I've now finished the book. The canvas sails to catch "wind" don't make sense.There are at least three different types of locomotion used by the airships. Etheric Webs are the most common and are what are usually in use in the novels these are self-propelling and operate based on principle of Etheric energy which I havent completely worked out yet. Wind sails are used as a backup system or when stealth is preferred, but have the noted difference of being less free in movement because you have to care about wind direction and speed, etc. where you do not with Etheric webs. Steam turbines are also used as a backup to the primary etheric systems, but are big and dangerous and loud (I think they mentioned they are favored by larger ships for that reason) but can also be used for short-term boosts when used alongside the primary etheric system.
Apparently this is a fundamental misunderstanding of air movement on the author's part. It's illustrated further by a character explaining that an airship felt a "crosswind" at one point. While you would expect to feel any abrupt change in air direction or speed momentarily, you don't feel a steady "crosswind".
Once you've got something floating in the air, it moves with the air. For example, stick your hand out of the basket under a balloon as you move across the ground, and you'll feel still air. The concept of "wind" relates to a frame of reference anchored against the air movement, such as a ground-based observer, or a boat in the water.
For example:Ah, ok sure. But that only applies when the air/wind is both the motive force and the supporting media, as in hot air ballon or similar, which is not the case on these types of ether-powered airships, or even traditional sailboats.
When you're standing on the ground, and the air moves by at 10mph, that's a wind of 10mph. When you launch in a balloon, that "wind" will take your balloon along at 10mph. So the air's moving at 10mph across the ground, and so are you and your balloon. There's no difference in the speed of your balloon and the air mass surrounding it. You can stick out your hand and not feel a breeze. You can hang out a sail, and it will hang limp.
Ah, ok sure. But that only applies when the air/wind is both the motive force and the supporting media, as in hot air ballon or similar, which is not the case on these types of ether-powered airships, or even traditional sailboats.The book mentions using wind instead of ether or engines. Deploying a sail when under power would simply add drag and slow the airship; there's no "wind" to utilize for additional motive force. The only perceptible air motion is equal and opposite to the direction of travel, and a sail would oppose that. When you're free of the surface, you're moving along with the air.
The book mentions using wind instead of ether or engines. Deploying a sail when under power would simply add drag and slow the airship; there's no "wind" to utilize for additional motive force. The only perceptible air motion is equal and opposite to the direction of travel, and a sail would oppose that. When you're free of the surface, you're moving along with the air.I think there were two types of sail. One was the silk weaver material that caught ether wind (not air wind) and propelled it on those waves. The other sails were wind sails, which were backup propulsion that they had no real control over.
Sailboats, as I pointed out, can use wind, since they are not free of the surface. That doesn't apply to airships.
The book mentions using wind instead of ether or engines. Deploying a sail when under power would simply add drag and slow the airship;
To expand on Quantus' response, this only happens when you are going at the exact velocity of the wind.As do all aircraft, unless another force is applied; surface area, etc., don't matter. Once you leave the surface, and are in the air, you're moving with that air. And when you add power (or force), the only air motion relative to the aircraft is due to the aircraft motion because of that power (or force). A sail wouldn't help an airship under power any more that it would help an airplane. You'll note that sails have never been used on dirigibles or blimps. They won't work.
As do all aircraft, unless another force is applied; surface area, etc., don't matter. Once you leave the surface, and are in the air, you're moving with that air. And when you add power (or force), the only air motion relative to the aircraft is due to the aircraft motion because of that power (or force). A sail wouldn't help an airship under power any more that it would help an airplane. You'll note that sails have never been used on dirigibles or blimps. They won't work.
And how do you explain the ability of powerless hand gliders to manouver?The force of gravity will pull a glider "downhill", resulting in airflow over the wing and tail. Control surfaces on the wing and tail will change their airfoil shape slightly, changing lift and drag, causing changes in pitch, yaw, and roll.
The force of gravity will pull a glider "downhill", resulting in airflow over the wing and tail. Control surfaces on the wing and tail will change their airfoil shape slightly, changing lift and drag, causing changes in pitch, yaw, and roll.
I used the term "force" in my earlier post with gravity and gliders in mind.
That's what I was suggesting above (notice my edits). That the Predator create a slight negative/positive boyancy (with the crystals), allowing the sails to act as airfoils.As I pointed out, there's no "wind" for the sails. Any research you do will usually refer to balloons as "moving with the wind", because it takes another force to move them.
Edit: To explain, it's the constant slight downward movement of the glider that allows the airflow to create some of the lift, allowing you to manouver. A ship like the Predator could fluctuate between slight negative boyancy and slight positive boyancy (using the crystals) and use things like airfoils to change direction.The flight of a glider is more than "slight downward movement". It's sufficient to generate enough airflow over the wing to cause enough lift for flight.
Coupling vs. aerodynamics. Think of the main body of the ship: wood and such. Dense things that don't tend to be moved easily by wind and whose main contribution to the body's physics is largely in their inertia; i.e., the coupling coefficient is very low. Even with a lot of sails deployed and flying with the wind, the airship will never be able to move at the precise speed of the surrounding air mass. Ergo, there will be a significantly perceptible "wind." More so when balancing crystal-fed etheric force against the sails to be able to tack; there *will* be a crosswind in that case.I can see density and inertia coming into play when we talk about the time it may take to accelerate to the speed of the air mass upon departure from the surface, but eventually an aircraft will reach that speed. Every airplane that flies utilizes that speed in calculating its flight path.
And don't forget that airflow is almost never a perfectly smooth laminar force; there will always be turbulence, interacting air currents and the like.
You did very well to point out that on-water sailing relies largely on the difference between the media, but it doesn't depend entirely on that particular difference. Greatly, yes (see the multiple mentions in the text about how most airship captains deplore using the wind and instead prefer to use etheric propulsion exclusively; if you stop to wonder why, you see why "greatly" ≠ "only"), but never entirely. And it's that gap that allows these airships to sail...and produces wind that the crew can feel.
TL;DR version: Throw a grocery bag in the air when there's significant wind. It moves with the air mass. Ergo, propulsion, and not quite at the speed of that air mass.
Are the sails explicitly described as being deployed like traditional sails on a naval vessel? I know my mental image is of such (I am not a good study at aerodynamics, and Treasure Planet is one of my favourite movies, so I am not going to be so heavy a critique on functionality), but if they are not specifically described like that, then they could be basically canvas airfoils that work more in style of a hang glider.They're described as canvas sails, to catch the "wind" and move the airship when other methods are not used.
I can see density and inertia coming into play when we talk about the time it may take to accelerate to the speed of the air mass upon departure from the surface, but eventually an aircraft will reach that speed. Every airplane that flies utilizes that speed in calculating its flight path.
If you wish to postulate a mass so large that the airship will not reach the speed of the air mass during the time of its flight, then I'd expect that any sails would have negligible effect in imparting additional speed to that airship.
"a mass so large" = any nongaseous object. And when a heavier-than-air aircraft that relies on lifting surfaces to remain aloft matches the speed of the air mass it's in, that's called stalling and ends *very* uncomfortably for all involved. All of which means it's a completely inapplicable example, as the airships in TAW do *not* rely on lifting surfaces to remain aloft; the lift crystal is what negates gravity (to a controllably variable extent), while the sails provide the motive force. And the coupling between the air current and the airship can never achieve 100%; it's physically impossible when the differences in density are measurable. Furthermore, to address your comment about inertia applying only until windspeed is matched (which, as I've shown, never happens, but for the sake of argument), you're assuming not only a perfectly smooth laminar flow but an absolutely static vector value (i.e., the air current never changes velocity or direction or meets another air current, etc.). This is more of a practical consideration than one that addresses the fundamental principle I'm trying to convey to you, but there it is, all the same.The point I made (perhaps not clearly enough) regarding airplanes was that they move with the air mass, in addition to their progress through it, and that this movement must be taken into account in determining the flight path over the ground. Of course this would be inapplicable regarding the comparison you mention, and which I didn't make.
Try this on for size: Remember those little "paratrooper" toys from many years ago (i.e., essentially just an action figure with a toy parachute attached to it)? Go outside when the air masses are moving (i.e., the wind is blowing), unfold the parachute and place the action figure in your hand without constraining it. It *will* be pulled out of your hand, but it will never equal the speed of the wind.
This is, of course, a horribly rough illustration, but it *is* illustrative. Sails *can* propel an entirely airborne object, and that object will not quite match the speed of the air current it's in.
The point I made (perhaps not clearly enough) regarding airplanes was that they move with the air mass, in addition to their progress through it, and that this movement must be taken into account in determining the flight path over the ground. Of course this would be inapplicable regarding the comparison you mention, and which I didn't make.
I'm willing to concede that theoretically the mass may never reach 100% of the speed of the air mass, but approach it asymptotically. But practically speaking, I consider it close enough to make sails pointless for motive force for at least a large mass. As long as you have a force (the motion of the air mass) acting on a mass, it will continue to accelerate.
Regarding static wind speed, yes, that was assumed to simplify the example; the effect of changes on a very large mass was considered negligible for the purposes of that example.
So how do sails propel these airships, since there's no "wind" within an air mass?
Perhaps it's revealed later? I just started this book.
Wrangler still makes a very good point though. How do you "tack to wind" in an airship? In water, it's the large resistance of the water together with a keel that allows you to keep your ship with sails at an angle to the wind. If your ship is completely in the air, what keeps the ship from turning into the direction of the wind?That would only be a problem if the sails were deployed when propelled against the wind by other power, wouldn't it? It's not like they'd just leave the sails up all the time.
Wrangler still makes a very good point though. How do you "tack to wind" in an airship? In water, it's the large resistance of the water together with a keel that allows you to keep your ship with sails at an angle to the wind. If your ship is completely in the air, what keeps the ship from turning into the direction of the wind?
The crystals and the webbing. Between the lift and attitude crystals and the webbing, they could vector to a torquing force sufficient to produce a tacking effect.
But the crystals would. Perhaps that was a mistype.
So we're saying that crystals alone are sufficent to keep a ship in a specific direction? Kinda like a massive gyro?
No, the combination of webbing (to "catch" the etheric current) and the lift and attitude crystals would do that.
So again, what happens when there is no etheric current, or when you have to shut down the webbing to avoid mistmaws?
Seems apparent that sails + lift and attitude crystals would supply motive force and maneuverability, if not quite as powerfully as adding the webbing would.
I think the idea behind the lift crystals is to provide the equivalent resistance to the ship that water would have done for a water vessel.
That's what I said when I suggested that the crystals act as a large gyro, but Shecky said no. I'm trying to figure out what other alternatives there are.
Lift crystals only negate gravity's effect; it's the attitude crystals that cause the ship to pitch/roll/yaw and can therefore provide a differently vectored force.
I can see how the pitch and roll would work; e.g. simply put more power into the attitude crystals on the front of the ship and the ship will point up. But how can the attitude crystals cause the yaw?
Why wouldn't they? Not being argumentative here; I genuinely don't see why they wouldn't work in all three dimensions.
Because to turn a ship left/right you need to give the crystals the ability to move sideways (not just up-down). And if that's the case, then this means you can actually use the crystals themselves to move the ship forward.
Think of them as the attitude thrusters on a space vessel: they can move the ship, but they tend to provide a few orders of magnitude less thrust than the actual propulsion system. They're the reason I admit I'm making assumptions about the attitude crystals: any airborne vessel needs to have a way to change its attitude in three dimensions and not just move.The difference, I think, is that the trim and Lift crystals are not actual thrusters, they are anti-gravity pumps. They can tilt a vessel by applying less lift to a port-side trim crystal than the starbard-side, but the forces are always acting only in the vertical plane in direct opposition of natural gravity, and so they cant actually apply force in a horozontal direction. I think the horozontal rotation (ie "Yaw", for those that dont want to look it up like I had to :p) comes from teh interplay of the "Control planes" (wings) and the asymetric pulling from the various Etheric Webs.
Was there not also mention made of ships with steam engines? Perhaps with propellers like a dirigible, or was that just for running the windlass barges that traveled up and down the spire?There was, they are the more popular choice than wind for a backup engine. They use "steam-driven propellers and the new screw-like turbines." But they are both heavier and louder than wind power. Not to mention the fact that a pile of canvas very rarely explodes...
The difference, I think, is that the trim and Lift crystals are not actual thrusters, they are anti-gravity pumps. They can tilt a vessel by applying less lift to a port-side trim crystal than the starbard-side, but the forces are always acting only in the vertical plane in direct opposition of natural gravity, and so they cant actually apply force in a horozontal direction. I think the horozontal rotation (ie "Yaw", for those that dont want to look it up like I had to :p) comes from teh interplay of the "Control planes" (wings) and the asymetric pulling from the various Etheric Webs.
"Grimm saw the enemy ship sturggling to stabilize itself with it's trim crystals alone - a tricky proposition without enough forward momentum to allow the more responsive manuevering planes to assist with the task".
"Hard to port at flank speed, Mister Kettle! Stay ahead of her turn!"
The difference, I think, is that the trim and Lift crystals are not actual thrusters, they are anti-gravity pumps. They can tilt a vessel by applying less lift to a port-side trim crystal than the starbard-side, but the forces are always acting only in the vertical plane in direct opposition of natural gravity, and so they cant actually apply force in a horozontal direction. I think the horozontal rotation (ie "Yaw", for those that dont want to look it up like I had to :p) comes from teh interplay of the "Control planes" (wings) and the asymetric pulling from the various Etheric Webs.
That's if you're assuming that lift and trim crystals work in precisely the same manner, which I'm not. But you're certainly correct to point out the control planes; while they wouldn't provide the same order of magnitude of effect as a keel in a denser medium, there'd certainly be torque available.That's true, I'd thought the line that mentioned inverted gravity said both trim and lift crystals, but it doesnt mention trim crystals at all in the list of energy conversion types. Looking into it: earlier, Grimm refers to the new trim crystals as lift crystals in his internal monologue when they first arrive and journeyman is looking them over; that could be indicative of a trim crystals as a subset of Lift Crystal, or just a typo.
With respect to the Trim Crystals, perhaps the trim crystals serve the function of a control surface. I suggest this because modern aircraft use a trim control to help hold the various control surfaces in the set position, to make it easier for the pilot, and its not a big leap to say lets just loose the middle man and say the trim crystal provided the function of the control surface . . .Reasonable, but the airships do also have control surfaces, though I think they are stationary, so if the trim crystals contribute is only part of it.
I'll freely admit that I've been assuming a particular set of things:The only way I can see that the lift crystals would be limited to a single axis is if they are all (main and trim) limited to reversing gravity along it's natural vector, rather than being able to redirect it omni-directionally. But I freely admit that Im looking for a reason, if only to explain why anyone would bother with wind sails (or steam turbines or such flammable and tangle-prone systems like Etheric Webs) if you could channel the electricity that would otherwise be used to charge web into a direct thruster. I dont think it's 100% clear from the text so far, but it's the only way Ive come up with to reconcile the two things in my mind, and has the added bonus of simplifying the 'magic system' of the crystal types. Hopefully we'll get more details next time around. If it centers around airship races as I hope, it would have plenty of reason to pontificate on the technology.
1) That the lift crystal is the big one because that's the one that deals with the biggest force: gravity. It makes structural sense to have a single large one at the center of gravity; it's easiest to design a support system that hinges on one point of force instead of multiple. Having multiple smaller lift crystals distributed throughout the ship would supply a lot of redundancy, true, but it would also make designing supports far more complex and make managing their output perhaps beyond the capacity of a single pilot. It's the way I would do it, anyway. May also have something to do with the higher efficiency/effectiveness of a single large crystal as compared to those of multiple small crystals.QuoteThat's fair. The assupmtion I was under was more or less the same, except that the they were all Lift Crystals in that they are all anti-gravity pumps. The /Main/ Lift crystal is the largest only because it has to take the full load coming out of a Dive, which to do efficiently requires a massive and precisely made, whereas the Trim Crystals are just smaller/younger and easier to mass-produce. They could (barely) hold the load on their own but would be burned out by even light manuevers; the rest of the time they are only there to pivot the ships mass around the Main lift crystal.2) That the attitude crystals can't be set to provide force along varying vectors, not just with or against gravity. I've personally seen no reason to think that something that applies a force must be limited to one axis (again, I may easily be wrong on this, so grain of salt, etc.), and with the lift crystal's support system supplying a central axis point, it would therefore be easy to distribute attitude crystals to work around that rotational point in all three dimensions. (Again, see maneuvering thrusters on, for example, Apollo spacecraft.)
At one point gwen lists categories of crystal (Lift, Weapon, Cannon, Power/Core). In another line Folly lists some types and their energy conversions. From the two I come up with the following list of crystal types:
Lumen Crystals: Etheric to Light
Weapon Crystals: Etheric to Heat & Force
Core Crystals: Etheric to Electricity
Cannon Crystals: Electric to Heat & Force
Lift Crystals: Electric to "Inverted Gravity"
A lot of assumptions, I know. But they make engineering sense to my eye.
1) That the lift crystal is the big one because that's the one that deals with the biggest force: gravity. It makes structural sense to have a single large one at the center of gravity;
One thing for sure, if the main lift crystal is actually an engine that just happens to be perpetually pointed straight down, then that a is a colossal waste of energy/power. At the very least, since we know that the crystal can violently slow down a dropping ship, that means that it has enough power to both keep the ship in the air and move it forward. All you would need to do is increase power to the crystal and angle it so that 90% of the thrust is pointing downward and 10% forward. Heck, you could just mount two lift crystals and go zooming around as fast as you want.Gravity is directly proportional to distance though, it's not truly "forever." It was mentioned that the lift crystal would be far more efficient at lower altitudes, so I think it just has to work harder the higher you go, until a breaking point is reached. That may have to do with distance from the main "aerosphere" level of the planet, which seem to be where the etheric currents exist in sufficient density for airship web use.
That's why I very much agree with Quantus, that the crystals (lift and attitude) can only control up/down. "Inverted Gravity" is probably the best name for it, since it actually uses negative gravity to create the lift. Though even this would have weird physics. Remember that there is an apparent limit to how high the crystal would work (7-8 miles), despite the fact that gravity goes "forever".
Gravity is directly proportional to distance though, it's not truly "forever." It was mentioned that the lift crystal would be far more efficient at lower altitudes, so I think it just has to work harder the higher you go, until a breaking point is reached. That may have to do with distance from the main "aerosphere" level of the planet, which seem to be where the etheric currents exist in sufficient density for airship web use.
Unless the radius of the planet is very small, an extra 7-8 miles is pretty negligible in the scale of things, at least with respect to pure gravity. If the crystal gradually stopped working as you went higher, then I think it would be pretty much at it's limit already. The fact that crystal can lift the Predator so quickly implies to me this is not the case.That seems generally sound. Do we know for sure that the currents are actually gone at the lower altitudes? I want to say there was a mention of not using webs down in the mists because they attracted giant predator monsters.
On the other hand, I seem to recall that sails/steam are supposed to be the prime means of propulsion when you are out of the aerosphere. This implies that the lift crystal works out of the aerospere (otherwise the ship would simply fall). I suppose it's possible that the crystal simply gets weaker as you move further away from the range of the aerosphere...
Still, the fact that ships are built to have means of propulsion out of the aerosphere implies that it's a place that you would normally be required to reach in a ship. To me this all seems to imply that the aerosphere is a narrow band, say 2-4 miles thick floating a mile over the ground. Thus, ship that go to the bottom level need to have steam/wind. This combined with the idea that lift crystal work less well out of the aerosphere might be part of the reason big ships can't do power-dives. If they try to regain lift too slowly, they get to places where the lift crystal is no longer strong enough to slow them down before they hit the ground.
That seems generally sound. Do we know for sure that the currents are actually gone at the lower altitudes? I want to say there was a mention of not using webs down in the mists because they attracted giant predator monsters.
Few airships utilized wind-sails these days. Steam-driven propellers and the new screwlike turbines were the preferred means of locomotion in the event that a ship dropped out of the aerosphere or was becalmed in some portion of the sky without etheric currents strong enough to propel a vessel.
I imagine there is simply a breaking point where the Core can no longer convert enough ether to electricity to drive both the lift crystals and still energize the web enough to get reasonable speed.
This is from chapter 1. Seems pretty conclusive to me:That's what I was looking at too, but it still doesnt clarify if dont use them lower because they do not function, or because they are beacons to giant etheric monsters that would eat any ship that attracts its attention with active webs. It said in Ch.2 two that the Mistmaws are attracted to powered webbing. The Webbing was being used during the dive, and he said he expected that Journeyman cut the line asap /after/ tehy pulled out of the dive. This implies to me that it is technically possible to use the Webbing for motive force down in the Mists, and that it's just not smart too far from the Spires because of the danger of attracting predators. The fact that barges and Windlaces can float themselves all the way up from the surface would tell me there is at least a little Ether there. Though it's possible that the Spire is actively pulling it down (by Folly's sight) so it may only exist at low altitudes near a spire.
Are we saying that the Core gets less powerful as you go out of the aerosphere or that the lift crystal needs more power to maintain altitude as you go further away? I was thinking the latter, but if a core crystal converts etheric energy to electricity then it obviously needs to be in a place where there is sufficient ether.Both, I think, maybe (depending on the definition of Aerosphere). Gwen says of the first gen core: "IF the crystal was as old as journeyman claimed, it would be able to produce more electricity from less etheric energy than almost any crystal gwen had heard of-- which would mean that the ship could sail to more places, farther and farther from the main etheric currents, and do it more swiftly. Im not clear on how the ether varies with altitude, but it seems to flow around the planet in large, jet-stream style currents by the sound of it, something relatively stable and/or mapable
It said in Ch.2 two that the Mistmaws are attracted to powered webbing. The Webbing was being used during the dive, and he said he expected that Journeyman cut the line asap /after/ tehy pulled out of the dive. This implies to me that it is technically possible to use the Webbing for motive force down in the Mists,
Both, I think, maybe (depending on the definition of Aerosphere). Gwen says of the first gen core: "IF the crystal was as old as journeyman claimed, it would be able to produce more electricity from less etheric energy than almost any crystal gwen had heard of-- which would mean that the ship could sail to more places, farther and farther from the main etheric currents, and do it more swiftly. Im not clear on how the ether varies with altitude, but it seems to flow around the planet in large, jet-stream style currents by the sound of it, something relatively stable and/or mapable
I just assumed that "dropping out of the aerosphere" meant going even lower than the mistmaws. Considering that the mistmaws like to eat ether-related products, it seems not unlikely that they'd be living within the aerosphere.Well, gauntlets are fueld by the currents directly, but need far less since they work in places where the ether is not strong enough to require goggle protection. The Cannons work on electricity, so they can operate anywhere the Core crystal has sufficient ether to generate said electricity, which is partially determined by the age/design of the core. As far as the fuel for steam power, Id assumed at first that it would need to be a separate fuel source from teh Core Crystals, on the logic that the the Itasca running steam engines along side their webs for extra speed wouldnt make sense if the steam engines stole power from a common source. But I supposed if it has a dedicated power crystal that generates heat directly rather than electricity it would make sense.
Good quote. All this makes me wonder about other crystals uses. Do we say that gloves (or the etheric cannons) don't work as well outside of the aerosphere?
Similarly, if we assume that "steam power" involves heating water to boiling temperatures by crystaltech, then does this imply that steam powered ships wouldn't work as well out of the aerosphere?
Well, gauntlets are fueled by the currents directly, but need far less since they work in places where the ether is not strong enough to require goggle protection.
The Cannons work on electricity, so they can operate anywhere the Core crystal has sufficient ether to generate said electricity, which is partially determined by the age/design of the core.
As far as the fuel for steam power, Id assumed at first that it would need to be a separate fuel source from teh Core Crystals, on the logic that the the Itasca running steam engines along side their webs for extra speed wouldnt make sense if the steam engines stole power from a common source.
But I supposed if it has a dedicated power crystal that generates heat directly rather than electricity it would make sense.
It's worth noting that it's possible to become "becalmed" in an area of low ether were webs dont work. In those instances they switch to steam or wind, so the implication is that they can stay afloat on far less ether than they require to use the Webs.
This seems a little OP to me. ;) Depending on how versatile/accurate a glove crystal is, I would think you could come up with a whole list of power tools/applications that would be pretty useful for everyday life. Power tools, etc.There are some scalability issues (gauntlets vs long-guns) and clearly overheating is a constant issue, but Im not ready to discount power tools, both etheric and electric
Do they? I knew they projected some form of energy beam, but I wasn't aware the energy came from electricity somewhere along the way.Yup, Folly said specifically that "the most complex crystals of all, power-core crystals, expressed their energy in another form--Electricity. [...] the power-core crystal was grown with complex pathways needed to route etheric energy into a rising surplus, converting it into bottled lightning." Combine that with the fact that several mention that the Core is waht powers the Lift/Trim crystals, the shroud and the cannons, with the power distribution being a priamry tactical concern.
The problem here is that you'd think coal/wood would be extremely expensive to use. Since we know that (at least some types) of crystals heat up after long use, using the waste heat to create steam might just be a way of making things more efficient. Also, remember that Itsaca was using steam to help turn/move after their webs were raked. At this point it makes sense to divert power from the web to the propellers.Fair points all.
If we assume that the gloves work everywhere, then this might imply that you can use them even where the ether is not thick. Heck, if all your sailors/marines have gloves, might as well put those crystals to use (for heating water) if you're not preparing to repel boarders.Agreed.
That's why I thought maybe lift crystals aren't dependent on ether at all. It's only the fact that the core crystals produce less power away from the ether that creates the lift limitations.Agreed, they arent, at least not directly; they are powered with electricity from the Core Crystal, which in turn needs some amount of ether dictated by its quality.
So then there are two main classes of crystals:So far yes, though I wouldnt put it past the setting to have crystals convert other energies, perhaps heat to electricity, or Ether to Lasers?
1) Ether --> Energy (Power/Weapons/Light)
2) Electricity --> Other (Lift/WeaponCannon/Shroud/Trim).
We know that Lift/Trim crystals decay over time and Power crystals get better. I wonder if this difference is true for the others in the same category (though the idea of "spent" light crystals kinda negates this).
So far yes, though I wouldnt put it past the setting to have crystals convert other energies, perhaps heat to electricity, or Ether to Lasers?
Also, I havent been able to find any mention of a Shroud crystal, I was under the impression it was a direct property of the Core crystal for some reason (perhaps the way(click to show/hide)
I should the shroud was something you couldn't keep up 24/7 as it was too taxing.Hmm, that's true. And that implies a way to control it, which at this level of tech would either need it to be a separate crystal system they can regulate the power feed to, or else I suppose it could be emitted from the core but suppressed/dampened so that it doesnt use up the full level of energy.