Aernach

An airship summoned by the Three Wizards of Xelod in 1168 at the behest of King Pha as a demonstration of military and clerical dominance of the asteroid belt. King Pha commissioned the construction of Aernach on Mars in 1132 with a ten year contract. However, completion was politically unnecessary and undesirable since there was relative peace in the umbra of fear. Also, completion would press the King to follow through with his threats and would end a lucrative contract for the wizards. However, in 1165, a prophet from the Winter Colonies emerged precipitating a movement for independence from the feudal rim lords. The King pressed the Wizards to complete the summoning of the contraption in 1167 only to discover that the principal elements of the design and incantation had been long since completed. Coveting their creation, the Wizards finished the spell and fled with their over-designed vessel. King Pha's navy intercepted Aernach in high-orbit of Mars in May of 1168. Aernach routed King Pha's ten sky galleys with little opposition on account of superior automation and magic. The three wizards flew to Earth and subjugated several lunar states. Protecting the sovereignty of the core worlds, the Terran fleet met Aernach in December of 1170, incurring considerable damage to its fore-castle and puncturing its hydrogen manifold. The Wizards fled to Venus. Due to an internal dispute, two of the wizards departed in life-boats. The remaining wizard, formerly their chief, perished with the ship when it crashed into the Venusian orbital harbor.

Aernach, while colossal, followed the classic sky-galley design. The craft had fore and stern castles connected by a sky-bridge and suspended by numerous cables under a ribbed, elliptical balloon. The fore-castle contained the principal batteries, the ballista, the war bridge, the larder, and barracks that were never serviced. The stern-castle housed the navigation bridge, supplementary batteries, steam generator, and the chapel. The sky-bridge held the main propulsion turbines and six screws. Aernach was (approximately) 314 meters from bow to rudder. The bow-maiden was a narwhal skull.

Citations: King Pha, Three Wizards, Winter Colonies

Lord Xoth

(with apologies for exceeding the article length limit)