Alphatian Skyships: Bettellyn Archonship
by John CalvinDM’s Notes
The navy, despite its 126 vessels, is generally scattered about the realm. One half is often at sea, on missions for the empire, typically including all sailing ships and 22 skyships. To be accurate 31 of the small sailing ships are in fact skyships; 19 of the small galleys are submersibles.
Bettellyn: Strengths & Foibles -- Pt. III
This indicates that all of the 31 skyships are of the “small sailing ship” variety.
Appearance
These small single masted sailing ships, appear in most ways to be normal seagoing vessels. Built into the base of the mast is a gilded reliquary. The six foot tall structure appears to be a cylindrical cage that surrounds the mast, extending outward an extra three feet around it. A small pair of double doors sits at face height on the aft side.
The vessels themselves are constructed of soarwood, and inlaid with filigree of gold and silver. Scenes depicting great winged creatures are carved all along the ship’s prows, and the taffrails are constructed from a series of interlocking statuary carved from rare hardwoods.
Operation
Typical crew compliments include 3 officers, 10 sailors, and up to 25 marines. Constructed primarily from soarwood, and enchanted with lift and levitation spells, an archonship naturally floats in the air and can be directed in flight through the placement of its sails. In this configuration the motive force of the ship is wind power, and the vessel’s movement relies upon the good weather surrounding it.
The true power of an archonship is seen when its reliquary is activated. To activate the reliquary its small doors must be opened, and prayers must be offered to The Seven for a full turn. At the end of the turn, those praying are transformed into pure energy and absorbed into the reliquary, at which point the mast and sails begin to glow, splitting in half and transforming into a giant pair of brilliant white wings. It takes one lesser archon, or three archon-blooded individuals, to activate the reliquary through prayer in this manner.
The wings remain as long as the reliquary is powered and provide additional maneuverability and movement to the vessel, even in stale winds. It is possible to power the vessel in this way for 8 hours without any ill effects, after which time the reliquary doors must be opened to release the faithful residing within. Those released from the reliquary appear around the mast in a blinding flash of light, while the ship’s wings slowly transform back into a single masted sail. Those released from the reliquary are exhausted, and require a full rest, but are otherwise unharmed.
It is possible to power the reliquary for longer than 8 hours, however this will have detrimental effects on those individuals powering it. For every hour thereafter, each individual trapped in the reliquary takes one point of Constitution damage. Unwilling participants are allowed a saving throw, and will re-appear outside the reliquary if successful (thus ending the wing enchantment). Constitution drain may be healed normally through rest, but those reduced to a Constitution score of 0 are lost to the reliquary and can not be returned even by Immortal magic.
History
Archonships began seeing use shortly after the revelation of Samarion and the official formation of the church of The Seven. They were instrumental in driving the dragons from Bettellyn during the early formation of that nation, and have since seen extensive use in conflicts along the southern border with Randel.
Variants
Darchon - Very little is known about this mysterious vessel, rarely ever observed during daylight hours. Although quite clearly an archonship, the craft has black sails and disturbing visages carved along its prow. When transformed the sails become black wings, nearly invisible against the night sky except for the fact that they blot out the stars in the firmament behind them. Most skysailors consider it a bad omen to see the Darkon fly, and actively shun telling tales of it (especially while in the air).
Serraphia - The undisputed flagship of Bettellyn’s fleet, the Serraphia is a triple masted archonship, with a reliquary attached to each mast. Although the ship has three reliquaries, all must be operated simultaneously in order for its masts to transform into wings. Should the reliquaries be maintained by three full blooded archons, the ship is able to manifest yet another ability. At great risk to themselves the archons are able to transform the ships great wings into rings of blue fire. Once the ship passes fully through the rings it will find itself in the Realm of The Seven. There is a 10% chance that each archon in one of the reliquaries will be consumed by this effort and vanish from existence. Once there, the Serraphia can only be returned to the prime material plane by one of the Seven themselves, and only after her captain and crew vow to take on a holy quest for their patrons.
Empyrion - A “dragon-hunter” class, the Empyrion sees much use on the Randel border. It’s “V” shaped split mast can be folded back onto its deck during battle to protect them against counter attacks from large aerial creatures. When the reliquary is powered during normal flight, the split mast transforms into wings like any other archonship, however when the masts are stowed the reliquary instead creates an ethereal fiery halo around the center of the ship. Although top speeds decrease while in this configuration, the ship gains nearly double the maneuverability.