Crystal Wind
The floating palaces of the Arcane Cartel are wonders one and all, but none can exceed the splendor of the Crystal Wind.
30 meters wide, 50 meters long, and 25 meters high if you discount the pennants, the interior covers half a hectare of exquisitely appointed wonder. The grand foyer and control dome sit in the front, encased in living crystal that can shift in color and translucency at the whim of the captain. Simply gaining admittance to the foyer is enough to make most weep with joy at the beauty on display - from the sculptures crafted specifically for the space by the great Narla Seen to the relics excavated from the Jeli Empire that rest in contemplation nooks.
But few have gone beyond that entrance where the great Dargaaz the Enlightened meets with lucky petitioners to see the true wonders of the Crystal Wind. I am one of those few, having had the pleasure of a private meeting with the great one's current paramour while discussing the provenance of a particularly exquisite mechanism I was demonstrating. The office I was escorted into was quite large, and the floor was a single piece of gleaming white marble with thin, silvery grey veins. The deep red mahogany desk was the dominant furniture in the room, although we met on a pair of soft lounging couches, carved from callanut wood and upholstered in spider silk. A quadtych I've never seen before, but clearly a the work of Vinello, hung opposite the desk, allowing one to ponder the rise and fall of the Anaolins while making the deals that the Enlightened one is known for.
Would that I had reason to see the great control room, which the paramour assured me the rest of the art was striving to match. It is said that watching the flow of Wild Space or the Astral Sea through the living crystal is enough to make the Gods weep, and I can believe it so.
Power Generation
Twin Magitech 871 generators power the entire palace. While in the Astral Sea, the generators draw enough power from the ambient energy to maintain normal operations. When in planetary systems, the generators can run on as little as five condensed crystals per day, although full combat operations can increase this significantly.
Propulsion
Four Byzan Gold jet thrusters provide forward propulsion, with a Greyson Industries Floatstone repulsor providing directional gravity and lift in gravity fields.
Weapons & Armament
The Crystal Wind is heavily fortified, a fully functional battleship class fighting vessel.
Two fixed arc cannons are the primary weapons. They emerge from the front of the palace on either side of the control dome. Powered directly by the Magitech generators, they can fire force energy that can be modulated to fire, lightning, radiant, or ice if necessary. Cannon control is in the main dome.
Kinetic cannons are situated below the arc cannons, acting as a back up if there is insufficient power for the arc cannons or if the explosive ordnance is better suited for the task. These are manually loaded and fired, although the control room directs the usage from the dome.
The rear of the Palace, between the two engine columns, contains the bomb bay. The twin loading arms can be controlled from the dome, but once the first row of bombs is depleted the crew is required to move more in position. The palace keeps dozens of bombs in several varieties available.
Short range eldritch cannons line the sides, automated to target any non-tagged entities that come within 35 meters.
Armor and defense
The speed of the Crystal Wind, like all Palace ships, is low enough that it is relies on armor rather than evasion. The walls are Astral granite, making them need significant direct hits to do more than cosmetic damage. The dome itself is living crystal, which is resistant to most energies but less resilient to physical damage than the walls.
Active defenses include the eldritch cannons and various shielding magics. These are highly reliant on competent crew to be effective.
Communication Tools & Systems
Intraship communication is done with a message relay enchantment. These permanently inscribed totems allow anyone recognized by the system to relay brief messages to anyone else on the ship.
Intership communications are handled by the SSN Conversation System. Ships with the same system can easily communicate across language barriers, and even groups without the system can have limited audio only communication with the ship.
Sensors
The latest in Scrytech Corp sensors surround the ship. Depending on the level of power they put into active sensors, they can create up to a one kilometer detection zone. This is a significant power draw, and most detection is done by crew members on watch.
Interior sensors are part of the same system, and can show any place in the ship other than the owner's private chambers.
Additional & auxiliary systems
The underworks below the main level are shorter, designed for the autognome crew. These levels contain the conduits for the magical energy between the generators and the various systems. The charging stations for the autognomes takes up most of the level.
The Crystal Wind uses the standard pocket dimension cargo system. The cargo room consists of a 3 m by 3 m room with a roller path set in the floor. This path lines up with the rollers in the portable holes used for cargo transport to make loading and unloading easy.
Hangars & docked vessels
Two docks for Mercane Shrike Ships attach to the underworks. The roof of the ship has a deployable tower that other ships can attach to.
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