Captained by Gerrard and carrying a crew of heroes into Rath, the flying ship Weatherlight is unique among such craft both in its design and in its ability to planeshift. Of mysterious origin, the 300-foot ship is 400 to 500 years old, and seems to have been designed as a pleasure schooner, though while under Sisay's command it has been used to regain parts of the Legacy. It carries a crew of approximately 40, with most of the crewmembers assigned to tending the ship's massive and complex engines.
Staterooms and officer's quarters are conjoined around the last room on the main deck level, near the stern. Two decks in the forecastle split the complement of able-bodied sailors between them, and double as additional storage space for ship's goods. Those without seniority among the crew sleep in the cargo hold, in a series of secured hammocks.
Manipulation of the sails is the primary way the weatherlight steers at low velocities. At higher speeds the sails convert to airfoils, wraping to allow steering, in addition to the vane that splits the ship's exhaust. The weatherlight's engine provides the main power for the vessel. Its power plant, the core of which is a massive crystal that transforms mana into fuel, creates the levitation field, and enables planar travel. Two rudders are fitted into the stern, flanking the exhaust manifold and conforming to the curve of the hull.
In its present configuration the weatherlight is capable of attaining speeds approaching 110 mph in a straight line, 40 miles an hour in full reverse. A "storm shield" created by the ship's engine and generated by the ship's magically powered lights offers some protection from the elements on the ship's deck, but at higher speeds this area is no place to be. Under most circumstances its sails are deployed in windship fashion, assisting in the forward momentum.
Although the weatherlight may look like a seagoing ship, water is not its natural environment. Seafaring sailors regard it with a skeptical eye, the porthole gratings are right on the waterline, and it steers like a block of stone when at sea.
Scattered though the weatherlight are odd bits of architecture and machinery, obvious gaps in the interior hull or needless constructions. These are the most obvious pieces of evidence that the weatherlight has a greater purpose than its current use. New hardpoints or mountings are occasionally revealed when existiong equipment is shifted, features that weren't seen before. Some of its crew think that the ship itself seems more like a living creature than any other craft they've sailed in. |