Airship

The airship is the most recent innovation in transport in the Mirror Lakes, and coveted by many. The maiden voyage of the first working airship took place at the end of the Age of Acceleration. Since then the design has been fine-tuned for efficiency and safety, and continues to be tinkered with, with the end goal being affordability. Although airships have been around for four centuries, they are still very expensive to maintain.   Airships are powered by electric blueberry plants, cuttings of which are harvested by a weeder and placed in a special container in the bowels of the ship. The energy generated by the plants turns the powerful propellers and blows air upwards into the sails, lifting the vessel off the ground. The airship's Captain then directs the flight by controlling the direction of the sails, propellers, wings, and rudder in relation to the air currents. An Airship Assistant aids the Captain with navigation, passenger management, and can step in to man the airship in place of the Captain if required.   Airships are by far the fastest method of travel. They are not hindered by most of the landscape (only mountains, which they have to navigate around), are not limited by the locations of roads or tracks, and there is no need to switch vehicle when crossing the sea. They can fly faster than most traditional ships can sail. They are usually smaller, and built to be aerodynamic. Flying an airship used to require an entire crew, but modern designs have all the functions of the airship rigged together with a complex system of levers and wheels that can be manned by one person.   Potential hazards of airship flight, besides not turning quickly enough to avoid a mountain, are mostly related to aerofauna. The Mirror Lakes is home to a diverse range of flight-capable creatures, birds being in the minority. There are few predators daring or aggressive enough to intentionally attack a vessel in flight, but jellyfish have caused many an accident on board, to the point of anti-jellyfish technology being invented and installed on airships to gently repel any nearby. Although rain is not usually a big problem for airships, if the rainbirds in question are flamingos, the sheer volume of rain can be problematic. Airships are equipped to deal with flooding, and all electric components are waterproofed to avoid electric shocks.   Although a few airships exist for commercial use, most are owned by monarchs, wealthy landowners, and the Sovereign. Few can afford to employ a weeder, a, Captain and Assistant, and engineer to fly and maintain the vessel. There are however those dedicated to finding ways of making the airship a more affordable option.