Sand Ship

The sandship is the heart of Grail-El. The immense vessels are more than weapons of war, they served as homes to millions, across dozens of generations. They are the foundation of Grail culture, from its music, designed to sound best in compact metal rooms, to sense of communal compromise built on centuries of living within the tight corridors and
cramped apartments within a ship.

## History

The first ships were built in century preceding the first war of the wastes. They were small, wooden, and driven by the wind. But they kept children safe from Hellhounds, and could be defended easier than a convoy of wagons.

Once a new power source was discovered, in the metal Alranium, construction boomed. The first metal ships were built a few decades after the Red year, and eventually almost the entire population lived within the steel behemoths. The ships were always on the move, searching for food. Waste creatures were killed for their meat, and the small patches of plant life were harvested.

As technology progressed the ships became bigger, faster, and equipped with weapons that could not only protect the occupants, but actually strike back at the wastes with force.

The ship's heart is an Alranium furnace, which reaches temperatures higher than current instruments can measure. The furnace boils water for steam turbines which in turn power the tracks.  They are powerful enough to force their way any dune they can not climb, or drag disabled vessel of similar size. The tracks are long enough to let all but the smallest vessels traverse slot canyons, collapsed tunnels, and dried river beds.

With the wastes subdued the Grail became the undisputed masters of the desert that covers most of the continent. They serve as mobile settlements, and fortresses. They also put the Grail in a position as the sole providers of trans-waste freight transport. Even the largest airship or zeppelin can carry a tiny fraction of the cargo a sandship can.

## Types

There are several classes.

The lightest are Flanking ships, they are small, have thin armor, and are armed with low caliber guns. They act as escorts for heavier ships, and patrol areas away from the main lanes of travel.

Lead Ships are designed to be able to deal with most threats on their own, and typically mount heavy weapons though lack the armor of other ships. In most caravans the lead ship is the largest military vessel and provides the majority of protection.

The most common type of ship is the "city ship" these are normally former military ships modified for their new roles, though several specially designed vessels exist. They are very poorly armed, typically only enough to provide self protection until a more dangerous ship arrives to prove assistance.

They contain apartments, research laboratories, small factories, and many other facilities that would not have a place in a military vessel. Before the battle of Agnorak most of the population called these ships home, now the majority serve as cargo vessels.

Heavy sandship is an old military designation, though they are normally larger than lead ships. Heavy sandships come in a wide range of types, some are designed to combat flying creatures, others are built to provide close support for infatry. Most ships of this type have been modified to be city ships due to their age.

AS ships (airship support) is another rather nebulous designation. They range from modified flanking and heavy sandships to the enormous purpose built "Anvil" ships. They are all designed to support airship flight operations. While most ships carry a small hanger for one or two medium airship AS vessels carry many more, as well as specialized equipment. They normally escorted larger caravans, but now mostly lurk near the borders of other nations occasionally with a small escort.

Super heavy vessels. Only one ship fits this description, the Wanderer's Pride.

The oldest model still in use is the "Lance" class of heavy sandships. At 850 feet long and rather wide at 150 feet at the beam, they are large even by modern standards. They are second generation powered ships, and many are almost three hundred years old.

Because of their age and weak construction. (The deck can not support even light weight modern turrets) they serve mostly as transport ships, or were modified as AS or city ships. When they were new they were the largest ships in use, and were thought to be invincible. Due to their large size and great age they are extremely slow, grinding along at 8 miles an hour.

Another old model is the "Strength" class. These were the first Leadships, and many are still in service due to their speed (25 mph), which comes at the cost of an increased risk of super combine due to its super charged furnace design. They are average in size.

The crew of a strength class ship the "Warrior's Strength" famously went rogue and destroyed two other vessels before it was destroyed by unknown forces. This has become known as the "Dos-Cov" incident.

Dimensions: 700 feet long, 90 feet wide

Primary battery: 5 x 18 inch heavy mortars.

Secondary batteries: (modernized) 3 RAW-130 MLRS units, 4 twin HAC-75 turrets.

(Original) 44 six inch "broadside guns."

Assorted lighter close defense turrets.

They can carry one medium airship in ready to fly condition, and another with its gas bag deflated.

The smallest, and fastest class in the fleet the Rapier class of flanking ship can reach nearly 50 miles an hour in short bursts. This comes at the cost of armor  it is so thin that Roc's could occasionally breach the hull using their talons.

Only four of these vessels are still in service, the others having been destroyed or removed from operation. Two act as escorts for the Wanderer's Pride. While the other two are part of the third fleet.

Dimensions: 150 feet long, 30 feet wide.

Primary battery: 3 twin HAC-75 turrets.

Secondary batteries: 2 RAW-130 MLRS units, 2 quad AC-25 turrets, 4 sextuple HMW-14 close defense turrets.

They do not have an airship hanger, but the rear deck has tie down points to allow for a medium airship to land.

Saber class medium flanking ship. The most common military ship, as they are cheap to make at reasonably effective. They can reach 45 mph for brief periods of time, but normally travel at about 30 mph so they do not overheat. They are reasonably heavily armored, and can survive common waste creature attacks without any problem, but they are at risk from bandits.

Dimensions: 190 feet long, 35 feet wide.

Primary battery: 4 single SC-100 turrets.

Secondary batteries: 4 quad AC-25 turrets, 5 sextuple HWM-14 close defense turrets,

HR-25 sniper system mounted in the lookout tower.

They can carry a single medium airship in a uninflated state.

A little big to be a flanking ship, but not big enough to be a lead ship the Sythe class of heavy flanking ship fits in the narrow nitch of long range patrols and independent operations. They are typically seen in small packs of two or three. Because of their long range recon mission they typically carry a greater number percentage of scout vanguard and assault jumper troops.

They are well liked by their crews, as they are fast, responsive, and have very smooth suspension system. They can reach 40 mph in short bursts, 30 mph sustained. This high speed is obtained by heavy use of aluminum, which makes the ship very light without sacrificing structural strength. It is however very rare.

The hull design is of the inverted type, with it sloping downward from the prow. This makes travel over dunes more difficult, but reduces wear on the tracks and suspension.

Dimensions: 250 feet long, 40 feet wide.

Primary battery: 3 twin SC-100 turrets.

Secondary batteries: 1 RAW-130 MLRS unit, 5 quad AC-25 turrets,  8 sextuple HMW-14 close defense turrets, HR-25 sniper system mounted in the lookout tower.

The first true leadship design was the Revenge, they were reasonably effective but suffered from chronic transmission problems due to overloading. All examples have been converted into AS vessels.

Due to the conversion they have a very clean appearance, as the tangle of turrets and cranes has been removed.

Pre conversion speed 30 max, 20 sustained.

Post conversion speed 30 max, 25 sustained.

Dimensions: 330 feet long, 70 feet wide.

Primary battery: pre conversion: 5 twin SC-100 turrets.

Post conversion: None

Secondary batteries: Pre and post conversion: 2 HAC-75 turrets, 4 quad AC-25 turrets, 10 sextuple HMW-14 close defense turrets, HR-25 sniper system
mounted in the lookout tower.

Post conversion airship load: Three tie down points for three medium airships or one heavy airship, hangers for three uninflated medium airships.

The most successful leadship design is the Hope class, these powerful ships remain at the head of all but the most important caravans, their graceful design hides a vicious combat vessel. They were designed during the Grail civil war, with the purpose of hunting other sandships. To aid concealment they are very low slung, which is important in the featureless wastes as it allows the ship to hide behind the horizon more effectively. The command bridge is raked back to decrease the probability of a shell penetrating the armor.

Speed: Max 30, sustained, 15.

Dimensions: 675 feet long, 65 feet wide.

Primary battery: 3 triple 8 inch heavy gun turrets.

Secondary batteries: 2 semi flexible SC-100 weapons mounted in the bow. 3 RAW-130 MLRS units. 1 18 inch heavy mortar.

Tertiary batteries: 4 single HAC-75 turrets mounted at the corners of the super structure. 8 quad AC-25 turrets. 4 sextuple HWM-14 close defense turrets. 2 octuple HMW-14 turrets, one at each side,

HR-25 sniper system mounted in the lookout tower.

Two tie down points, hanger space for two uninflated medium airships.

Short of the Wanderer's Pride the Storm class is the most powerful. They are designed to operate in the most difficult conditions in the wastes, and have extra wide tracks to increase mobility in areas such as the Sea of the Lost, the Spine, and the Burning Plains. They typically escort large caravans, Anvil class AS vessels, and provide protection for the shipyard. Its main battery, while smaller in caliber compared to the pride, is of a new design, and has greater range and accuracy.

Speed: Max 25, sustained 10.

Dimensions: 750 feet long, 80 feet wide.

Primary battery: 4 twin 12 inch gun turrets.

Secondary batteries: 1 HTR-400 launch crane, 4 single SC-100 turrets, 3 RAW-130 MLRS units.

Tertiary batteries: 8 quad HAC-25 turrets, 6 octuple HMW-14 turrets, HR-25 sniper system mounted in the lookout tower.

The only vessels capable of carrying multiple heavy airships at once is the Anvil class, so named for their flat top which enables more effective airship deployment. They are very heavily armored, since there are many large tanks of explosive hydrogen gas, used to fill airship bags, stored throughout the ship, in addition to the munitions for the airships.

Due to the deck space requirements there are no offensive weapon batteries.

Two exist, both in use by the second fleet.

Dimensions: 843 feet long, 100 feet wide.

Primary battery: 9 quad AC-25 turrets.

Secondary batteries: 12 sextuple HWM-14 turrets, 4 octuple HWM-14 turrets.

Landing points for 1 super heavy airship, or four heavy airships, or 12 medium airships. Hanger space for 2 deflated heavy airships and 10 medium airships.

The Wanderer's Pride is the flagship for the entire Grail military, and for good reason. It is so large that it requires two separate furnace and boiler systems to allow it to move, and has a four mile turning radius. The overall armor protection is on average 20 inches thick, with the boilers, magazine, and transmission protection measured in feet. During the battle of Agnorak it was struck by shells from ships with crews under mind control by Selene, but the bombardment had no real effect other than damaging the lookout towers and several of the lighter weapons. Despite it's military designation it houses a large number of civilians and several small laboratories. As the largest sandship in existence it is a major part of Grail culture, and has taken an almost religious connotation. It was built over the course of two centuries, and the design changed dozens of times during it's construction, which has led to several oddities in design. The first is that it is unable to stop. If the transmission was taken out of drive, then put back into drive the torque would cause the drive shaft to snap. It can be slowed down to a barely perceptible crawl, but can not stop, this makes resupply somewhat challenging. The second is the differences between decks, the lower decks typically have wooden walls and floors, which was typical for early metal hulled sandships, while more recent decks are bare metal. Due to it monumental size its maximum speed is a meager five miles an hour.

It's primary battery is made up of the only sandship weapons that can cause injury to kraken, and are believed to be powerful enough to breach the Rojyan Iron curtain.

Dimensions: 1,327 feet long, 134 feet wide.

Primary battery: 4 triple 18 inch cannon turrets.

Secondary batteries: 5 RAW-130 MLRS units, 14 twin HAC-75 turrets.

Tertiary batteries: 24 quad AC-25 turrets, 30 sextuple HWM-14 turrets.

It has landing points for 3 medium airships, or one heavy airship, it does not have a hanger