Airship

Sometimes an invention or finding comes along that seems to flip the world upside down. What follows is a rush of others to catch up as fast as possible. Airships are perhaps the latest example of this.

— High Sage Syronikir

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.

The Blaze Cart

Properties

Max Speed

40 - 70 km/h

Weapons

Gunpowder (Pavan) or electric cannons (Raitin)

Inventor

Raitin

Types

Scout, Striker, Bomber, Carrier

Lenght

30m - 70m

Size

20-300 persons

Types

Airships come in many sizes and are even more diverse due to the different approached nations take in constructing them. No matter their origin they do tend to fulfill similar functions.

Scout

The smallest of the airships and the first ones that were created were the scouts. These ships lack impressive firepower and have only a limited crew of only a few people although often up to 20 passengers can be moved.
As they have a much lighter build they are able to achieve higher speeds and better maneuverability.

Striker

Strikers are the most commonly used airships for warfare as they are equipped with several cannons without compromising too much speed. In case of an airship battle the strikers are the ships that are send out first. The Thunderstrike is an example of a striker ship.

Bomber

To real deal some damage to everything in the vicinity bombers are used. They feature a large amount of heavy cannons, heavy plating and weapons to bombard the ground below them. They are typically send out once the strikers have dealt with the opposing force and don't often get involved directly in battle.

Carrier

Just as the name would suggest carriers are meant as a means of transportation. They can carry up to 300 people and are mainly used to transport troops. These airships are never used in battle and only have limited defensive capabilities.

The Thunderstrike

Open full size

The Thunderstrike is the airship of the famous pirate Saiki 'Boltwing'. It uses cloudcrystals as a powersource to stay afloat. Although the ship was stolen from the Raitin with the Raitin Dragons still onboard Saiki has repurposed part of the ship as living quarters for the dragons instead of the original prison.