Cloud ShipsDespite the Monsooner cultural group being reliant on the sea for many of their practical and spiritual needs, the Twelve Bays Confederacy had little to show in terms of great oceangoing vessels until well into early modernity. The reasons for this are debated by historians. Were whales simply so plentiful in those days that there was no need to hunt further afield? Was any attempt until that point foiled by the stormy waters of the North Ocean?
Regardless, the propagation of Chain technology in the generations immediately following Mimatqui began to change this state of affairs. While sea-ships were rare, no such thing could be said of canal boats and other small vessels that filled the canals of Ixam and other Ziggawatt cities. The boatbuilders of a town in the Evergreen Riverway called Atoyac (meaning "city on the river") were well familiar with the principles of buoyancy and hydrodynamic drag, and noticed the potential of Orichalcum to revolutionize their craft.
[DESIGN EMPHASIS]So-called Cloud Ships utilized the cetro-magnetic locking effects of Orichalcum to create hydrofoils that seemingly floated untethered over the water. A hydrofoil is a type of boat with a hull attached by struts to a wing-like surface (the foil) under the water. Under power, the foil generates lift and the hull rises over the surface. Because the the hull isn't producing drag in the water, a hydrofoil can travel much faster than a conventional boat with the same powerplant.
The key difference for a Cloud Ship, of course, is that there are no struts. An Ichor-powered rail in the keel of the boat pushes off a magnetic balance keel in the foil, locking into place over a meter apart. With a strong wind against its sails or a couple banks of oarsmen giving it their all, a Cloud Ship will speedily hover on its way over the waves while its foil cuts through the water below. Such Cloud Ships plied the waters of the North Ocean hunting for whales, and further connected the southward-growing Twelve Bays Confederation on the interbarrial river network, with expeditions going as far as the Vale of Waters... and perhaps, beyond?
[/DESIGN EMPHASIS]The boom in shipbuilding Cloud Ships brought led to the construction of some of the first large ships in Monsooner history, with the largest reaching multiple hundred tons of weight. A typical example of such a large Cloud Ship is the trading vessel
Sun Chaser--so called for its carved prow portraying the eponymous lion-headed god--and known to archaeologists through its surviving design plans and a number of contemporary descriptions.
The
Sun Chaser was a wooden trimaran made of Choladaic Mahogany, measuring 30 meters in length and with a crew complement of around 50. For stability, each of the three hulls held an Orichalcum locking rail corresponding to a sister rail on the submarine foil. The central hull had two masts for sails, oar positions for rowers, and a raised quarterdeck from which the captain commanded the rudder. Cargo could be stowed on the deck connecting the hulls, or inside the two outrigger hulls. The Sun Chaser, under its notable captain Seven Golden Coins, attempted a record-breaking transcontinental voyage to trade with the mysterious southlander "Beeples."
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