Astral Ships - Ch 10 (GAP)

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: "It wasn't until my third visit to the Silver Void that I saw one of the regal astral whales. A misnamed creature, this behemoth gracefully glided through astral space with a smoothness no paddling water beast could ever hope for. Unfortunately, that was also my first encounter with the githyanki and one of their infamous astral ships. I will say this - the craft was not without its own particular grace and beauty. Horrible but efficient githyanki hunters brought down the whale before I could react. They ignored me as they tore into its flesh, shredding it into slabs to be thrown onto the deck. As I watched, I saw spells, psionics, and keen blades working in a precision unlike any I had ever seen before. Like so many other cultures existing in a barren wasteland of some sort (although the Astral Plane is more barren than most!), the githyanki took the whole beast, obviously not wanting to waste a bit of skin, meat, or bone. While I remained motionlessly transfixed, the hunters sailed away on their psychic ship like a force of nature, knowing, I am sure, that I posed no more threat to them and their kill than a mouse poses to the thunderstorm."
:: - Tlemizar the Old, Planewalker
﻿The mlar create the astral ships of the githyanki, using special energies gathered by the hr'a'cknir and various materials collected from other planes. They are difficult to create, requiring years of work. Most communities have access to only a handful.
The rules governing the operation of astral ships are found in the chapter called "Racing Through Nothing: Astral Movement." Though they vary in size from a small dhow to a large galleon, most astral ships are considered to be equivalent to a terrestrial keelboat. These are usually equipped with harpoons for hunting astral whales while larger ships carry ballistae (firing spears or metal shot) and even catapults for assaulting fortifications.