Fire Muffler

Defensive magic used to reduce damage from fire on a ship. First introduced on the Maelstrom they later became a regular part of warship design.

Utility

Mufflers consist of a spellcore and several banks of crystals to provide power. The spellcore generates magical field which envelops a ship (or other object). Within that field it is harder for fires to start or continue burning and objects are better able to resist damage from heat.
The power of the spell can be increased to the point where it is impossible for fires to start and objects are completely protected from heat, but this comes with a massive increase in the power required. As a result mufflers tend to be operated in three modes:

• Off - The default option when not in or approaching combat, allowing the crystal bank to recharge.
• Reduction - When approaching danger the muffler can be activated to provide limited protection without overly draining power.
• Full - When in combat the maximum level of fire reduction is activated, though this will likely drain the available power in around half an hour.

The off option is also fairly important for a ship at sea for any length of time if the crew want hot meals

In order to further reduce the magical energy required to maintain the spell a muffler can be tuned to a specific ship. This requires careful adjustment of the spell so that the protection covers only the ship and not areas of free air or water. Should tuning requires regular adjustments including redrawing runes across the ship. A properly tuned ship may be able to maintain it's fire protection of half again as much time as an untuned one.

Discovery

The spells behind fire mufflers were developed as part of experiments in battlefield magic. These experiments sought to widen and strengthen the personal spells used by wizards and clerics. However, the excessive magical power requirements meant that the spells could only be maintained for a few moments.
Although the development of crystal banks solved the power problem, the banks themselves were too heavy to carry with an army and using them on stronholds was deemed impractical when cheaper mundane alternatives (like a bucket of sand or water) could do almost as good a job.

Related Vehicles

• Maelstrom