Vehicles
Overview
Exploration has been fundamental to Apocrypha's history, and with it, the use of various forms of travel. From animal-drawn sleds, and simple rafts or canoes - vehicles have evolved to ships capable of flight, and metallic behemoths driven by industrial alchemy. Much of this innovation has been driven by increased trade with the Accords of Peace, connecting the world more than ever. Featured are the most common, or most recognisable.Alchemical Engines "I haven't seen anything like it in all Apocrypha... how steam holds so much power is beyond me." Also known as steam engines, these fledgling machines are the forefront of technological advancement.
The vast amounts of smoke and steam these metallic vehicles emit, are equally iconic, and contentious.
Capable of transporting immense cargos; the alchemical process driving them is a well-guarded secret. Most recognisable among them is a carriage on the Estran Rail-Line, known as the Steam-Draisine.
Rarely spotted is Snowsmile Company's metal steam-ship, which acts as a mobile criminal sanctuary.
Powering Balloon-Craft and Skyships with alchemical engines has been attempted, to limited success.
Enchanted Travel "Self-driving carts are convenient, but I wouldn't trust one to distinguish a golem from a human." Since the earliest days of magical enchantments, they have been used to create or improve travel.
Most iconic of these are brooms and carpets of flying, thought to be among the first enchanted objects.
Later developments in arcane knowledge would allow vehicles to be self-propelled, and even self-driven. Due to the passive nature of magical enchantments, enchanted vehicles have their own limitations.
Most forms of enchanted travel can only carry a certain amount of weight, before slowing or stopping.
Larger objects can be enchanted to have a greater carrying capacity, at the cost of reduced speeds.
Mundane Vehicles "There's nothing wrong with a good ol' fashioned horse and cart. Wait, no - the smell's pretty bad." Throughout history, most travel has been by animal-drawn land vehicles, and sail-driven water vehicles.
This is due to their relatively low cost and ease to build, along with their reliable speed and sturdiness.
Day-to-day, the vehicles that the majority of people encounter - and can afford to use - are mundane. Using camel-drawn carriages to wolf-drawn sleds; domesticated animals are essential for most land travel.
Ocean winds and buoyancy allow ships both small and large to be sail-driven - supplemented with oars.
Other means also exist, like sail-driven caravans, rail-line hand-lever draisines, and foot-pedal carts.
Sky & Dune-Ships "It's no Spelljammer, but unless you're planing on going into space, that shouldn't be a problem." Skyhips are perhaps the most iconic vehicles on Apocrypha, spotted throughout the skies across the world.
Modelled after marine vessels, these ships use powerful magics to levitate, while remaining propelled by sails.
Prohibitively expensive to operate, they are typically used to swiftly transport high-value persons and goods. Duneships originate from the Asari nomads, pre-dating - and thought to have inspired - modern skyships.
Rather than achieving true flight, they use horizontal wings to generate enough lift to glide across the sand.
Legends say a duneship became the first space-faring 'Spelljammer', but some claim the opposite to be true.
War Machines "Using a person's soul to fuel technology is a uniquely... hellish... form of torture. I'm impressed." War Machines are an invention unique to the lower planes, originating from Avernus in the Nine Hells.
These metal vehicles roll on wheels and tracks, equipped with spikes, blades, and even siege weapons.
They can be as small as single-fiend carts, but the largest are capable of crushing legions of demons. Powered by furnaces called Infernal Engines, they are fuelled by incinerating the souls of the damned.
Attempts at replication have lead to Alchemical Engines using liquid fuels, called Internal Combustion.
Ancient war machines, repurposed by the Losh'Ghar Warband, have had limited success in this regard.
Zephyrous Craft "Nothing compares to flying Balloon-Craft - joining the Watch is worth it for the views alone!" This term applies to a variety of airborne vehicles - aside from Airships - utilised by the Zephyrous Watch.
Gliders are the simplest of these craft, being horizontal sails which use warm updrafts to maintain altitude.
They can be enchanted or driven by magical winds, making them popular among novice spellcasters. Balloon-Craft use alchemy to create lighter-than-air gases inside a balloon, which pulls a gondola upwards.
Steering requires knowledge of wind currents, so they often remain anchored, and used as look-out posts.
Dirigibles are horizontal, oval-shaped balloon-craft - propelled and steered by technology, magic, or both.
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