Other Jimness > Cinder Spires Spoilers
Steam Power
Quantus:
--- Quote from: knnn on October 12, 2015, 02:17:56 PM ---True, but it seemed to me that the original reason they had steam/sails was because there were places where they couldn't use their aethernet propulsion system, not because the crystals didn't work (otherwise I assume the ship would have just dropped out of the air). Is this sense, the steam is a back up. Your power never fails, but if you are "becalmed" then you just use your steam.
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Fair point, the lift crystals if nothing else need a constant supply of electricity to move (presumably unless you are in a dry-dock).
OK, so backup for the Etheric Sales, not for base Power. So they could still be powered by the Cores (or ambient/exhaust heat) and not external fuel.
Second Aristh:
So, if the crystals power the steam engines, why are they louder than mundane sails?
wyltok:
--- Quote from: knnn on October 12, 2015, 11:52:36 AM ---Honestly though, you'd expect more steam in a steampunk novel. Maybe the genre should be called "crystalpunk" or "vatpunk". ;)
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Completely agree. Maybe we'll meet a character in a later book that actually cares about steam, but so far, this series isn't so much steampunk as steampunk-inspired the same way Codex Alera was Pokémon-inspired without involving actual Pokémon.
knnn:
--- Quote from: Second Aristh on October 12, 2015, 02:29:09 PM ---So, if the crystals power the steam engines, why are they louder than mundane sails?
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You've still got all the machinery and moving parts -- the water needs to boil, steam needs to come out and metal pieces need to move. Even on a steam engine, I don't think it's the burning of the coal that made the majority of the noise.
Quantus:
--- Quote from: Second Aristh on October 12, 2015, 02:29:09 PM ---So, if the crystals power the steam engines, why are they louder than mundane sails?
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The crystals are themselves loud apparently, which is why they use wind for covert means, but any Steam powered engine is going to be a loud, knocking, whistling affair.
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