Paddlewheel Arcana
The Paddlewheel, or more precisely the Paddlewheel Arcana, is a magical device or technology that uses an arcane perpetual motion engine to drive a paddlewheel. This very scalable technology is widely used in Toresta, and beyond. In the city it is used to power small paddleboats that travel the canals of the City of Bridges. It is also the primary propulsion, supplemented by wind, of the city's great galley fleet of warships and privateers.
Utility
On small boats a single paddlewheel mounted on the stern is the typical method of using this technology. In the city, because Toresta's canals are all located with a mile of the Danilov Leyline the devices can be directly powered by it through a ley energy collection artifact. This is a small version of the artifacts used in the Ley Energy farms in the city.
The sea going version of the paddlewheel arcana is typically mounted amidship, with a separate paddlewheel on each side of the ship. Galleys have collectors to tap ley lines directly when they are close to them, (within 1 mile) but typically operate using ley storage crystals. Which can be charged with ley energy when close enough to a leyline, or replaced when in port. Paddlewheels can be retracted to reduce drag when the ship is using sails.
Cargo ships typically do not bother with paddlewheels (due to the cost and overhead). Warships, called galleys, typically use paddlewheels during combat and sails during normal travel.
Manufacturing
Toresta's Depot is the largest shipyard capable of constructing galleys in the known world. While small numbers of this class of ship is constructed in other shipyards the size of Toresta's fleet, as well as the many privateers who operate using letters of mark from the city ensures dominance on the high seas.
Social Impact
Toresta's dominant control of this technology has resulted in a greatly outsized influence for the city in trade, piracy and slavery suppression, and free trade.
