Pyreshaw

A pyreshaw is a three-wheeled cart with a single driver and room for three to four passengers in a rear compartment. This rear compartment can be configured to carry cargo instead of passengers by folding down the seats. In all cases, the driver sits in front to steer, with passengers or cargo in the back.

The inspiration of the vehicle can be traced back to a similar type brought by the Forerunners. Called 'tri-cats', they were the primary means of transportation in and out of settlements.

Over time, all that remains were diagrams of tri-cats. These resulted in the creation of a pre-Torin Republic ancestor of the pyreshaw by the inhabitants of present-day Watia. Three-wheeled, like a tri-cat, this vehicle uses a series of interlocking pins, plates, and rollers to form a linked 'chain', or 'drive chain', that transmits power from the main engine to the front and rear chain gear-wheels.

The name, 'pyreshaw', is derived from pre-Torin Republic references to the fuel for the vehicle. According to scholars, the original pyreshaws used a delicate combination of solarium minerals overcharged in a Weave-powered mineral burner. The word itself is derived from the ancient Torin of 'trilesha' ( pri = three, es = energy, sha = vehicle ).

Because of their design and fuel sources, pyreshaws are typically used in settlements. This allows plentiful access to fuel cells and charging stations for fuel cells. However, pyreshaws can be reconfigured to handle travel outside settlements and over rough terrain. These are called 'off-settlement' pyreshaws and use reinforced drive chains, backup fuel cells and amber-charge panels for steady recharging of backup solarium batteries.

Off-settlement pyreshaws are also equipped with emergency ration packs with mechanical and food supplies for emergencies

Design and Fuel

Current-day pyreshaws use a smooth, sometimes tear-drop shaped, frame. The shape reduces wind resistance, allowing the vehicle to conserve as much fuel as possible when in use. The frames are hollow, lightweight tubes of aluminum. Drive chains are a combination of wootz steel and hardened steel as are the engines that turn the gear-wheels.

In a pyreshaw, the driver sits in front to steer the vehicle. Most pyreshaw driver seats only have room for one person but some off-settlement pyreshaws have a wider front seat for a second person.

The default area behind a pyreshaw is a flatbed desgined for carrying cargo. However, this can be converted to a set of seats that can hold up to three people.

Pyreshaw fuel comes in two types: silvered-solarium or bithane fuel cells. The cells themselves are 20 cm long, 17 cm wide, and 22cm long. Silvered-solarium cells are the larger 'well' type of silvered-solarium battery which contains their own solar or energy absorption chemical properties.

Bithane are fuel cells that contain pressurized bithane gas. In case of emergency, pyreshaws have a manual crank key. Once wound, that key winds a strong mainspring that generates a slow charge of a solarium mineral cell. However, the spring and charge it generates only lasts a few hours under moderate use.

Access & Availability

Pyreshaws are a common sight in most settlements, cities or even small towns. But they are uncommon or rare in frontier or remote settlements as those areas cannot support the fuel cell creation or recharge requirements.

However, it's been rumored that there is a type of pyreshaw that is powered by a modified turn-key or crank and elaborate clockwork mechanism which houses a series of mainsprings that act as 'fuel' for the engine.