Airships

Crossing the Expanse between continents isn't always as easy as using one of the massive portals that connect the lands. Sometimes those portals are far away, controlled by unfriendly powers, or otherwise unavailable to you. When that happens you need an airship.
Similar to the craft that ply the waterways and seas of the land, these vessels float through the air. Held aloft by specially designed volaticus plates, airships normally travel along established trade routes between the continents. Each airship needs a crew to maintain sails, rigging, and other mundane tasks. They also need a contingent of specialized mages trained in the operation of the volaticus plates that keep the vessel aloft. A small ship can get by with as little as 5 such persons (2 per 10 hour shift, plus one). Larger ships will sometimes have thirty or more with each mage responsible for several plates as well as reliefs for the long voyages.
The smallest practical airships include the cutters used by governments and elites as patrol and pleasure vehicles. They are generally around 50 feet in length. Their small size means that they can manuver quickly and easily reach high speeds. This comes at the cost of cargo space as even small ships require a sizable crew. Larger ships up to several hundred feet are more common as the economies of scale make them more profitable to run and the vast storage space allows for larger profits.
The 'mechanics' of airships is a mix of seamanship and magic. Traditional windpower moves the ship, but magic keeps it aloft. Several guilds and orders have developed their own mix of secret techniquies for building and operating the volaticus plates mounted to the keel of the airships. Each of them guards their own processess dearly and plates from different groups are not comptable. Even within a group, each plate produced behaves a little differently. Why? Because magic! This means that operators need time to familiarize themselves with each new plate they encounter.
The plates themselves are said to interact with the energy of the Expanse and perform best beyond the shear. As they travel inland, the plates become less effective resulting in less altitude and cargo capacity.

by Unknown