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.
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. 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. The Sky Tribes, that is, the Gwenyan peoples of the High Shadevan Plateau who first adopted the technology, used skycraft for movement of people, light items, warfare, and principally, for the herding of Gontha, the flying cattle of the eastern Jaggudorns.
Chronology of Skycraft
- 500 AS: invention, using cembar wood and gontha wool; perhaps related to kites of the Jaffgorn Giants.
- 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
- 700s: improved skycraft, range of skycraft increased
- 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
- 2510: metal-framed skycraft: increased cargo capacity, improved speed, navigability, and range, New Kalikán Empire
- 2500: Geddamin introduce titancraft vessels of sky
- 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.
List of Types of Skycraft (Non-Titancraft)
- Galthala, great gliding craft from Dewyddair
- Windcatcher, small glider for distance and maneuvrability
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
See Also
- Airbarn
- Cembar Tree
- Fleeglesilk
- Gontha
- Gontha Herding
- Medibgö
- Oeonist
- Skydock
- Skyfaring
- Titancraft Skyship
- Twriagdówrch
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