Galerider

The Galerider was a sky pirate ship which, at the time of Clash of the Sky Galleons, was around sixty years old. She was an old and durable ship, and was known as one of the finest sky ships ever constructed. She was destroyed in the attack on the Leagues of Undertown's armada of sky ships.

History

The Galerider's beginnings are unknown, except that she was built a long time before the events of Clash of the Sky Galleons. Her captaincy was eventually taken by the sky pirate Wind Jackal, and he soon built up a lucrative trade shipping goods between Undertown and the Deepwoods. She also participated in some great battles of the time, including the assault on The Great Sky Whale, and the Battle of Wilderness Lair. When the Leagues of Undertown created their own fleet of sky ships, the Galerider, now captained by the young Cloud Wolf, was part of the fleet of sky pirate ships assembled to defeat them. During battle with the monstrous Bringer of Doom, the Galerider's flight rock was super cooled and, after the crew had parawinged overboard, shot off into Open Sky.

Explore the Galerider

This is where the captain slept. It was also where he worked when plotting courses.

This consisted of a large ship's wheel to control the rudder and two lines of bone-handled leavers to control the sails and hull weights. It was positioned high up on aft castle for maximum visibility.

Directly below the captain's cabin was the infirmary. This was where sick or injured crew members were looked after, often by the quartermaster.

Generally occupied by either relatives of the captain or paying passengers.

Underneath the infirmary was a room full of weight and cables. This room was where control from the helm passed into the rudder, weights and sails.

Affixed to the back of the aft castle, the rudder was what steered the skyship. It was controlled from the helm by the central wheel.

Access to the aft castle.

Ship's kitchen. Food for the whole crew was prepared here, often by the quartermaster.

The quartermaster slept here.

The aft part of the hold was used to hold the supplies needed to feed and water the crew for the duration of the voyage.

Main article: Logbaits
A log of soft wood was left trailing behind the ship to catch any stray sky-dwelling creatures. Most of these creatures would later be cut up and cooked for food in the galley.

A rope net attached to hull allowed the sky pirates to climb down underneath the ship to fix tangled weights and other common problems that occurred during a sky voyage.

This middle part of the hold was generally used to carry to ship's merchantable cargo. It was large and spacious enough to accommodate loads such as ironwood logs. It also had doors in bottom in case the load had to be dropped in a hurry.

Main article: Flight-rocks
Grown in the Sanctaphrax Stone Gardens, the buoyant flight-rock kept the skyship in the air. It was surrounded by an ironwood lattice, the flight-rock cage, to keep it in place. When cooled, the flight-rock carried the skyship upwards, and when warmed, back towards the ground. In order to keep the flight-rock in peak condition it was tended by the stone pilot.

A large crossbow used for defense against other skyships.

The flight-rock platform was where the stone pilot worked to tend the flight-rock.

The higher these burners were set, the warmer the flight-rock got, allowing the skyship to descend. The burners could also be lowered to ascend, but if they were completely dowsed, the skyship was in danger of hurtling as the flight-rock would become unstable.

A tank full of cold sand was kept prepared. If the flight-rock was doused with this cold sand, the skyship would ascend instantly.

These long metal rods were driven into pores in the flight-rock to make subtle adjustments to its temperature. The rods could be either cooled in bucket of cold water or heated in a furnace.

The mast was a long ironwood spur mounted in the middle of the flight-rock platform. It held up the sails and the caternest.

The sails were what gave a skyship forwards momentum. The best sails were made from woodspider-silk. Different sails were hoisted or lowered depending on the conditions. There were eleven sails as follows:

  • Foresail
  • Aftsail
  • Topsail
  • Mainsails one and two
  • Skysail,
  • Staysail
  • Studsail
  • Boomsail
  • Spinnaker
  • Jib

Main article: Caternests
The highest point on a skyship was the caternest. This was the lookout's post. Skyships were considered lucky if they had a genuine caterbird cocoon and oakelf lookout.

The hull weights were what kept the skyship balanced in all conditions. Each weight effected a different flight dynamic in a different way. The combined effect of all weights allowed the captain to make very fine adjustments to the ship's angle, speed, and balance. There were twelve weights as follows:

  • Stern-weight
  • Prow-weight
  • Starboard hull-weights, small, medium and large
  • Port hull-weights, small, medium and large
  • Mid-hull-weight
  • Peri-hull-weight
  • Neben-hull-weight
  • Klute-hull-weight

The rudder wheel was a large round stone with rope passed through a hole in its middle. It hung close to the hull, near where the other weight cables attached, and was used to help keep the skyship steady.

A large, rock-hurling catapult used against other skyships and sometimes against buildings.

Large, metal blade in crossbow-like firing mechanism. When this was fired at another skyship, it sliced the rigging and sails of the target ship, sending it spinning out of control. It did extra damage when lit on fire before launching.

Used to grab on a tree, rock or other object on the ground below when attempting to dock in a remote location. Could also be used as a zipline or safety rope when boarding other skyships. One of the fundamental rules of skysailing was never sail higher than your longest grappling rope.

A large room with plenty of hammocks to sleep the crew a skyship required.

This held the rest of the merchantable cargo, such as barrels and crates.

Used both to keep the skyship steady and, when sharpened, to slice trough the hull of an attacking skyship, destroying it in midair.

Captains

The Galerider has had at least four captains:

Crew

Many years after her destruction, the remaining members of the Galerider's crew moved to Cloud Wolf's sky ship, the Stormchaser.

The Galerider, flying through a storm.

Deckhands

Guards

Lookouts

Quartermasters

Main article: Quartermasters

Stone Pilots

Main article: Stone Pilots

Appearances

This article is issued from Theedgechronicles. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.