Airship

"Airship" is a term used to describe any vehicle which hovers, flies, or otherwise travels without touching land or water. Airships are one of the most commonly used forms of transportation in modern times, and have completely changed the face of everyday life and warfare.
==History==
Airships have a long, complicated history of discovery, rediscovery, and rapid advancement. Chronologically, the first known airships were used during the time of the Trikash, who were masters of the craft and would even occasionally live on large aerial citadels, believed to be significantly larger than possible by modern standards. With the downfall of the Trikash, however, their secrets of airships were lost. It is not known when, but at a certain point the Lirun learned of the airship technology, crafting themselves a fleet of aerial homes through secretive technology and magic.
In modern times, airships were rediscovered in Voldrania by a triumvirate of researchers from Akarv, Equis, and Yoren who were inspired by the mysterious Lirun fleet. With the laws against the Nether less strict than they were in the Old World research on netheric substances, especially Glowstone, could move forward. After over two decades of work the researching scientists unveiled the first fully functional airship in 25 AE. It was a large and slow hovercraft, but worked flawlessly and could carry a fair amount of cargo. Entrepreneurs, inventors, and scientists from all around Voldrania immediately jumped onto this new technology, working on new designs, more efficient models, less expensive engines, and so forth. Some, such as Tim Bulls, made fortunes off the foundation of the first major air docks, which they would rent out to those who'd pay. Nations such as Fallnavor and Akarv constructed factories and began to incorporate them into their military's, which helped set the two up as world powers by the 50s. When Voldrania fell in 60 AE escape likely would have been impossible without the use of airships.
Then airships were introduced to New Voldrania, and the advancements in design continued. Technologically advanced nations such as Krolesk and Llysos helped make designs more efficient, and quickly incorporated them into their own military's. Airships were essential in the Nether War, and later during the Monitor Invasion; without aerial power and bombardment, it is likely that there would have been no chance of defeating these evils.
==Functionality==
Despite all of the advancements, airships still depend on one critical component: the usage of glowstone. Without glowstone, it is effectively impossible to provide the power or thrust required to lift a vessel off the ground, or even make it move. Some things, such as balloons, can be made to fly through the use of heat, steam, or gases, but are basic and ultimately crude in design. When power or pressure is applied to glowstone it releases some of its energy, which provides vessels with their thrust, their lift, and ultimately their control.
Originally airships were built with a heavy focus on downwards thrusters with an additional back or side thruster. Often these ships were large and lacked aerodynamics, making them slow but reliable. Aerodynamics-based airships were designed later, and with the advent of more efficient glowstone usage, ships were slowly able to move faster.
It is less typical to see downwards thrusters in modern times, as aerodynamics have been heavily incorporated into most airship designs. A single glowstone thruster is used to provide a craft with forward momentum, and specially crafted wings with the occasional propeller are used to lift and guide the ship. These crafts are significantly faster than all previous models, but are unable to hover in place. If hit, an aerodynamic based airship will almost certainly lose all flight capabilities and crash, whereas a hover-based one can take a hit and stay afloat.
==Notable Crafts==
The following is a list of some of the noteworthy airships, air fleets, or even airship producers:
Category:New Voldrania Category:Voldrania Category:Science and Technology Category:Stub