Neo Dulcimer



Ship name - Airship Neo Dulcimer

Officially formed - 7th Age, Year 1815

Affiliation – S.C.A.R.S.

Vessel classification – Rogue (Order)

Vessel type – Airship (Haunted)

World of origin – Avion

Current Crew

 * Dulcimer_Flag_by_nghtmre01.jpgin Lazuli Delacru
 * First Officer Dr. Thaddeus Vale
 * Chief Engineer Audra Lillenthal
 * Assassin Luthiem Hargreaves
 * Master of Arms Johnny No
 * Head Benefactor Nathaniel J. Reardon
 * Ship Cook Geoffrey Hearse

Backstory
Delacru procured a marvel of a ship through unconventional means. Siding heavily with the Resistance who favored him and his efforts greatly, he "acquired" and became Captain of the Isis- a massive airship that had just been given the green light for field testing. The ship's intended owners were livid, perhaps the most amongst them was the newly ranked Grand Air Marshall Faust. It was supposed to be his crowning gift to accompany the rank. An airship unlike any ever seen or constructed before, and now it was in the more than capable hands of their enemy, captained by a deserter. They wanted their ship, even more so they wanted Delacru and worst of all Vale, who was now his first officer. Faust laid command to the construction of a ship eater; if he couldn't have his ship, no one could.

Enter the Mad Dulcimer. A monstrosity constructed primarily by alchemy, designed to tear ships from the sky. A steam golem alchemically programmed to target one specific thing: Vale. The land kraken was unleashed, its twisted design crawling, lumbering rabidly across the landscapes and bodies of water zeroing in on Thaddeus' exact location. It greeted the Isis with its long metal tendrils, tearing it apart piece by piece from the stern forward. The crew couldn't even hinder its advancement as it snaked its mechanical tentacles through the hallways and rooms, utilizing magnetic fields to pull the walls ceilings and floors from their place and reversing the field to rip its own path to the command deck of the ship where Vale was. Lazuli refused to allow the Order to obtain their key, nor would he lose his friend.

They escaped the failing ship on one of the small cargo boats, but it wasn't over. Immediately the Mad Dulcimer disregarded what was now only half of the Isis, it's remains crashing to the earth as the ship eater turned its attention to the escaping cargo ship. It covered land faster than they could fly but Lazuli found what he hoped would be a weakness. Though it didn't have the advantage of speed in distance covered, the vessel was small enough to beat the kraken with it's maneuverability. Weaving their way to the source of the tendrils, they found an opening in the Dulcimer's hull and took it. The ship crashed through the inner mechanical workings of the kraken and came to a halt. Colossal machinery churned and amidst it all was the unmistakable core of the beast, the heart of the Dulcimer. The two climbed and dodged as the rampant golem began tearing into itself to get at them. Nearly too late, they reached the heart as one self terminating swoop of one of the tendrils ripped into it. Churning and groaning, they held on as it collapsed to the ground, a monstrosity falling to it's end.

It was an instant ship graveyard, strewn with ruins from the dismantled beast and the fallen war ship. Within the wreckage they happened upon the most unlikely of finds. Attica Valora, an alchemist who was purged from the Order by charge of assisting the Resistance. She was sentenced to death, chained to the front of the beast either to starve to death or be crushed in the onslaught the Mad Dulcimer was designed to wreak. She was barely alive, but she would live. Lazuli and Thaddeus took her and nursed her back to health with the added promise that she had a means of resurrecting the fallen Isis. It would be her revenge and their gain. Through utilization of a philosopher's stone to alchemically bind the remains of the Mad Dulcimer and the Isis together, a new ship was born. The dark tormented souls that made up the heart of the Dulcimer were once more contained in the reconstructed core, and much to Lazuli and Thad's surprise, the spirits of the crewmen from the former Isis returned to their posts to commence duty. The ghost ship was christened: Neo Dulcimer.

Specifications
Powered by a unique Annsweiler Unit, it is very capable of much higher altitude ascension than most any other vessel in the sky. It does lack the speed of lighter ships but its maneuverability excels in place of this. The ship presents no intention on running from a situation over fighting unless odds are of course not in favor which is nigh unheard of. Its array of firepower is its crest, the forward mounted "Nihilanth", is its crown.

Weapons

 * Forward Mounted Nihilanth (The Red Carpet)
 * Port/Starboard Sub Cannons
 * Undermount Orbital Rail Turrets
 * Witching Hour

Mechanics

 * Annsweiler Unit
 * Aether Reserves
 * Jump Tethering Capable
 * Internal Water Cell
 * Heart of the Dulcimer

Armor

 * Aft/Forward Dulcimer Remains
 * Witching Hour

Attributes
Given the haunted nature of this ship, it has distinct qualities that are not for the faint of heart. Whilst it is in fact haunted by the souls of the Mad Dulcimer and the former crew of the Isis, it is not governed by them. Their strengths and awareness wither the further away the Witching hour becomes. It can be viewed much like a gradient:
 * Midday- The furthest from the Witching Hour. The spirits are practically nonexistant.
 * Morning/Afternoon- The spirits exist but are merely sounds, or that which you "thought you saw"
 * Dawn/Night- Spirits of the Isis perform tasks as they would when they still had life. They still remain residual hauntings.
 * Midnight- The Witching Hour. The spirits of the Mad Dulcimer are free. The spirits of both the Dulcimer and Isis are fully aware and entirely capable of physical manipulation. This is a dangerous time for those still among the living to be aboard the ship.

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© Airship Isabella 2012