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Imperator-Zor — Infrastructure: Part Four Hundred and Six
#broadside #cannon #cruise #darkelf #dragon #dragonrider #drow #fantasy #industrialrevolution #infrastructure #ironclad #sail #shakedown #test #trial #warship #nightdrake #seatrial #drake #sciencefiction
Published: 2024-04-18 21:59:41 +0000 UTC; Views: 3726; Favourites: 22; Downloads: 1
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Description
Off the coast of Kzeth Cendoliath, a pair of warships plowed the waves together. In the lead was the Ghreskqen*, the smaller of the two at 76 meters long which cut through the waves under full sail at 16 kph, her wind mages providing some aide though not straining themselves. She was launched four years ago from Galxrath's shipyards and today she was playing babysitter. Behind it chugged the Ajitral**, mostly the same but about five meters longer with her sails furled, chugging along under engine power. It had built up a good head of steam and was chugging along at 25 kph, smoke billowing from it's stacks. She gained on her sister and eventually overtook her.
Above them a Nightdrake wheeled about in wide circles, from which Lady Kaithal ti'Zaljan took note with a smile on her face. Ever since her older brother Nharjyn first took her up as a seven year old, flying had been her passion. She'd woo'd lovers on Drakeback, raced with rivals and had lead flights into battle, besting even Eagle riders. Her duties as Familiarch of a Great House and as a member of the Obsidian Council were demanding leaving little time for such excursions, so it was always welcome to find a way to combine work with pleasure. In this case an of Ajitral's sea trials.
In general she was impressed with the new Ironclads. She'd seen tests of the new cannons and armour plating as well as the explosive shells and steam power clearly did have considerable advantages, at least when it worked. It seemed that everyone launched had some issue come that needed to be fixed soon after. Seven of them had exploded, six of them had minor explosions which killed a few slaves and engine-minders and required substantial reconstruction and many others had less dramatic issues that needed to be sorted out after completion. Admittedly this was not a problem unique to Cendoliath, even the Committee had some breakdowns in their ships going by reports and there were some notable incidents. But by all accounts it was unusually common with Cendoliath craft and it was a consistent frustration slowing the Barded Leviathan project. Bad enough that having another warship nearby to tow back a stricken ship or collect survivors was a reasonable precaution
Fortunately, this did not seem to be the case. The Ajitral had been sailing along without issue for two days and she was still flying the a green flag indicating that everything was in good order and her shakedown was nearly complete. With any luck, any issues she might have would be addressed and sorted out within a couple of months and ready for service. The Navy would gain one of House Galxrath's Ships of the Line, clad in 4 to 6 inches of Iron Plate backed with oak and teak and armed with 48 monstrous rifled cannons able to throw two-and-a-third vaul of iron in a single devastating broadside as well as five awe-inspiring 300 Vaul guns in her reinforced forecastle. A weight of metal that put that of the other states to shame. She also apparently had a "triple expansion" engine. All she knew about them was that they worked somewhat better than the previously used double expansion engines, House Celizoth acquired the designs a few years ago, the Mechanical Military Relevance Board approved and disseminated them and House Galxrath had a hard time building them. By all appearances things had improved on that front, especially since Galxrath had five more ships in her class and ten smaller ones with the new engines under construction.
*"Feared One"
**An ancient tiCendoliath General and hero of the War of Four Centuries.
