I took this snippet from the Explorer's Handbook:
Thanks to additional funding from House
Lyrandar and House Orien, as well as from a number
of the nations caught up in the Last War, a handful
of experimental military air vessels appeared in the
waning years of that century-long conf lict. None
proved viable as weapons, though, mostly due to the
sheer expense of building them.
I don't know much about how Incarnum works, having only flipped through a friend's copy of the book once, but I must say that the idea of a ship with a soul of its own is an interesting idea. The ship may occasionally set its own course if it believes the party to be acting wrongly, or assist in repelling boarders by literally "shaking them off." You may not even have to write much in the way of plot hooks... the ship can have its own agenda and simply fly the PCs to where it wants them to be.
Now I just gotta put together some of the nuts n' bolts of the thang
The ship itself might be geared torward vengance for the whole mourning incident, as the 'soul' of it would probably be from Cyrians. Alternatively, it could be from any of the armies that were in Cyre at the time of the mourning, and so it might continue to follow their orders after the treaty, like flying into Karrnath and attacking fort Bones, or maybe just 'helping' Karrnathi passengers fall overboard.
As for the ship itself, it sounds like it was an experimental ship prior to the incident. The 'average' airship in the explorers handbook is about 400-500 feet long; perhaps this one is a much smaller version, designed for specialty missions. The smaller size vs. the same price for binding the elemental would make it uneconomical in times of peace, thus it being dropped from production. The hull might be painted black, to make it hard to spot during night flights. It might have originally had two smaller rings mounted on the sides, allowing for maximum manuverability (okay, maybe a bit too blatant firefly :P). In addition to the standard gang planks, it might have a hidden door underneath it, originally for bombing, but now a great way to leave and come back without disturbing or informing the passengers.
Typical airships use soarwood to stay aloft and an elemental to move. With the rarity of soarwood being a limiting factor, it might use a different method of staying aloft - or a second elemental. This would leave the ship's passengers plummiting if the elementals were aggrivated, and thus was a risk they decided against. Inversely, it may contain extra soarwood, which would thicken the hull, but more importantly allow for moving of especially heavy cargo.
Airships can fly upsidedown without being hindered, so the ship could appear more like a blimp's balloon, with no indication of whichside is supposed to be up. This would allow it, if armed with hatches concealing ballistas on all sides, to rotate upsidedown and fire all its ballista at the same target. It might also be an attempt at an air and underwater vessel.
Those ideas are fantastic!I'll roll those around in my noggin' for a bit and see what shakes loose.
Thanks so much!
I'll roll those around in my noggin' for a bit and see what shakes loose.
Thanks so much!
Welcome! Let us know where you go with it, I'm curious - and might(will) lift your idea.
