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Posted

They would capture the Mandras and use them to reduce the weight of the ships. If they can increase the effect then they wouldn't need the entagled gemstones like they used for the archer platforms.

Posted

Probably would require some marriage of the two, the mandras trapped in Gems providing the bulk lift, and then some of the others as part of a larger maneuvering mechanism.  Assuming they dont figure out how to mimic Basic Lashings directly.   

Posted

Why even mimic? Kal has said he didn't need to renew his lashings when he lashed things in front of the storm so he could just lash the ship and it could ride the front of the stormwall forever.

Posted
2 hours ago, Overlord Jebus said:

Why even mimic? Kal has said he didn't need to renew his lashings when he lashed things in front of the storm so he could just lash the ship and it could ride the front of the stormwall forever.

You usually want to land at some point...I don't envy whoever is landing the airship and scrambling for cover, since he Highstorm is right there.

Posted
2 minutes ago, DocHoliday said:

You usually want to land at some point...I don't envy whoever is landing the airship and scrambling for cover, since he Highstorm is right there.

High-stakes thrills.

Posted (edited)

Out of curiosity, do you think it’ll be more likely the ships will be used solely for long distance transportation of troops, or that they’ll also be used in battle?  I always imagined that they’d see action in battle, but I’m not sure how much sense that makes since they’d be under constant attack from the fused.  I mean, the reason to use it in battle would be to rain destruction on ground troops with impunity.  But with constant harrying from fused who are so much more powerful than the ordinary humans making up the crews of these ships, would they even have time to attack ground armies?  And if they can’t take advantage of their height over ground troops, the manpower needed to man the ships would be largely wasted and would better be used on the ground to add bulk to armies.

Edit:  I forgot I wanted to comment on the use of gravitation to power the ships.  I don’t think it’s likely becauae if impracticality.  You’d have to send a wind runner with each ship, and they could obviously be better used in battle.  These ships won’t be always going towards a battlefield, after all.  And there’s only 3 wind runners right now, though I’m sure that number will have increased by a years time.  Fabrials using gravitation would negate this problem, but considering still nobody understands how soulcasters or any other surge fabrial works, I doubt they’d unlock the secret in just over a years time.  Another problem with using gravitation would be the speed the ship traveled at.  To get enough stormlight to move the ship, it would have to be traveling at the front of a highstorm.  Just to keep up with the storm, the ship would be traveling so fast that anyone on deck (which it looks like the ships have in the image) would be swept off.

Edited by ILuvHats
Posted

The ships could be used has bombers or something. Fill them up with big rocks or whatever is the closet thing to a bomb they have, and then use some of the windrunners to protect the ships, or just giant lances on the deck. Or some soul casters could soul cast the air into rocks and drop them on the troops below. Or turn the inside of the those rocks to oil and then light them up. Dang that would be cool.  

Posted
5 hours ago, ILuvHats said:

I forgot I wanted to comment on the use of gravitation to power the ships.  I don’t think it’s likely becauae if impracticality.  You’d have to send a wind runner with each ship, and they could obviously be better used in battle.

I disagree. I say thing because all you need to do is trap a madras in a gem ( I suspect a sapphire) and then feed it a ton of stormlight. Have one large crystal and a bunch of smaller crystals to trim the ship and there you go, flying ship. I have been thinking about this for months and have mentioned it in a few of my posts before. All the Rosharians need would either be a massive gem heart or figure out a way to grow gems. The whole ship would be one massive fabrial. I think the life support systems of Urithiru will be crucial in the development of such ships to keep the passengers and crew alive and safe.

Posted
5 minutes ago, Gasper said:

I disagree. I say thing because all you need to do is trap a madras in a gem ( I suspect a sapphire) and then feed it a ton of stormlight. Have one large crystal and a bunch of smaller crystals to trim the ship and there you go, flying ship. I have been thinking about this for months and have mentioned it in a few of my posts before. All the Rosharians need would either be a massive gem heart or figure out a way to grow gems. The whole ship would be one massive fabrial. I think the life support systems of Urithiru will be crucial in the development of such ships to keep the passengers and crew alive and safe.

If windrunners weren’t needed and the ships could be powered with fabrials, they would be a lot more practical, I agree.  However, I believe Navani would have designed the ships based on existing fabrials during OB.  I don’t think creating ships that functioned as a single fabrial, like Urithiru, would be likely considering nobody currently understands how Urithiru itself works.  I could see this in the distant future, like arc 2 of stormlight, but if the ships are in the next book, I think they’d probably be powered by a bunch of individual fabrials.  Though I do agree that trapping mandras in gems will likely be part of the functionality of such a ship.

Posted

Be difficult to capture them in that particular form since they only look that way in Shadesmar.  I don't know if you could actually capture any spren in Shadesmar...

But I think there counterpart in the physical realm are sky eels?  I know Shallan and Kaladin discuss how there's some spren that always is around greatshells and other creatures that technically should be heavier than they are.

Also makes me curious if that's a way to kill a greatshell.  If you can see the spren and kill it, would the greatshell's weight suddenly magnify to the point it can't  hold itself up?

Posted (edited)
On 10/22/2018 at 7:00 PM, Zellyia said:

Be difficult to capture them in that particular form since they only look that way in Shadesmar.  I don't know if you could actually capture any spren in Shadesmar...

But I think there counterpart in the physical realm are sky eels?  I know Shallan and Kaladin discuss how there's some spren that always is around greatshells and other creatures that technically should be heavier than they are.

Also makes me curious if that's a way to kill a greatshell.  If you can see the spren and kill it, would the greatshell's weight suddenly magnify to the point it can't  hold itself up?

The skyeels also have mandras helping them fly. I wonder if mandras grow and if so larger ones are around greatshells, or if there are just a large number.

You might also have to have inescapable gems like the kings gem to keep them imprisoned. I recall something about needing more than one to tow a ship in shadesmar because they sometimes disappear.

I wonder if you could lash a gemstone with gravitations like Shallan does with light? Then you wouldn't need a full time Windrunner, only top ups on the storm light.

Edited by Mental Drifter
typos
Posted
5 hours ago, Mental Drifter said:

I wonder if you could lash a gemstone with gravitations like Shallan does with light? Then you wouldn't need a full time Windrunner, only top ups on the storm light.

You would still need a Windrunner to perform the "top ups."  

Posted

The main issue of the ships needing Windrunners isn't really anything to do with the fabrials maintaining them. 

A ship in the air would basically be a sitting duck for the gravitation Fused. Windrunners would be needed primarily as an escort to protect them. 

That said, it would be storming worth it. Between troop transports and the potentials of bombing enemy armies/fortifications... Air superiority is king. 

Posted
On 10/22/2018 at 8:02 AM, Overlord Jebus said:

Why even mimic? Kal has said he didn't need to renew his lashings when he lashed things in front of the storm so he could just lash the ship and it could ride the front of the stormwall forever.

Petition to make airship-stormwall racing an extreme sport

Posted
9 hours ago, Gray to said:

Petition to make airship-stormwall racing an extreme sport

Now I'm envisioning it as surfing.....All these windrunners hanging out in front of an oncoming highstorm, boards at the ready.  Telling tall tales of strange things seen in the storms and the feats of windrunner legends like Kaladin Stormblessed.

Posted

Seeing those images from Oathbringer reminds me that Sanderson likes Final Fantasy which also coincidentally has lots of flying ships. 

Flying ships would be a welcome addition to Stormlight Archives(i like flying ships regardless) regardless if they are powered in a technological way or Radiant way.

Posted
On 10/24/2018 at 8:15 AM, Calderis said:

The main issue of the ships needing Windrunners isn't really anything to do with the fabrials maintaining them. 

A ship in the air would basically be a sitting duck for the gravitation Fused. Windrunners would be needed primarily as an escort to protect them. 

That said, it would be storming worth it. Between troop transports and the potentials of bombing enemy armies/fortifications... Air superiority is king. 

They could also eventually lead to flying cities where the humans live, giving the land back to the Singers.

Posted
10 hours ago, Mental Drifter said:

They could also eventually lead to flying cities where the humans live, giving the land back to the Singers.

Flying cities always sound like a great solution to everything, but I have to ask... where does the poop go?

Posted
10 hours ago, Mental Drifter said:

They could also eventually lead to flying cities where the humans live, giving the land back to the Singers.

Based on what I think caused the formation of the Shattered Plains, magic floating cities may not be the best long term solution.

Posted
1 hour ago, Patrick Star said:

Flying cities always sound like a great solution to everything, but I have to ask... where does the poop go?

Shinovar. Why do you think it's so fertile :P

Posted

I think that a flying city would have to float one the edge of the highstorm or have a perpendiculary at their core to allow for continued flight. A city is orders of magnitude larger than a ship. Atlantis from Stargate Atlantis is an example of this. 

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