Thus Spake Zarataylor/SkyshipsVsAirships

izzylobo - 02/06/2004 06:32:33

Two different things -

Airships are basically hot-air balloons or dirigibles - the ones we've seen have been more balloon like, with a suspended open gondola and a semi-streamlined gas bag -propelled by hand-powered paddlewheel gadgets and propellers, for the most part. They're really only used by the Haslanti, who consider their construction and usage a State Secret. They'd be mundane items, probably ranging from Resources 4 (for a small one) to Resources NThus_Spake_Zarataylor/A (for a large one capable of moving a scale or two of troops).

Skyships are magical flying artifact vessels, made during the First Age and the Shogunate, for the most part - Lookshy can build them in very limited numbers (and doing so distracts mucho resources from other projects, which is considered bad, so I'd imagine the newest Manta-scale skyship is over a century old, and we know Skywolf is over 200), and the Heptagram can probably still build them if they really had to - at the cost of getting almost nothing else done for a decade or so. They are powered by Essence collectors and Hearthstones, and are basically anti-grav liftships, with essence turbine engines and stuff - In the First Age, you really *did* have a flying car in the future! They range from Artifact 4 (for a small one - 1-4 crew and passengers, limited weapons or defenses) to Artifact NThus_Spake_Zarataylor/A (for something the size of Skywolf, or the huge barges used by the Realm and Yurgen Kaneko during the Haltan campaign).

Scott Taylor