Samada Rivership

The Pride of the Old Empire, a marvelous beast forged from Cold Iron and powered by the blood of caged fairies. To see it move once again truly brings joy to my seven hearts.
~ Cor "Sealheart" Arkidia, Iron Curator

Once forming the backbone of the mighty Blue Fleet of the Old Ikona Empire, Riverships of the Samada ("Iron-robed") class have become a rare sight on the seas and rivers of Cenorad, following the fall of the Old Empire during the events of the Second Spring. Yet while their glorious days might be over, the few remaining ships are still regarded as some of the finest ships in all of Cenorad.
Despite their old age and comparable small size in comparison to the main battleships deployed by other factions, Samadas are able to punch far above their presumed weight-class, with a single ship being more than capable of taking out dozens of enemy battleships on its own.
The main reason for the combat prowess of the Samada-class is the unrivaled mobility and speed of the ships, which allow them to easily outrun and outmaneuver all but the smallest, enemy vessels. In combination with its nearly impenetrable armor and its highly accurate weaponry, the Samada turns into a deadly dancer upon the waves that few can hope to best.

Power Generation

During the time of the Old Empire, Samada-class ships were powered by two Airarref ("Iron Lacuna"), which directly tapped into the currents of the Blue River in order to obtain the shamanic energies necessary to run the entire ship. Following the near-total collapse of the Blue River during the Second Spring, this connection was severed, which resulted in many Samada sinking either due to a total power failure or catastrophic overloading of the Airarref by "undistilled" energies.
Nowadays all remaining Samada have been either fitted with modified Airarref that utilize the power of a different River or a number of so-called Siponis ("Iron-Cages"), which distill the required Spirius-particles from caged fairies before supplying them to the ship's Airarref.

/*Capturing Natural Energies from caged fairies, Power distribution is controlled and regulated by a ship-bound Djin, which also serves as the primary interface for the commander of the ship.*/

Propulsion

Did...did the ship....just...drift?

The propulsion system of the Samada-class utilized vast amounts of distilled Natural Energies to create a potent, uplifting force focused on the center of the ship, similar to the innate Eredav ("River Gliding") ability of the Ikona. The exact strength, direction, and contact points of this force is controlled through a so-called Eragirua-Subolg ("Steering Globe") located in the center of the ship, which enables the ship to perform numerous maneuvers usually impossible for wind, steam or muscle-powered vessels, such as rapid changes in speed and direction, omi-planar movements at constant speed and "drifting".
In addition to this unrivaled amount of maneuverability, the propulsion system also grants the ship a limited amount of levitation, which enables the ship to traverse shallow waters and sandbanks with relative ease. If supplied with sufficient amounts of energy the ship is even able to operate on flat ground for a limited amount of time, which greatly increases the tactical and strategic usages of the ship.

Weapons & Armament

As expected of the primary warship of the Old Empire, the Samada-class possess a more than impressive armament, which despite its age is still more than capable of inflicting crippling damage with but a single salvo. The standard loadout of a Samada consists of four Great Muskets, six Ironfist-Culverins, and two Dustcloud-Cannons, which enables the ship to effectively engage and destroy anything from a small patrol boat up to a gigantic bombardment ship.
In modern times this classical armament has often been modified to include other weapon systems due to the scarcity of Spiritual Technology, specific operational requirements and the types of enemy ships commonly engaged by a particular vessel.

/* Primary Armament 4x Great Muskets for engaging of smaller vessels and anti-personnel weapons 6x Ironfist-Culverin (Fire Iron Projectiles carried along concentrated streams of Spirus-Energy; Limited Homing Capabilities) 2x Dustcloud-Cannons (Artillery fire condensed clouds of Spirus-Energy that collapse at a target location, Homing, and Timed-Fuse) Worm-Chain Battery, Aims to immobilize an enemy vessel through strains of tapeworms.
Ability to produce new ammunition on board, which greatly increases the effectiveness of the vessel.
Particle Cannons,*/

Armor and defense

After twenty minutes of relentless shelling, we finally managed to scratch the dam thing...and then it began to heal.

Given that their Rivergliding systems allow them to cancel out a large part of their weight, Samada class ships carry far more armor than a ship of their size should really be able to carry, which makes them incredibly resilient against all kinds of non-magical weaponry, with most weapons failing to even scratch the outer layer of their centimeters-thick armor.
Even if an enemy hit manages to damage the armor of the ship, this damage can generally quickly be repaired by the Iron Curators within the ship, given that they possess access to sufficient amounts of Spirius-energy to facilitate the regrowth of the Cold Iron that makes up the armor.

Communication Tools & Systems

The ship is equipped with numerous Areahps ("Iron Spheres") that enable onboard communication as well as ship-to-ship and ship-to-coast communication. Like other systems of the ship that originally solely relied upon the currents of the Blue River, these spheres had to be refitted to utilize the currents of a different River in order to retain their functionality after the Second Spring.

Sensors

The sensory systems of the ship rely upon the River Signature of an enemy vessel in order to detect and track it, which enables the crew to accurately target enemy vessels in lowlight conditions and through visual barriers such as fog and smoke.
While undoubtedly powerful the system can be tricked and counteracted by a skilled shaman or through other types of magic. Additional areas with few living organisms within them also greatly reduces the effectiveness and range of these sensors.

Used by

• Triumph of Elegance

Nickname

Iron Dancer, King of Rivers, Sailor's Doom, Iron Reaper

Rarity

Rare

Width

15 m

Length

83 m

Height

6.4 m

Weight

3,300 t

Speed

68–72 km/h

Complement / Crew

30 men, including 6 Iron Curators

Cargo & Passenger Capacity

Up to 300 passengers

Djin in the Machine

I am ready to engage the enemy. On your mark Sutagel I shall bring glory to the Empire.
~ Majarila, Bound-Djin of the Autumn's Spear

In order to aid in the handling of the various systems of the ship, all Samada-class vessels were originally equipped with a bound Djin, which served as the primary interface for the ship's commander.
During the Second Spring, many of these Ship-Djins were either destroyed or released from their chains, which significantly reduced the combat effectiveness of the remaining ship, though an experienced and skilled crew can usually make up for the loss of the ship's Djin.

Rogue Ships

Rogue Ships are vessels that are controlled by an unbound Djin and therefore have become their very own entity. Due to this each Rogue Ship has its very own personality and behavior, which makes an unpredictable danger for other ships.

/*

Battle Performance

Highly effective, Hard to hit as the ships are able to perform evasive maneuvers impossible for other types of vessels. Sturdy armor and strong weapons.
Ramming was also often employed, as the ships were able to simply push through other ships. In modern times this tactic has become rarer given the advanced in ship construction and the fact that the ships are mostly irreplaceable, */

The Fleet of Worms

Given their relative smooth transition after the fall of the Old Ikona Empire, many Agsimer City-States were able to maintain large compliments of these vessels.
With the rise of the Haeblash Cult many of these ships were turned into terrifying amalgamations of iron and stitched-on organs, called "Harvestships" and once again unified into a naval fleet, often referred to as the "Bleak Fleet".

The Rivers of Life

Like most artifacts produced by the Old Ikona Empire, the Samada Rivership is based upon the principles of the Iron Path which is a subsidiary of the Shamanic Arts.