Maj Space: Oreth Navy ships

Here is the first draft of specs for a couple of (elven) ships in
the Oreth Republic Navy (ORN).  These are about the smallest in
common use, and what is definitely the largest.


ORN "Ice Bird"

The "Ice Bird" is an ORN fast courier, a fully-enclosed 25 ton
white-crystal spelljamming vessel, flown by a Major
(spelljamming) Helm, and manuevered by the Fly enchantment woven
into the fabric of the slowly self-healing hull.  The Oreth
Republic can probably deploy a couple of dozen of these.  They
are armed with two automatic turetted heavy ballista, operated
remotely by the crew, which throw magical crystal bolts.

The typical elven crew is four helmsmen, Wizard 10, on three
rotating eight hour shifts, a captain-navigator, Wizard 14 or
Cleric 14, a first officer, Wizard 12 or Cleric 12, and a
purser-medic-cook, Cleric 10.  Some crews also include a Bard 10.

As supercargo there may be a diplomat, with staff, and possibly
the peacekeeper and physician team meant to get the diplomat out
of any trouble they get into.

Sometimes the peacekeeper and physician team are in a second,
commonly invisible, fast courier.  Note that this invisibility
only works in wildspace, not in atmosphere, and the size of the
generating equipment means that the armament is reduced to one
ballista.


ORN "Crystal Mountain"

The "Crystal Mountain" is the ORN capital ship, which usually
resembles a large hill or a small mountain, covered in trees and
glades, with streams, pleasant pools, and the odd half-hidden
summer house.  This is lit by gentle daylight, sometimes
apparently shaded by clouds, cooled by pleasant breezes, and
watered when required by brief rain.

In fact, this ship is surrounded by a powerful and nearly
imperceptible space warp, and what seems to be the outside is in
fact on the inside of an self-healing armoured crystal hull.  The
semi-intelligent ship continuously senses attacks and rapidly
approaching objects, and these pass through the space warp to
strike the crystal armour in a lightless, evacuated, void
apparently within the ship, whereas visitors get to land their
vessels, usually at the base of the mountain.

Crystal constructs patrol this 'internal' void, and clear away
the debris.  Also within the void are tens of concealed automatic
turetted heavy ballista, operated remotely by the crew, which
throw magical crystal bolts, grown by the ship.  These bolts
appear in flight above the space warp, to fly on and strike other
vessels.

Within the mountain are breath-taking crystal caves, immense
banqueting halls, and extensive guest accomodation, where you are
waited on by invisible staff who tend to your every need, and
magical shades who appear or disappear at will, to entertain with
singing and dancing, or provide physical assistance.  Restricted
areas, only entered by those who pass extensive checks, and
baffled against scrying and magical transport, contain the
engines and navigation, magical engineering halls, and the
command crew quarters.  These are not quite as luxurious as the
guest quarters, but are quite comfortable.

An almost unique feature of this ship is the Anti-Magical
Engines, which will only function in areas like a sargasso.  The
core of the ship is effectively a portable sargasso, and in this
the engines 'burn' triple-purified alchemical iron to create pure
energy, that moves and powers the entire ship.  If the ship
actually flew into a sargasso then the space warp would shut
down, revealing the true external crystal armoured hull of the
ship, the woods etc. would be minimally sustained by dim
non-magical light, which would also light internal areas of the
ship, and the ship would continue to fly and be navigable, though
considerably more slowly.

Walls of Force can be raised to protect the ship, and there are a
number of other magical defences (GMs add these to taste).  A
minor detail is that the whole vessel can become invisible at any
time that it is in wildspace - this is not possible in, for
example, planetary atmosphere.  The atmosphere envelope of the
ship only mixes with that of any other body under the full
control of the ship, which prevents it being sucked away by
bodies without an atmosphere, for example, or poisoned by
poisonous atmospheres.  The ship can safely enter and navigate
the phlogiston, but as usual precautions need to be taken against
exploding flames (given enough warning and some extra work this
should not be a problem).  The space warp does not work in the
Flow, which makes the gardens far less pleasant, with a crystal
roof far too close above.

The appearance of this ship is enough to strike fear and awe into
almost any spelljammers that see it, an effect only exceeded by
those who have seen the Spelljammer itself.  The "Crystal
Mountain" rarely leaves its purpose-built dock on Isis, these
millenia, though the elven families who maintain it still live
within it, and regular drills and tests are carried out to ensure
it is ready for flight.  In fact, the ship has been out for a
number of proving flights, over the last forty years, its absence
concealed by an immense illusion, while its flight in and out of
Isis's atmosphere was hidden by immense ground-based invisibility
projectors.

-- 
Dreamer
dreamer@??????.?????.??.uk
http://www.romsys.demon.co.uk/