[Mkguild] On the adventure travel

[Indagare .]

>Thats a cool looking airship! We are willing to fudge the facts so long as
you do not take it too far. Perhaps keeping it a bit simply at first

*nods*

>There is no protocol but its best to run things by me first if you are not
sure or post to the mailing list and MK wiki.

Okay, I'll work on some things and post them here first.


>Well, those images are not entirely practical in the given era - certainly
not the sausage shaped air bags or toting entire ships into the sky.  And
they would have to find a prodigious source of silk or similar material -
that's all that would be fine enough to be sealed and light enough to loft
(that I know of).
You should look more toward early American Civil War attempts at recon
balloons.  They were not terribly large and still tethered to the ground
but would give some idea of early lighter than air craft.  Given a decade
to work it out I'm sure the mages' guild and/or Murikeer could figure out
how to make heavy things light enough to float, but certainly not fly.

>I am somewhat averse to certain anachronisms, much to the chagrin of past
MK writers, and this one toes the line... so the less 'advanced' it is, the
better.  Though, granted, with magic the 'basket' could be more akin to a
small ship's cabin though barely so.  Enough for perhaps three somewhat
small and light weight creatures, ostensibly one of them avian (?).  Some
of the weight could be reduced with magic, enough to get the thing airborn,
so it would not plummet if it entered areas where magic was cancelled - it
would simply loose loft over time.  Mind you, the cancellation of magic in
Yesulam is gradual so that would prevent a catastrophic failure even if the
craft was held aloft entirely by magic.

Well, this is why I'm asking first. I don't want to thread too far and if
it won't work, it won't work and I'll figure out something else. Just
because something looks cool or seems like a good idea doesn't mean it'll
work. My idea might work for the future MK (1000+) but not the present one.

>Also, it would be held aloft by heat rather than rare gasses.  That would
be easily supplied by enchanted pyrocks (which are advanced apprentice
enchanter objects, not exactly 'rare' aside from Guild market control
demanding that the bulk of them be dis-enchanted rather than sold) created
by anyone willing to take on the task.  One large enough, utilizing a very
large flawless crystal of quartz or similar material (or a hefty chunk of
mithril) would require more work to make usable by non-magic inclined
operators.  It could be replaced with a perfectly normal (and far less
efficient) fire should they become stranded where magic failed.
A rudimentary airbag would not have a relief valve at the top, so its loft
would be controlled by manipulating the heat source.

Okay. I really appreciate the feedback! I know in real life the balloon is
'controlled' by making it rise to where a given air current is blowing,
though exact control is impossible. There also needs to be a ground crew.

>Also, supplies would be a *very major* concern, since weight is all
important and supplies add considerable weight.  Anything metal would have
to be replaced with hardened (magically perhaps) wood or bone to save
weight as well.

This is true too, though I suppose hunting would theoretically be possible.
All the same, it's beginning to sound like some other idea would be better
for a special twentieth anniversary story.

-Indy

On Mon, Nov 20, 2017 at 1:21 AM, Ryx <Sundansyr at yahoo.com> wrote:

>
> Well, those images are not entirely practical in the given era - certainly
> not the sausage shaped air bags or toting entire ships into the sky.  And
> they would have to find a prodigious source of silk or similar material -
> that's all that would be fine enough to be sealed and light enough to loft
> (that I know of).
> You should look more toward early American Civil War attempts at recon
> balloons.  They were not terribly large and still tethered to the ground
> but would give some idea of early lighter than air craft.  Given a decade
> to work it out I'm sure the mages' guild and/or Murikeer could figure out
> how to make heavy things light enough to float, but certainly not fly.
>
> I am somewhat averse to certain anachronisms, much to the chagrin of past
> MK writers, and this one toes the line... so the less 'advanced' it is, the
> better.  Though, granted, with magic the 'basket' could be more akin to a
> small ship's cabin though barely so.  Enough for perhaps three somewhat
> small and light weight creatures, ostensibly one of them avian (?).  Some
> of the weight could be reduced with magic, enough to get the thing airborn,
> so it would not plummet if it entered areas where magic was cancelled - it
> would simply loose loft over time.  Mind you, the cancellation of magic in
> Yesulam is gradual so that would prevent a catastrophic failure even if the
> craft was held aloft entirely by magic.
>
> Also, it would be held aloft by heat rather than rare gasses.  That would
> be easily supplied by enchanted pyrocks (which are advanced apprentice
> enchanter objects, not exactly 'rare' aside from Guild market control
> demanding that the bulk of them be dis-enchanted rather than sold) created
> by anyone willing to take on the task.  One large enough, utilizing a very
> large flawless crystal of quartz or similar material (or a hefty chunk of
> mithril) would require more work to make usable by non-magic inclined
> operators.  It could be replaced with a perfectly normal (and far less
> efficient) fire should they become stranded where magic failed.
> A rudimentary airbag would not have a relief valve at the top, so its loft
> would be controlled by manipulating the heat source.
>
> Also, supplies would be a *very major* concern, since weight is all
> important and supplies add considerable weight.  Anything metal would have
> to be replaced with hardened (magically perhaps) wood or bone to save
> weight as well.
>
> Ryx.
> On Sunday, November 19, 2017, 10:55:35 PM EST, Indagare . <
> brenner.mike at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
> I'm trying to figure out the logistics - how much should be based on
> actual science and how much folks here would be willing to have 'fudged' to
> allow the story to happen. One thing I particularly wanted was for it to
> fly without magic - so if it happens to cross over a magically dead area it
> won't immediately crash (though there could be other issues). I was looking
> up airships and came across a couple interesting ones:
>
> https://bgoodscience.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/year-2000-05.jpg?w=540
> https://us.123rf.com/450wm/shamain/shamain1701/shamain170100012/71106243-
> fantasy-steampunk-airship.jpg?ver=6
> https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2015/12/28/13/31/hot-air-
> balloon-1111356_960_720.png
>
> Would everyone be okay with something like one of these existing?
>
> Also, I was planning to do some work on Fan Shoar and Irombi - is there a
> particular protocol for introducing new areas?
>
> -Indy
> _______________________________________________
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> http://lists.integral.org/listinfo/mkguild
>
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