Skyship

Skyship
Official art of a skyship, by Svetoslav Petrov from Critical Role: Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting, p. 93.
Configuration
Crew	6 to 10
Passengers	30
Cargo	10 tons

Fan art of skyship tickets, by Mark Bushuiev.

Skyships are massive airships held afloat by large enchanted crystals known as brumestones.

Description

Skyships typically resemble ocean faring ships held aloft by three or more brumestones. Some have sails atop their deck in order to catch more wind for higher speeds, and often skyships also have some manner of sail protruding from the sides of the hull to act as wings and provide additional lift. Some skyships are seaworthy in case an emergency landing in the water is necessary.

Arcane runes inscribed on skyships control the buoyancy and traveling direction of the brumestones holding them aloft by channeling greater or lesser arcane charges to each. The sails help in providing the brumestone a forward impetus.

Skyships typically require a crew of around six to ten to function, and can carry up to an additional thirty passengers. In addition, skyships can carry up to ten tons of cargo. Skyships are faster than ocean-bound ships, capable of flying at ten miles per hour. This expediency and the cost of construction and maintenance of the skyship makes them quite expensive, costing 100,000 gold to purchase outright, 2 gold per mile for each passenger, and 1 gold per 100 pounds of cargo per mile to ship.

Skyships fly at approximately the same height as birds can reach, or slightly higher for limited periods. The stronger winds at higher altitudes make maintaining course problematic, since the sails require gentler weather. For this reason, skyships try to avoid storms, and some have fallen or vanished in bad weather.

History

Official art of a skyship flying over a village in Marquet, by Ameera.

During the Age of Arcanum, the floating cities of Exandria maintained skyships for transportation and supplies. As late as the final years of the Calamity, the last floating city, Aeor, had at least one massive ship in operation, the Venatoria. There were also a number of smaller ships operated using brumestone and arcane engines powered by enormous multi-faceted glass batteries holding a captive demon within each one.

The first skyships following the Divergence were developed on the continent of Marquet, with the creation and enchantment of brumestones being a closely guarded secret of the Alsfarin Union. While they sell skyships to foreign business, the Alsfarin Union has long held the monopoly on the creation and maintenance of their skyships.

There are very few skyship ports (or skyports) in the world. By the year 836 PD, skyship ports could be found in only five cities across all of Exandria: Ank'Harel in Marquet; Vasselheim in Issylra; Emon and Whitestone in Tal'Dorei; and Port Damali in Wildemount. Because of this, few skyships deviate from trade routes between these cities. Seven years later, there was at least one more skyship port on Marquet, in Jrusar.

King Bertrand Dwendal has long opposed the creation of a skyship port within the Dwendalian Empire, much to the chagrin of Emissary Lord Zeddan Graf. However, during the War of Ash and Light, Hupperdook began making their own small skyships for war to fight against the Kryn Dynasty.

Skyships avoid travel through the Fool's Curtain because Cloud Jaws will attack them seeking food.

During the apogee solstice of 843 PD several skyships traveled to Marquet, and while some simply stopped at Jrusar before heading south, most waited in that city before flying to the Hellcatch Valley, to the place above which Ruidus was being held. As a consequence of this, the local skyport had much more activity than usual, with about ten ships in the area, some of them forced to anchor at other nearby places because they did not fit in the skyport itself. In the Hellcatch Valley, more Issylran skyships flew over Bassuras or stopped there on their way to the Red Center. Some were attacked there by local mercenaries.

Skyship route times

Fan art of a different interpretation of a skyship, by Son of Joxer.

• Travel by skyship from Emon to Vasselheim, with little cargo, usually takes six or seven days. A normal ship would have taken two-and-a-half weeks.
• At maximum speed, an airship is expected to be able to travel from Ank'Harel to the Isle of Glintshore in the Hespet Archipelago in two or three days, depending on weather. It took five hours to reach the Bay of Gifts. With Keyleth controlling the weather the next morning, the ship completed the trip in less than 24 hours.
• A voyage from Jrusar to Bassuras, roughly 700 miles, was expected to take four to five days. To go from Bassuras to Yios would take an additional three days.
  • A safer trip from Jrusar to Yios that avoided the Hellcatch Valley, about 1100 miles, was expected to take about 11 days.
  • The journey from Gelvaan in the Taloned Highlands to Bassuras was anticipated to take about six days, and the flight from Yios to Gelvaan took about two and a half days at full speed.

Known skyships

In the final days of the city of Aeor before its destruction by the gods, it maintained at least one ship used to haul supplies and people to and from the surface, the massive skyship Venatoria.

As of 811 PD, around six skyships were in operation. Two were known to Vox Machina: the Deera, which they sailed on, and the Vusin, which they saw at the Indala Skyport in Ank'Harel.

By 843 PD skyships were much more common. Lord Ariks Eshteross owned one, the Silver Sun, which he used for trade and commerce, and was easily able to charter a second from someone else to run a personal errand. Bells Hells saw a massive skyship the size of a galleon named the Stormkeeper at the skyport in Jrusar, and later saw another skyship there named The Herald's Breath. Upon Lord Eshteross's death, he left the Silver Sun to Bells Hells. They used it to travel across Marquet until they destroyed it by crashing it into the Malleus Key at the Tishtan excavation site during the Battle of the Red Center. Its captain, Xandis, was awarded a new skyship named the Key Breaker to command in the assault against the Malleus Key in the final attack by the Exandrian Accord.

References

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