Skycraft, Flight or Fiction?

To many school children across Aeridos, the idea of skycrafts are things found only in story books. As long as there are dragons in the Elderlands and the Farlands, developing a flying machine is impossible. Dr. Yanna Rockson got further than most with his motor-powered, two man flying machine. Convinced that if gliders and the low-flying hot air balloons popular in Cin Tayun could escape the notice of dragons then a craft that could travel the skies should be possible. Dr. Rockson and one of his assistants took off without incident and travelled almost fifty miles for just under two before a dragon fell upon them and tore apart their craft. Several theories abound as to why dragons grow so adjitated over flying machines from the sounds the engines make, to the dragons taking "offense" and viewing them as enemy creatures. A second attempt was made with Dr. Rockson's designs, expanded slightly to accomidate a spellcaster who could make the craft invisible to dragon eyes, but they were still found and destroyed. For now, long-range skycraft construction in the Elderlands is forbidden in most countries and the Rockson designs remain archived at several libraries for theoretical study.   Across the water in the Farlands, while there is a much small nest of dragons, the desire for technoloigcal progress is far less tempered. Several of the mercenary guilds have begun hiring metalsmiths, young and old, to be the first to produce a skycraft that is useable. The first metalsmith to produce one will change the world, but with the backing of mercenaries there is less emphasis being put on transportation, and more on the idea of allowing the old, enormous Slayer War Machines to take to the sky. Create something that isn't limited to the ground to fight dragons. Something like that, however, would put an extraordinarily dangerous, unthinking and unfeeling power back in the hands of men who might not use it wisely.