of untested technologies and under trained crewmen, creating a disastrous crash that killed most of the crewmen. Needless to say that the Imperial nobility in charge of the task were reprimanded harshly before an assembled House of Lords, and the project was scrapped. With the original blueprints for the ship being accidentally released to the public in 420 due to a clerical error, other companies of Arcanists and engineers united to attempt creating it. The Empire ran contests to incentivize the organizations, but were never able to pay out the grand prize. The actual aerodynamics and dimensional physics of how the systems would (and do) work are largely misunderstood, and the small understanding still barely scratches the surface of available advancements. Theories state that one could attain immortality with enough understanding of Ether energy. However, a group of Hatoians in 642, during the beginning of the Abyssal Dragon Campaign , didn't allow a little thing like lack of aerodynamics and physics limit their work. Persevering through and utilizing any available ship they could get their hands on, the Literje Air Club was able to launch their first successful test using the lightest (and the cheapest) version of the Elwari of Niruk first generation of ships. The Explorovestria-class was originally designated as an exploration vessel, with limited combat capabilities, however generations of creation and usage would turn it into one of the most common vessels to sail the waters. The Air club, limited on funds, were able to purchase a vessel nearing its decommission date and were given an extreme discount. The ship had suffered a number of minor damages from its years in service but was able to be refurbished enough to meet the new standards. Representatives of each of the Kingdoms were sent to witness the launch, explicitly being told to avoid riding it during the first few tests. Similarly, the crew of the first few attempts were informed of the risks but had chosen to participate as a matter of honor and to make history. Notably, the representatives were each in differing states of shock when the poorly refurbished vessel slowly rose from the grim waters of the cavernous abyss. The Nirukian and Gehenian members were shocked and instantly prepared documents to secure the work and production of more for their service, The Bonsuians jaw was still dropped, The Hatoian nodded approvingly, and the Panwe associate asked in a stupefied manner "It flies now?".

Power Generation

As with all Arc tech, it relies on ARC-Gewel batteries that are capable of storing large quantities of Ether Energy. The batteries were originally the size of a person, later iterations managed to find housing solutions that helped to shrink its size down to a few feet tall. Housing units and an Arc Control Room are required for the ship to actually rise, and Arcanists are needed to act as pilots. These pilots will "Communicate" with the Gewels and will manage their general function as the flight progresses. Unfortunately, given the retrofitting that these additions would require, cannons and storage areas would be lost to accommodate.

Propulsion

The actual forward-backward momentum of the ship is determined by the sails of the sailing ship. The positions of the Gewels and their alignments dictate the directional output, making them useless for anything other than lifting and lowering. Later iterations would manage to form Gewel mounts capable of tilting and creating forward momentum.

Weapons & Armament

20 x 24 pounder long gun 20 x 32 pounder Cannonade 4 x 12 pounder bow chaser

Armor and defense

Traditionally the hull of the vessel was made of the typical wood, however once it was retrofitted to become an airship, bits of metal were affixed to the hull.