Second Age of Flight
The Second Age of Flight was the time period marked by the use of small, agile skycraft to navigate the Edge, rather than large, cumbersome sky ships—which no longer worked due to stone-sickness. Skycraft were made of buoyant sumpwood and coated in a special varnish to keep them stable. They were easier to manoeuver than sky ships, though skycraft never achieved the size or the majesty of the great sky galleons of old. Furthermore they were too weak to carry very much cargo and could only hold a handful of people at a time. The Second Age of Flight occurred during the Rook Trilogy, and ended upon the invention of phraxchambers by Xanth Filatine, which marked the start of the Third Age of Flight, although a few scattered librarians continued to use sumpwood skycraft hundreds of years into the future.
History
Economy
With skyships rendered useless by Stone-Sickness, mobility and were threatened. Old Undertown stayed the centre of commerce on the Edge, but new settlements in the Deepwoods, like the Free Glades, gained importance.
The Twin Cities
Once stone-sickness put an end to sky flight, trade between Undertown and the Deepwoods became impossible, cutting off Undertown and threatening to destroy the economy of the Edge. The United Leagues of Undertown Free Merchants had lost their power and collapsed. Sky pirates settled at the Armada of the Dead and retreated to only occasionally raiding traders. An enourmous boardwalk, the Great Mire Road was designed by Vox Verlix and built by slaves. Despite being in violation of Undertown's laws[citation needed], slavery evolved into a thriving business. The goblins recruited by Vox to guard the slaves became so powerful that they could hold him at ransom. Crossing the Twilight Woods with its hallucinogenic effects was still impossible, so Vox enlisted the Shrykes help to lead traders and passengers through the forest. The shrykes however seized control of the Great Mire Road and imposed a system of checks and tally-huts and ruthlessly enforced their rule with shryke guards patrolling the road. The Great Mire Road was completed in 47 ᴇ.ʏ. and from then on, the shrykes and goblins controlled all trade from Undertown to the Deepwoods.[1]
Technology
Scholarship
Fashion
Librarians
The Librarians in the sewers wore heavy robes very similar to those of the academics in Sanctaphrax in the First Age of Flight. The robes varied depending on one's status in the social hierarchy and were adorned with prints of different tree species signifying the wearer's origin.[2]
Academics of Sanctaphrax
The clothing of academics in Sanctaphrax was very similar to the First Age of Flight. Members of different schools could be distinguished by the colour of their uniform robes. A black-and-white checkerboard pattern was very common.
Architecture
Map of the Edge in the Second Age of Flight
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