Steamdragon

It is often said that Droden's steamdragons are the only reason the Pirate Wars have gone in their favour. This is certainly false, but the sentiment is likely due to the fact that a ship sunk by standard cannon fire may go unnoticed, but a ship incinerated by a steamdragon will be seen by anyone nearby, with no doubt as to what caused it. The result of many years of innovation and fine-tuning, a steamdragon is built to be stronger and more heavily armoured than any other vessel on the water. It has no reliance on wind, powered instead by jets of boiling water from a set of globes, and stabilised by the same means so that it remains upright in conditions other ships would never dare sail in. The boiling water also powers its armaments, including the weapon that makes the steamdragons so famous and so feared - a stream of liquid fire which burns nearly anything it comes into contact with.

Power Generation

Steamdragons are fitted with a cluster of four boiling water globes which provide the necessary boiling water for the ship's propulsion, stabilisation and basic weapon systems. A fifth, larger globe generates the specific chemical mixture used by the 'dragon', the vessel's main weapon. The steam generated by these globes is expelled from the ship through vents in the hull, which can be opened or closed as necessary.

Weapons & Armament

The steamdragon's most notorious weapon is the 'dragon', a pipe through which a high temperature and pressure mixture of boiling water and several other chemicals are shot. The mixture is ignited upon leaving the end of the pipe, sending an arc of burning gas and liquid through the air before it splashes down upon whatever ship is unfortunate enough to stand in its way. The range of the dragon is much larger than one might expect, and there are stories of ships sitting outside cannon range thinking themselves safe taunting the crew of the steamdragon, only to meet the unfortunate reality of the situation directly. In addition to this, a steamdragon has a dozen standard-sized cannons, which are powered by the boiling water generated by the globes, giving them a slight edge in range over conventional powder cannons. Two longer, slimmer cannons are found at the prow of the vessel, which fire sharp stakes tied to nets of sharp metal. These are weapons originally used by pirates to shred the sails of fast merchantships in order to catch them, though they are just as effective when used against the pirates themselves.

Armor and defense

The steamdragon is coated with seamless iron plating, making it almost entirely proof against hostile cannonfire. The plating also forms a sloped roof over the deck, defending the ship from arcing shots that some pirates favour. The vents from the boiling water globes are inset along the sides of the plating in order to prevent the pipes from being damaged. These vents have a defensive feature of their own; if all fired at once, the resulting steam generates fog on contact with the colder outside air, obscuring the steamdragon entirely. This is usually used to conceal the warship's presence, leaving its target with no chance to fight back at all before succumbing to the dragon's fire.

Rarity

Owned only by Droden

Complement / Crew

10 to 20 engineers manage the steamdragon's systems at all times. If the large globe is left running for a long time, there is a possibility of explosion, which is enough to sink the ship on the spot.