Skyships are metallic aerial constructs used in Brighthaven. They patrol the city’s walls, circling above them at night. Brighthaven exports skyships across Valrindor.
Skyships are flying vessels used for travel, diplomacy and military transport. Brighthaven exports them across Valrindor, and Blackcrag preserves engine technology inherited from the ancient Malverand Empire.
Construction and operation
Skyships use essence engines, supplied by essence cores. A pilot steers from a helm and adjusts the engines’ forward power. Brighthaven’s designs have angular metal bodies without sails, glowing engines and small rear decks.
Damage can leave a ship stranded. Astrid identified sabotage when the engines of Garrik’s skyship faltered, and she could not repair them without equipment from home.
Military use
Armed skyships carry troops and provide weapons platforms above the battlefield. Some weapons extend as metallic cylinders or barrels controlled from a console. Loaded essence cores supply repeated charged beams; other vessels fire lightning or blasts of compressed air. Fleets fight under cosmic and divine shields, but protection varies between ships. During the fighting between Jeremiah and Uriandel, some craft had to land because their shields could not withstand the storm.
Eremion worked with Astrid and Blackcrag’s engineers to strengthen their engines, add weapons and fortify their hulls. The Order guarded the methods of forging essence engines, restricting them to selected engineers and mages.
Skyships are flying vessels used for travel, diplomacy, communication and military transport. Brighthaven exports them across Valrindor, while Blackcrag and Rahmavir maintain their own designs. The fleets of the ancient Malverand Empire used skyships to connect its provinces and carry armies.
Construction and operation
Skyships use essence engines, supplied by essence cores. A pilot steers from a helm or control seat and adjusts the engines’ forward power. Brighthaven’s designs have metallic hulls, glowing engines and small rear decks. Some have angular bodies without sails.
Rahmavir’s sleek silver craft have broad wings and depend less on essence and more on their physical design. They are sturdy and fast, but less agile than other nations’ craft. Their engineering still faces the interference between essence and electricity.
Damage can leave a ship stranded. Astrid identified sabotage when the engines of Garrik’s skyship faltered, and she could not repair them without equipment from home.
Military use
Armed skyships carry troops and provide weapons platforms above the battlefield. Some weapons extend as metallic cylinders or barrels controlled from a console. Loaded essence cores supply repeated charged beams; other vessels fire lightning or blasts of compressed air. Fleets fight under cosmic and divine shields, but protection varies between ships. During the fighting between Jeremiah and Uriandel, some craft had to land because their shields could not withstand the storm.
Eremion worked with Astrid and Blackcrag’s engineers to strengthen their engines, add weapons and fortify their hulls. The Order guarded the methods of forging essence engines, restricting them to selected engineers and mages. Brighthaven later sold ordinary craft while withholding weaponized versions. Kaldaryn bought a few for communication and messaging. As Skarnheim was rebuilt, many of the Order’s skyships were dismantled; others were hidden beneath Rimvold to prevent access to their weapons and designs.
Origins and interplanetary travel
Malverand’s first skyships followed Arcanis’s development of essence engines. They were small, clumsy floating devices that could barely carry one person. Later fleets carried the guardians between their provinces, and Brighthaven became a center of production.
Barachiel commissioned Arcanis to build a vessel capable of leaving Valrindor. The resulting Vireen expedition traveled aboard a colossal skyship piloted by Eira. Its hull combined an alloy infused with divine magic and embedded essence cores, functioning as one vast core. It could carry more than a hundred people, although supplies and devices occupied most of its space.
This vessel had air filters, compressed air reserves and growing plants to maintain its atmosphere. Spare god cores and Malverand hearts were carried in case the crew needed to return. Modified weapons supplied additional propulsion through cosmic blasts and fire magic. Layered shields protected the ship from the impacts. The secondary system had not been fully tested before departure, but it was used during the ascent into space. The ship reached Vireen and carried the equipment needed to establish a colony and install a gate.
After Barachiel and Arcanis vanished, Malverand’s surviving researchers could still build ordinary skyships. They could not recover the guarded designs needed to send another vessel to Vireen.
Skyships are flying vessels used for travel, diplomacy, communication and military transport. Brighthaven exports them across Valrindor, while Blackcrag and Rahmavir maintain their own designs. The fleets of the ancient Malverand Empire used skyships to connect its provinces and carry armies.
Construction and operation
Skyships use essence engines, supplied by essence cores. Their technology captures spells within physical containers, a principle also used in spellblasters. A pilot steers from a helm or control seat and adjusts the engines’ forward power. Unlike the warm air that lifts Xalmyrran airships, these engines power the craft’s ascent and movement.
Brighthaven’s designs have metallic hulls, glowing engines and small rear decks. Some have angular bodies without sails. The designs familiar to Eira from Malverand are usually oval or rectangular, with the engines scaled to the hull; they rely on their shape and metal plating for stability rather than wings.
Rahmavir’s sleek silver craft have broad wings and depend less on essence and more on their physical design. They are sturdy and fast, but less agile than other nations’ craft. Their engineering still faces the interference between essence and electricity. The engines of one fleet glow beneath the hull, while weapons extend from its sides.
Flight depends on the ship’s available power and the pilot’s navigation. Eliona stopped to refill her craft’s engine cores and needed to see the ground to follow her route. Damage can also leave a ship stranded: Astrid identified sabotage when the engines of Garrik’s skyship faltered, and she could not repair them without equipment from home.
Military use
Armed skyships carry troops and provide weapons platforms above the battlefield. Some weapons extend as metallic cylinders or barrels controlled from a console. Loaded essence cores supply repeated charged beams; other vessels fire lightning or blasts of compressed air. Fleets fight under cosmic and divine shields, but protection varies between ships. During the fighting between Jeremiah and Uriandel, some craft had to land because their shields could not withstand the storm.
Eremion worked with Astrid and Blackcrag’s engineers to strengthen their engines, add weapons and fortify their hulls. The Order guarded the methods of forging essence engines, restricting them to selected engineers and mages. Brighthaven later sold ordinary craft while withholding weaponized versions. Kaldaryn bought a few for communication and messaging. As Skarnheim was rebuilt, many of the Order’s skyships were dismantled; others were hidden beneath Rimvold to prevent access to their weapons and designs.
Origins and interplanetary travel
Malverand’s first skyships followed Arcanis’s development of essence engines. They were small, clumsy floating devices that could barely carry one person. Later fleets carried the guardians between their provinces, and Brighthaven became a center of production.
Barachiel commissioned Arcanis to build a vessel capable of leaving Valrindor. The resulting Vireen expedition traveled aboard a colossal skyship piloted by Eira. Its hull combined an alloy infused with divine magic and embedded essence cores, functioning as one vast core. It could carry more than a hundred people, although supplies and devices occupied most of its space.
This vessel had air filters, compressed air reserves and growing plants to maintain its atmosphere. Spare god cores and Malverand hearts were carried in case the crew needed to return. Modified weapons supplied additional propulsion through cosmic blasts and fire magic. Layered shields protected the ship from the impacts. The secondary system had not been fully tested before departure, but it was used during the ascent into space. The ship reached Vireen and carried the equipment needed to establish a colony and install a gate.
After Barachiel and Arcanis vanished, Malverand’s surviving researchers could still build ordinary skyships. They could not recover the guarded designs needed to send another vessel to Vireen.