Other Jimness > Cinder Spires Spoilers
Cinder Spires Airship Specs So Far
Second Aristh:
I think it would be a good idea to have a place to list and discus important details of the airships in Cinder Spires, at least the ones we have at this point:
Unusual Ship Components
* Crystals (Lift Crystal and Core Crystal as well as trim crystals and weapon crystals for the cannons)- provides power for the ship and keeps it aloft. Bigger crystal = More expensive as a general rule. Some of the older and larger varieties of crystal are priceless. These are typically all reserved for the Fleet. The lift crystal is enclosed by the Haslett Cage. Extreme maneuvers put a large degree of stress on the ship's timbers and may rip the lift crystal from the ship itself.
* Shroud - defensive energy field similar to a magnetic field that can be emitted to protect from energy weapons from other ships. It is extremely costly for the Core crystal to keep in place for extended periods, and ripple fire (rapid fire shots in the same place) can wear down and penetrate the defense.
* Webbing - etheric analog for sails. The webbing gets electrically charged by the crystals to help steer the ship. This charge allows the webbing to interact with etheric currents in the atmosphere (aka aerosphere). Webbing typically extends too far from the ship to be protected by the Shroud. The powered webs attract mistmaws.
* Mundane Sails - Uses the wind to sail and has the added benefit of being quieter than steam powered engines. They are not used by many airships anymore.
* Steam Engines - Steam powered motors commonly used for maneuvering when a ship cannot use its webbing for some reason. The engines are loud.
* Plate Armor - Plates of brass and copper-shrouded steel used to protect some airships beyond their basic wood structure.
* Lifelines - A lifeline was a six-to-nine-foot length of heavy, braided line or leather with a clip on either end, and every man was required to have three of them on him when general quarters was sounded. Used to anchor sailors to the ship while doing dramatic maneuvers in the air.
* Cannons - energy weapons similar to the gauntlets but on a larger scale. Made of steel, brass, and copper and powered by crystals. Sometimes not accurate at long ranges.
Types of Ships
* Battlecruiser - (e.g. Itasca) Larger vessel designed specifically to run down ships like Predator; uses multiple power cores and armor plating.
* Cortez-class Ship - (e.g. Auroran ship targeted by the Predator) Large merchant cruiser; has heavier guns and shroud than Predator. Even though they are trading ships, they are usually well armed and have been known to carry an entire company of Marines.
* Destroyer Ship - (e.g. Predator, Captain Grimm's ship) small ship without armor plating and able to perform reliable diving attacks on other ships. Smaller than a light cruiser.
* Battleship - Little is known; unable to perform an effective diving attack.
* Dreadnought - Little is known; unable to perform an effective diving attack. The largest ship in the Fleet is named Dreadnought, so there may not be a Dreadnought class of ships.
This is what I have so far, but if you can think of something I missed please feel free to add it.
Edit: added more information
dimumurray:
Up to chapter 49 at the moment and the banter between Gwen and Journeyman gives a bit of insight into how the mechanics of airships and crystals work...
Y'know what would be awesome...if we could get an illustrated version of the MARK IV-D crystal manual! I love reading about technical steam-punk based thingamajigs!
Quantus:
It was stated that the Webbing operation requires it to be charged with electricity (specifically, not just energy) to be able to catch the Ether like a sail, which is why they need to be energized by the core crystal.
Also, I believe they said the reason some ships couldnt do Dives is that they were too massive and so it would rip the crystals out of their mountings to try to decelerate out of the dive.
Serack:
Crap, now I'm going to have to reread the book. (I finished it in November)
--- Quote from: Quantus on September 30, 2015, 03:33:32 PM ---It was stated that the Webbing operation requires it to be charged with electricity (specifically, not just energy) to be able to catch the Ether like a sail, which is why they need to be energized by the core crystal.
Also, I believe they said the reason some ships couldnt do Dives is that they were too massive and so it would rip the crystals out of their mountings to try to decelerate out of the dive.
--- End quote ---
Excellent observations. From an Electrical Engineering PoV, it implies a voltage gradient in the air that the "webbing" has to be charged to generate force against, however, the force is transferred at the crystals judging by the mount observation.
I had thought that the webbing gets an induced "current" that then gets channeled to and harnessed by the crystals to drive the ships.
Of course, induced current in a conductor is how AC motors generate torque period, but they don't require the conductor being acted upon to be pre-charged.
bagga now I've gotta review some of my notes from the Gwen/Journeyman scene too.
Edit: Note to self, read the published version of chapter 28 and 49...
Quantus:
--- Quote from: Serack on September 30, 2015, 04:17:42 PM ---Excellent observations. From an Electrical Engineering PoV, it implies a voltage gradient in the air that the "webbing" has to be charged to generate force against, however, the force is transferred at the crystals judging by the mount observation.
I had thought that the webbing gets an induced "current" that then gets channeled to and harnessed by the crystals to drive the ships.
--- Quote ---I havent gotten to the scene with Journeymand and Gwen, but in the early scene where Brigit is musing about the ship's design she says:
"The more webbing one let out of the reel, the more etheric energy it could catch and the faster it would drive the ship forward.of course, the web had to be charged with electricity in order to function, so the airships were limited in teh amount of web they could charge by the strength of their power cores."
I took that to mean that the webbing's acted in all ways like a traditional sail, only that they were pushed on by 'etheric energy' instead of wind, and that all the cores did was provide the charge that allowed the etheric energy to act on the web and 'push' it, as if the etheric energy were essentiall a magnetic wind. However, looking back at the passage it would fit equally well with what you decribe, where the webbing is more of a funnel that gathers the energy and channels it into some other Drive system. So far Ive only noticed mention of Trim and Drive crystals in the context how fast they can climb and dive, but I dont recall a mention of a crystal providing the forward force, at least not yet.
--- End quote ---
Of course, induced current in a conductor is how AC motors generate torque period, but they don't require the conductor being acted upon to be pre-charged.
--- End quote ---
Well, AC motors dont need something to start itonly because the current itself is constantly changing, it's one of the particular quirks of AC power. In DC motors you need some starting torque to get the cycle operating, or it stalls out/locks up. But that's a matter of starting a cycle. I think the web function is more that the Etheric force goes right through the physical material, but it can pusha nd pull on the energy field that surrounds a charged web.
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