M-series Airship Engine

The M-series Airship Engine, invented by Murdoch, represents the height of modern transportation technology.  The device is of course exceedingly complicated, however the major components are as follows:

The Elemental Core

The elemental core is a large cylinder composed of a proprietary alloy invented for this express purpose.  The exact makeup of this alloy is a trade secret, however the primary metals are adamantine and cobalt.  Complex arcane runes are scrawled across the surface to offer additional reinforcement.  This cylinder contains the major four elemental energies (fire, water, earth, and air) constantly mixing together in violent fashion.  If the reaction goes out of control and breaches the container, the blast would be strong enough to obliterate the entire vessel and cause significant damage reaching out to a mile away.  The core itself may be ejected from the vessel as an emergency measure, however this may or may not prevent an explosion from actually occuring.

Fuel Injectors

Arranged outside of the cylinder itself are four injectors, each one of which pumps pure elemental arcane energy into the core.  It is important that the mixture of all four elements remains perfectly even in order to keep the reaction under control, so there are also many safety measures put in place to disable these injectors entirely if the mix goes outside of acceptable operating parameters.  Currently the fuel itself is elemental crystals harvested directly from the elemental planes.  These crystals are hard to come by and will eventually decay and require replacement.  Murdoch is investigating the possibility of connecting these injectors directly to the elemental planes, however he has so far been unable to create a stable mobile portal to do this with.

Siphons

Also arranged around the cylinder, but outside of the vessel itself, are the energy siphons.  These are responsible for drawing energy out of the cylinder and into the thrusters, sails, or levitation runes.

Thrusters

Placed in the back of the vessel, these devices spew pure force energy in order to create forward momentum.  This creates a large plume of arcane energy which can be extremely dangerous to touch while the vessel is in operation.

Sails

The sails, usually arranged in the shape of wings, can rely on wind if it is available.  If wind is not available, however, energy can be diverted from the engine into the sails themselves.  Arcane sigils on the vessel's sails allow it to create wind in order to help carry the vessel.  This is remarkably similar to how Kenku fly, but on a much larger scale.

Levitation Runes

Along the undersides of a vessel using an elemental engine are a large number of levitation runes.  These runes are low-power but posses a large storage capacity, allowing the vessel to hover in place for some time even if the engine itself ceases to function.  During normal operation these runes are also used to counteract gravity and adjust the altitude of the airship.

Access & Availability

The first such unit placed into service is used by Izar on his flagship Barry the Airship. Only two other such vessels exist in the world at this time, one owned by Murdoch himself and the third owned by the nation of Durhambia.