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Originally written by Kaelon.
With contributions from Pauline Murphy.
Historical Perspectives
The Aelyrian Empire developed a modern navy relatively late into its existence, especially considering the tremendous appetite for conquest throughout the realm. Emperor
Constantine had made creating a professional, winning army his top priority, and rightly so, for Aelyria's adversaries were all accessible by land. A powerful
Maelstrom prevented much serious naval exploration to the South, and the Empire's early expansion was in a South-Westward direction. It was not until the Reign of High Queen
Charisma that the Empire began to seriously consider upgrading its aged
trireme fleet, inherited from its conquest of the
Luctine Republic. High Queen Charisma and
Praesul Stuart de Marchant created the
Admiralty to add professional organization to the ships and their crews, and
Gorrel Angelico was appointed the first
Grand Admiral of the
Imperial Navy. The ambitious agenda of building a new navy was now undertaken in earnest.
Under the
Feudocratic Compact, nobles had been principally responsible for raising armies from the local knights and footsoldiers under their rule, but this would not be feasible for an Imperial Navy that, much like the Imperial
Legions on the land, would answer only to the Crown and the ImperialGovernment. Grand Admiral Gorrel Angelico concentrated construction of new ships out of
Aelyria Prime and the strategic ports of
Portshire and
Port Alyxandrya. Queen Charisma would later build majestic shipyards in
Daltina, and before her reign would end, the Imperial Navy would have several dozen ships at its disposal.
Many of the earliest ship designs were simply natural feats of engineering, borrowed from lands that the Aelyrian Empire had conquered.
Modisean nationals, fresh from integration into the Empire after the acquisition of the Isle of
La Quista, provided some of the more impressive designs evolved from their seafaring culture. Many years later, the Empire's acquisition and colonization of
the Eunesian Isles would also unveil several more impressive seaworthy designs, but the most radical transformation of the Imperial Navy came at the hands of Lord
Kane Sabre. Obsessed with building immense siege weapons of destruction, Lord Sabre, who had secured himself a post in the Ministry of Defense, devised plans for making naval ships airborne. The military protocol which he authored outlined the same principles of using spellcraft and
Arcana on the battlefield, but extended it to the sea.
The earliest skyships were largely disastrous and played no major role in any military engagements. Awkward contraptions hoisted by heavy hot-air balloons, these hideous dirigibles were more curiosities than effective weapons of war, but they did lay the foundations for further unification of siege weaponry with shipcraft. With the help of the Archmage
Abar, Minister Kane designed the schematic for a flight powering
talisman, which could be adapted for use on any naval vessel. With just a single mage, massive battleships could take to the skies by
channelling surrounding energies to create fields of transport on the craft hull. By the Reign of the hot-tempered elemental Empress
Fire, three talismen (or a
tritalisman) were typically used to enable even larger vessels to travel more quickly, and imbue the ships with additional magical abilities, including the ability to travel cloaked (or invisibly) and magically power their weapons.
This experiment in flying ships came to an abrupt end during the
Chesleyan Revolution, when Lord Kane, now Defense Minister, acted on orders from Empress Fire to use magically-enchanted explosives to fire bomb the insurrectionist city of
Aslangrad, instantly killing hundreds of thousands of innocent citizens and causing the
Second Empire to dissolve into chaos and ultimate disintegration. By the rise of the
Third Empire, Empress
Alyssa Chrysinaria placed a moratorium on the use of skyships, though they were employed frequently - most notably by local fleets in land-locked
Centripax province - and by the time the
Xet Alliance invaded
Medonia, the Imperial Navy had made full use of skyships to engage the airborne forces of the
Xet invaders. When The Third Empire ceased to function after the first disappearance of Emperor
Valerian Constantius, the successive
regency governments of
James de Rothchild and later
Alexander Nighthawk went bankrupt, causing widespread desertions in the Imperial Military, Imperial Ships were moored in drydocks, many craft moth-balled.
With the
Aetherfracture, most man-made talismans ceased to function, including the highly-lauded tritalisman, and for nearly a decade no Aelyrian ship took to the skies again. After spellcasters began to master the new magicks that surrounded them, Emperor
Julos the Mad had designed a new style of skyship, that essentially replaced the talisman with magically-imbued sails that achieved the same results. However, these designs were never fully executed upon and only a single prototype was built by the ill-fated
Rakrya government. Once the designs had been intercepted by loyalists, the now-retired Gorrel Angelico and an aging Imperial Consul
Tor went to work with the help of the newly-returned
Ancient Aelyrians to restore flight to the beloved craft.
Nomenclature
The earliest ships, such as the Royal Yacht of the
Aelyrian Kingdom and the transport ferry between Aelyria Prime and InsulaCoronae, were named "His Majesty's Ship", or abbreviated as HMS. This tradition fell quickly out of favor when it became apparent that it was something that most other nations did as well, and Emperor Constantine always sought to be unique. When the first fleets were raised for blockades of the
Sherian peninsula, the phrase "Ioannes Armada Ship", or IAS abbreviation, was used. The names of vessels during this time alluded to mythology and deities from cultural history, such as the IAS Aslan, the IAS Ioannes, and the IAS Diana.
With the formation of the Imperial Navy and the construction of proper warships and battle fleets, the old abbreviation was relinquished and a new standard - Aelyria Fleet Ship, or AFS - was used in the nomenclature of ships. Vessels were given names that evoked strength of character and resolve, such as the AFS Interminable, AFS Invincible, and AFS Behemoth, or similar names in the Ancient Aelyrian language, such as AFS Khatakera. It is a convention which continues to this day, though some ships are routinely named after famous historical figures or beloved personalities from Aelyrian culture.
Ships
Various types of ships, both used by the Imperial Navy, as well as those in civilian use or utilization by pirates, can be found throughout the seas of the Empire. Many times, these vessels are classed to distinguish their abilities and capacity along broad bands. The following is an abbreviated listing of ship types and their statistics.
For "Class", a broad-based classification of the ship's purpose and utility can be found. "Size" refers to physical presence on the seas or in the skies. "Turning Radius" applies to capacity for executing radial manuvers. "Crew" is the minimum and maximum crew that the ship can support, though vessels require a maximum crew to be fully staffed and operate at top efficiency. "Cannons" refers to the maximum number of cannonry weapons that the ship can support. "Cargo" space is measured in tonnes (see:
Measurement). "Speed" refers to overall dynamic velocity and acceleration potential of a vessel and its sails. "Sailing" is the abbreviated Best Point of Sailing designation, where BR = Broad Reach, BBR = Broad Beam Reach, RBR = Running Broad Reach, RIW = Running Into the Wind, and RBW = Running Before the Wind, as denoted in the figure below.
Runners
Runners, such as the Pinnace, were traditionally the primary small craft of the Imperial Seas. Very vast and very manuverable, Runners have a shallow draft that permits sailing in shoal waters. The fore and aft rigged pinnace carries oars, allowing it to move directly into the wind when on the sea. Though these vessels are quite small in size and unable to stand much pounding to battle, their speed and manuverability (particularly in light winds) allows them to sail rings around stronger opponents, and their shallow draft lets them sail into places where larger ships dare not follow. Though used principally as messenger ships between larger vessels in combat, the Imperial Courier Service has designed a slightly larger variant of the Runner outfitted with heavier weaponry to protect its precious mail cargo.
Courier
Class: Merchant
Size: Small
Turning Radius: Very Tight
Crew: 6-50
Cannons: 8
Cargo: 20
Speed: Very Fast
Sailing: BBR
Pinnace
Class: Merchant
Size: Small
Turning Radius: Very Tight
Crew: 6-60
Cannons: 10
Cargo: 25
Speed: Very Bast
Sailing: BBR
Mail Runner
Class: Warship
Size: Small
Turning Radius: Very Tight
Crew: 6-80
Cannons: 12
Cargo: 30
Speed: Very Fast
Sailing: BBR
Sloops
The sloop is a Sherian-designed small fore-and-aft rigged vessel equipped with one or two square sails before the mast. Once very popular in the Royal Navy of
Daittern, it is an extremely fast and exceptional maneuverable vessel - better than almost any other ship in light winds. Ins trong winds, though, a sloop can be considerably slower than even a larger ship. A sloop has a shallow draft, allowing it to sail over shoals with no risk. Despite its modest size and cargo capacity, a sloop's maneuverability is so great that many buccaneers prefer it to larger, more powerful craft. Indeed, the Imperial Navy built a number of sloops for its own use as pirate hunters. The sloop of war and royal sloop are larger variations of this vessel.
The sloop of war is equipped with oars, allowing it to move directly into the wind. Most often, this ship is employed as escort vessels. The Royal Sloop was the prize of the Daitternian Royal Navy, and the Queen
Katishandra herself used the Royal Sloop to deliver decisive, fast attacks against the larger, lumbering battleships of
Phondra. Also equipped with oars, the royal sloop is significantly larger and carries a heavier weight of broadside, being an extremely powerful vessel with added punch. Today, Royal Sloops are used by the Imperial Navy for escort missions and interdiction operations.
Sloop
Class: Warship, Militia
Size: Small
Turning Radius: Tight
Crew: 8-75
Cannons: 12
Cargo: 40
Speed: Fast
Sailing: BBR, BR
Sloop of War
Class: Warship, Militia
Size: Small
Turning Radius: Tight
Crew: 8-100
Cannons: 12
Cargo: 50
Speed: Fast
Sailing: BBR, BR
Royal Sloop
Class: Warship, Militia
Size: Small
Turning Radius: Tight
Crew: 8-125
Cannons: 20
Cargo: 60
Speed: Fast
Sailing: BBR, BR
Brigs
Once the mainstay of the Royal Navy of
Daltina, the Brig is a two-masted vessel sporting a fore-and-aft mainsail and square-rigged foremast. Brigs possess some unique sailing qualities, and a skilled master can maneuver her with great ease and elegance. Once used for naval superiority by the seafaring power of the Kingdom of Daltina, the Brigs were undisputed masters of the South Seas. After Daltina was conquered by the Aelyrian Kingdom, local nobles continued to build these fine ships to continue exerting influence in the region. Brigs come in three configurations: the smaller Brigantine, a standard size Brig, and a larger size Brig of War. Brigs are employed both as merchant vessels and warships in the Aelyrian Empire, though standard Brigs are most commonly used by the Imperial Navy and privateers. The Brig of War is a rare sight to be seen on the Seas, and is almost always a primary naval weapon of the Empire.
Brigantine
Class: Warship, Military
Size: Medium
Turning Radius: Tight
Crew: 12-125
Cannons: 20
Cargo: 60
Speed: Medium
Sailing: BBR, BR, RBR, RIW
Brig
Class: Warship, Military
Size: Medium
Turning Radius: Tight
Crew: 12-150
Cannons: 24
Cargo: 70
Speed: Medium
Sailing: BBR, BR, RBR, RIW
Brig of War
Class: Warship, Military
Size: Medium
Turning Radius: Tight
Crew: 12-200
Cannons: 32
Cargo: 80
Speed: Medium
Sailing: BBR, BR, RBR, RIW
Barques
The standard Barque design has been around for centuries, extremely popular in the tranquil waters of the
Ioannolia Bay. Used for ages by the Luctine Republic as its primary trade craft, the Barques are shallow-draft three-masted ships with one or more of the masts being fore-and-aft rigged. The fore-and-aft rigging makes these ships fast when sailing close-hauled, but slow when sailing large. Some smaller barques carry oars, allowing them to row straight into the wind. Being both slow and lightly armed, Barques do not make effective warships and are almost exclusively used by merchants and tradesmen on the seas. The three variations of the Barque are the smaller Coastal Barque, almost always confined to short-distant, line of sight shore trade; the standard Barque, which can handle nearby bays and seas, few captains courageous enough to take them out into the stormy Great Seas; and, the more seaworthy and somewhat larger Ocean Barque, suitable for long distance crossing of the seas. Though fairly maneuverable, the Ocean Barques are neither particularly fast nor powerful; they do not appear at all in any navy or fleet, and it remains surprising that the Republic of Luctadomum maintained a sprawling sea trade with just this craft.
Coastal Barque
Class: Merchant
Size: Medium
Turning Radius: Tight
Crew: 10-75
Cannons: 12
Cargo: 60
Speed: Slow
Sailing: BBR, BR
Barque
Class: Merchant
Size: Medium
Turning Radius: Tight
Crew: 10-100
Cannons: 16
Cargo: 70
Speed: Slow
Sailing: BBR, BR
Ocean Barque
Class: Merchant
Size: Medium
Turning Radius: Tight
Crew: 10-125
Cannons: 16
Cargo: 80
Speed: Slow
Sailing: BBR, BR
Fluyts
Fluyts were invented by the
Eunesians several hundred years ago, and then widely copied throughout the Northern Seas. Built to be superior trade ships, the Eunesian Nesocratic Federation established a vast seafaring commercial empire, even though the isles themselves had a relatively weak naval tradition prior to their explosive growth; all of this was thanks to Fluyts. Fluyts are cargo vessels specially designed to be cheap to operate and able to get in and out of poor anchorages. This vessel can be sailed with a tiny crew (a dozen sailors is not uncommon), and thus inexpensive. Despite its large cargo capacity, the Fluyt possesses a draft so shallow that it can enter rivers, coves and small harbors inaccessible to larger craft. These slow and unmaneuverable vessels make poor warships and horrible pirate vessels, although they are lucrative for trade and commerce. The Fluyt comes in two larger versions: the Large Fluyt, which is somewhat better armed; and, the Tradesman, quite seaworthy and designed specifically to survive the long and dangerous oceanic journeys across the Empire.
Fluyt
Class: Merchant
Size: Medium
Turning Radius: Wide
Crew: 12-50
Cannons: 8
Cargo: 80
Speed: Very Slow
Sailing: RBR, RBW
Large Fluyt
Class: Merchant
Size: Medium
Turning Radius: Wide
Crew: 12-75
Cannons: 12
Cargo: 100
Speed: Very Slow
Sailing: RBR, RBW
Tradesman
Class: Merchant
Size: Medium
Turning Radius: Very Wide
Crew: 12-100
Cannons: 16
Cargo: 120
Speed: Very Slow
Sailing: RBR, RBW
Mercantines
Built by the
Lylles family to catapult these wealthy nobles into fiscal opulence, the Mercantines were used extensively by
Lauryl in the early days of its commercial conglomerates. Square-rigged Mercantines are well-designed and seaworthy vessels. They have large cargo capacity, can carry numerous guns, and have plenty of room for crew and passengers. Furthermore, they can be sailed with a smallish crew to save money. There are three variations to the Mercantines. The standard Mercantines often do not carry enough crew to man all guns and are consequently disinclined to fight when facing pirates. Large Mercantines are ocean-going vessels with large cargo capacity, numerous guns, and plenty of room for crew and passengers. The Large Mercantine's hull structure allows the vessel to carry significant cargo and fairly heavy firepower. Though designed primarily as cargo ships, Large Mercantines have been converted into privateer or military vessels with great success. Finally, the Merchantman is a large seafaring craft well-adapted to blue-water sailing, as in crossing the oceans of the world. Though relatively slow and unmaneuverable, they carry large numbers of cannon, especially when carrying valuable cargo. The Imperial Navy has been known to provide military training for the crew of Merchantmen, making them formidable opponents.
Mercantine
Class: Merchant
Size: Large
Turning Radius: Very Wide
Crew: 16-125
Cannons: 16
Cargo: 100
Speed: Slow
Sailing: BR, RBR, RBW
Large Mercantine
Class: Merchant
Size: Large
Turning Radius: Very Wide
Crew: 16-125
Cannons: 20
Cargo: 120
Speed: Slow
Sailing: BR, RBR, RBW
Merchantman
Class: Merchant
Size: Large
Turning Radius: Very Wide
Crew: 16-150
Cannons: 20
Cargo: 140
Speed: Slow
Sailing: BR, RBR, RBW
Frigates
The Fortresses of the Sea, or sometimes called Castles in the Sky when airborne, Frigates are the most powerful warships in the Imperial Navy. Square-rigged frigates are excellent ships of war, fairly handy to maneuver and faster than most square-rigged ships when close-hauled. A frigate is extraordinarily useful for patrols and independent cruises. Almost all frigates are built for the Crown as naval warships. With their well-drilled and professional crews, frigates are dangerous opponents at any time. There are three variations of Frigates: standard Frigates, Large Frigates, which are valuable capital ships usually at the head of fleets or armadas, and finally, Ships of the Empire (or, more commonly known as Imperial, or War Frigates), which only ever make appearances as Flagships of the Imperial Navy, extremely expensive with powerful hulls and room to mount many cannon, crewed by hundreds of sailors and marines.
Frigate
Class: Warship
Size: Large
Turning Radius: Wide
Crew: 16-200
Cannons: 32
Cargo: 80
Speed: Fast
Sailing: BR, RBR, RBW
Large Frigate
Class: Warship
Size: Large
Turning Radius: Wide
Crew: 16-250
Cannons: 40
Cargo: 90
Speed: Fast
Sailing: BR, RBR, RBW
War Frigate
Class: Warship
Size: Large
Turning Radius: Wide
Crew: 16-300
Cannons: 48
Cargo: 100
Speed: Fast
Sailing: BR, RBR, RBW
Galleons
At the height of the Third Empire, Empress
Alyssa Chrysinaria directed the construction of immense merchant vessels capable of being the primary naval transport for goods and currency throughout the Empire. These Galleons are large merchant vessels, used extensively by the Imperial Government across all of the seas. They are designed for stability and reliability and are well-suited for the long and dangerous voyages across the Northern Seas, Great Seas, and Southern Seas. However, seaworthiness has been achieved at the expense of maneuverability: Galleons are slow to turn and especially slow when sailing close-hauled. Tacking into the wind is very difficult for this type of ship. Though these vessels can carry a large number of cannon and crew, their poor agility makes them vulnerable to attack by a fast and maneuverable opponent, so long as the opponent manages to keep out of the way of the galleon's broadsides.
The basic galleon design has been modified extensively since the craft's introduction into Imperial Service, and there are a number of common variations. The Royal Galleon is a square-rigged vessel that is larger and more powerful than the simple Trade Galleon, inspired by a prototype Lauryllian design. The Treasure Galleons, on the other hand, are large merchant vessels, virtually the largest to appear throughout Aelyria. Often used by the Empire to carry precious treasures and magical artifacts and minerals, Treasure Galleons are the most sought-after prizes by pirates. To defend themselves the ships usually boast a large and well-trained crew along with plenty of cannon. Even so, each of these ships can carry a significant portion of the Imperial government's yearly budget, and as such they rarely leave port without an escort of powerful warships.
As the
Fourth Empire began a dutiful reconstruction of its navies, focusing on refitting craft in the shipyards for both commercial and military use, one application pursued by the restored Admiralty was the revision of the basic galleon ship design featuring a reduced upper works and updated sail plan resulting in a smaller, sleeker transport, the Fast Galleon, that is faster in light winds and considerably more maneuverable than the original model. However, despite these changes the fast galleon still suffers the disadvantage of all galleon types: poor speed when close-hauled. Nevertheless, determination in recent year has led to additional military improvements in larger variations of the Galleon, including the War Galleons, with full-blown military complements, more guns and crewmen, and an aggressively impressive broadside; and, the Flag Galleon, one of the more powerful warships in the Aelyrian fleet, serving is a commercial and military hybrid.
Trade Galleon
Class: Merchant
Size: Large
Turning Radius: Very Wide
Crew: 16-100
Cannons: 20
Cargo: 120
Speed: Very Slow
Sailing: RBR, RBW
Royal Galleon
Class: Merchant
Size: Large
Turning Radius: Very Wide
Crew: 16-150
Cannons: 32
Cargo: 130
Speed: Very Slow
Sailing: RBR, RBW
Treasure Galleon
Class: Merchant
Size: Large
Turning Radius: Very Wide
Crew: 16-200
Cannons: 40
Cargo: 140
Speed: Very Slow
Sailing: RBR, RBW
Fast Galleon
Class: Warship
Size: Large
Turning Radius: Wide
Crew: 16-160
Cannons: 24
Cargo: 80
Speed: Slow
Sailing: BR, RBR, RBW
War Galleon
Class: Warship
Size: Large
Turning Radius: Wide
Crew: 16-200
Cannons: 32
Cargo: 90
Speed: Slow
Sailing: BR, RBR, RBW
Flag Galleon
Class: Warship
Size: Large
Turning Radius: Wide
Crew: 16-250
Cannons: 40
Cargo: 100
Speed: Slow
Sailing: BR, RBR, RBW
Ships
Linear Mode
