Re: Analysis of Elven Ships, Part II

Again, I'm simply blown away by the high quality of your work!
This (with pix, and a few other things) would make an ideal primer on
the IEN for inclusion in the 3.X rules (when they get done), or Into
the Void (when it gets done).

Keep up the high-quality work!

P.S., we really need some stuff on the IEN with regard to the levels
of each rank, what weapons they use...etc. possibly as a Monstrous
Compendium type thing (3.X, tho').

On 10/16/05, Night_Druid <Night_Druid@??????????.net> wrote:
> Part II of the article.  I forgot about the Man-O-War in the Comics, so I
> added some more to the Comics part of the article.
>
> Adam
>
> Spelljammer Comics
>
> Two elven ships appear in the Spelljammer Comics.  A Man-O-War appears in
> issues 9 and 12, and an Armada appears the very next issue.
>
> A Man-O-War briefly appears in issue 9 of the Spelljammer comics.  It is a
> freebooter ship hired by the story's heroine while under the influences of
> a
> geas.  Its appearance is almost identical to the standard Man-O-War, with
> slight variations in coloration.  There is no reason to believe this is the
> same class as the modern vessel, perhaps from one of the earliest crops,
> given the story takes place in the distant past.  A flitter is also briefly
> seen in the background of one frame.
>
> In issue 12 of the Spelljammer Comics, a member of the crew, Jasmine, is
> captured by Pirates of Gith operating a Man-O-War.  The appearance and
> general size of this ship is fairly close to the standard Man-O-War, maybe
> increasing somewhat in apparent size when compared against the nearby
> Smalljammer.  As scaling such a large object properly in a hand-drawn comic
> is difficult, we can assume that the Man-O-War is indeed of standard size.
> Of interest is the interior, of which a little is shown.  Most notably, the
> ship has a fairly large "dungeon" for holding prisoners, and the walls
> appear to be made of stone.  Given that the crew of the ship are Pirates of
> Gith, it is reasonable to assume they would modify the ship to suit their
> needs.  Perhaps the Gith are incapable of repairing the living ship, so
> they
> must patch all holes with stone.  This would make sense, given the terrible
> condition of the wing-like sails.  It also might be noted that the ship
> lacks a topside catapult and instead there is simply a hatch to the
> interior
> of the ship, perhaps another modification.  Given the captain was extremely
> powerful, possibly even able to cast a meteor swarm, it is likely that the
> pirates rely more on their magical talents than ship weapons.
>
> An Armada appears in issue 13 of the Spelljammer comics.  This is an Armada
> unlike any other.  The ship is truly colossal, as a smalljammer, a 25-ton
> ship, not only easily lands atop the ship, but it can be moved and hidden
> on
> the top deck that very same ship.  The artwork shows the Armada completely
> dwarfing the ship, implying a size much greater than the standard three
> hundred feet long!  This Armada appears more a large city than a ship, with
> a marketplace, gardens, dance hall (complete with caged, scantily clad
> elves
> dancing suggestively), and a temple.  Obviously, either this ship is
> immobile, or has means of movement that go far beyond the Spelljammer
> rules.
> I suggest this particular Armada is a single, immobile city, perhaps the
> result of elvish experiments.  It now serves as a center of commerce and
> trade for elves and their allies, an elven equivalent to the Rock of Bral.
>
>
> War Captain's Compendium
>
> The War Captain's Compendium boxed set introduces one new elvish ship, the
> Radiant Ship.  No deckplans are provided, and only one small image gives
> any
> clue to the overall appearance of this ship.  The image is a side-profile
> sketch, like all images in the Ship Recognition Guide.  The Radiant Ship is
> a twenty-five ton ship, which puts it on par with a small frigate.  The
> ship
> itself is 90' long and 30' wide.  The whole ship is covered by continual
> light spells, making its exterior as bright as a sun, evidentially to
> provide light for large elven fleets in dark spheres and bases in deep
> space.  The ship has an impressive six light weapons, which implies it
> stays
> at range.  It is likely that the elves do not actually take these ships
> into
> battle, instead keeping them safely near outposts.  The weak armor class
> and
> poor maneuverability class further support this notion.
>
> In appearance, the Radiant Ship appears to have a long, worm-like body
> which
> curves upward in an arch.  It has a small head, large wings, and a set of
> short legs for landing.  A measurement of the image length reveals a length
> of about two inches, and from that, we can determine the ship has a height
> of just over 10 feet.  This means but a single, interior deck.  With a
> thirty-food width, the ship would appear almost flat when seen by any other
> angle, which would appear ugly and against any known elvish style of ship
> building.  More likely, the 30 foot width includes long outriggers into
> which the wings are rooted, and the width of the body is no more than
> fifteen feet.  This would give it a much more rounded and elegant
> appearance, more in line with the style of other elvish ships.
>
>
> Realmspace
>
> Realmspace introduces us to the Man-O-War counterpart of the Monarch in the
> form of seven Archaic Man-O-Wars.  These ships have been pulled together
> and
> planted in a ring.  This serves as an outpost to watch over the sea elves
> of
> Karpri.  Sometime during its past, this station was ravished by an illithid
> attack, and now the station is haunted by ghosts.
>
> This is the first real chance we get to see an elvish outpost.  Though
> first
> mentioned in the Spelljammer boxed set as a "ring of ships drawn together
> in
> a circle", neither the size nor number of ships needed is given in that
> entry.  The station is illustrated on page 34 of Realmspace, which shows
> seven elven ships, with their tails facing out towards space, surrounding
> what appears to be a an inverted, bell-shaped base with numerous thin
> towers
> rising out of the top.  There are windows throughout, indicating a fairly
> large facility.  Each Man-O-War appears to have a small castle rising out
> of
> its back, each with numerous towers with onion-shaped caps.  We can assume
> that some liberty was taken with the image; for the ships to be to scale
> with the castles on their backs, one must assume ships larger than Armadas!
>
> Statistics for the Archaic Man-O-Wars is given in Scenario 4, on page 65.
> It might be noted that while the ship has slightly less tonnage and a worst
> armor rating and maneuvering class than the modern Man-O-War, it has
> slightly better weapons and is larger, too!  We can speculate that these
> ships were probably retired shortly after the First Unhuman Wars as modern
> Man-O-Wars matured.  Retired ships were drawn into circles to create
> numerous free-floating outposts like the Karpri station, to protect the
> numerous elven colonies.
>
>
> Evermeet, Island of the Elves
>
> The Evermeet accessory, and later the novel of the same name, introduces us
> to the Starwing class Man-O-War.  The Starwings have roughly the same
> tonnage as the Archaic Man-O-Wars, although they are shorter and narrower,
> with a 150' keel and a 16' wide beam.  The starwing has the same armor
> rating and maneuvering class as the standard Man-O-War, but loses the aft
> jettison while gaining the ability to land on water.  Again, no deckplans
> or
> images of these ships are given, so we can only speculate on their
> appearance.  I would suggest that these ships appear almost identical to
> the
> standard Man-O-War, although a bit thinner and the body a bit shorter, with
> a longer bowsprit to make up the difference.  Evermeet has six of these
> ships, which it uses for defense against foes from Arcane Space.  Given
> Evermeet's powerful magical defenses, it can readily be assumed that these
> ships are manned by both powerful wizards and deadly warriors, all armed
> with numerous and potent magic items.
>
> Evermeet, the novel, does not introduce any new ships.  It does give
> important clues as to the history of elves in space.  Most importantly, a
> short story begins over ten thousand years ago, involving an ancestor of
> the
> Leafbower family whose ship, a Man-O-War of the Elvish Imperial Fleet.  At
> the start of the story, the ship is shot down over Toril by a pack of Q'
> nidar.  The crew is rescued by a powerful elven wizard of Evermeet.  Over
> the course of the story, he keeps the survivors as his "guests",
> manipulating them into building the Starwing Man-O-Wars for him.  Though
> the
> ultimate fate of the survivors is not given in the story, it is likely they
> took one of the Man-O-Wars into space with them to establish relations
> between Evermeet and the Elvish Fleet.  Much later in the novel, during the
> storyline set in the present, it is revealed that Evermeet has not six, but
> eight Starwings.  These ships are likely not be the ships first grown ten
> millennium ago, but descendants of those ships.  Perhaps the Evermeet fleet
> has grown and shrunk over the centuries as new ships are grown to replace
> losses brought about by battle or age.
>
> From these stories, we can glean some important facts.  First, the Elvish
> Fleet is ancient, predating most other worlds' recorded history.  Secondly,
> Man-O-Wars are just as ancient, in at least one form or another.  If we
> assume that the original Man-O-Wars mentioned early in the novel have been
> since replaced, we can assume that the Starwing design has steadily changed
> and improved.  Perhaps the original design was far smaller, less agile, and
> less graceful than the modern style of Man-O-War.
>
>
> Legend of the Spelljammer
>
> Although Legend of the Spelljammers does not give us any new elvish ships,
> it does give us the gnomish whelk.  Though shaped like a seashell, this
> ship
> is grown in a similar fashion as elven ships.  The ship is used primarily
> by
> non-tinker gnomes, especially illusionist gnomes.  From this, we can
> speculate that a group of forest-dwelling gnomes, working with the elves,
> developed the whelk.  Perhaps this is the first steps towards developing a
> gnomish auxiliary of the Elven Fleet to counter such races as goblins and
> kobolds, freeing the elves to deal with other races.  Alternately, the
> gnomes could have learned the secrets of manipulating the starfly plant on
> their own, with the unusual shape of the ship due to gnomish creativity or
> the differences in the manner of growth.
>
> Although listed as an "excellent warship", this is a disputable claim.  The
> ship is 30 tons, a respectable frigate, and has two medium weapons and a
> piercing ram.  The crewmen aboard are illusionists, a field of magic that
> encourages deception and avoiding combat rather than rushing headlong in
> battles.  Perhaps the gnomes use their illusions to encourage the rumor of
> the whelk being a dangerous warship, if only so that pirates and other
> predators will give the whelk a wide berth.
>
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