Skycraft

The word 'skycraft' is the English language translation of the widely used calque for vessels of the air. Skycraft were traditionally gliding and self-venting vessels made from exotic woods and fabrics, originally found in the valleys of the Jaggudorns. According to legends of the Sky Tribes, the god Amirulliam taught them how to make these first skycraft which they used at great peril to herd gontha and to migrate to nearby alpine valleys. Scholars believe skycraft were first invented in the sixth or fifth century before Salmakhamer. The technology of skycraft has had a dynamic influence on the history of the Pallathantic Region and the whole world of Asdar, and, after Esoteric Arts, makes Asdar unique from the history and experience of Earth. In the past two hundred years, skycraft has come to include titancraft skyships, more commonly known as titanships.

Early skycraft and indeed skycraft well into the first millennium after Salmakhamer were essentially gliding vessels with self-venting properties created by magical enhancements and the use of exotic substances. Unlike light aircraft on Earth, these skycraft were not capable of great ranges and could not bear heavy loads. A voyage in a skycraft over a great distance was necessarily a succession of many hops, requiring agreeable winds and great skill and endurance in both pilot and passengers. It was not possible to bring heavy loads, so voyagers would need to live off the land for sustenance. For great loads, the vessel was necessarily huge and many-winged which made it less maneuverable and susceptible to damage from swift or changing drafts. Such great craft were costly and required expert handlers. Thus, they were the purview of rulers and wealthy land-owners. The Sky Tribes, that is, the Gwenyan peoples of the High Shadevan Plateau who adopted the technology, first used skycraft for the transportation of people and light items, warfare, and most of all, for the herding of Gontha, the flying cattle of the eastern Jaggudorns which before the introduction of skycraft were impossible to domesticate. The domestication and exploitation of the gontha is inextricably woven with the history of early skycraft and was equally responsible for the strength and power of the Sky Tribes in the first and second millennia after Salmakhamer.

The use of skycraft spread throughout the world, although the Jaggudornish tribes prided themselves in their excellence with the technology and their use of the cheaply available gontha wool to weave skysails. In the first millennium, the introduction of fleeglesilk made skycraft with stronger, more durable wings that were additionally lighter. The effect was to increase the range of skycraft and thus the reach of the Sky Tribes. Yophenthea controlled the Pallathantic Sea and thus the supply of fleeglesilk, but was too hide-bound to adapt the skycraft in its military. The conflict between the Yophenthean Empire and the Sky Tribes culminated in the Third Sack of Yophénthë.

Chronology of Skycraft

Main article: Chronology of Skycraft

See also: Chronology of Technology

• 500 AS: Invention of Skycraft, using cembar wood and gontha wool; perhaps related to kites of the Jaffgorn Giants. Used to hunt and herd the gontha of the Jaggudorns and for mobility for semi-nomadic tribes of the High Shadevan Plateau, especially the Gwenyans.
• 300 AS : increase in size and quantity, Kiallions and allies voyage in late spring westwards over Jaggudorns to Colnoria
• 150 AS : Early Medibgösk discover glanffwood on the skynesses. Glanffwood with a little enchantment magically floats and produces strong skycraft with great lift. Due to the very small supply and the fact that it only grows on skynesses, very little is produced and reserved for the princes of Medibgö.
• 550: fleeglesilk discovered to produce skysails of the highest strength, durability, and lift. Fleeglesilk production spreads from Siul throughout the Pallathantic Region. Fleeglesilk skysails create skycraft with increased range and durability.
• 700s: improved skycraft, range of skycraft increased; wide use of square-rigged sail skycraft, called banfrial
• 850: increase in number of skycraft in Jaggudorns and thus the demand for skycraft
• 986: Coalition of Sky Tribes fire-bombs Trevirs and Yophénthë from skycraft with Whetcoal (Third Sack of Yophénthë), precipitating the Fall of the Yophenthean Empire.
• 1250-1400: skycraft speed and battle-worthiness increases, First Kalikán Empire
• 1300's: Talimbanfrial, aka talimfrial skycraft become widely used
• ca 1390 First Galebelly developed in Pytharnia.
• 2500: Geddamin introduce titancraft vessels of sky
• 2510: Kharrhu-Visha, metal-framed skycraft: increased cargo capacity, improved speed, navigability, and range, New Kalikán Empire
• 2590: Adaptation and development of the Zerruka, a metal-framed skycraft with titancraft engines for thrust. Zerrukas continue to be used into the 28th century, fitted with second-hand titancraft engines.
• 2600's: Humans develop titancraft sky vessels make traditional skycraft obsolescent for warfare and eventually commerce. Skycraft reserved for those too poor to make use of titancraft skyships and for wealthy enthusiasts.

List of Types of Skycraft (Non-Titancraft or "Heritage Skycraft")

• Galthala, great gliding craft from Dewyddair
• Kharrhu-Visha [Thracian]: metal-framed skycraft, ca 2510, not fitted with titancraft
• Windcatcher, small glider for distance and maneuvrability
• Zerruka, modern, metal-framed skycraft fitted with titancraft rotary engines
• Banfrial: also called bamfrial, banfrigial, a square-rigged skycraft; they became widely used in the eighth century before the Fall of the Yophenthean Empire.
• Gomstreel: 'gom' core, mass + 'streel' (strela) mast, shaft, beam; common name for a component craft of a jaibu
• Gonfalooner: a large skysail craft that flies low, with a small hollow hull for hauiing cargo or passengers, skied landing gear, and a large, many-sailed array.
• Hamungomb: large skycraft with numerous wing arrays
• Ilyukhgiddin: skycraft with triangle-shaped sails, from 'ilyukh' which means a triangle-shaped sail
• Istifral: skycraft originally based on four wings, two horizontal and two vertical.
• Jaibu [South Jaggudornish]: a great flotilla of skysails used to bear aloft a mass of hulls and decks, especially to create a permanent or semi-permanent abode in the sky
• Langomfri: lateen-sailed skycraft
• Llamsirfroich: small skycraft designed to provide access to and from a larger skyborne vessel
• Sailfisher: a skycraft used for fishing
• Siamnafri [Medibgösk]: pronunciation: 'shemnefri', skycraft used for long trips of two or three passengers on the west slopes of the Jaggudorns, able to ascend high enough to dock on the Medibgoese skynesses
• Skyboat, Skyfloat: a very small skycraft with little locomotive power
• Talimbanfrial: great skyship with multiple square sails on the same mast, they became widely used in the fourteenth century

• Aerobarge, Paçavi: vaporcraft: Originally constructed in the titancraft construction yards of the Aurician Isles, the Paçavi is a vaporcraft. It relies on contained aeolian vapor to create lift and upon titancraft rotary engines to generate thrust. The craft can levitate indefinitely and has good mobility for what is otherwise essentially a bus. The Paçavi is used for mass transit in Aurice and its predecessor was used in the 26th century for troop transport in the Jaggudorn valleys for the New Kalikán Empire. For a few silver, you can travel in comfort from one end of Aurice to the other in less than an hour free from the crowds and beggars. It is possible to have a team of drakeling tow a paçavi which usually requires the drakelings to be configured one above the other.

• Alithringine: Xsyte skybarge: The greatest of Xsyte skybarges, the alithringine measures over 100 ft long. It is a massive cargo skybarge owned by the wealthiest families and corpora mercia.

• Airskiff: glider: Sometimes romantically seen as the successor to the first skycraft in the Jaggudorns, the airskiff is essentially a glider with an updated version made from a combination of cembar wood and modern steel with fleeglesilk. As with all skycraft gliders, the term ‘glide’ includes magical lift and the ability to ascend that are outside of the standard meaning of glide. The Airskiff has good maneuverability. In the Jaggudorns, these craft are used to herd gontha, for hunting, and for war. Most airskiffs are fitted for one rider, some for two or three. The rider lies on his belly, looking forward.

• Bacamarion: galebelly: This galebelly balloon is updated for modern use, relying on aeolian vapor for lift and titancraft propulsion for thrust. The passengers and cargo, as with all galebellies, rests in the gondola that hangs from the long balloon.

• Carsaridan: glider: a great craft made by the Carsaridese of southern Jaggudorns, the Carsaridan was famous for its use in war, mainly to transport warriors and to assault the enemy on the ground from the air. The Carsaridan was not designed to land, but to hover over the earth and required a fabric ladder for warriors to board and disembark.

• Dragonship, Medibgóëse: wings: This craft is still used by noble mages of Medibgö. It is essentially a cembar and fleeglesilk craft with heavy magical amplification. The most powerful wizards of Medibgö employ air elementals as outside escorts to increase its speed and maneuverability. These craft are usually well appointed.

• Drakewing, Gantvian: glider: The modern rendition is the gently updated tradition from the high alpine valleys of Solmigoh (Gantvia). The craft is a glider made from cembar wood and fleeglesilk using traditional methods and the high cost is a large part of this. The Range is based heavily on the glide ratio. The craft is 55 ft long and the mobility is poor.

• Dz̧ahwatşabu: dwarven galebelly: This dwarven dirigible was first invented in the twelfth or thirteenth century in Gdelisica by the dwarves. It relies upon hot air in the balloon for lift and a captured air elemental for thrust. The dirigible and the elemental kennel drive a gondola with passengers and cargo. The presence of the captured elemental requires the presence of a practiced mage to ensure its continued captivity.

• Eburiak: wings: This craft is designed for ascending and descending steeply, especially in the steep valleys of the southern Jaggudorns. It requires a very skilled pilot with full magical powers of control over the craft. An eburiak has three or four layers of wings and the capacity to rotate them quickly, enabling the craft to shift from a glide forward to a steep ascent or dive.

• Galthala: glider: Named after the alpine city of southern Barathorn, the Galthala is a huge glider with an enclosed cabin. They were common in the Skymark Confederation before the advent of titancraft cargo vessels. Today they are less common but maintained for reasons of tradition and cost. Galthalans are not designed to land, but are meant to rest on a rail support in great mountain weirs of the Skrall Mountains in Dewyddair, southern Barathorn.

• Lothra Kite: glider: This glider relies on large wings for stability and lift. It has poor maneuverability, but can carry more than an airskiff. It is ideal for bearing two hunters and one small game.

• Merhörnispë: glider: This small craft enables the single rider to sit, hanging from the wingspan, in something like a hammock with additional fabric support for the shins. The merhörnispë is designed for convenient flight for a single flyer over a short distance. It relies upon considerable magic and requires attunement to use properly. The merhörnispë was perfected in Medibgö and bears its name from the same.

• Shailabarutha: glider, Solmagali fishing skycraft: An old Solmagali skycraft, the shailabarutha is designed to dive and hover over the sea for the purpose of fishing with a net. It is still used over the Memnosian Sea. It has the ability to increase its uplift force by many times which is essential when the operator draws a full net of fish from the sea up into the skycraft hold.

• Xespa, Heavy: Xsyte skybarge: The common skybarge of Xsys, the Xespa is designed to carry cargo and not for speed or altitude. The craft uses layers of fleeglesilk sails masterfully configured. These rarely cruise higher than 1,000 feet elevation and usually hover around 300 to 600 feet above the surface of the earth or the sea.

• Xespa, Light: Xsyte skybarge: This craft is the same as the heavy in general details, except that it has lower capacity and slower speed.

Skycraft Native Terms

Terms generally differ between the east and west Jaggudorns. East Jaggudorn terms are fairly old have many local variations. West Jaggudorn terms are filtered through the parent language of Dewyddair and Medibgoese.

• cruach, crug, cru [West Jaggudorns]: cord, line
• fri, froich [West Jaggudornish]: 'wing' sometimes used by metonymy to mean a skycraft vessel
• friyal, fral, frigial [West Jaggudornish, probably from fri, frig, froich]: wing comprised of one or more sails
• gisp, gis, yis, yish: deck without any hull, similar to a surf board.
• streel, strela, strel: mast, shaft, beam, pole: mast of a skycraft
• hyamir, hammer, hamr, hamer, hamr: spar, such as for a bowsprit

English-Language Terms

• Aft, Stern: rear of ship
• Board: compare to surfboard:
• Boom (low beam on sail)
• Bow, fore: front of ship
• Deck: top, up-facing floor of hull
• fore-and-aft rig: skycraft with sails set along the keel of the craft rather than perpendicular to it
• Gaff (mid beam on a gaff-rigged sail, above the boom):
• Hull
• Junk Rig: battens extend along the sail giving it rigidity
• Rigging
• Spinnaker: big balloon-like sail
• Yard: The horizontal beam at the top of a sail:

Descriptions

• Sailed kite to pull board on sea
• sailed craft with snow skis

List of Construction Materials (Non-Titancraft)

• Cembar Tree wood
• Fleeglesilk
• Glanffwood, a fantastically rare wood from floating forests
• Skybeast (Gontha Wool, Bagoose wool)
• Metal-framed Skycraft
• Tursinkdoo

List of Hazards of Skyflight

• wind, especially sharp or sudden drafts
• lightning
• hostile parties (enemy or pirate skycraft, dragons, other flying creatures)
• wind-borne particles (rain, snow, sand, ice)
• thin air due to elevation affects breathing and also intensifies sunlight
• negotiating among mountain slopes and peaks, especially with rip-winds; negotiating among other skycraft and flying creatures

See Also

• Airbarn
• Anemotis
• Cembar Tree
• Claddan
• Fleeglesilk
• Gontha
• Gontha Herding
• Hullness
• Jaibu
• Medibgö
• Oeonist
• Skybarn
• Skydock
• Skyfaring
• Titancraft Skyship
• Twriagdówrch