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[Draignean]

Flintlock/Forge Should be broken up into two Mad science designs. They're not seriously co-dependent in any way that I can see.

[Kashyyk]

Plans
Bide Our Time: [3] Talion, Kashyyk, Jerick

Mad Science
Flintlock/Aether Forge discorse: [-] Talion, Jerick
Rise of Flintlocks:
Aether Forge:
Ship Power: [3] Jerick, Kashyyk, Talion
Aether Pulse Generator: [1] Kashyyk
Crystalline Gel: [3] Kashyyk, Jerick, Talion
Aetherproof Iron:

[Talion]

Plans
Bide Our Time: [3] Talion, Kashyyk, Jerick

Mad Science
Flintlock/Aether Forge discorse: [-] Jerick
Rise of Flintlocks:
Aether Forge: [1] Talion
Ship Power: [3] Jerick, Kashyyk, Talion
Aether Pulse Generator: [1] Kashyyk
Crystalline Gel: [3] Kashyyk, Jerick, Talion
Aetherproof Iron:

I didn't really view the flintlock part as mad science so much as the logic that gives rise to the aether forge.

[Draignean]

Votes locked.

Your Mad Science designs are...

1. Crystalline Gel
2. Ship Power
3. Aether Forge

[Draignean]

Three Captains

The scouting skiff receives its orders to disengage during a minor storm, an event that forces it out of the upper cloud layer but also provides additional cover during the retreat. It's a tense action, with watchful crew jumping at every bizarre cloudform illuminated by flashes of lightning, but no pursuing Wreth vessels emerge from the rain.

The disengagement is successful, and the scout is able to safely flee the area to make its way back to Spire Kasgyre.

Inside the Spire

The Kasgyrite guerrillas keep up the good fight, but their severe shortage of usable supplies is definitely showing. The last of their grenades is used in a fiery ambush that claims the lives of several Kasgyrite marines, and the remaining soldiers basically take turns sleeping, sniping, and laying simple stonefall traps or trying to poke spiders. The Wrethan soldiers are evidently attempting to make full use of their new cannons, and have taken to firing them down every corridor they traverse, burning away tripwires and blasting through detritus designed to create choke points. While it makes the Wreth more difficult to approach, it makes them childishly easy to track.

Not that knowing their location is too much of a boon.

Confirmed Kills: About half a squad
Losses: Unit 1


Spire Kasgyre

The Mercury and its escort make it safely back to Spire Kasgyre, though not without incident. Enemy skiffs are sighted on approach from the three captains, attempting to make an ambush on anything they can find.  Thankfully, the effort is clumsy, and though it might have succeeded had the Mercury been unescorted, their ambush is caught in her four skiff vanguard. It's still a messy fight, with the pair of superior Kasgyrite vessels managing to inflict a casualty- despite being outnumbered 2:1.

The Ophidian and the Anguis are refitted to the new specs, and the brand new Artemis transport is christened and brought into service. The first Natalie skiff likewise makes it off the line, her performance shaming the older generation skiffs.

Confirmed Kills: Skyskiff x2
Losses: Skyskiff x1


Event: The Late Savant

Round 1: Wreth
Round 2: Kasgyre
Round 3: Wreth

You have gained 1 die to spend in the next round. In addition, you may choose to develop one of the three designs below as a special project. This special project as a duration of 40, but costs no resources to pursue- only dice. Its prototype rolls cannot be influenced by any special credits. The results are whatever use your engineers can make of it, and are not (necessarily) exactly as described.

Spoiler:  Special Project Options (click to show/hide)

Fractal crystal rotary generator
   For too long has intra-spire power generation been dependant on miles of aethersilk cables. Too many ships have been lost when their webbing was damaged. Too many experiments have gone up in flames due to the proximity of aethersilk cables to high-energy events.
   [...]
   I believe that it is possible to convert mechanical energy into electrical energy. By having two core crystals move past each other, almost but not quite touching, a crystaline interference event takes place that generates a small amount of energy. Previously it was believed that this was due to aether in the air being transformed- but performing the experiment in an aetheric vacuum yields the same result! It must be mechanical energy that is being converted!!
   [...]
   Unfortunately, crystaline interference events only generate a very small amount of energy. Using increasingly smaller crystals increases the efficiency, yielding a greater output/weight, but in absolute terms it yields less. I have tested the feasibility of an array of crystals moving past each other- with promising results! After many attempts, I was able to create a visible spark by moving a strip containing very closely placed micro core crystals past another, similar strip, at a high speed. The spark interacted with the micro-cores, resulting in a destabilisation event which, combined with the elevated aether levels in the lab (the result of a previous experiment), caused a sizeable exothermic reaction. However, losing my eyebrows did not cause me to forget about the initial spark, which I definitely saw, proving that the crystaline interference events can be combined to yield larger outputs!
   [...]
   A breakthrough came to me recently, that by creating a wheel of inward facing crystals facing a barrel of outward facing crystals, designed such that the wheel- or barrel- or both- can be rotated. one could sustain for an indefinite period the energy generating excersise. Due to a lack of funds I have not been able to construct such a rotary generator, but I am convinced that it would work! Even so, the predicted output would be insubstantial.
   [...]
   Enter the product of my latest dreamspiration! By forming a complex crystal with many very fine core-type-extrusions surrounded by areas of nonconductive crystal, it would be possible to increase the efficiency of the rotary generator to the point where it would serve as a practical source of energy!! I have been working on the crystal generation formulas that would be needed to grow a crystal of such high complexity, the key to which I believe is recursion of some sort.
   [...]
   If I could get the funding and vat time to build my Compute Crystal, I would have a much easier time with these calculations.
   
   
   The Fractal Crystal Rotary Generator:
   Consists of:
   -An outer drum, stationary, lined on the inside with a single crystal, subdivided fractally into many nano-core crystals (each 'core crystal' being ~1mm in diameter).
   -An inner drum, which can rotate freely, lined on the outside with a single crystal, subdivided fractally into many nano-core crystals. The inner drum fits into the outer drum with a clearance of less than 5mm.
   -An axle, connected to the inner drum. The axle can be connected to any sort of power source, be it hand-cranked, driven by wind/water power, or some sort of theoretical 'steam engine'.
   -Metal conductors that collect the electrical charge, inserted through the outer drum. (Or rather, conduct the electrical charge. They are placed in pairs, letting sparks jump from one to the other)
   
   Operating principle:
   Core crystals convert aetheric energy into electrical energy. The FCRG converts mechanical energy into electrical energy. The fact that it is possible to do so without using any crystals whatsoever was not known by our intrepid scientist.
   However core crystals generate energy, the idea is that they do so as well when two core crystals are close to each other (their natural aetheric fields overlapping), and moving at speed (causing the aetheric fields to move also, as they attempt to stick together). The small amount of motion in the fields that this causes is enough to make the crystals perform their energy-generating magic- where normally the motion would be caused by aetheric energy flowing into the crystal (with a considerably higher output).
   To alleiviate the lower output, the FCRG uses many very small core crystals. Rather than having to painstakingly line up hundreds (or thousands) of tiny crystals, they are embedded into a larger crystal, the bits between the cores being made inert, letting all the cores act as independant crystals. These large, complicated crystals are grown using fractal equations, allowing for fine detail on a very small scale.

Lightning Cannon
Today one of my colleagues brought an interesting ship log to my attention. It seems one of the scout ships was flying through a storm, and a bolt of lightning happed to strike the cannon. The cannon fired, and the crystal blew when it overloaded. The fascinating part is that the crew reports that a smaller lightning bolt followed the path of the cannon blast. This bears thinking on.

[the following is written with a different pen/ink, same hand writing]

Some tinkering has gotten me to the point where I can fire small bolts of electricity across the lab. The small weapon crystal that I use to lead the bolt is much more damaging, even with using the smallest one I could find, but I think that that it would be possible to use a much larger electric charge.

The test setup uses a large capacitor coil and a spark gap. One the far side of the gap there is a large cable leading to a set of contacts at the end of a short wooden tube attached to the weapons crystal. The weapon crystal is connected to the main cable by a small fuse. To fire, a core is connected to the capacitor where a charge builds until it is powerful enough to arc across the gap. The fuse on the cable running to the weapon crystal blows almost instantly, but enough of a charge "leaks" through to fire the crystal. The remainder of the charge then follows the blast to the target.

The first test version blew itself up most spectacularly when the main charge traveled away from the aether blast. Passing the aether blast through a wooden tube seems to help keep this from happening, but not completely. Clearly this needs much more study.

[second set of notes]

The full size version has been constructed and tested, and its performance is amazing! Huge bolts of electricity fired for hundreds of yards into the aether! Sadly the charge is even more likely to travel back to the weapons crystal with this larger version. I noticed that it is much more reliable if wooden barrel is smaller and longer, but it still travels back to the crystal sometimes anyway, and the smaller barrel often ignites even with the lightest crystal I could find. Speaking of light crystals, testing has show that even the smallest crystal does the job perfectly, the only limit is how much electricity can be used before blowing the crystal every time instead of once and a while. This is very frustrating.

Our glorious leader is not impressed, calling it a "good way to blow our own ships" and "a fire hazard". Imbecile. With a little more work I could solve the problems and make a truly wondrous weapon. I suspect more funding cuts. What does he want anyway? Every design I create has something wrong with it if you ask him, and he always shuts down a project just as it is almost ready. It is as if he doesn't really want any successes. [trails off in a rant]


Aether Induced Mist Dissipator (AIM dissipator)

While studying the diaries of the scientist, several entries were found apparently talking about the same project over the span of approximately a year. It indicates an effort to build a mist clearing device which we classified as A.I.M. dissipator. The version of events presented is corroborated by tales among silk harvesters that were so far considered urban legends.

Log entry 1: The prices of silk have increased again! outrageous! To keep performing my experiments need, NEED silk. lots of silk. Workers are using flimsy excuses such as "dangers" of monsters lurking in the thick mists... ludicrous. Wading into the unknown is the basis of science. They should go headfirst in the mists, they should be honored to have such a symbolic role in this process. But like all the other they are blind to brilliance, and just keep asking money for work, money for lost limbs, money for funerals. If you are dead what do you even need money for?

Log entry 2:What is the nature of the mists anyway? why do they form and exist such thick only in the lower altitudes? I am sure that the answer to those questions is trivial, they would be solved quickly if I applied myself to it. I could even use some of the previous works of the so called "scientists" to help shed some light on the matter, by feeding them to the fireplace. As much as I despise setting aside my more important work, it could be beneficial to take a week off and clear the mists from the bottom of the spire. Placating the greedy fearful simpletons should provide more benefits than the precious few days I will lose.

Log entry 3: So, here is the first trivial fact I noticed, that already solves the problem. Clouds go up, but mist doesn't. By all rights mist should take its place in the sky together with the apparently identical clouds that reside up there. Why does it not do that? How can altitude influence it?  the answer is obvious, at least to somebody with more than 2 brain cells ( quality admittedly rare). It is the aether. Aether clearly has a repelling effect on the substance that makes up mist. maybe it only accepts some "cloudy" materials, but rejects the rest after a certain quantity, or perhaps mists are an impure version... doesn't matter.  air headed philosophers can discuss it, but the path to success is clear.  Apply aether, and mist dissolves. A simple prototype should be easy to acquire, as long as those stingy generals don't take too much convincing to lend me one of their cannons.

Log entry 4:UNBELIEVABLE! it took weeks, WEEKS, before I could get my hands on a suitable device. All thinking of safety, funding, paperwork. They wanted to know the details of my research and my exact plans for the cannon, as if they would even understand them. In the end, a mind of my greatness was reduced to cobble together a substitute made of scraps and cheap commercial parts. It took a bit of diverting money from the projects that they are not blocking (AH! take that), but it is done. While a lesser intellect would surely have failed, it was still demeaning. I "acquired" an abandoned chamber near the bottom of the spire to run my experiments in. There is enough mist seeping in to see noticeable results. In a couple of days the mist problem will be finally solved forever.

Log entry 5: It seems I was too optimistic. The levels of discharge required to clear the mist had the unintentional side effect of being strong enough to damage the device, the rooms and the exposed half of myself. I am convinced the design works, so the fault must be in some low quality components acquired. There would have been no explosion with proper materials, but until Isecure proper funding, this is what I have to work with. There must be a more efficient way to tackle the matter. Maybe modulating the aetheric pulse?

Log entry 6: Using the recovered materials from the last accident , I built what I call an aether resonator device. It sends pulses at a pre-determined but adjustable frequency. Now it is just a matter of trying it at different frequencies until I find one that works. Probably the atmopsheric currents play the same role in modulating the natural aetheric emission to such a way that the repelling effect is achieved. Simple, elegant, brilliant. Now to test it.

Log entry 7: This was a most complex task. It seems that unraveling the very secrets of nature takes more than a couple of days even for the most gifted individuals. Although, more than intellect I blame the limited ability of my physical form to implement the changes I need. And yet I could not seek help. Most people would just do more damage than good, the rest would steal the idea to supplement their own lack of genius. I had to rewire the device so many times, change frequencies manually, add more wires, more emitters on the sides and top of the room, more wires, new connectors, more wires, distributed crystal cores, more wires, aether connectors (the price of silk increased again! I can't believe they keep gouging me even while I work for them.) and.... yes, more wires. But the results were brilliant! after turning it on, the faint mist started dissipating, starting from the center outward until the clear area encompassed most of the room. Now with this the harvesters have no more excuses.

Log entry 8:This is mind-boggling! I bring them to the chmaber, I show it working perfectly, and what do they do? refuse it! are they so close minded to not accept the slightest change in their job, even when they clamored for it months ago? non-portable, they say! ridiculous. Sure, it takes the most part of the walls of a room, but isn't that what wheels are for? put the thing on a cart and you will have no mist in at least a few cubic meters around you. Being able to see their feet clearly should give them the ability to finally harvest silk at a reasonable rate, but no! now the problem is portability, now the problem is spiders, now the problem is who knows what. I admit I lost faith in this project. Despite excellent results, those dimwits refuse to give me the praise I deserve and the discounts I need. I will leave the diagrams here for a more enlightened age, when my peers can make use of them. In a few centuries perhaps finally scientists like me will rule this spire.

It is the beginning of the year 367 AR.

Spire Kasgyre's production stands at,
13(+10)/y Crystal, 26/115 Banked
17/y Ore, 17/85 banked
19/y Wood, 95/95 banked
10/y Silk, 18/50 banked

It is now the design and project maintenance phase. You have 6 dice to spend.

Spoiler: Imperal Topaz Production (click to show/hide)

VS Topaz Core x1
Topaz Webs x1

Spoiler: Projects (click to show/hide)

Viper Production Line: 1/45 | 7C + 5O + 5W + 2S, +15 From any combination of any resource | Rushed 0 Times | Nothing Invested
Vertical Envelopment 2/13 | 3 from each of COWS + 4 from Any combination of COWS | Rushed 0 times | Nothing Invested
Mobile Cover: 6/15 | 3 Crystal, 2 ore, 3 Wood, + 4 from any combination of COW | Rushed 0 Times | Nothing invested

Spoiler: Map (click to show/hide)

The Calm: The calm is a region of the aerosphere with almost no wind beyond fleeting turbulence, and absolutely no aetheric currents. It's frigidly cold, and filled with fine red 'snow' that barely moves. Traversing it with a conventional vessel is impossible due to the lack of energy to fuel the lift and trim crystals.
The Everstorm: As the name suggests, the everstorm is a region of the aerosphere dominated by an enormous and eternal thunderstorm. It's a chaotic region of raging winds and surging aetheric energy that manifests in terrible bursts of prismatic flame. No conventional vessel could hope to survive the nightmarish storm conditions.


Kasgyre Territory

Blackstone
Marine Presence: K 0/14 |  W 0/14
Territory: 4/4 | 0/4
Resources: 1C, 5O, 2W, 0S
Conditions: Rocky, large caverns, very dark

The Hive
Marine Presence: K 0/10 |  W 0/10
Territory: 4/4 | 0/4
Resources: 1C, 2O, 1W, 4S
Conditions: Spider Nursery, narrow and twisting tunnels

Glowcove
Marine Presence: K 0/20 |  W 0/20
Territory: 4/4 | 0/4
Resources: 1C, 2O, 6W, 1S
Conditions: Verdant galleries, significant bio-luminescence


The Belt

Three Captains
Marine Presence: K 2/20 |  W ?/20
Territory: 2/4 | 2/4
--->Marine unit 1b:  Bronze armour (Squad Officer), Aethersilk vest (Team Leaders), Crossbows (full squad),  [50%]
--->Marine unit Heavies:  Bronze armour (every man), Aethersilk vest (Team Leaders), Aether Gauntlet (every man except 2), bronze cutlass (every man)  [50%]
Resources: 1C, 6O, 2W, 6S
Conditions: Kinetoluminescent Ores, Heavily Infested

Wrackspire
Marine Presence: K 0/12 |  W ?/12
Territory: 0/4 | ?/4
Resources: 3C, 4O, 4W, 2S
Conditions: Unstable Aetheric Phenomena, Broken Spire

Burned Mountain
Marine Presence: K 0/24 |  W ?/24
Territory: 0/4 | ?/4
Resources: 1C, 10O, 1W, 0S
Conditions: Inexplicably Molten Core, Hundreds of narrow tunnels and small galleries.

The Unfinished
Marine Presence: K 0/45 |  W ?/45
Territory: 0/4 | ?/4
Resources: 8C, 0O, 6W, 2S
Conditions: Unfinished infrastructure, Massive open rooms and halls.

Spoiler: Ships (click to show/hide)

One-Eyed Will - Skyskiff Class (x1)
Loadout
Communications Officer
2 Light Aether Cannons+ (Kettlegun).
1 Very Small Basic Core Crystal
1 Very Small Basic Lift Crystal
4 Trim Crystals
2 reams of webbing
Location: Spire Kasgyre
Status: Shipshape

RKNV Ophidian - Viper Class
Loadout
1 Communications Officer
1 Vanguard Cannon (forward Mount)
8 Light Aether Cannons+ (Kettlegun) [6 front, 2 rear]
2 Sections Light Copper Armor
1 Medium Core Crystal 
1 Small Basic Lift Crystal
6 Trim Webs
6 Trim Crystals
6 reams of webbing
Location: Spire Kasgyre
Status: Shipshape

RKNV Anguis - Viper Class
Loadout
1 Communications Officer
3 Light Topaz Aether Cannons+ (Kettlegun) [3 front]
7 Light Aether Cannon+ (Kettlegun) [5 Front, 2 Rear]
2 Sections Light Copper Armor
1 Medium Topaz Core Crystal 
1 Small Topaz Lift Crystal
5 Topaz Trim Webs
1 Trim Web
4 Topaz Trim Crystals
6 reams of webbing
Location: Spire Kasgyre
Status: Shipshape

Mercury - Transport Barge
Loadout
1 Small Basic Core Crystal
1 Small Basic Lift Crystal
2 Trim Crystals
1 reams of webbing
Carrying: 4/6
--->Marine unit 3: Proto. Bronze armour (Squad Officer), Aethersilk vest (squad), Crossbows (1 per team), Cutlass (full squad), grenade (Squad)
---> Marine unit 6: Proto. Bronze armour (Squad Officer), Aethersilk vest (squad), Aether Gauntlet (1 per team), Cutlass (full squad), grenade (squad)
Location:  Spire Kasgyre
Status: Shipshape

Artemis - Transport Barge
Loadout
1 Small Basic Core Crystal
1 VS Topaz Lift Crystal
2 Trim Crystals
1 reams of webbing
Carrying: 0/6
Location:  Spire Kasgyre
Status: Shipshape

Skiffs With No Name - Skyskiff Class (x5)
Loadout
2 Light Aether Cannons+ (Kettlegun).
1 Very Small Basic Core Crystal
1 Very Small Basic Lift Crystal
4 Trim Crystals
2 reams of webbing
Location: Spire Kasgyre
Status: Shipshape

Natalie I - Skyskiff Class (x1)
Loadout
Comms Officer
2 Light Topaz Aether Cannons+ (Kettlegun)
1 Very Small Topaz Core Crystal
1 Very Small Topaz Lift Crystal
4 Topaz Trim Webs
2 reams of webbing
Location: Spire Kasgyre
Status: Shipshape

Spoiler: Goods Stockpile (click to show/hide)

Viper Hull
Silk Vests (x4)
Webbing x6

Spoiler: Infantry (click to show/hide)

Marines x20
--->Sniper unit 1: Aethersilk vest (Officers), Crossbows (Full Squad)
---> Royal Heavy Unit 1: Bronze armour (Squad), Aethersilk vest (squad), Topaz Gauntlets (1 per team), Gauntlets (everyone without a topaz gauntlet), Witch-Hunter (1 per team), Topaz grenades (squad x2)

[Draignean]

Current Technology

Spoiler: Tech (click to show/hide)

Infantry

Flintlock Pistol: Cost: 2 ore to give one of either to every fireteam in a squad, 8 to give to every man. Inaccurate beyond spitting distance, incapable of dealing significant damage against hard armor, and liable to explode when used regularly even when given the most expert maintenance,  the primary advantage of these weapons is that they can punch straight through shrouds like they didn't exist, and they're slowed by aethersilk officer's coats as much as by an ordinary silk shirt.

Flintlock Rifle: Cost: 3 ore to give one of either to every fireteam in a squad, 12 to give to every man. Reasonably accurate, but slow to reload and still incapable of dealing significant damage against hard armor or ship hulls. These weapons still require expert maintenance to keep them from being single-use weapons, and sustained use still makes these weapons terrifyingly unreliable as service weapons. Still, an excellent choice for shooting through silk shirts and ignoring shrouds.

Grappling Gear: Cost: 1 ore to give to every member of a squad. Standard issue ropes and hooks for boarding vessels or climbing the outside of spires. Cumbersome if you're not going to use it.

Aetheric Gauntlet: Cost: 1 Ore, 1 crystal to give one to every fireteam in a squad, 4 of each to give one to everyone. A gauntlet (usually left handed to keep the right hand free) of copper and leather with a tiny weapons crystal locked into the palm. Capable of firing dozens of low energy blasts of aetheric energy at the user's discretion, but is difficult to aim and the copper cage used to draw heat from the crystal has the unsettling tendency to leave disfiguring gauntlet burns, melt, or set the user on fire if used too frequently.

Bronze Cutlass: Cost: 2 Ore to give to every member of a squad. A simple, heavy blade of bronze attached to a wooden handle. Simple, and brutally effective in close quarters.

Aethersilk Vest: Cost: 1 Silk to give to a squad's ranking officer, 5 silk to provide to ranking officer and team leads, 16 silk to give to every member of a squad. A double layer vest of dense aethersilk, capable of absorbing a considerable amount of Aetheric energy. Can stop multiple point-blank shots from a gauntlet, but doesn't cover the arms, legs, or head. Does nothing against physical weapons or projectiles.
 
Witch Hunter Crossbow: Cost: 2 wood 2 ore to give one to every fireteam, 8 wood 8 ore for every man.The cranequin mechanism is much swifter than many similar designs (though that isn't saying much), and is integrated directly into the weapon in order to avoid a cumbersome stage of attaching and reattaching. A trained infantryman operating the weapon can crank back that 175 pound arms and fire in approximately 45 seconds. The bolts themselves are typically made with a bronze broadhead point to better shred infantry, and have passed every performance test asked of them- and engineers are confident that they could go through light infantry armor if modified with a chisel point. Includes an escessive amount of brass ornamentation, as well as an ornate identification plate for Division markings.

Aetheric Grenades: Cost: 1 Crystal, 1 ore to give one to every man in a squad, or four to every member of a fireteam. | Fist sized grenades carrying tiny precharged weapon and core crystals, capable of exploding after a delay of 5-ish seconds. Cheap assembly means that the soldier is never sure where in the realm of 5-ish that delay is. Roughly a quarter as powerful as an LAC blast, and operates primarily on the initial blast of plasma and burning metal. An ordinary marine can currently (safely) carry up to four grenades. Each round, every man in a fireteam has a 75% chance to use a grenade. This is evaluated per fireteam, not per man.

Bronze Breastplate and Helm: Cost: 1 ore for the officer, 3 ore for squad leaders, 10 ore for every man. Whilst a little on the heavy side, all of that weight is put into protection rather than ornamentation. The new design is thick over the vitals, well sculpted around the arms to allow freedom of motion, and flared at the sides to rest on the hips and keep the weight off the soldier's shoulders. Tests against pistols have shown that the armor has an excellent chance of absorbing shots from beyond point-blank range. Witch Hunter Crossbows penetrate much more readily. Comes with a pair of rip-buckles for quick removal, useful when the armour overheats from repeated aetheric blast strikes.

Ship Tech

Signal Flashers: Costs One squad of marines, 1 crystal, 1 ore, per set of 3 communications officers. Each ship needs only a single communications officer | A trained aeronaut with a handheld lightgun, capable of transmitting a considerable amount of information over long distance via military shorthand flashsign signals. Of course, to be understood, the reciever also needs to have a comms officer. All spires, by default, are considered to have comms officers on watch.

Light Aether Cannon+ (Kettle Gun): 1 Crystal, 1 Ore for one.  A small cannon, capable of being mounted on deck without reinforcement. Fires powerful blasts of aetheric energy, and uses a removable block of copper as a heat-sink. Relatively inaccurate, short ranged, hot, power hungry, and prone to exploding violently if hit directly by enemy fire. Still, it can blow wood into flaming cinders and will melt through light plating in a few shots.
---> Kasgyrian modifications to use water based heat sinks for the cooling block and additional pipes for the barrel have reduced cannon weight and increased the initial volley the cannon can make before becoming dangerously hot. Causes the cannon to make a distinctive whistle during the first volley, akin to that of a kettle.
---> Further Modifications allow the cannon's water reserve to be refilled during combat. Still, this is a delicate operation that requires a degree of platform stability, provides at best one additional reload in a combat situation, and cannot be done at all on skiffs.
--->  Lucky improvements allow higher energy projectiles from topaz weapons crystals to be channeled without loss of operation efficacy.

Vanguard Cannon (Medium-Small  Cannon)  5 Ore, 3 Crystal, Requires a Medium Mount | A triple barreled, water cooled monster. Her only significant issue is a slight issue with water leakage that impacts overall ROF slightly, but aside from that she can fire a full power LAC shot every two seconds, and can sustain that rate of fire nearly indefinitely.

Basic Core Crystal: [VS 3 Crystal | S 6 Crystal]  A massive rough gem, grown in vats and used to transduce aetheric energy into electric current. This particular model is relatively inefficient, both as a transducer and as a storage unit. It can generate a defensive shroud around a vessel, but more than a single shot from a light Aether cannon on the same point will knock a hole in the shroud. Will explode spectacularly if hit directly.

Medium Core Crystal: [18 Crystal] Three small core crystals, fused together in a propietary process. While it shares the inefficiencies of its smaller cousins, she's approximately four times more powerful. Under stress, there is a chance that the core crystal will desynchronize, greatly reducing its power output. A desynchronized core can only be fixed by a refit action at the home spire.
---> Medium core crystals now come with a suite of tools designed to monitor its state and resynchronize it in the event something goes wrong. However, the monitoring tools are so effective that an engineer who is familiar with the 'heartbeat' of the core he or she works with can virtually eliminate any chance of desynchronization.

Basic Lift Crystal: [VS 2 Crystal, 2 ore | S 3 Crystal, 2 ore for one] A chunk of crystal the size of a bathtub, heavily reinforced so that it can be locked into a ship's spine. When fed electricity, it will progressively invert gravity's effect on itself, flying upwards and pulling anything attached up with it. This basic model is incredibly power hungry, produces only enough lift for a small ship and internal flaws mean that extreme maneuvers could easily cause it to crack.

Basic Trim Crystals: 1 Crystal for two.  Head sized chunks of crystal, similar to lift crystals, though of greater refinement. These produce directional gravity when powered, allowing a ship to make finer maneuvers. Like the basic lift crystal, these are power hungry and prone to fracture of used for rapid maneuverability.

Trim Web: Cost 1 Crystal, 1 ore, 3 wood to substitute for 2 trim crystals.  A trim web essentially spreads out the power of a single trim crystal throughout a dozen or more smaller crystals networked together. While this network is of essentially equal power to a single trim crystal, it's ability to spread force out over a larger area allows for much higher acceleration without cracking the crystal. Sadly, it currently needs extensive and custom refit procedures relative to standard trim crystals.

Basic Webbing: 2 Silk per ream. Aethersilk webbing, designed to catch hold of aetheric currents and shunt them into a ship's core crystal. Particularly susceptible to fire from aetheric weapons, which will rapidly cause overloads that burn out whole sections of webbing.

Light Copper Ship Plating: 3 ore per section. Nearly pure copper plates, heavy, but with good thermal conductivity. Useful for spreading out the heat generated by an aether blast. Low melting point does mean that repeated impacts will melt the armor and set fire to the wood beneath.

Ship Hulls

Viper Corvette:12 wood, 5 ore for one.
A fifty foot long frame of wood and bronze reinforcement, her unusual structure reminiscent of the head of a pit viper. She's designed with forward firepower and incredible speed in mind, featuring eight bow mounts and two aft mounts, all of which integrate the mechanical hand-crank system to aim the cannons. She has a notable ability to keep up a good fight even when all of the webbing outside her shroud has been disabled.

She has no usable cargo capacity.
Armament
10 light cannon mounts | 8 in the bow 2 aft.
Armor
None intrinsic
Can mount two sections of armor on the head.
Requires:
1 Core Crystal (At least small, up to medium)
1 Lift Crystal (At least small, up to medium)
4/8/12 Trim Crystals for poor/avg/good performace
6 reams of webbing

Viper Corvette, Vanguard Variant: 13 wood, 7 ore for one. 3 wood, 4 ore to refit from basic Viper class.
A Variant of the Viper designed to handle four Vanguard mounts in the bow section. While specialization inhibits the bow from effectively mounting anything else, she's capable of mounting a Vanguard with relative ease and comfort.

She has no usable cargo capacity.
Armament
4 Specialized Bow Mounts, Vanguard Cannon
2 Aft Light Cannon Mounts
Armor
None intrinsic
Can mount two sections of armor on the head.
Requires:
1 Core Crystal (At least small, up to medium)
1 Lift Crystal (At least small, up to medium)
4/8/12 Trim Crystals for poor/avg/good performace
6 reams of webbing

Skyskiff 5 wood, 2 ore for one.
At her heart, the Skyskiff is an 18ft long frame of sleek timber and brass reinforcement, built from the ground up to be light on the air and quick to handle. Her basic design is quite old, dating back before the perfection of trim crystals, and she still sports a rudimentary mast that a sail can be run from in addition to the normal spars to run out web. In service, she's typically run by a crew of four. Two gunners who worked crouched in the middle of the ship, a pilot who spends their time practically laying on top of the core crystal in order to manipulate the power control, and the spotter who usually stands at the rear of the ship and calls out directions and threats. Generally, the captain of the vessel is the spotter, due to their superior vantage point and ability to see the entire local theatre.

A notable problem with the Skyskiff is that despite her speed, her web is cumbersome to replace, and without it she's painfully slow. In addition, both her Core Crystal and Her Lift Crystal slots are only designed to fit small crystals. Her small lift crystal means a lot of the burden for vertical maneuvers is still placed on the power hungry trim crystals, which in turn puts more demand on her small core. As a result, her shroud is weak, and a single light cannon blast will knock a hole in it. It still takes two or three more shots before her shroud will buckle entirely, but if another shot comes in the same spot swiftly enough- that's the end of the skiff. Except in the most fortunate of circumstances, a single cannon blast to an unshrouded skiff will destroy it.

She has no usable cargo capacity.
Armament
2 light cannon mounts. One on each side.
Requires:
1 Core Crystal (Up to Very Small in size)
1 Lift Crystal (Up to Very Small in size)
4 Trim Crystals
2 reams of webbing

Webbed Skyskiff
Skyskiff 9 wood, 2 ore for one.
A heavily over-designed skiff designed to natively mount trim webs. Incurs no wood cost for mounting trim webs instead of trim crystals, bringing the unit web cost down to 1C 1O.

She has no usable cargo capacity.
Armament
2 light cannon mounts. One on each side.
Requires:
1 Core Crystal (Up to Very Small in size)
1 Lift Crystal (Up to Very Small in size)
2 Trim Webs
2 reams of webbing

Transport barge 7 wood, 2 ore for one.
In times of peace, this was the vessel most frequently seen going to and from Spires. She's little more than a wooden oval with a few metal bands designed to support the lift crystal. She's got capacity for crew and cargo, but she's quite slow when fully loaded, and her lack of significant trim crystals means that she can't maneuver with any speed. Her only real defense against attack is to dive down into the mist layer and hope that the attacking vessel loses her trail before the mistmaw comes lurking.

She can hold six units of cargo.
Armament
None
Requires:
1 Core Crystal (Up to small size)
1 Lift Crystal (Up to small size)
2 Trim Crystals
1 ream of webbing

Basic Dinghy (Special, used automatically by Marines to embark/disembark transports)
A very small boat, technically capable of transporting eight people as long as they aren't too broad, don't have a fear of heights, and their legs aren't too long. Her core crystal is about the size of a housecat, and kept powered by a fixed ventral web. She's solid wood, unarmed, and has the tendency to tip alarmingly as she doesn't actually use a lift crystal, but makes do entirely on a trio of small trim crystals. It's a slow and terrifying way to travel. Though she's the primary lifeboat of transports, your chances of survival are alarmingly small if you find yourself alone in a dingy .

When used by marines, she's typically crewed by five, with the squad leader acting as an extra member in every set of three boats. When going into a hostile spire, one marine steers, the other four act as spotters or (if one or more has a gauntlet or rifle) shooters. She's such a small vessel that it doesn't take more than a dozen gauntlet shots for her to break apart completely, and a single shot to her ventral web will (at best) cripple her.

Her core crystal is, technically, capable of generating a shroud. However, the limited energy the miniscule core crystal can process limits the crew to picking two of three options: Maintain Altitude control, maintain thrust, raise shroud. For obvious reasons, raising the shroud is something of a last resort. Worse, even when powered, the shroud can be penetrated by sustained gauntlet fire. This is to say nothing of a shot from a light cannon. The shroud will buckle completely after a single shot from a light cannon, though to its credit, that's one more cannon shot than the Dinghy would have survived normally.

Other Tech
Hanging Crystal Gardens: 2 Crystal, 2 Ore, 2 Wood, 2 Silk for one. Government subsidies and buyback programs for the common populace to launch portable vatteries from spire edge properties, gaining a net increase in crystal revenue. Each vattery increases a Spire's crystal production by one. Each spire can fly 5 of these or up to its normal crystal production limit, whichever is higher.

Spoiler: Tactics (click to show/hide)

Marines
Massed Fire and Charge: When engaging, Marines will bunch up to focus fire with their ranged weapons until they run out of ammunition or become too hot to use (depending on weapon type), at which point they will charge in with melee weapons.

Defensive Fire: Instead of firing until charging, Marines will look for defensive positions, take cover, and then fire when able from behind said defensive positions. Includes methods for both staggered retreats and staggered advances.

Ambush+Stealth: Currently an abysmal failure of a strategic plan, as soldiers usually blow the ambush much to early and engage on first contact.

Flanking Tactics: Up to four squads of marines can be selected to work together and perform a flanking maneuver. One to three squads will attempt to engage the enemy, while the remaining squads will attempt to find a different venue of attack. The number of squads involved could be increased at a later date.

Fighting Retreat: Infantry will retreat, prioritizing their own lives, but will also take every opening provided by an advancing enemy to nettle them and inflict casualties. Tactical excellence also allows our captains to extend retreat actions, giving a small but significant chance to not lose ground even when in retreat.

Bait and Strike: Similar to a fighting retreat, except with less retreat and a lot more fight. Extremely good at holding territory against an enemy who has numbers but few other advantages, and is capable of inflicting dire casualties. Still, this is fundamentally based in false-retreats, and is largely ineffective at actually gaining ground.
--> Marines will also do their damnedest too use their spare time (if any) to reinforce and lay traps and slow future enemy advances. They're devilishly clever at it, but do much better when well supplied with materials and options.

Ships
Close Aggressively: Ships will attempt to close distance with enemy vessels and engage at close range, firing all cannons until the enemy is destroyed.

Hit and Run: Ships will attempt to ambush enemy vessels from either high above or far below. Instead of remaining in engagement distance after the first volley, the vessel will retain speed and attempt to disengage before turning for another pass.

Airborne Ambush Maneuvers: Similar to hit and run, except with slightly more refined tactics. The fleet using this maneuver will attempt to form a simultaneous two pronged attack from both above and below, and will remain to engage the enemy after the initial onslaught.

Blockade: Orders ships to form up around a spire, out of range of enemy emplaced guns, and attempt to prevent vessels from coming or going. However, a strong kasgyrite sense of honor all put prevents them from firing on unarmed civilian vessels.

Scouting: Orders a ship or ships to find an overwatch position, either to defend a fleet or to scope out a particular location. Currently uses cannon fire signals, but will switch to more efficacious methods when able. Quite effective.

Coordinated Fire: Ships will attempt to remember weak points on enemy ships, focusing fire on weaker sections of larger vessels, and using spread fire to attempt to overcome the evasion of small vessels. When paired with a scouting vessel, fire coordination can be down at a fleet level as long as all vessels also have communications officers. However, lack of fleet command experience and a simplistic chain of command make fleet fire control less effective than it could be.

Spoiler: Infrastructure and Production Patterns (click to show/hide)

Gun Swivels: Rudimentary swivel mounts operated by hand cranks. These represent a first effort in the field, and are scarcely more effective than manual movement for light guns, except when trying to aim for a very precise point when still, but they can carry a decent amount of weight and serve as a reasonable proof of concept.

Small Vanguard Mount Conversion: 2 'adjacent' small mounts, 3 ore, 3 wood.  Converts over a pair of small mounts to be able to mount a Vanguard cannon. However, this mounting is, strictly speaking, too small. It's a bitch of an environment for the gunner, and the gun itself is incapable of moving from its fixed position.

Small Docks: Relatively simple affairs of wood jutting out into the void, capable of servicing a relatively small number of light craft. These docks are best suited to peace time usage, and are ill-equipped to service or build true warships. Light defensive cannons have been mounted in strategic positions, and will be upgraded automatically when needed.
Provides a single production line that can be used for any small or smaller production pattern.

Marine Academy: The basic and unaugmented marine academy, where men and women are transformed from milksop civilians into hardened marines.
Provides a single production line to be used ONLY on Marine production.

Imperial Topaz: Special Cost | Glorious crystal of deep amber hue, Imperial Topaz is the nickname for crystal grown by the princess herself in the Garden of Glass. Whatever the technique used by the princess, these creations are of peerless quality, effectively twice as good as a standard crystal. The princess, however, is no vatterer, and does not answer directly to... anyone. As such, production is eccentric. Every round, the princess will have 2d6+1 random crystal items that she can make. These items have normal cost, but are only available in the amounts specified.
--> With Imperial Funding, the princess always produces an additional 1d4 items.

Production Patterns

Basic Marine Training: [Max: 25 | Rate: 2]
Generates Marine units at the spire. These marines are capable in hand-to-hand combat, but are not provided any initial weapons. You might want to buy them swords, at the very least.

Skyskiff Pattern A: [Max: 10 | Rate: 2]
Creates two Skyskiff units per turn, up to a max of 10.  Each skyskiff is outfitted with
2 Light Aether Cannons.
1 Very Small Basic Core Crystal
1 Very Small Basic Lift Crystal
4 Trim Crystals
2 reams of webbing
Buyback cost: 9 crystal, 6 ore, 5 wood, 4 silk

Skyskiff Pattern B: [Max: 8 | Rate: 1]
Creates one Skyskiff units per turn, up to a max of 7.  Each skyskiff is outfitted with
2 Light Aether Cannons.
1 Very Small Basic Core Crystal
1 Very Small Basic Lift Crystal
4 Trim Webs
2 reams of webbing
Buyback cost: 9 crystal, 8 ore, 9 wood, 4 silk

Skyskiff Pattern 'Natalie': [Max: 8 | Rate: 1]
Creates one Skyskiff units per turn, up to a max of 8. When this pattern is active, the princess' topaz production is cut to 1d4-2.  Each skyskiff is outfitted with
2 Light Topaz Aether Cannons.
1 Very Small Topaz Core Crystal
1 Very Small Topaz Lift Crystal
4 Topaz Trim Webs
2 reams of webbing
Buyback cost: 9 crystal, 8 ore, 9 wood, 4 silk

[helmacon]

Tfw your lore based science loses to a regular generator that uses Crystal instead of magnets. Feels bad man.

[Draignean]

Tfw your lore based science loses to a regular generator that uses Crystal instead of magnets. Feels bad man.

I know. That one was, by far, the hardest to decide.

[Kashyyk]

Okay, our marines at the Three Captains can survive another turn before they must be reinforced.

My suggestion is to throw 3 or 4 dice at Mobile Cover this turn. 2 would give us only ~25% chance of completion, 3 gives us a ~75% and 4 gives us ~95% chance. Remember we will save the dice if we complete it early, but we will lose the resources. So as we need this ready to be built for shipping out at the end of next turn, I think we can afford to go with just three dice.

[1] Mobile Cover (3 dice, 9c, 6o, 21w) + bank 3 dice : Kashyyk

[NAV]

[2] Mobile Cover (3 dice, 9c, 6o, 21w) + bank 3 dice : Kashyyk, NAV

Ideally and most likely we can send our attacking force this turn. With no grenades left our marines won't accomplish that much even with prepared bait and strike so the sooner we reinforce them the better.

We could spend up to 2 of those 3 banked dice on developing one of the special projects. I am leaning heavily towards the mist dissipator. We should definitley keep the last die for fixing any flaws THE WALL has.

[helmacon]

[3] Mobile Cover (3 dice, 9c, 6o, 21w) + bank 3 dice : Kashyyk, NAV, helmacon

Imo, we should attack this turn, and hold off on the special project entirely this turn.

3 dice to above project, 1 dice to combine aerial ambush and coordinated fire tactics, 1 dice to make an offensive tactic utilizing the mobile cover, and one dice to grenade bolts revision.

[Kashyyk]

One of the revisions I'd like is proper handling of reserves. If Draig is willing to allow it, we can cheese the resource costs for equipment by creating a strategy that solely consists of "pick up dead guy's gear, take his place in combat squad". Thus making heavy combat cost only marines and not boatloads of resources as well.

[NAV]

Some equipment would still be lost or destroyed in battle but that would probably help.

Edit: I really like helmacon's three revision plan, but the grenade bolt 2nd try should be postponed to fix the mobile cover if it ends up having any serious flaws.

[Draignean]

Mobile Cover
Progress: 20/15 (3+5+6)

The engineer's tournament-style design process, after tearing through dozens of ideas (and almost as many budget extensions) finally comes to a close. The winner may be a bit scarred, but hopefully her blueprints hold the keys to success.

Prototype
[Efficacy: 3 Cost: 2 Bugs: 6]

That vague 'Witch-Hunterish' feeling that several auditors had about the project appears to have been validated. The prototype, when all cleaned up, is... elaborate. Touted as armor against crossbow bolts  and 'high-area radiation surfaces' to reduce the damage of gauntlets, intricate bronze spirals decorate the business end of the mobile cover platform. The spirals swirl and merge at the head of the platform, joining to form the regal face of a lioness, and colored lacquer on the exposed wood around the head completes the image- turning the cover platform into a 3-dimensional (and rather fanciful) rendition of the flag.  From the top down, the mobile cover device takes the shape of a chevron, wide enough to cover four people easily if they kneel, or about twice that if they're able to bunch up. Behind the point of the edge is a small control system to activate the trim crystals and control the core functions. The trim crystals, while well placed along the cover platform in order to ensure it doesn't flip easily, aren't trusted to do much more then put the platform into a hover. Once in a hover, a marine is expected to push it forward, rather than attempt to do a pilot's job and balance trims for thrust. Webbing cables are run across the inside of the cover platform, allowing the actual webs to be deployed along the sides in order to avoid hindering the soldiers taking cover.

The main function of the cover piece, the ability to generate a shroud to cover the men, is... mostly effective. The VS core used is capable of generating a shroud, a large enough one for an entire squad to at least shelter behind, but the issue is power. Skiffs run web in the open air, where currents constantly refresh the aether conducted into the ship's core.  In an enclosed environment, the draw from the webs has a definite effect on the energy gradient, and the effect on the cover platform is noticeable. When shrouding is active, all of the energy absorbed goes into maintaining the shroud itself- which means there's nothing for the trims. Now, if she's been run gently, there'll be a bit of energy stored in the core that can be used for light maneuverability, but that comes at the cost of shortening the shroud's lifetime. Essentially, the instant it's raised, the Shroud begins decaying. Ten minutes appears to be the longest time that can be eeked out under good conditions, but this number drops dramatically if the trims are run or there are multiple Movile Cover pieces operating in the same area.

Mobile Cover Platform 5 Crystal, 4 ore, 4 wood, 2 silk for one. Limit 1 per fireteam. Requires 1 TU. A floating chunk of wood and bronze with integrated VS core and trim crystals, capable of generating a shroud and resisting limited physical weapon's fire. Wide enough to provide concealment cover to a fireteam, and capable of generating a shroud large enough to protected a grouped squad. However, drains aether in the area rapidly, greatly limited the shroud's lifetime.

Project Complete


Spire Kasgyre's production stands at,
13(+10)/y Crystal, 17/115 Banked
17/y Ore, 11/85 banked
19/y Wood, 74/95 banked
10/y Silk, 18/50 banked

It is now the revision phase. You have 3 dice to spend.

Spoiler: Projects (click to show/hide)

Viper Production Line: 1/45 | 7C + 5O + 5W + 2S, +15 From any combination of any resource | Rushed 0 Times | Nothing Invested
Vertical Envelopment 2/13 | 3 from each of COWS + 4 from Any combination of COWS | Rushed 0 times | Nothing Invested
Mobile Cover: 6/15 | 3 Crystal, 2 ore, 3 Wood, + 4 from any combination of COW | Rushed 0 Times | Nothing invested

Spoiler: Map (click to show/hide)

The Calm: The calm is a region of the aerosphere with almost no wind beyond fleeting turbulence, and absolutely no aetheric currents. It's frigidly cold, and filled with fine red 'snow' that barely moves. Traversing it with a conventional vessel is impossible due to the lack of energy to fuel the lift and trim crystals.
The Everstorm: As the name suggests, the everstorm is a region of the aerosphere dominated by an enormous and eternal thunderstorm. It's a chaotic region of raging winds and surging aetheric energy that manifests in terrible bursts of prismatic flame. No conventional vessel could hope to survive the nightmarish storm conditions.


Kasgyre Territory

Blackstone
Marine Presence: K 0/14 |  W 0/14
Territory: 4/4 | 0/4
Resources: 1C, 5O, 2W, 0S
Conditions: Rocky, large caverns, very dark

The Hive
Marine Presence: K 0/10 |  W 0/10
Territory: 4/4 | 0/4
Resources: 1C, 2O, 1W, 4S
Conditions: Spider Nursery, narrow and twisting tunnels

Glowcove
Marine Presence: K 0/20 |  W 0/20
Territory: 4/4 | 0/4
Resources: 1C, 2O, 6W, 1S
Conditions: Verdant galleries, significant bio-luminescence


The Belt

Three Captains
Marine Presence: K 2/20 |  W ?/20
Territory: 2/4 | 2/4
--->Marine unit 1b:  Bronze armour (Squad Officer), Aethersilk vest (Team Leaders), Crossbows (full squad),  [50%]
--->Marine unit Heavies:  Bronze armour (every man), Aethersilk vest (Team Leaders), Aether Gauntlet (every man except 2), bronze cutlass (every man)  [50%]
Resources: 1C, 6O, 2W, 6S
Conditions: Kinetoluminescent Ores, Heavily Infested

Wrackspire
Marine Presence: K 0/12 |  W ?/12
Territory: 0/4 | ?/4
Resources: 3C, 4O, 4W, 2S
Conditions: Unstable Aetheric Phenomena, Broken Spire

Burned Mountain
Marine Presence: K 0/24 |  W ?/24
Territory: 0/4 | ?/4
Resources: 1C, 10O, 1W, 0S
Conditions: Inexplicably Molten Core, Hundreds of narrow tunnels and small galleries.

The Unfinished
Marine Presence: K 0/45 |  W ?/45
Territory: 0/4 | ?/4
Resources: 8C, 0O, 6W, 2S
Conditions: Unfinished infrastructure, Massive open rooms and halls.

Spoiler: Ships (click to show/hide)

One-Eyed Will - Skyskiff Class (x1)
Loadout
Communications Officer
2 Light Aether Cannons+ (Kettlegun).
1 Very Small Basic Core Crystal
1 Very Small Basic Lift Crystal
4 Trim Crystals
2 reams of webbing
Location: Spire Kasgyre
Status: Shipshape

RKNV Ophidian - Viper Class
Loadout
1 Communications Officer
1 Vanguard Cannon (forward Mount)
8 Light Aether Cannons+ (Kettlegun) [6 front, 2 rear]
2 Sections Light Copper Armor
1 Medium Core Crystal 
1 Small Basic Lift Crystal
6 Trim Webs
6 Trim Crystals
6 reams of webbing
Location: Spire Kasgyre
Status: Shipshape

RKNV Anguis - Viper Class
Loadout
1 Communications Officer
3 Light Topaz Aether Cannons+ (Kettlegun) [3 front]
7 Light Aether Cannon+ (Kettlegun) [5 Front, 2 Rear]
2 Sections Light Copper Armor
1 Medium Topaz Core Crystal 
1 Small Topaz Lift Crystal
5 Topaz Trim Webs
1 Trim Web
4 Topaz Trim Crystals
6 reams of webbing
Location: Spire Kasgyre
Status: Shipshape

Mercury - Transport Barge
Loadout
1 Small Basic Core Crystal
1 Small Basic Lift Crystal
2 Trim Crystals
1 reams of webbing
Carrying: 4/6
--->Marine unit 3: Proto. Bronze armour (Squad Officer), Aethersilk vest (squad), Crossbows (1 per team), Cutlass (full squad), grenade (Squad)
---> Marine unit 6: Proto. Bronze armour (Squad Officer), Aethersilk vest (squad), Aether Gauntlet (1 per team), Cutlass (full squad), grenade (squad)
Location:  Spire Kasgyre
Status: Shipshape

Artemis - Transport Barge
Loadout
1 Small Basic Core Crystal
1 VS Topaz Lift Crystal
2 Trim Crystals
1 reams of webbing
Carrying: 0/6
Location:  Spire Kasgyre
Status: Shipshape

Skiffs With No Name - Skyskiff Class (x5)
Loadout
2 Light Aether Cannons+ (Kettlegun).
1 Very Small Basic Core Crystal
1 Very Small Basic Lift Crystal
4 Trim Crystals
2 reams of webbing
Location: Spire Kasgyre
Status: Shipshape

Natalie I - Skyskiff Class (x1)
Loadout
Comms Officer
2 Light Topaz Aether Cannons+ (Kettlegun)
1 Very Small Topaz Core Crystal
1 Very Small Topaz Lift Crystal
4 Topaz Trim Webs
2 reams of webbing
Location: Spire Kasgyre
Status: Shipshape

Spoiler: Goods Stockpile (click to show/hide)

Viper Hull
Silk Vests (x4)
Webbing x6
Prototype Mobile Cover

Spoiler: Infantry (click to show/hide)

Marines x20
--->Sniper unit 1: Aethersilk vest (Officers), Crossbows (Full Squad)
---> Royal Heavy Unit 1: Bronze armour (Squad), Aethersilk vest (squad), Topaz Gauntlets (1 per team), Gauntlets (everyone without a topaz gauntlet), Witch-Hunter (1 per team), Topaz grenades (squad x2)

Current Technology

Spoiler: Tech (click to show/hide)

Infantry

Flintlock Pistol: Cost: 2 ore to give one of either to every fireteam in a squad, 8 to give to every man. Inaccurate beyond spitting distance, incapable of dealing significant damage against hard armor, and liable to explode when used regularly even when given the most expert maintenance,  the primary advantage of these weapons is that they can punch straight through shrouds like they didn't exist, and they're slowed by aethersilk officer's coats as much as by an ordinary silk shirt.

Flintlock Rifle: Cost: 3 ore to give one of either to every fireteam in a squad, 12 to give to every man. Reasonably accurate, but slow to reload and still incapable of dealing significant damage against hard armor or ship hulls. These weapons still require expert maintenance to keep them from being single-use weapons, and sustained use still makes these weapons terrifyingly unreliable as service weapons. Still, an excellent choice for shooting through silk shirts and ignoring shrouds.

Grappling Gear: Cost: 1 ore to give to every member of a squad. Standard issue ropes and hooks for boarding vessels or climbing the outside of spires. Cumbersome if you're not going to use it.

Aetheric Gauntlet: Cost: 1 Ore, 1 crystal to give one to every fireteam in a squad, 4 of each to give one to everyone. A gauntlet (usually left handed to keep the right hand free) of copper and leather with a tiny weapons crystal locked into the palm. Capable of firing dozens of low energy blasts of aetheric energy at the user's discretion, but is difficult to aim and the copper cage used to draw heat from the crystal has the unsettling tendency to leave disfiguring gauntlet burns, melt, or set the user on fire if used too frequently.

Bronze Cutlass: Cost: 2 Ore to give to every member of a squad. A simple, heavy blade of bronze attached to a wooden handle. Simple, and brutally effective in close quarters.

Aethersilk Vest: Cost: 1 Silk to give to a squad's ranking officer, 5 silk to provide to ranking officer and team leads, 16 silk to give to every member of a squad. A double layer vest of dense aethersilk, capable of absorbing a considerable amount of Aetheric energy. Can stop multiple point-blank shots from a gauntlet, but doesn't cover the arms, legs, or head. Does nothing against physical weapons or projectiles.
 
Witch Hunter Crossbow: Cost: 2 wood 2 ore to give one to every fireteam, 8 wood 8 ore for every man.The cranequin mechanism is much swifter than many similar designs (though that isn't saying much), and is integrated directly into the weapon in order to avoid a cumbersome stage of attaching and reattaching. A trained infantryman operating the weapon can crank back that 175 pound arms and fire in approximately 45 seconds. The bolts themselves are typically made with a bronze broadhead point to better shred infantry, and have passed every performance test asked of them- and engineers are confident that they could go through light infantry armor if modified with a chisel point. Includes an escessive amount of brass ornamentation, as well as an ornate identification plate for Division markings.

Aetheric Grenades: Cost: 1 Crystal, 1 ore to give one to every man in a squad, or four to every member of a fireteam. | Fist sized grenades carrying tiny precharged weapon and core crystals, capable of exploding after a delay of 5-ish seconds. Cheap assembly means that the soldier is never sure where in the realm of 5-ish that delay is. Roughly a quarter as powerful as an LAC blast, and operates primarily on the initial blast of plasma and burning metal. An ordinary marine can currently (safely) carry up to four grenades. Each round, every man in a fireteam has a 75% chance to use a grenade. This is evaluated per fireteam, not per man.

Bronze Breastplate and Helm: Cost: 1 ore for the officer, 3 ore for squad leaders, 10 ore for every man. Whilst a little on the heavy side, all of that weight is put into protection rather than ornamentation. The new design is thick over the vitals, well sculpted around the arms to allow freedom of motion, and flared at the sides to rest on the hips and keep the weight off the soldier's shoulders. Tests against pistols have shown that the armor has an excellent chance of absorbing shots from beyond point-blank range. Witch Hunter Crossbows penetrate much more readily. Comes with a pair of rip-buckles for quick removal, useful when the armour overheats from repeated aetheric blast strikes.

Mobile Cover Platform 5 Crystal, 4 ore, 4 wood, 2 silk for one. Limit 1 per fireteam. Requires 1 TU. A floating chunk of wood and bronze with integrated VS core and trim crystals, capable of generating a shroud and resisting limited physical weapon's fire. Wide enough to provide concealment cover to a fireteam, and capable of generating a shroud large enough to protected a grouped squad. However, drains aether in the area rapidly, greatly limited the shroud's lifetime.

Ship Tech

Signal Flashers: Costs One squad of marines, 1 crystal, 1 ore, per set of 3 communications officers. Each ship needs only a single communications officer | A trained aeronaut with a handheld lightgun, capable of transmitting a considerable amount of information over long distance via military shorthand flashsign signals. Of course, to be understood, the reciever also needs to have a comms officer. All spires, by default, are considered to have comms officers on watch.

Light Aether Cannon+ (Kettle Gun): 1 Crystal, 1 Ore for one.  A small cannon, capable of being mounted on deck without reinforcement. Fires powerful blasts of aetheric energy, and uses a removable block of copper as a heat-sink. Relatively inaccurate, short ranged, hot, power hungry, and prone to exploding violently if hit directly by enemy fire. Still, it can blow wood into flaming cinders and will melt through light plating in a few shots.
---> Kasgyrian modifications to use water based heat sinks for the cooling block and additional pipes for the barrel have reduced cannon weight and increased the initial volley the cannon can make before becoming dangerously hot. Causes the cannon to make a distinctive whistle during the first volley, akin to that of a kettle.
---> Further Modifications allow the cannon's water reserve to be refilled during combat. Still, this is a delicate operation that requires a degree of platform stability, provides at best one additional reload in a combat situation, and cannot be done at all on skiffs.
--->  Lucky improvements allow higher energy projectiles from topaz weapons crystals to be channeled without loss of operation efficacy.

Vanguard Cannon (Medium-Small  Cannon)  5 Ore, 3 Crystal, Requires a Medium Mount | A triple barreled, water cooled monster. Her only significant issue is a slight issue with water leakage that impacts overall ROF slightly, but aside from that she can fire a full power LAC shot every two seconds, and can sustain that rate of fire nearly indefinitely.

Basic Core Crystal: [VS 3 Crystal | S 6 Crystal]  A massive rough gem, grown in vats and used to transduce aetheric energy into electric current. This particular model is relatively inefficient, both as a transducer and as a storage unit. It can generate a defensive shroud around a vessel, but more than a single shot from a light Aether cannon on the same point will knock a hole in the shroud. Will explode spectacularly if hit directly.

Medium Core Crystal: [18 Crystal] Three small core crystals, fused together in a propietary process. While it shares the inefficiencies of its smaller cousins, she's approximately four times more powerful. Under stress, there is a chance that the core crystal will desynchronize, greatly reducing its power output. A desynchronized core can only be fixed by a refit action at the home spire.
---> Medium core crystals now come with a suite of tools designed to monitor its state and resynchronize it in the event something goes wrong. However, the monitoring tools are so effective that an engineer who is familiar with the 'heartbeat' of the core he or she works with can virtually eliminate any chance of desynchronization.

Basic Lift Crystal: [VS 2 Crystal, 2 ore | S 3 Crystal, 2 ore for one] A chunk of crystal the size of a bathtub, heavily reinforced so that it can be locked into a ship's spine. When fed electricity, it will progressively invert gravity's effect on itself, flying upwards and pulling anything attached up with it. This basic model is incredibly power hungry, produces only enough lift for a small ship and internal flaws mean that extreme maneuvers could easily cause it to crack.

Basic Trim Crystals: 1 Crystal for two.  Head sized chunks of crystal, similar to lift crystals, though of greater refinement. These produce directional gravity when powered, allowing a ship to make finer maneuvers. Like the basic lift crystal, these are power hungry and prone to fracture of used for rapid maneuverability.

Trim Web: Cost 1 Crystal, 1 ore, 3 wood to substitute for 2 trim crystals.  A trim web essentially spreads out the power of a single trim crystal throughout a dozen or more smaller crystals networked together. While this network is of essentially equal power to a single trim crystal, it's ability to spread force out over a larger area allows for much higher acceleration without cracking the crystal. Sadly, it currently needs extensive and custom refit procedures relative to standard trim crystals.

Basic Webbing: 2 Silk per ream. Aethersilk webbing, designed to catch hold of aetheric currents and shunt them into a ship's core crystal. Particularly susceptible to fire from aetheric weapons, which will rapidly cause overloads that burn out whole sections of webbing.

Light Copper Ship Plating: 3 ore per section. Nearly pure copper plates, heavy, but with good thermal conductivity. Useful for spreading out the heat generated by an aether blast. Low melting point does mean that repeated impacts will melt the armor and set fire to the wood beneath.

Ship Hulls

Viper Corvette:12 wood, 5 ore for one.
A fifty foot long frame of wood and bronze reinforcement, her unusual structure reminiscent of the head of a pit viper. She's designed with forward firepower and incredible speed in mind, featuring eight bow mounts and two aft mounts, all of which integrate the mechanical hand-crank system to aim the cannons. She has a notable ability to keep up a good fight even when all of the webbing outside her shroud has been disabled.

She has no usable cargo capacity.
Armament
10 light cannon mounts | 8 in the bow 2 aft.
Armor
None intrinsic
Can mount two sections of armor on the head.
Requires:
1 Core Crystal (At least small, up to medium)
1 Lift Crystal (At least small, up to medium)
4/8/12 Trim Crystals for poor/avg/good performace
6 reams of webbing

Viper Corvette, Vanguard Variant: 13 wood, 7 ore for one. 3 wood, 4 ore to refit from basic Viper class.
A Variant of the Viper designed to handle four Vanguard mounts in the bow section. While specialization inhibits the bow from effectively mounting anything else, she's capable of mounting a Vanguard with relative ease and comfort.

She has no usable cargo capacity.
Armament
4 Specialized Bow Mounts, Vanguard Cannon
2 Aft Light Cannon Mounts
Armor
None intrinsic
Can mount two sections of armor on the head.
Requires:
1 Core Crystal (At least small, up to medium)
1 Lift Crystal (At least small, up to medium)
4/8/12 Trim Crystals for poor/avg/good performace
6 reams of webbing

Skyskiff 5 wood, 2 ore for one.
At her heart, the Skyskiff is an 18ft long frame of sleek timber and brass reinforcement, built from the ground up to be light on the air and quick to handle. Her basic design is quite old, dating back before the perfection of trim crystals, and she still sports a rudimentary mast that a sail can be run from in addition to the normal spars to run out web. In service, she's typically run by a crew of four. Two gunners who worked crouched in the middle of the ship, a pilot who spends their time practically laying on top of the core crystal in order to manipulate the power control, and the spotter who usually stands at the rear of the ship and calls out directions and threats. Generally, the captain of the vessel is the spotter, due to their superior vantage point and ability to see the entire local theatre.

A notable problem with the Skyskiff is that despite her speed, her web is cumbersome to replace, and without it she's painfully slow. In addition, both her Core Crystal and Her Lift Crystal slots are only designed to fit small crystals. Her small lift crystal means a lot of the burden for vertical maneuvers is still placed on the power hungry trim crystals, which in turn puts more demand on her small core. As a result, her shroud is weak, and a single light cannon blast will knock a hole in it. It still takes two or three more shots before her shroud will buckle entirely, but if another shot comes in the same spot swiftly enough- that's the end of the skiff. Except in the most fortunate of circumstances, a single cannon blast to an unshrouded skiff will destroy it.

She has no usable cargo capacity.
Armament
2 light cannon mounts. One on each side.
Requires:
1 Core Crystal (Up to Very Small in size)
1 Lift Crystal (Up to Very Small in size)
4 Trim Crystals
2 reams of webbing

Webbed Skyskiff
Skyskiff 9 wood, 2 ore for one.
A heavily over-designed skiff designed to natively mount trim webs. Incurs no wood cost for mounting trim webs instead of trim crystals, bringing the unit web cost down to 1C 1O.

She has no usable cargo capacity.
Armament
2 light cannon mounts. One on each side.
Requires:
1 Core Crystal (Up to Very Small in size)
1 Lift Crystal (Up to Very Small in size)
2 Trim Webs
2 reams of webbing

Transport barge 7 wood, 2 ore for one.
In times of peace, this was the vessel most frequently seen going to and from Spires. She's little more than a wooden oval with a few metal bands designed to support the lift crystal. She's got capacity for crew and cargo, but she's quite slow when fully loaded, and her lack of significant trim crystals means that she can't maneuver with any speed. Her only real defense against attack is to dive down into the mist layer and hope that the attacking vessel loses her trail before the mistmaw comes lurking.

She can hold six units of cargo.
Armament
None
Requires:
1 Core Crystal (Up to small size)
1 Lift Crystal (Up to small size)
2 Trim Crystals
1 ream of webbing

Basic Dinghy (Special, used automatically by Marines to embark/disembark transports)
A very small boat, technically capable of transporting eight people as long as they aren't too broad, don't have a fear of heights, and their legs aren't too long. Her core crystal is about the size of a housecat, and kept powered by a fixed ventral web. She's solid wood, unarmed, and has the tendency to tip alarmingly as she doesn't actually use a lift crystal, but makes do entirely on a trio of small trim crystals. It's a slow and terrifying way to travel. Though she's the primary lifeboat of transports, your chances of survival are alarmingly small if you find yourself alone in a dingy .

When used by marines, she's typically crewed by five, with the squad leader acting as an extra member in every set of three boats. When going into a hostile spire, one marine steers, the other four act as spotters or (if one or more has a gauntlet or rifle) shooters. She's such a small vessel that it doesn't take more than a dozen gauntlet shots for her to break apart completely, and a single shot to her ventral web will (at best) cripple her.

Her core crystal is, technically, capable of generating a shroud. However, the limited energy the miniscule core crystal can process limits the crew to picking two of three options: Maintain Altitude control, maintain thrust, raise shroud. For obvious reasons, raising the shroud is something of a last resort. Worse, even when powered, the shroud can be penetrated by sustained gauntlet fire. This is to say nothing of a shot from a light cannon. The shroud will buckle completely after a single shot from a light cannon, though to its credit, that's one more cannon shot than the Dinghy would have survived normally.

Other Tech
Hanging Crystal Gardens: 2 Crystal, 2 Ore, 2 Wood, 2 Silk for one. Government subsidies and buyback programs for the common populace to launch portable vatteries from spire edge properties, gaining a net increase in crystal revenue. Each vattery increases a Spire's crystal production by one. Each spire can fly 5 of these or up to its normal crystal production limit, whichever is higher.

Spoiler: Tactics (click to show/hide)

Marines
Massed Fire and Charge: When engaging, Marines will bunch up to focus fire with their ranged weapons until they run out of ammunition or become too hot to use (depending on weapon type), at which point they will charge in with melee weapons.

Defensive Fire: Instead of firing until charging, Marines will look for defensive positions, take cover, and then fire when able from behind said defensive positions. Includes methods for both staggered retreats and staggered advances.

Ambush+Stealth: Currently an abysmal failure of a strategic plan, as soldiers usually blow the ambush much to early and engage on first contact.

Flanking Tactics: Up to four squads of marines can be selected to work together and perform a flanking maneuver. One to three squads will attempt to engage the enemy, while the remaining squads will attempt to find a different venue of attack. The number of squads involved could be increased at a later date.

Fighting Retreat: Infantry will retreat, prioritizing their own lives, but will also take every opening provided by an advancing enemy to nettle them and inflict casualties. Tactical excellence also allows our captains to extend retreat actions, giving a small but significant chance to not lose ground even when in retreat.

Bait and Strike: Similar to a fighting retreat, except with less retreat and a lot more fight. Extremely good at holding territory against an enemy who has numbers but few other advantages, and is capable of inflicting dire casualties. Still, this is fundamentally based in false-retreats, and is largely ineffective at actually gaining ground.
--> Marines will also do their damnedest too use their spare time (if any) to reinforce and lay traps and slow future enemy advances. They're devilishly clever at it, but do much better when well supplied with materials and options.

Ships
Close Aggressively: Ships will attempt to close distance with enemy vessels and engage at close range, firing all cannons until the enemy is destroyed.

Hit and Run: Ships will attempt to ambush enemy vessels from either high above or far below. Instead of remaining in engagement distance after the first volley, the vessel will retain speed and attempt to disengage before turning for another pass.

Airborne Ambush Maneuvers: Similar to hit and run, except with slightly more refined tactics. The fleet using this maneuver will attempt to form a simultaneous two pronged attack from both above and below, and will remain to engage the enemy after the initial onslaught.

Blockade: Orders ships to form up around a spire, out of range of enemy emplaced guns, and attempt to prevent vessels from coming or going. However, a strong kasgyrite sense of honor all put prevents them from firing on unarmed civilian vessels.

Scouting: Orders a ship or ships to find an overwatch position, either to defend a fleet or to scope out a particular location. Currently uses cannon fire signals, but will switch to more efficacious methods when able. Quite effective.

Coordinated Fire: Ships will attempt to remember weak points on enemy ships, focusing fire on weaker sections of larger vessels, and using spread fire to attempt to overcome the evasion of small vessels. When paired with a scouting vessel, fire coordination can be down at a fleet level as long as all vessels also have communications officers. However, lack of fleet command experience and a simplistic chain of command make fleet fire control less effective than it could be.

Spoiler: Infrastructure and Production Patterns (click to show/hide)

Gun Swivels: Rudimentary swivel mounts operated by hand cranks. These represent a first effort in the field, and are scarcely more effective than manual movement for light guns, except when trying to aim for a very precise point when still, but they can carry a decent amount of weight and serve as a reasonable proof of concept.

Small Vanguard Mount Conversion: 2 'adjacent' small mounts, 3 ore, 3 wood.  Converts over a pair of small mounts to be able to mount a Vanguard cannon. However, this mounting is, strictly speaking, too small. It's a bitch of an environment for the gunner, and the gun itself is incapable of moving from its fixed position.

Small Docks: Relatively simple affairs of wood jutting out into the void, capable of servicing a relatively small number of light craft. These docks are best suited to peace time usage, and are ill-equipped to service or build true warships. Light defensive cannons have been mounted in strategic positions, and will be upgraded automatically when needed.
Provides a single production line that can be used for any small or smaller production pattern.

Marine Academy: The basic and unaugmented marine academy, where men and women are transformed from milksop civilians into hardened marines.
Provides a single production line to be used ONLY on Marine production.

Imperial Topaz: Special Cost | Glorious crystal of deep amber hue, Imperial Topaz is the nickname for crystal grown by the princess herself in the Garden of Glass. Whatever the technique used by the princess, these creations are of peerless quality, effectively twice as good as a standard crystal. The princess, however, is no vatterer, and does not answer directly to... anyone. As such, production is eccentric. Every round, the princess will have 2d6+1 random crystal items that she can make. These items have normal cost, but are only available in the amounts specified.
--> With Imperial Funding, the princess always produces an additional 1d4 items.

Production Patterns

Basic Marine Training: [Max: 25 | Rate: 2]
Generates Marine units at the spire. These marines are capable in hand-to-hand combat, but are not provided any initial weapons. You might want to buy them swords, at the very least.

Skyskiff Pattern A: [Max: 10 | Rate: 2]
Creates two Skyskiff units per turn, up to a max of 10.  Each skyskiff is outfitted with
2 Light Aether Cannons.
1 Very Small Basic Core Crystal
1 Very Small Basic Lift Crystal
4 Trim Crystals
2 reams of webbing
Buyback cost: 9 crystal, 6 ore, 5 wood, 4 silk

Skyskiff Pattern B: [Max: 8 | Rate: 1]
Creates one Skyskiff units per turn, up to a max of 7.  Each skyskiff is outfitted with
2 Light Aether Cannons.
1 Very Small Basic Core Crystal
1 Very Small Basic Lift Crystal
4 Trim Webs
2 reams of webbing
Buyback cost: 9 crystal, 8 ore, 9 wood, 4 silk

Skyskiff Pattern 'Natalie': [Max: 8 | Rate: 1]
Creates one Skyskiff units per turn, up to a max of 8. When this pattern is active, the princess' topaz production is cut to 1d4-2.  Each skyskiff is outfitted with
2 Light Topaz Aether Cannons.
1 Very Small Topaz Core Crystal
1 Very Small Topaz Lift Crystal
4 Topaz Trim Webs
2 reams of webbing
Buyback cost: 9 crystal, 8 ore, 9 wood, 4 silk

[Kashyyk]

When you can build and equip a boat for the cost of two glorified shields you know they're gone overboard on the gloriousness of the design.

But I'm reasonably happy with that. Have two revisions to make it a bit less expensive:

As we bring more powered materiel into a spire, the already aether-poor environment will be quickly drained. It may only be mobile-cover platforms now, but eventually we will have a full suite of equipment. The solution is to expand the area of retrieval. By fitting controlled ground with a network of aether cables, powered devices can simply connect to the network and benefit from the aether acquired by the entire system. When defending, our hardware will maintain its power supply for far longer, and when attacking we can attach an extendable power cable on a spool. There will be slightly reduced mobility when attached, but as the spool will by connected on the hardware side that shouldn't matter.

TL;DR: Give the mobile cover a power cable.

By stripping down the excessive beautification features we will be able to field more cover platforms for the same cost. There will be an added benefit of less weight, which translates to less lift crystals required and less energy spent. Also, it'll make it more mobile by being lighter.