Aethership

“Aethership” is a general term for all vessels designed to navigate the Aether directly. Due to the inherent difficulty the Aether presents to navigation, Aetherships usually need highly advanced navigational systems to operate.

History
Aetherships have existed in Ha'ther almost since the very dawn of mortal lifeforms. Though the first Aetherships were relatively crude,

Deep Time
The oldest known Aetherships originated in the Middle Crystalline Horizon of the Celestial Age and have been uncovered in pockets of the Aether and on a few early planes. These ancient ships (which are akin to finned, covered canoes) resemble crude forms of traditional Aetherborne technology and are thought to have been made by their ancient proto-humanoid ancestors.

These Aetherships are thought to have relied on rudimentary Aether-sail technology, which would have made them

A distinctly different form of early Aethership technology appears to have arisen in the final years of the Late Crystalline Horizon. Some such ships (such as the ones unearthed on Mbaar, Nem and Tel-amut) feature samples of early Low Terran etched in the Terran Runic script, supporting theories of early dwarvish Aetherial travel. These Aetherships tended to use lighter-than-Aether technology, taking advantage of the Aether’s natural currents; assuming these ships were used to travel between planes, such journeys would likely take several decades to complete.By the mid-Brass Age, dwarves were known to be traversing the Aether as a means of trade between several small city-states. Though these civilizations never grew to rival the genie nations of the time, their Aethership technology would stand unrivaled for ages to come. These dwarves quickly advanced past lighter-than-Aether technology and combustion drives, eventually settling on Aether-sails.

Very few navigational tools have been uncovered from the Primordial Epoch, leading archaeologists to believe the ancient dwarves navigated by skill and memory alone. Some recovered texts from the time mention the existence of Aetherial navigators, somewhat supporting this theory. Some Aetherial sailors of today claim the same ability, but this has never been proven.

With the beginning of the Golden Age, a new mode of inter-planar travel surfaced: the great planar gates. This marked a sharp decline in use of Aethership technology (the ships of the day could hardly rival the speed of the gates) by all races other than the early dwarves. Sometime near the end of this period, it is thought that the dwarves developed spatial-drive technology, but only circumstantial evidence of this has been uncovered.

At the time of the Cataclysm, this rough coalition of dwarvish states was torn apart and all Aethership technology was lost to time. The Dark Epoch saw no advancement in inter-planar travel whatsoever.

Ancient History
As the universe finally began to recover from the dark ages, transportation technology started to advance once again. On Djot-ten (plane), the creation of the cavern-crawler allowed for the population (or, in many cases, repopulation) of several uninhabited “planetary systems”. Among the emerging civilizations were Jixal and Nem, which both quickly became trade powers in their respective regions.

The invention of the cavernship ushered in the Topaz Age, in which Jixal would begin to act as an inter-planar authority. Though it was largely operating in Jixal’s shadow, a Nemmish nation known as Duer would eventually rediscover the long-forgotten Aethership technology.

A true credit to the inventive nature of the dwarves, the Aetherships of Duer quickly surpassed the abilities of their ancient predecessors. Adaptation of cavernship technology provided the Duer with spatial drives after only a few short years of development; paired with especially efficient Aether-sails, this advancement shortened Aetherborne travel to mere days.

Propulsion
Several varying methods have been used to traverse the Aether throughout history.

Aether-Sail
The earliest known form of Aetherial propulsion is that of the Aether-sail, thought to have been first invented by a group of prehistoric Aetherborne. Aether-sail ships use large, fin-like sails to take advantage of Aetherial currents. Unlike lighter-than-Aether ships, these vessels are highly maneuverable and can easily change currents, allowing for elegant inter-planar travel. Though not the fastest mode of Aetherial transportation, the high maneuverability and relatively simple design makes Aether-sails extraordinarily popular.

Combustion Drive
Aetherial combustion drive technology is an adaptation from intra-planar navigation. Generally considered inefficient and outdated, Aetherships featuring combustion drives rely on the burning of fuel to traverse the Aether. This is both slow and dangerous; combustion-driven Aetherships have been known to occasionally ignite pockets of volatile matter, often resulting in their respective destruction.

Lighter-Than-Aether
Possibly adapted from earlier Aether-sail technology, lighter-than-Aether propulsion is thought to have been invented by the prehistoric dwarven ancestors. Ships using this technology are relatively large and lightweight; the resulting low density allows such Aetherships to be swept along on Aetherial currents. Usually featuring little to no navigational abilities, these ships

Spatial Drive
Largely considered the final word on Aethership technology, spatial drives manipulate the Aether itself, allowing for quick, safe passage. Only two concerns arise regarding spatial drives: planar proximity and power. Spatial drives can, due to their space-warping nature, have unforeseen effects on spatial planes (though this is usually little more than temporary dimensional disturbance); because of this, most spatial-drive ships will feature a secondary mode of propulsion for near-planar navigation.

As for power, no consensus has been reached on what the optimal spatial-drive power source could be. Throughout history (and, possibly, prehistory), scores of power systems have been proposed and outmoded.