Flameblood Bouyancy Pod

Long-distance Flight

Question 3: Describe the basic principle behind the Flameblood Bouyancy Pod, and why this was so revolutionary for its time.

— Academic test on historical Flameblood technology

The Flameblood Bouyancy Pods, also known as: FBPs, Bouy Pods, Flame Pods, or just Pods were a critical technology in creating the modern Blue. Though they have largely fallen out of use today in favor of high-power plasma engines, they are still utilized in skiffs and emergency bouyancy devices.

General Principle

The FBP refers to the device as a whole, which is comprised of two main parts. Firstly, the pod, which is the simplest part. The pod is a sack, which was usually some type of layered and insulated canvas, that is filled with air. The other piece of FBP is responsible for the lengthened heating and cooling of the pod, and is called the flame-box. A trained Flameblood can heat or cool the pod at a whim, but these are immediate and fleeting changes. In the early Sorcerous Era, it was impossible to crew a ship with enough Flamebloods needed to use this method to keep the ship afloat. To remedy this, each flame-box had a series of highly conductive metals inside, insulated from each other and the outside. A Flameblood could charge each of these boxes, and they would stay hot for weeks. The heat could then be very slowly let out to heat the air inside the pod and keep ships afloat without needing to burn anything.

Discovery

The FBP was discovered in several stages, each a vital part of the device.

Flameblood Charging

Flameblood magic was discovered along with the rest of the base sorceries in the very early years of the Sorcerous Age, but understanding of it did not come for a long time. It was not until 771 SA that it was discovered that Flamebloods can energize certain materials, which is then discharged as either electricity or heat, depending on the surroundings of the material.

Purified Silver

Silver was the most conductive material available to the early empire, but it still was not good enough. It would take Earthblood magic to purify metals, which was developed in 812 SA, for the material to be good enough to hold the heat required for long journeys.

Flameblood Bouyancy Pod

Finally, these two discoveries were combined with earlier, primitive bouyancy methods. The purified silver pieces were stored inside containers of ceramic, keeping their heat contained over very long periods. These charged silver pieces could then be used to reheat the air inside the bouyancy pods as needed.

Modern Versions

Most improvements to the FBP have been to make it smaller while not less effective. Imperial Navy ships carry a large number of personal bouyancy devices for use in emergencies that are just FBPs that are only the size of a person's head. Many skiffs use modified FBPs to smooth out travel, where the pod is larger, and wraps all the way around the skiff, ensuring that it stays level despite irregularities in the weaker and smaller plasma engines that they rely on for lift.

The use of these devices allowed for airships to travel the breadth of the Blue without needing to find fuel to burn or even to stop, if there was at least one trained Flameblood on board. It allowed for the colonies of the early Empire to be more connected, and it drove trade between them. The foundations of the modern Blue were laid by this device.

— Cania Leon, Free Worlds historian

Related Technology

Modern Gem technology is very similar to the silver-and-ceramic core of the FBP. Instead of containing heated silver, Gems contain pure magic, condensed by a talented sorceror. Another difference is that instead of letting the heat or magic seep out slowly, Gems are designed to be broken, releasing the contents all at once.

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