Mother of Invention

The Mother of Invention was the name given to a resdiuum-powered airship in the 9th century LA. It was one of the focal points of the Thaedran Imperium's Project Anvil, a secret plot to conquer the western Mainland using ancient and forbidden technology and magic.

History

The Mother of Invention was originally a prototype airship created by the Arlanestran Territories in defiance of the Air Rules. The treaty with the airborne Thaedran Imperium forbade such constructions; however, the engineers of Arlanestra hoped to end the stalemate with their rival with a fleet of powerful ships. When the Imperium captured the Mother of Invention in 818 LA during its shakedown flight, it became a component in a Thaedran secret project designed to end the cold war with the Territories and establish a new ground-based vassal government of the Imperium.

Project Anvil, as it was called, gave the Mother of Invention a spark of sentience. The airship, now partially awakened, fled its masters and hid in the semi-autonomous Frontier lands. It was eventually found by a group of renegades including Elsanna Aerondell, who connected with the airship with her sorceress's powers.

The airship allowed itself to be used in a campaign to end Project Anvil and stop the Thaedrans from ending the Ground Rules. It was shot down by the Imperium in the effort, destroying the ship and ending the Mother of Invention's sentient life. Bigrig and Fergus were also lost in this crash.

Capabilities

The Mother of Invention was a one-of-a-kind blend of Arlanestran and Thaedran technology and magic.

The ship was made of enchanted steel and oak, with coppery-colored deck plates and armor, and a size rivaling a sea-bound brigantine. The enchantments allowed residuum to be pumped into the metal plates, providing an arcane shielding system. It had a combined clockwork-and-residuum engine, allowing it to escape antimagic field snares or lodestone lariats. A Thaedran ethereal rudder replaced the original helm system; the magic rudder made contact with the Border Ethereal, and allowed the ship to perform incredible aerial maneuvers.

Also installed by the Thaedran Project Anvil, a console on the main deck allowed an arcanist to interface with the Mother of Invention's mind. Touching a pair of contact points on the console and opening one's mind provided a link to the ship's systems and capabilities. The advantages of the arcane console were significant. They allowed a user access to several residuum-powered spells, including shield, scrying, blink, and thaumaturgy. Furthermore, the intended effect of giving the ship rudimentary intelligence was to be a "bridge" for an arcanist's mind, allowing the arcanist to feel and perceive as if the Mother of Invention was their own body.

An unintended side effect of the infusion of soul stones into the Mother of Invention was that the ship had something approaching free will. The intelligence of the ship could deny a person access to the arcane functions of the console, and even cause significant damage to an arcanist's mind if it found the user posed a danger to the ship.

The offensive capabilities of the Mother of Invention were significant. The Arlanestrans had installed arcane turrets on the ship, allowing it to fire magic missiles in nearly any direction. It was also equipped with four culverin-style cannons in its port and starboard gunwells, which could be loaded to fire incendiary shot, canister shot, or standard lead cannon shot. Furthermore, the Arlanestran clockwork console in the engineering deck provided an option for an engineer to overload the steam flow of the ship, allowing it to jettison vast amounts of chemical fumes and hot steam from the exhaust ports in the rear.