Dispatch # 11: Cloud Ships and Such
Wherein We Discuss Flying, Blimpy Ships
A Note To The Reader
Everything pertaining to this story and my forthcoming book, The Other Side Of The Sun, is subject to change to improve the story. Should you, the Informed Reader, identify something you to be inconsistent or reality-impaired, you may write to me directly at me@beturpin.com to share it.
*** A Programming Note ***
I will be traveling around Europe for most of the month of March. The next Dispatch will publish on or around Friday, April 7.
Today’s Topic: Cloud Ships! They’re A Thing
Having previously discussed the various characters and places that are to be found in the Meldûn Borderlands, today I thought we should shift gears and touch on an interesting bit of Known World tech: Cloud Ships.
I am, after all, writing a book of speculative fiction, aka “fantasy,” so why not have Cloud Ships? Everyone else does dragons; I do Cloud Ships.
Let’s discuss them briefly.
Transport In The Known World vs Avalonia
The highly advanced but rather self-absorbed folk residing in Avalonia travel around their wondrous, tropical archipelago in sleek, speedy maglev trains and/or zippy aerocars. One can also boop around Avalonia in landcars of various shapes and sizes. All of these modes of transport are powered by either hydrogen fuel cells or fusion technology, tech that is pretty far beyond what mere Earthfolk such as ourselves currently have.
So Avalonians have it pretty easy.
But folk in the Known World don’t have anything close to that sort of tech. If and when they travel at all, Known Worlders tend to do so either on horseback, in stagecoaches, or by boat. Most parts of the Known World are readily accessible by sea, or by an extensive system of rivers and lakes. Thus most local travel is done by horseback or coach, while most long distance travel is conducted by ship, barge or riverboat.
(For a refresher on the geography of the planet Vadu, Avalonia and the Known World, see Dispatch # 2: A Place In Time and Space.)
Then there are the Cloud Ships.
A Brief History Of Cloud Ships
Cloud Ships are a fairly recent form of transport, becoming viable only around the mid 400s JE - about 40 years prior to the start of The Other Side Of The Sun. They were the result of extensive collaborative efforts among a group of Marodwurin (seafaring Dwurin - recall that the character Jorma Xodin is Dwurin), seafaring folk in the Southern Islands (the family of Modo Rostar has origins in a part of those islands), and a group of Mages. The project was bankrolled by a group of merchant clans based in the city states of Nargoxa [Nahr-goh-thah] and Hanabyr [Hah-nah-beer]. The Cloud Ships were built in a shipyard in Hanabyr then modified at a 2nd shipyard in Nargoxa. Think of it as a sort of medieval Skunk Works project. They were designed to be steerable, powered by a very primitive version of a steam engine, and driven by a propeller attached to the rear of the gondola.
Cloud Ships are fueled by a type of cinnabar-colored combustible sedimentary rock the Dwurin folk call Nuskum, which humans in the Known World refer to as Sangofajro, or Bloodfire. A mineral that is unique to the planet Vadu, the Dwurfolk have mined Bloodfire for thousands of years, using it as a clean-burning charcoal for cooking, for warming their homes in colder weather, and to heat their forges. Bloodfire has been developed to generate power to operate the Cloud Ships.
Once Cloud Ships became sufficiently viable, the merchant clans began building their own Cloud Ships and using them to transport goods and passengers to far flung parts of the Known World. Previously, travel between Meldûn and Nargoxa would take roughly 2 weeks via ship and coach, requiring at least a score of transfers along the way. But Cloud Ships could make the same trip in as little as 2 days, weather permitting. While Cloud Ships are more expensive to build and maintain than regular sailing ships, they can be less expensive to operate, especially over longer distances.
Two Example Cloud Ships
You will read about two specific Cloud Ships in The Other Side Of The Sun. Each is a bit different from the other. Let’s check them out.
Note that NŜ in the ships’ names is a ship prefix meaning Nuboŝipo, which is the Common Tongue word for a Cloud Ship. (Fun Fact: The real world ship prefix SS originally stood for Steamship, while SV stood for Sailing Vessel.)
NŜ Wayfarer
NŜ Wayfarer is a sloop class Cloud Ship. It was first built for the lady merchant magnate Freja clan Kobar in 465 JE (25 years before the story begins). It acted as Lady Kobar’s personal vessel, and she flew the Wayfarer around the Known World to expeditiously conduct trade across both continents. When she wasn’t using the ship, it would carry smaller loads mostly between Nargoxa and Bryn or nearby realms.
When Lady Kobar passed away in 485 JE (5 years ago in story time), she bequeathed it to Navi Atma in 485 JE, who started up her own carrying trade business called Atma Ventures. She uses it to travel throughout the Known World in search of adventure and profit. While the Wayfarer is technically based in Bryn’s capital city of Bôlada, she regularly comes into Meldûn, so Navi can visit her family there as well as trade with the folk of the Meldûn Borderlands.
The Wayfarer is smaller than most Cloud Ships, but it’s faster. She can cruise at 17 leagues per hour (about 50 mph or 94 km/h); with a favorable wind she can reach speeds of 20 leagues per hour (about 69 mph or 111 km/h). Usually operating with a crew of 14, she can carry up to 40 tons of cargo and/or up to 12 cannons, and up to 15 paying passengers.
(I should note that the Wayfarer is definitely going to see combat during the first book… just saying.)
NŜ Opportunity
NŜ Opportunity is a larger barque class Cloud Ship. Once the flagship of the old House Kobar mercantile firm, she was one of the first Cloud Ships built in 452 JE and most recently renovated in 484 JE. After Lady Kobar’s death in 485 JE, the Opportunity was bequeathed to its captain, Kuheŝimiwa “Bony” Impatafayda (everyone just calls him Bony), who took command of it back in 459 JE. (Another Fun Fact: Navi Atma was born on the Opportunity the following year, in 460 JE.) Bony sails the Opportunity pretty much wherever he can make a profit. The Opportunity doesn’t land at Meldûn very often, but when it does come it looks quite impressive as it settles down into the River Adaravel before coming round to the quay there.
The Opportunity is typical of the larger barque class Cloud Ships, but it’s slower than the Wayfarer. She can cruise at 14 leagues per hour (about 42 mph or 78 km/h); with a favorable wind she can reach speeds of 17 leagues per hour (about 50 mph or 94 km/h). Usually operating with a crew of 25 to 30, she can carry up to 70 tons of cargo and/or up to 16 cannons, and up to 30 paying passengers.
Wrapping It Up
As mentioned, both of these fine Cloud Ships will show up in The Other Side Of The Sun. The NŜ Opportunity will have a sort of walk-on part, while the NŜ Wayfarer is going to play a more substantial role. When I get around to writing the story where Navi takes center stage, the Wayfarer will play a very central role as well. I have a 3rd Cloud Ship waiting in the wings, tentatively named NŜ Venturer, but I don’t expect it to show up in the first book. So we’ll leave the Venturer tucked away in a virtual drawer for now.
That’s it for today, talk to you again in early April!
Conclusion
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— B.E. Turpin
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