Airships are perhaps the most recent development in the world of Niorath that caused a great shift in the world. Once the first took flight many nations started to look for ways to create their own versions.
Today there are still only two nations who can truly say that they have an airship fleet and even within these the numbers are limited.
History
Before
Airships are perhaps the most known development that resulted directly from the rivalry between the
Raitin and the
Pavan Empire.
When the
Raitin started their expansion north towards Cathulem this led to an all out war known as the
Pavan-Raitin War. This ended in a loss for the
Raitin who from then on started to focus on gaining the technological upperhand. The result was several inventions with airhships being the most important one.
Beginning
The development of airship seemed to appear out of nowhere and overtook the world by storm. No one had heard about the
Raitin working on them and suddenly a dozen of the ships were spotted flying along the northern
Raitin
border.
Not long after that the first rumors of a flying city started spreading at the center of the
Crystal Valley. This
Raitin Citadel suddenly became their capital and the homebase for their airship fleet.
Some claim that the airships were only evented after or at least simultaneously with the appearance of the
Raitin Citadel .
Evolution
Once the
Raitin showed their technological knowledge with the creation of the airship many other nations started to panic. The
Pavan Empire had until then been the technological leader thanks to the Industrial Revolution that started within its borders. Suddenly they had become the ones lagging behind and they devoted many resources to reproduce the airships.
Eventually they succeeded in doing so but they took a very different approach to the
Raitin. Instead of using the magical
Falls to power their ships and make them fly they instead used their own technologies. By using gases to keep the airships afloat and the burning of
Fireshrooms to power the engines they achieved their own version of airships.
Both nations have expanded their airship fleets ever since. Other countries are only catching up now with most not having more than one or two airships.
Through Lightning...
The
Raitin airships are powered by
Cloudcrystal by using their elemental air energy to keep the vessels afloat.
Large Cloudcrystals are placed on a pedestal surrounded by a metallic amplifier. When the airship is turned on, electrical surges can be observed jumping from the crystals to metal amplifier rings. Any electricty generated this way is then distributed throughout the ship, powering various devices such as the propellers and cannons.
However these cloudcrystals deplete over time and need to be recharged at regular intervals. This used to put a limit on the distance that Raitin airships could travel. To combat this issue the Raitin resorted to imprisoning
Dragons] on board who were forced to use their lightning breath to recharge the crystals.
...Or Fire
The
Pavan airships use a different approach. All propellors are powered by the use of steam power. Just like other steam engines that the Pavans use they are mostly powered by burning
Fireshrooms which are incredibly efficient.
To keep the airship itself afloat propellers are used but the main upward force comes from the large balloon filled with gas kept above the airship. The gas that is used is either Hydrogen or Helium. The only strange thing about the gas is that almost nobody seems to know where the
Pavan Empire seems to get these gases from.
Airships! I enjoyed the discussion of the different types of airship for different purposes. Also, the difference in technology between the Raitin and Pavan airships is fascinating. :)
Just had to actually write about them at some point after mentioning thems so much :p I also really like the idea of different technological approaches and drew that through with many things :)