Grand Adventure: Red Skies at Morn

Well, old formats can get fucked


/is not drunk.


/may be lying.


/does not give one single shit
 
Cap is half done. His name is Michael Rothfellow, he's 43, he's nice, happy, fair, but he's also not going to let anyone slack off, so his crew better be prepared to put the work in!


That's basically all I have, and a picture (here-> [link]. I need to do a history and flesh out a personality as that sentence is all I have right now,


But not right now, because I have drank like... 10 beers + other drinks. Not the best shape to be writing in. Thank fuck for spell check.
 
And he'd better be awesome! No less than a Captain Malcolm Reynolds or a Captain Han Solo or a Captain Crunch, except for that last one!
 
So tell me a little about how an airship operates. Crew size, functional properties and suchlike. Does it have sails? A magnetic lodestone? What are some of the deck rooms? Obviously Qal-Eel needs a Galley for cooking. Would he have a kitchen hand or a scullion to help out? Does the doctor have a lob-lolly boy? I'd also like to ask if the ship could have a Solarium tucked away somewhere, so Eel can tend to a tiny hydroponic herbal garden.
 
Well, I like airships. I wanna learn about the Lady Skyclad. It'll help us roleplay if we know the details of our homebase, and all the NPC crewmates and suchlike.
 
In terms of NPC's there will be a good amount of deckhands hired on as well as the specialists on board, probably 30 or so. There's a lot of moving parts that need to be dealt with on a ship and there's always something that needs greasing, tightening, scrubbing or painting. There should also be about a 5:1 ratio for deckhands and engineers. The Head Engineer will be in charge of the engine room and any other machinery therein, but they'll likely have at least 3-4 other hands around to maintain the machinery and to do damage control should something break.


As for size I imagine the Skyclad would measure out at a respectable 100m long with a 20m beam (longest width). It will feature sails as air currents will be the primary source of forward movement aboard. The ether engine is the heart and soul of the ship and is what's responsible for keeping it airborne. The ether engine can generate forward momentum, but it drains the mana crystals much faster than normal and is mostly used as a last resort for escaping engagements with enemies.


So in terms of compartments (rooms) on board I'll go down the standard list. You've got the bridge, which is where the pilot (Probably NPC but anyone can be taught to helm) will be with the helm. On historical ships the captain's stateroom will be directly below that and that holds true for modern ships as well, though usually their designs are a bit different. The officer's stateroom (For First, Second and Third Mates), will be located either on the same deck or the deck directly below the captain's stateroom. Then of course you have your standard berthing which, I'm afraid to say, if you're not an officer or a guest of importance you will be crammed in there with the rest of the deckhands. And berthings are notoriously tight to save space. I'm talking stacks of racks (beds) in a space so that you can essentially sleep 8 people in a space that would barely fit 1 in a normal hotel. Nuts to butts as we used to say on the boat.


Beyond that you've got your other standard compartments: mess deck (where you eat), galley (where you cook), cargo hold (for food stores and other mission related items), forward hold, main hold and aft hold (holds are for stowing line, spare parts and other essentials). The armory, dry food stores, sickbay, and of course the head (bathroom) are all essential too.


Anything beyond that is starting to get into luxury ships, and luckily the Skyclad happens to be one. The Skyclad also has a ship's office (paperwork and the like), a map room, a saloon for the lads (darts, not drinks), and probably a communications room so they can keep in contact with Lady Oddsgrove. I don't think there'd be a dedicated solarium area on board the ship by design, however if he cleared it by the captain I think he could make use of a corner of the map room near the port holes (windows) to grow a few things.


 
Also be aware that EVERY HAND ON BOARD, excluding those of a less physical countenance (doctor might get a pass for example), will be knowledgeable of the ship and how to repair damage to it in an amateur fashion should something bad happen. Imagine a fire breaks out on board. You're in the middle of the air days away from land in any direction. You need to get that fire under control the second it starts and your crew is the only ones available. They NEED to know how to handle themselves in that situation and how to either fight the fire directly or seal off the affected compartments and airways so that the fire burns itself out. Drills are an everyday thing aboard ships and all hands are required to do them for just that reason.
 
Well I didn't serve on a battleship so I wouldn't know about that. But in this case I imagine there would be, yes. That would likely be the deck directly below the weather deck (part you walk on outside). Just that one deck though, this isn't a war ship so it would likely only have one row of guns on either side. Below the gun deck you'd be getting into the holds, stores and bilges.
 
Oh! One other thing. Since this is an expedition ship, there would be a designated hold in the very bow of the ship that would be a designated hangar for at most two biplanes. They could be used for both quick reconnaissance and defense if necessary.
 
Also I just looked it up and the officer's stateroom is called the wardroom. My bad.


 
I used to work on a boat, I know these things in some detail.
 
I've noticed. And I am relieved and impressed and inspired, I must say!


Some queries about Qal-Eel's job. Does the Cook also double as Chief Steward? Does he have staff? Is he a Senior Unlicensed Crewman?
 
Depends on his age, really. If he's too old to be useful as anything beyond the cook then yes, he would be a senior crewman. And he would likely also act as steward for the captain and his officers as well, that's typically the cooks job. Though he would likely have a few scullions under him to help prepare meals and clean up the galley when meals are done. And in all likelihood he'd send them topside to deliver the captain's meals so he could direct things below.


 
Also I'm bumping up the size of the ship slightly. 120m length and 27m beam.
 
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