Locomotion Aeriform (Incomplete)

Locomotion Aeriform is a book recovered from the private collection of the Cloud Giant Cirrus.

## History

Following a number of raids on the Galerider Rail, and plots enacted across the Ironfangs that ultimately attempted to steal magic items at the behest of an individual known as Histrove, a group of adventurers from Amber Run was aided by the Galerider Guild into travelling to Ulding's Keep with the intention of putting at end to the cloud giant's machinations. As part of the arrangement, the Galeriders requested the party look out for texts pertaining to methods of flying transport - either that of the arcane machines necessary to pilot floating cloud giant cities, or those more typical, such as the aerships utilised by the Solace Summit of Aviacrest. They found these details in the form of the book Locomotion Aeriform, a tome of some 100lbs and near three-foot in height.

Utilising her Case of Rapid Transfer, gained by holding the title of Precentor with the Academy of Erudition, Elinor managed to copy a few key pages from the lengthy tome - as represented in the text contained herein.

## Reading

### Completed by Elinor

*...means of transporting oneself through the air have been dreamt of ever since the Principal Races first spied the flying beasts created by the Lord in the Quiet Places, and in truth a few amongst them, moulded from snow for Taranis by the Dawn Matron, already possessed this talent. For the rest however, experimentation - by its very nature exceeding dangerous and liable to lethality - quickly followed, in those granted gifts of the arcane or otherwise. While sufficiently skilled individuals could mutter a few choice words, combining them with refined gesture and an appropriate medium, such skills are fundamentally rare, and so over the years all manner of gliders, balloons, parachutes have come to been invented with varying degrees of success...*

*...the long-standing wars between giants and dragons has yielded a number of curious innovations in time from both sides of the seemingly unending conflict. While the exact reasonings for this rivalry remain unknown to most others amongst the Principal Races, relics and creations from the time when this animosity reached its peak still remain. Amongst these are machines that have come to be known as Buoyancy Forges, constructions of metal and the arcane alike that are fuelled further still by the latter to keep the travelling cities of Cloud and Storm Giants alike aloft. Casting spells into the Forge is said to yield no lasting effect, for instead it relies on the consumption of the enchantments of numerous magic items, although many were subsequently adapted to instead run on the latent magics contained within the bodily structure of dragons, blood, bone and scale alike. Such needs has surely sparked further conflict, giants hunting down dragon lairs for both their residents and their hoards for sake of sustaining their integrity...*

*...naturally, the bulk of the challenge faced by means of producing flying vessels comes from the need to source resources from both the Elemental Planes of Air and Earth. Efforts to cultivate these resources in the Prime have repeatedly failed, although fortunately are found to be inert immediately, rather than an individual undertaking the lengthy and extremely expensive process of production - with several tens of thousands gold pieces invested, not withstanding the collection and processing costs of those resources aforementioned - before discovering that all was for naught. Further still, Effluvyite in itself is highly toxic with sustained exposure if not appropriately contained, not withstanding more petty concerns such as its noxious scent that is deeply off-putting for all but the most stalwart of resolves. By contrast, however, Waftwhistle Essence, before being properly treated in preparation for its incorporation, seems to have a pervasive, near narcotic nature to it, with reports that workers find themselves overcome with a desire to ingest it, their heads subsequently filled with a heady carefree joy...*