Alyeskan Gazetteer: Forlorn Thule

Off the eastern coast of Alyeska is an archipelago of rocky islands stretching out as a long chain into the great ocean known as The Needles. Amongst these outcrops of rocks lies Alyeska's Theda Air Station, better known as 'Forlorn Thule' by those stationed there.

Brief History

The Needles have always been of great strategic value to the Commonwealth, they are the closest part of Alyeska to the Home Isles and often the first sight of land to many ships crossing the Mhór Farraige (Great Ocean). Historically the Commonwealth Navy has always maintained an outpost and later a wireless station in the islands, though these days the Navy's presence is limited to a single guard ship. Theda Air Station was established just prior to the Great Darmonican War to provide protection of the Alyeskan shipping lanes in response to the decline of the Navy's presence. During the War the air station was active in safeguarding the Alyeskan coast from Tylander raiders, but was and remains an unpopular posting.

The name 'Forlorn Thule' and the base's reputation in the Aerial Corps is due to the harsh climate, rough weather is common for the vast majority of the year and is not helped by the current storm wracked nature of the Mhór Farraige.

Present State

Today Theda Air Station is home to No.86 Squadron of the Commonwealth Air Force, a composite force of fighters and long range patrol aircraft. A Flight is the fighter component of the squadron and usually has at least two aircraft mounted on steam catapults ready to be rapidly launched at a moment's notice. The patrol aircraft of B Flight typically range out over the ocean on wide ranging patrols, mainly to deter smugglers and provide a Commonwealth presence in the otherwise remote and sparsely populated islands. Both Flights do have to contend with sky pirates that are known to operate in the area and prey upon shipping (both air and sea).

The Air Station is located on the barren and windswept Theda Island, the largest isles amongst The Needles. All of its buildings are prefabricated steel structure huts of varying sizes and made from a half-cylindrical skin of corrugated steel. All of the huts are frequently seen as cold and draughty, combined with the weather it is a pretty miserable place and hence its status as an unpopular posting. Yet it is considered vitally important to protect the foresaid shipping lanes and for trans-oceanaic flights of aircraft to and from Alyeska.

Campaign Ideas

One way to incorporate Forlorn Thule into your games of Frozen Skies is either as a destination for a delivery job/supply run or as a stopover for flights to and from the rest of Darmonica. Play up the basic facilities of the place and the frequent bad weather, it is cold and wet for at least three quarters of the year.

The other route is run a military campaign where the players are members of No.86 Squadron, battling the weather and primitive conditions as much as sky pirates.

Lurkers In The Shadows

The civilisation that was the Ancient Terrans collapsed almost two thousand years ago following some cataclysmic event, but details on what actually happened are scarce. Likewise information on the Ancient Terrans have been collected piece by piece over the centuries since the 'Fall', but even this is fragmented and woefully incomplete. What is known is that the Ancient Terrans had access to technology far in advance of anything that currently exists in Darmonica, but nothing that could've prevented their doom.

...Right?

Lurkers

What isn't known is that some of the elite of Ancient Terran society (think the Enclave from the Fallout series) saw the cataclysm coming and took steps to prepare for it, there was a number of different plans but for now we'll focus on just one of them.

A number of secret vaults or catacombs (take your pick) were constructed, these were designed as refuges for a handful of elites and some of their underlings. All were placed in a sort of stasis to enable them to survive the forthcoming cataclysm and then rebuild their empire, alot of Ancient Terran tech was also put in these vaults to aid on this objective. It was expected that the survivors would be revived from stasis after about a century when the world was judged to have recovered enough from the cataclysm, as you can expect this didn't quite plan out the way that it was suppose to have done.

The stasis technology used was highly experimental and a lack of time and the survivor's own selfishness meant that the clinks in the system were never ironed out. A number of vaults became little more than tombs for their inhabitants, but in others the inhabitants were somehow changed during their time in stasis. Those that eventually emerged were altered to be neither fully alive or dead, just sort of stuck somewhere in between. Undead isn't quite the right word, but these Ancient Terran survivors now need the lifeforce of others to survive.

Over the centuries that have now passed the underlings have abducted isolated groups of people from the Alyeskan wilderness to feed the rest of the so-called 'hive', usually one or two would be fed upon by the underlings whilst the rest are placed in converted stasis machines to feed those still slumbering. The biggest 'hive' is located beneath the Monolith and is mainly responsible for the disappearance of whole expeditions in the Chillwynd Marches as well people from nearby townships such as Prospector's Reach. Though only a fraction of a hive is presently awake, mostly underlings tasked with feeding the hive led by a single elite who acts as the hive's de factor ruler.

Game Terms

Though whilst I have yet to work out any stats I do have a few ideas how I envision the Lurkers work under the Savage Worlds rule.

*Life Drain: When a Lurker makes and maintains physical contact with a victim (usually though a Grapple) the victim must make a Spirit roll each round or lose one die from their Vigor. When the victim's Vigor drops below d4 they die. One die of Vigor is recovered each week with a natural healing roll.

*Weapons: To represent the Lurker's inherited advance technology I'm toying with the idea of having them use laser weapons as well as some sort of hi-tech stun weapon.

Gasbags

As you've may or may not have gathered aerial travel is a big thing in the world of Darmonica, especially frontier regions like Alyeska. Talked a little about aircraft and a huge amount on skyships, but another type of airship has only been mentioned in passing. This type is effectively the zeppelins and blimps of our own world but in Darmonica itself they form the backbone of long distance air travel and bulk carriage.

So strap on your flying cap as we take a leisurely look at Darmonica's so-called 'gasbags'.

A Poor Man's Skyship

In comparison to skyships, gasbags are considered to be less glamorous and 'cheap'. They certainly cost hell of alot less to construct and run than a skyship, which means that they can often be seen in the hands of small outfits and independent traders. They are also quite numerous in military service, outnumbering skyships but now widely seen as a sought after posting. But gasbags carry very little in the way of armour and are less rugged than skyships, meaning that they lack somewhat in combat endurance.

Just like their skyship cousins gasbags also make use of Lift Gas and an electric current to control the craft's altitude, but this is where the similarities end. The most obvious difference is the use of motor engines mounted in engine cars for propulsion. These engine cars also contain starter motors that drive electric when the airship is at rest or at low speeds, at normal flight speeds the generators are driven by constant-speed variable-pitch windmills. The generators provide electricity for both general purpose use onboard the airship as well as for the craft's Lift Gas.

The use of Lift Gas and how it works means that gasbags are capable of carrying a much higher tonnage compared to their real world counterparts. It is also fairly common practice for fighter aircraft to be carried onboard to help defend the gasbag if it comes under attack, military gasbags also carry dedicated scout aircraft when on long range patrol duties. A hook beneath the vessel is typically used to launch and recover aircraft in addition to an internal hanger in the airship's underside.

Home Away From Home

For Frozen Skies players gasbags are probably more likely to be encountered than skyships, either as passengers or using one as a mobile base of operations. Skyships would be the capital ships in an aerial fleet whilst gasbags would be the escorts, even the large trade consortiums have a pair of gasbags escorting one of their skyships. But for an average group of PCs going the aerial route is is expected that they'll have access to a single gasbag and a handful of aircraft, though a skyship is something to aim for as a campaign goal.

May 2016 Update

Another month and another update.

Short version is that things are progressing well, least with regards to Frozen Skies. Also wished to discuss the rest of the events that Utherwald will be attending this year and some events that I'd like to attend next year. Finally theres some other stuff thats being considered and a treat in the form of artwork.

Now Read On...

Frozen Skies

It is looking increasingly likely that Frozen Skies will get a proper release this year.

However it'll be a case of "done when its done" as I'm not willing to commit to a release date just yet as there is still plenty of work to be done. When the book is close to being finalized then I'll be able to give a release date, until then stay tuned.

I can say that to begin with it'll be PDF through RPGNow/DriveThruRPG, then Print-On-Demand through those same sites and then other avenues of distribution.

Events

Diceni is done and dusted, made some decent sales and spoke to a guy who'd kickstarted his campaign with my Firewater & Ice adventure. Other events planned are NOR-CON and Exilion, both taking place in October and in Norwich and Cambridge respectively.

These later events I'm hoping to have Frozen Skies in book form, but we'll have to see. Going forward I'm hoping to try and get a bit more involved in the event rather than just man a trade stall all day, granted I've sort of already started doing this by running a Frozen Skies game at last year's UK Games Expo. Nothing other than trading is planned for NOR-CON, though I am kicking about ideas for doing a talk/Q&A session based on Frozen Skies and/or Utherwald Press which I'll need to discuss with the event organisers.

I'd like to go back to UK Games Expo next year since I had to give it a miss this year because of my first child being born., maybe run a few games but again we'll have to see. Other events I'm looking at include Dragondaze in Cardiff and Conpulsion in Edinburgh, plus possibly a US based convention ideally one with a strong Savage Worlds presence.

The Other Stuff

With the possibility of Frozen Skies being done this year I've started looking into Savage Worlds podcasts with the idea of being a guest on one or more of them. Mainly to promote and spread the word about Frozen Skies. Over the next few weeks I'll be approaching some of 'em and see if we can work something out, though being on British Summer Time might make things interesting.

Oh, and artwork as promised...

Life In The Wulflands

A fair bit on the Wulflands and even more on the Wulvers has been covered as well as other parts of Alyeska. Even gone into some detail on general life in Alyeska such as entertainment, festivals and means of communications. Plus life in the Iron Collective has been discussed, but only a general overview has been posted regarding the Wulflands.

So what is life like for the average Wulflander?

Against The Angry Night

Life in the Wulflands, unsurprisingly, is one of constant siege.

Alyeska's western reaches are very much the Wulver's domain with scattered outposts of man stubbornly clinging on. The most successful settlements west of the Wulfwall are those like Calharrow that have some sort of natural defence like being sited upon a mesa or a river island. Others are where people have generally taken to living on the upper floors of buildings, the ground floor being abandoned for all intent and purposes simply for self-defence and a lack of resources. There are one or two towns that have managed to fortify themselves, though all of these settlements require an armoury of weapons to safeguard their continued existence.

Wulflanders need to be on their guard at all times in case of a Wulver attack and most carry firearms of some description to defend themselves with, particularly since there is no guarantee that the Commonwealth military can come to their aid. Most Wulflanders consider themselves to be independent as it is generally considered that the Commonwealth has effectively abandoned the region, though they might still give aid to the Wulfbane Commandos and the Outriders who's job it is to keep the Wulver threat in check. The Outriders especially are typically the closest thing to the Commonwealth that alot of Wulflanders have contact with and some even fill the ranks of that organisation.

There are usually three different categories that Wulflanders fall into;

*Settlers - Most of these are the inhabitants that were around prior to the Wulver War and refused to leave, the rest are those who have chosen to come out and live in Wulver territory perhaps with dreams of one day reclaiming the land.

*Hunters - From 1830 AF there have been a growing number of so-called 'Hunters' ever since the Commonwealth started placing bounties on the Wulvers. The only official place that said bounties can be handed in is Calharrow, though some of the other settlements offer their own independent bounties.

*Outcasts - The final group of Wulflanders is the Outcasts, typically outlaws or others who have shunned human company for whatever reason. Whilst dangerous the Wulflands are favoured by those on the run due to the fact that the Royal Alyeskan Air Police is unwilling to venture there unless the outlaw in question has committed a very serious crime.

Wulflander Society

Despite the Wulvers and the nature of those living out in this forsaken region there is a functional society of a sort out in the Wulflands. The area is very much the frontier as luxuries such as running water, electricity, telephones and even a doctor are virtually non-existent other than Calharrow. Thus Wulflanders have to be a practical and resourceful bunch, making the most of what little they do have and try to survive another day. A few fair Wulfland settlements sustain themselves either by scavenging the many ghost towns that now exist, farming food from fortified smallholdings or trading Wulver pelts. Many even share information with the Commonwealth military (normally the Outriders) in exchange for supplies, especially if they're running low on critical items. Some have started catering for the so-called 'Wulver safaris' that have sprung up in recent years.

An informal network of communication and trade has sprung up, though this is heavily reliant on freelance pilots and a handful of radiosets that some settlements have managed to keep running. Wulflanders have to charter an aircraft to deliver messages and goods to other settlements, though normally a trader will fly out to a settlement where he can do business particularly if the settlement has scavenged goods or pelts to sell. Most trade out in the Wulflands is done with a barter based system, occasionally coinage is used. Virtually all of this is done via aircraft, though some attempt to travel via land but not all make it.

Wulfland Adventures

Here are but a few ideas for adventures that take place out in the Wulflands;

*Settlement - The party could be a group of settlers either trying to found a settlement or defend one out in the Wulflands, though they'll be under near constant threat from the Wulvers. They have to manage their resources and interact with other factions for trade which can mean alot of social interactions.

*Outcasts - An Outcast campaign could be similar to the Settlement one above as the party will have to fight for survival and gain resources. Alternatively they could be a band of smugglers using the Wulflands as a route to get goods to and from the sky pirate haven of Broken Spires.

*Military - Finally there is the Military campaign, quite probably where the party are members of the Outriders patrolling the Wulflands. Stealth and combat are going to be the obvious aspect of this sort of campaign but there could be a social aspect as the party interacts with a Wulfland settlement. Alternative the party could be part of the Wulfbane Commando which will lead to a more combat heavy game or for a one-off or short series of adventures they could the survivors of a crashed military aircraft.

For Freedom And Past Glories: Tyland Free State

Having covered the Artian Confederation last week it is only right that we take a look at the Tyland Free State, a nation that is a sad relic of its former glory. No other nation in Darmonica has played such a major role in its history and ended up falling so low. For nearly a decade it has endured occupation and humiliation whilst harbouring a strong regret of all that has been lost. It is also a dangerous place where gunfights in the streets and bombings aren't unheard of.

History

Once the Free State was known as the Kingdom of Tyland, a nation with a long history that stretched back centuries. Many Tylanders even claim that the Kingdom was the first Darmonican power to arise after the fall of the Ancient Terrans, whether true of false this claim has yet to be proven either way. Though whilst it may had been the oldest power in Darmonica it wasn't immune to upheaval as a number of civil wars occurred throughout its history as various houses vied for the Tylander throne. 

Much like the Holy Sodkan Empire, the Tylanders were devout followers of the deity known as 'The Great Maker' but there were theological differences between the two that often led to conflict. The two nations warred on and off over the centuries until the early 1700s when their differences in religious doctrine were put to one side, bonds between them were further strengthened in 1738 when an arranged marriage linked the Sodkan and Tylander royal families. Plans for a Darmonican superstate devoted to the Great Maker were beginning to bear fruit, especially after the United Provinces had been conquered.

Then the Tyland-Artian War broke out.

At first the war went in Tyland's favour as the various Artian states fell one after another in the first couple years of the conflict, least until the Siege of Utherheim that was the Kingdom's undoing. As the siege raged on the Tylanders allowed themselves to tunnel vision and become obsessed with crushing Viktor Wilstein, effectively leaving the Tylanders blind to events taking place elsewhere. Sensing an opportunity, the Commonwealth had struck a deal with Wilstein to get some payback for the defeat it had suffered at Tylander hands some years earlier. In a bold move the Commonwealth landed a large army in the United Provinces, taking full advantage of the fact that the Tylander garrison had been weakened due to the war against the Artians. Faced with a sudden second front opening up and a renewed Artian offensive, the Tylander war effort crumbled.

Worse was yet to come when the Tylander king was killed during an Artian artillery bombardment on Tyland's capital, a loss that the Tylanders never fully recovered from and sparked the Kingdom's decline as well as the Great Darmonican War. The Tyland-Artian War ended a few weeks after the king's death and Tylander ambitions for a pan-Darmonican superstate were permanently put on hold as the Kingdom sought to recover and crown a new monarch. For the next half a century the Tylanders lick their wounds looked to settle accounts, ultimately leading to the Great Darmonican War in 1796 AF.

The Tylanders had hoped to relive their early successes of the earlier Tyland-Artian War by taking a rapid, blitzkrieg like advance into the Confederation. They had also gotten their Sodkan allies to attack from the east, hoping to defeat the Artians by forcing them to fight a war on two fronts. At first things went to plan as Confederate soldiers were forced to conduct a fighting retreat, though a number of delaying actions caused the Royal Tylander Army to start getting bogged down. Similarly the Sodkans enjoyed some early successes, though they advanced on a much broader front and at a more sedate pace. Things changed when the Commonwealth attacked the Holy Sodkan Empire and captured a major port city, in addition they conducted raids along the northern coastline of Tyland.

The ultimate doing of the joint Tylander-Sodkan war plans was the rise of the Order of the Great Machine, a radical religious sect that stirred up wide spread civil unrest in the Holy Sodkan Empire and eventually left it unable to support its Tylander allies. This left the Artians free to redeploy troops from the Sodkan Front, at the same time the Commonwealth landed troops on Tyland's coast and captured a number of ports. With the Sodkan Empress' death in the event known as 'The Blast', the Sodkans withdrew from the conflict and the joint Artian-Commonwealth forces crushed the Tylander war machine.

Present Day

In aftermath of the War the Tylanders found their Kingdom occupied by both the Artians and the Commonwealth, the latter holding the northern ports whilst the former occupied the rest of the Kingdom. A treaty forced upon the Tylanders saw the creation of a rump of a state called the Tyland Free State with a chunk of former Tylander territory given to the Artians. The same treaty allowed for Artian troops to occupy the Free State and the Commonwealth to hold the northern ports (thus known as 'Treaty Ports') for a period of ten years, though amidst growing tensions it is doubtful that either country will honour the treaty and withdraw their troops.

A number of Tylander resistance groups have sprung up over the past decade, all of them united in fighting the occupiers but divided by their ultimate goals. The resistance groups are just as likely to fight one another as they are the Artians, leading to a low level civil war like situation in the Free State. There is a provisional government, but it is seen as little more than a puppet and ineffective as it has to rely heavily on the Artians occupation forces. If the resistance groups could put aside their differences and co-ordinated their efforts they can could have a shot at reclaiming their country...

Might Makes Right: The Artian Confederation

Another of Darmonica's great powers was a nation birthed in the forge of war over a century ago and unsurprisingly has a very militant culture. Named after Ares, the Darmonican deity of warfare, the Artian Confederation ranks high in military might and could quite easily give the Commonwealth a run for its money. For now its attention is divided between its eastern border with the Iron Collective and maintaining control over Tylander territory that it has occupied since the end of the Great Darmonican War, though it does have ambitions further afield.

Those ambitions include Alyeska.

History

The lands that form the Confederation are no strangers to war, having been the battlefields between the Tylanders and the Sodkans for centuries. Prior to the Tyland-Artian War in 1741 AF the Confederation was little more than a loose collection of city-states and scattered farms, used by then to the armies marching to clash with one another. But conquest of the future Artian states rarely occurred to either side as the foresaid states acted as a nice buffer between Tylander and Sodkan territory.

Least until 1741.

By the early 1700s the Kingdom of Tyland made it clear that it had territorial ambitions proven by its conquest of the United Provinces, which included a Commonwealth defeat when it tried coming to the United Provinces' aid. The Artian states were growing increasingly warily, especially when an arranged marriage occurred that linked together the Tylander and Sodkan royal families. Fearing that plans were in motion that would lead to a Darmonican superstate some of the Artian came together and formed the League of Artia, a defensive union that was soon put to the test in 1714 when the Royal Tyland Army attacked and smashed its through through the western states.

The Tylanders made huge advances but were ultimately stalled upon the banks of the River Bhein by a hastily assembled Artian mercenary army and the fighting entered a lull during the winter of 1741-2. Unfortunately for the Artians a fair number of the mercenaries either quit or accepted Tylander coin, by the spring of 1742 the invaders had established footholds on the east bank of the Bhein and held a number of key bridges. By summer a series of battles saw a number of the Artian state armies routed and the situation was looking increasingly dire.

Enter Viktor Wilstein.

Wilstein was the Chancellor of the State of Uthermark and a veteran of the various Sodkan wars where he had honed his tactics. He put a call out to the other states to rally their soldiers at his capital of Utherheim, though much to the surprise of the other states Wilstein's city was prepared for siege and had extensive earthworks in a ring round it. Many thought that Wilstein was mad and was inviting his own destruction, thus refused to commit their soldiers to defend the city. But a few either guessed that Wilstein had a secret plan or saw an opportunity to make one last valiant stand, regardless of how Wilstein's own army was supplemented by a handful of others who stood ready when the Tylanders arrived to lay siege.

Days, then weeks went by and Wilstein made no move which led many to question whether they ahd made the right choice in supporting him. Weeks eventually turned into months as the city endured a battering from near constant artillery fire and supplies started to run low. Many begged Wilstein to throw open the city's gates to the conquerors, but the Uthermark chancellor refused. Then word arrived that the Commonwealth had landed troops to liberate the United Provinces, catching the Tylanders by complete surprise. Upon hearing the news Wilstein gave orders for a beacon in the city to be lit, which was a signal for an army that Wilstein had kept hidden in the nearby Utherwald Forest to attack. Wilstein's secret army smashed into the flanks of the enemy army and the city's defenders stormed out the gates to support them, by day's end the besiegers had been routed and the siege lifted.

It took another year but the Tylanders were finally driven out of both the Artian States and the United Provinces by Wilstein's forces and the Commonwealth respectively. Wilstein himself would go to become the Archchancellor of the newly formed Artian Confederation in 1746 and help foster good relations with the Commonwealth that paid off during the Great Darmonican War half a century later. Though Tyland's defeat ultimately led to that very same War.

Present Day

In the decade since the end of the GDW relations between the Artians and the Commonwealth have turned sour, the main reason being the continued Artian occupation of Tylander territory. Admittedly towards the end of the War there was a growing rivalry between the two powers and there is little wonder that a cold war style situation as sprung up between them. But like everyone else the Artians are still licking their wounds from the War.

The present Archchancellor of the Confederation has three main priorties;

*Defend eastern border against a possible attack from the Iron Collective.

*Deal with insurgents in Occupied Tyland.

*Find an edge over the other great powers.

This last priority has seen the Archancellor dispatch agents to Alyeska in search of Ancient Terran artefacts, thus ending up in conflict with the agents of other nations. Some say he has become obsessed with rumours of some Ancient Terran weapon, even to the point of ordering his agents to ignore 'petty gizmos'.

Is he aware of something that nobody else is?

~ ~ ~

Quick Shoutout Time!

Utherwald Press will be at this year's Diceni show in Norwich (UK) this Sunday!

Love to see folk come and say hi at what is such a great event.

Wait, thats not all...

A little treat in the form of a Work-In-Progress snapshot of artwork currently being done for Frozen Skies.

April 2016 Update

Another case of "Hey, haven't done one of these posts in a while..." sort of deal, plus stuff has happened since the last post of this type. I also wanted to give an update on and confirm some event details.

So, without further delays...

Frozen Skies

A few updates here, so I'll split them up into their own little bits;

*Artwork - Finally gotten more artwork in the pipeline with the artist currently working on the first of three pieces. A Work In Progress preview can be found as a Patrons only post over on the Patreon page, this preview will be posted on this blog probably next week.

*Writing - Ian Liddle, who previously did the layout for the Setting Primer, has joined the team to help get the writing properly organised and even do some writing of his own. So a big thank you is owed to him!

*Names & Books - Decided to do the current book as a sort of Player's Guide with everything needed to run games, though it'll probably be called something along the lines of 'The Aviator's Companion'. Couple more books are planned with one being a world guide with location details called 'The Alyeskan Gazetteer' and a book called 'Skies of Crimson' that'll focus on sky pirates and the pirate haven of Broken Spires.

Events

OK, there are at least two confirmed events that Utherwald will be in attendance at.

Diceni - This is a local gaming event that Utherwald has attended since its beginnings. It'll be taking place at the Forum in Norwich (UK) on Sunday 1st May from 10am to 4pm with free entry.

Exilicon - Slightly further afield in Cambridge, Exilicon is a convention of creative geekery thats in its third year. This year it'll be at the St Andrew's Baptist Church in Cambridge on Saturday 22nd October, again this is a free entry event. 11am-5pm

NOR-CON - Otherwise known at the Norfolk TV, Film and Comic Con takes place on Saturday 8th October at the Norfolk Showground. This is a potential event, have yet to book a trade stand so wait for confirmation.

Kickstarter

Mulling the idea of giving Kickstarter another shot, or maybe even Indiegogo. Biggest problem is setting the rewards, chiefly what to offer and how to tier it. Thoughts on the matter would be most welcomed.

Skyships "Full Power To Engines!"

A follow-on from last week's post, prompted by a comment made by Perry Chalmers (thanks for the idea). Effectively settled upon an engine design and means of propulsion, one that ties into the Weird Science angle of the setting and makes use of the so-called 'glimmer rock'. At the same time it also rather beautifully ties into the method to make the skyships actually fly through the air.

But before we delve into all that I just wish to announce that on the Patreon page I'll be making a Patrons-only post within the next couple of weeks. The link to the Patreon page can be found in the links on the right hand side of the blog and just $1 will grant access to the Patron only posts made there.

Below (or via link below) is the meat of this week's post.

The Machine's Heart

Most machines typically have what could loosely be described as their 'heart' usually in the form of some sort of engine, be it steam or diesel powered. Skyships are no different and whilst at first glance they may some unusual they still have a firm grounding in real life principles...up to an obvious point.

The core of a skyship's engine is glimmer rock that sort of functions as both an accumulator and as a heating element, the latter not being that much different from an electric kettle. When fed with an electric charge the core heats up and in turns heats the water surrounding it, eventually turning it into steam. After the steam is created it is then fed into two different turbines depending on which pipe system it is in, basically very much like fossil-fuel and nuclear power stations. The smaller of the two systems feeds into a turbine thats connected to a generator that provides electricity to the vessel and also to the engine's core, it is also the system thats nearly constantly running. The other system is much larger and is typically running at a much higher pressure, this basically runs turbines that propel the vessel forward (or in some cases backwards).

With the propulsion turbines in particular they work in very much the same way to a typical steam turbine, though the output is similar to a jet engine. High pressure steam is used to turn a mini-turbine that is connected to much larger turbines via a shaft, these larger turbines in turn suck air in through the front end and (obviously) out through the back end. There are tubes round the mini-turbine for the air flow without the steam pipes blocking said airflow. In some respects it could almost be described as a steam powered jet engine, course that are also rudders on the back end of the turbine assembly that direct the airflow and thus allows the vessel to turn.

Hopefully that should give people a better understanding of how the skyships are suppose to work, though I have realized that an updated post on glimmer rock is needed sometime soon...

Skyship Design Thoughts

Bit of a recent windfall of cash has meant money to throw at more artwork and get me a step closer to Frozen Skies getting properly released. Hoping over the next few weeks to show a preview of one of the new pieces of artwork I've had commissioned, but this week I wish to talk a little about another piece of artwork thats in the pipeline.

That of a Skyship.

Getting The Look

Probably the easiest part was the general shape and look of Darmonica's Skyship, heavily inspired by those in the webcomic Alpha Shade which are loosely based upon WW1 & WW2 era warships. Granted the ones active in Darmonica have at least one difference, namely the gasbags for the 'Lift Gas' which I envision being on either side of the vessel and occupying the central third of its length. So at the moment we're looking at a WW1 era warship kept aloft with a pair of zeppelin style gasbags.

With the core basic concept in mind we move onto other things such as control and means of propulsion, factors that will effect the design. For control at least the obvious would be a rudder, though have considered the possibility of biplane (or monoplane) wings mounted on either side of the fore-end of the vessel. These forewings would effectively function similarly to canards, basically acting as elevators and also help the rudder to steer the vessel.

Propulsion is a little trickier to decide upon.

At presently I'm favouring Alpha Shade style turbines, a sort of steam powered jet engine if you will. The advantage of this is that the airflow from these turbines can be used in conjunction with the rudder to turn the skyship, course the related machinery and fuel is going to take up space. The other option is having wing mounted prop engines like WW2 bombers such as the Lancaster and B-17, though we'll see.

In Closing

I'd love to hear people's thoughts on this, the actual look of the Skyships is still very fluid at this stage and feedback can help refine the design.

Also, PATREON!

Previews will go up on the Patreon before eventually being posted on the blog, you can get in on the act for only $1 and help bring Frozen Skies that bit closer to release.