Power-Wagons

The hatch of the wagon closed with a sharp thunk. Siegfried had packed in his armor tightly, but he could still hear the cuirass rattle.
"Damn it." He sighed and turned to the attendant. "I'm all packed. Let's finish the checkout process."
"Right away, sir." This particular station was owned by the Mercenary's Guild proper, so there was no fee to switch or recharge flywheels, only paperwork. "If you'd sign here and here?"
The old warrior inked his finger and pressed it into the given spots. "Four day checkout, one way to the frontier, class A guild matter."
The attendant shrugged. "I just handle the wagons here, sir." He pulled a lever on the side of the wagon and a portion of the rear body of the car opened, revealing a flywheel enclosure. The attendant deftly pulled the enclosure out and placed a new one into the slot, closing it with a simple but practiced motion. "You're all set, sir."
"Sure." Siegfried sighed and climbed onto the wagon. With the kachunk of a lever, the new flywheel was clutched into the main drive, and the power-wagon trundled out of the station.
"I never had to check out my horses."

Power Generation

Power-wagons are an evolution of the old ox-pulled wagons, except using portable flywheels in place of animal power. Flywheels are self-contained spinning discs of considerable weight, that can be used to store and transmit Power, and Power-wagons attach them to their gearing to drive the wheels. The standard flywheel is good for roughly sixty miles of propulsion of a standard unladen power-wagon, with range decreasing linearly as the load on the wagon increases.
Wagon stations have been established in most cities with Power and along many of the major overland roads, and for extended trips, spare flywheels can be carried on the wagon itself. Flywheels are relatively simple to switch out at dedicated stations.

Propulsion

Once a powered flywheel is in place, the driver merely has to link it to the driveshaft within the wagon to drive the axles and begin movement. This is typically accomplished with the pull of a lever to engage a clutch. The driver may manipulate the amount of slip on the clutch to regulate forward speed.

Weapons & Armament

Military power-wagons typically have an armored prow to be used in the ramming attack, but most non-military power wagons have no mounted armament. The occasional power-wagon will have a ballista or flywheel-launcher mounted, but most small power-wagons are too inaccurate a platform for firing on the move, so wedges of armored power-wagons are used to break apart infantry formations.

Armor and defense

Most power-wagons are open-topped and unarmored, but military wagons will carry an armored prow to deflect attacks and ram other vehicles or fortifications.

Communication Tools & Systems

Many power-wagons use semaphores to signal for turns and brakes. This was a direct result of several wagon accidents, and semaphore signalling became standardized in the Principality.

All power-wagons are officially manufactured by and technically property of the Principality of Etoile and may be recalled/commandeered to service by the Principality at any time. In practice, however, most power-wagons are leased indefinitely in private hands and go through their useful service life as private vehicles, with the majority of wealthy citizens of the Principality having their own private power-wagons.

Used by

• Engineer's Mobile Workshop

Manufacturer

Principality of Etoile

Price

~100,000 Principality Trade Florins, depending on model

Rarity

Common

Width

6ft

Length

10ft

Height

5ft

Weight

Typically 1500lb

Speed

Maximum speed of 45-50 mph, typically fixed to 25mph to conserve flywheel energy and maximize range

Complement / Crew

One driver

Cargo & Passenger Capacity

Up to five passengers or their weight in cargo