The Cast Aweigh

The Cast Aweigh
Designed for various, very specific, purposes, the Cast Aweigh is a Gnomish designed and engineered airship hailing out of (and registered in) Tallowkeep. Fashioned after a through-hull vessel, the Cast Aweigh is just as at home on the sea as she is riding the drafts and currents of the air. Her graceful lines measure two hundred, forty feet in length. Fifty two feet at the beam means she's got some room to work on deck, and her masts perform a litany of very important functions, not the least of which would be hoisting sails up upon when sailing on the sea in a more traditional manner. She stands sixty feet stem to rail, and her masts rise another sixty feet. She displaces one thousand three hundred and eighty-eight cubic tons of water while afloat, and fully loaded to her twenty ton capacity.

Power Generation

A synthesis of aerofoils, dynamic gas bags, and electric motors keep the ingenious contraption afloat and in the air. The gnomish innovation in this vessel is masterful, using a magical device to store motion provided by wind power collectors located high up on the masts to power bilge pumps and other mechanical devices on board the prototype airship.   There is a device to attract and store static electricity while flying, and another to absorb a portion of incoming lightning strikes, and store the power in magical batteries that will be siphoned off of when solar power is unavailable.   The magic crystals used to store the energy do not store electricity only, they are capable of storing inertia and heat as well.    The vessel is meant by design to operate the majority of the time above the cloud cover, and therefore it uses ingenious scales of deep-sea porcelain, that have been enchanted to work parrallel with one another to create a tremendous amout of power, which is then used to power water pumps and incidentals, like the soft-serve machine1, or sent off to the power storage system to be used later.

Propulsion

A combination of aerofoils, dynamically fillable gasbags, and propellers driven by silent motors, all keep the airship cruising at 15kn, airborn.   Seaborn, she can travel as fast as the wind will take her, but using her yard arms and extra canvas, she can approach 10 knots while sailing...an impressive feat.

Weapons & Armament

Three ballista, interspersed with two cannon, are perched on either side of the vessel,

Armor and defense

She is built very sturdily, with much redundancy and a large threshold for damage. She is quite resistant to lightning, actually storing some of the power for later use.

Communication Tools & Systems

She has red lights running down the port side, and green down the starboard, and three white lights, one atop the other, at the apex of the tallest mast. There are deck lights, bells for keeping time and meal notification, and the lungs of the bo's'n can communicate almost anything, to anybody.

Sensors

There are mounted telesopes fore and aft, and the ship has at least three others hanging around somewhere.

Additional & auxiliary systems

The steerage and propulsion systems are redundant, and the ship can still travel with only one of each. Same with the gas bags and aerofoils; the ship can actually function with only one of each.
There is a stationary hover function that is possible with this ship, allowing easy mooring and docking. It also, however, has a gondola that can be lowered from a folding davit, up to a hundred feet. Either to debark passengers from the airship, or to explore the depths of the ocean, this hover function can be very useful in exploratory scenarios.

Hangars & docked vessels

There is a longboat that can be lowered into water, and a gondola that can be lowered to the ground. There are fifty emergency hang gliders, which are fringe gnomish inventions that no on the ship has ever used, but there are also eight inflatable life boats that will work weather they are in the air, or on/under the water. They are small vessels that are capable of packing people into them, but they are very uncomfortable and completely unsuited to use as anything but an emergency measure.   There are two small maintenance vehicles that can be used to inspect and repair the hull while underway, that have room enough in them for three people. Other than their diminutive size, they are sea and air worthy vessels.



Designation
F/V
Motto
Finding Misadventures
Creation Date
Completed on Embers 12, 5575
Owning Organization
Current location
Price
178,000 GP
Rarity
Unique
Width
52'
Length
240'
Height
62', 122 including masts
Weight
167,000 tons
Speed
15 knots
Complement / Crew
35
Cargo & Passenger Capacity
20 tons, 25 passengers

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