Airships and delays.

I can't wait till MC makes an AC-130 and proceeds to blow up everyone's sky cruisers with his "Sky Fortress."

Jairo Enrique Quevedo

Sounds good. Hope you got some good news from the doctor.

MarakEvans

Glad to hear you are feeling better. Good luck figuring out what happened so you can try to avoid a recurrence.

Trevayne

Thanks for all your patience. Felt a bit better yesterday and pretty much back to normal today. To that end, the beta readers have it :D

Blue Fishcake

Ahhh where is my druggggggggssss

Spintool

Assuming you mean some kind of anti-aircraft gun, I am wondering about that too. I think creating something like a 4" naval gun or something like a German 88mm AA/AT gun from WW2, I think making a few of those would be easier than building a few squadrons of Corsair-type shards. They would need to be mounted on an airship, but they could probably triple the effective range against other airships.

Trevayne

You okay blue?

Vonbaron

So, Tuesday or Wednesday? Is your condition getting any better?

Conrad34xdsa

How is he making fuel and precission parts? Eyeball it? Disolve some led in crude oil?

Mega Art

I disagree. I do agree that there are no direct mentions of airships bombing things. That said, the point of having a military force like an airship, is not to fight other airships, it is to take your opponent's territory and keep them from doing it to you. Like the sea, nations and feudal powers don't live in the sky. They live on the ground and the purpose of military forces is to defend or threaten things on the ground. The military force of the settlement on the ground is not really relevant. It matters because that is where the population and just about everything worth taking is located. This is shown by this quote from chapter 26: "Oh, certainly, the high elves and dark elves of Lindholm might have prided themselves on maintaining the strictures of equality that defined the Old Empire – but with either Solite or Lunite airships hovering over their family castles, she couldn’t help but wonder if some might reconsider their stances on their fellow elves." I am pretty sure that reference to hovering over implies that said airships would be prepared to bomb those family castles. It is pretty clearly a threat and a threat without the means to back it up is not much of a threat. As for shards using bombs, yes, the incendiary and non-incendiary javelins are how shards attack other airships. I doubt they bother with shards attacking ground targets. Why would they when you have to take the javelin (bomb) out of the magazine, bring it to the shard, put it on the shard, and then have the shard fly it to the target? It is much simpler to just take the javelin out of the magazine, bring it to the bomb bay, and drop it.

Trevayne

What I am curious about is when is he going to invent the flack gun?

9 o’clock

The only bombing I recall being mentioned is the alchemical Ever-Burn being attached to the belly of shards and being used against airships. After all, there’s no point in bombing settlements when 95+% of a noble house’s martial power is in the air ship. And since getting your airship over another airship would seem too slow and clumsy to be feasible, I imagine bombing is a shard only function.

22junk

It depends on just how fast they intend to go. If they are trying for what we think of as jet speeds (over 500 mph), they should definitely be more aerodynamic. But if they depend on the aether gas for lift (IIRC the sky ships do, and it is the shards that use wings) and aren't trying for more than 100-150 mph, something like this could work. It sort of reminds me of a Short Sperrin, a post WW2 British bomber prototype. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short_Sperrin

Trevayne

The ship blocks a lot of the view beneath you. So the crows nest being raised gives you more visibility down the sides

SpecterJedi

The thing I am curious about is does it have a bomb bay? Presumably, it could attack ground targets by just standing off and shooting at them, but assuming it can fly high enough to be out of range of ground-based aethercannon, it could also use regular free-fall bombs. They are probably larger and do more damage than a solid shot from a ship-mounted aethercannon.

Trevayne

I think such a design might need to make more concessions to aerodynamics than this one does

Jacob

Pictured it with a more open deck

Groo

As far as his his innards are concerned, the shards have already hit.

mike wade

Lol!

The Fire Piper

Bluefish's bowels do not negotiate with terrorists.

Void Vagabond

help!! i am being held hostage and they are demanding a chapter!!! they are armed and dangeous!!

John

The targets are likely slightly above or below the wings/engines. I agree it probably can't fire a full broadside at the same target.

Trevayne

FWIW if you just cut lactose out that means it is likely you haven't done a full blown exclusion diet. Until you do that you won't truly know what you react to and do not. Dig into how to do this and run through a slow introduction of foods. Look up low-FODMAP diet exclusion protocols. It's a thing and it's changed the world for 3 people I know that have had to deal with this shit (lol.)

DMR1

Also,2 minutes left before it’s Monday

Conrad34xdsa

How did the props and wing not get in the way of the firing arc of the cannons?

Conrad34xdsa

A gun port might be difficult during a battle because the gun behind it is presumably manned by a gun crew. Any hatch a boarder can get to via a flight suit would work, but I think they want to arrive without being seen or engaged until they have their feet on the deck.

Trevayne

Would love to see William design one of these with jet engines instead of props. Even add some proper radar

SpecterJedi

HE DOESNT SPEAK FOR ALL OF US

notreal name

Have you had any tests run for UC or Chron's?

Arkyrion

From the upper deck, or through a gun port if they're particularly motivated

Arkyrion

So how would the marine knights board these?

O

Honestly so rude to keep such a nice piece of concept art to yourself! Get wel soon Blue!

Bas van Lissum

You're right after reading my comment again it sounds way worse than I intended. I apologize.

Isak Mark

Get well soon! Please don't push yourself. And thanks for sharing this cool concept art! You reckon any houses camo paint their ships? Like, dark on the top half, light blue / white on the bottom half

J Duo

I didn't know Blue's doctor followed him, that's pretty cool! Wait, you aren't? Then fuck off and stop being so judgmental you prick

J Duo

Not to frighten you, but colorectal cancer rates under 50 have been sharply rising in recent years and some specialists have actually recommended testing starting at 45, and some even earlier if there is family history and/or other irregularities like IBD. If nothing else but for your own peace of mind, it might be worth pushing your doc to get you checked out or get a second opinion if they're too dismissive of your concerns. https://www.yalemedicine.org/news/colorectal-cancer-in-young-people

J Duo

style

Bunten44

A good thing you can take from this is that you now have first-hand experience to write your characters' stomach issues in perfect detail.

Bunten44

Does anyone recall if we know the max altitude airships can achieve in this world? If they can reach the cloud layer I wonder if anybody has experimented with "stealth" airships that can pose as clouds by either generating their own cloud cover or drifting into an existing cloud without disturbing it. Such a craft would be limited to navigating the same way an air balloon does when in "stealth" mode but still potentially tactically useful. (I'm imagining the craft as having top and bottom periscopes for seeing outside the cloud bank camouflage)

Jacob

On the topic of the concept art, I'm struggling to understand the point of having a crow's nest when the ship could just fly that much higher instead.

Jacob

Feel better Blue!

Jacob

It is unbelievably ugly. I like it. The design seems pretty verosimilar for the kinda world you are crafting. Feels like a mix between an ironclad and some kinda fucked up biplane. Again, ugly af, but pretty cool. Get better soon, don't succumb to the weight of the porcelain throne.

kaine

eat more fermented food, sourkraut, kimchi, piccled anything and everything. should alleviate the gut troubles a little. "if digestion is a problem eat things easy to digest'

notreal name

It disgusted me. I craved the strength and certainty of steel...

Blue Fishcake

From the moment i understood the weakness of my flesh...

NeoJungleLover

Depends on the airship :D

Blue Fishcake

It sounds like you are doing everything you can, consulting with the doctors and doing your own research. Good luck and best wishes.

Trevayne

Interesting artwork, are the props pusher or puller? For that matter, we know most shard propellers are pusher. Do airships work like most shards?

Trevayne

does plain white rice help?

Morpheus

Exterminate the Bugs

MarakEvans

Hey I’m not trying to pry, but as a dude with IBS as well, hycoscamine, Imodium, heck even low doses of sertraline all help a lot. If your provider hasn’t started you on something, it might be worth trying somewhere else. At this point it’s becoming a legitimate problem for your job and being told to just watch what you eat is a bit ridiculous

GoshDarnYouPlucium

These types of bugs are some of the worst IMO. In my experience, the vomit ones at least have periods of relief after the vomit (unless it's food poisoning, but those don't last as long). Rest as much as you can, given the circumstances. we're not going anywhere.

Beep

Then lets hope that its just the ibs, as i assume that you do regular screenings for bowl cancer

Bunten44

Hope you get better soon! We have full faith that you'll keep plugging away.

Lei Fu

Been to the docs a lot over the past few years - I've always had a 'weak' gut, but since I hit my mid-twenties it's gotten a lot worse. Found nothing definitive. Just got the IBS label and told to try to keep track of what I eat that might be upsetting my stomach. Unfortunately, all I've managed to narrow it down to - assuming it even is IBS, a word that basically means 'we don't know' - is 'food'. Sorry if this sounds bitter, I'm just feeling shitty (heh) and want to whine. Since cutting lactose out of my diet a few weeks ago I've been feeling pretty good, so this recent setback seemingly coming out of nowhere is... frustrating. ...I'm also aware that my grandpa died of bowel cancer and that... niggles at the mind a bit given my own issues.

Blue Fishcake

Welp, I ain't getting to sleep. Yeah, I'd be skeptical too. Lords knows I've got similar lines from artists I've commissioned. Fortunately and unfortunately, in this case lying for sympathy would be rather pointless. If I needed to delay the chapter, I'd just say as much like I normally do. We're on Sunday release dates at the minute for that very reason. It's the norm and expected of me at this point. No, the sad reality is that I've got the intestinal fortitude of a fourteen year old Chihuahua and I'm typing this from my porcelain throne. I hate my body and it hates me. With that said, you've got no way of knowing that, so I'm hardly going to hold a bit of healthy skepticism against you.

Blue Fishcake

I hope that you get better

Ghost of action

Yes, take care of yourself and get better. Thanks for the art.

Trevayne

If you’re having trouble, I have a large supply of bodies available for rent at very reasonable prices

Larynx Punchworthy

Isak Mark

Something like the quicksink would change war massively. An explosion like that would likely destroy the core. Or fracture it into tiny, usable, shards.

Brett

I hope you get better this continuous sickness is giving me a horrible feeling that there might be a bigger problem like I don know mold or something

Bunten44

Get better dude. Intestinal bugs suck

Kuratenshi

Internet rule 1 for healthy web use irl comes first

Dominic MoonPace

Don't compromise your health for our sakes. I love your work, and it's worth waiting for. Thanks for the update, and I'll be excited to see the next chapter whether it comes out tomorrow or in a week! Rest easy!

Nicholas Roberts

So Aether keeps it in the air but can’t push it forward without propellers. So you can make a ship “dead in the water” by attacking the wings, but it can still shoot everything in its line of sight until the marines get in there and clear it out, which means anything without a wooden hull that can be smashed through is a bitch to fully deal with. https://youtu.be/RmfRi2Vl3JQ?si=VF0_3nMDUU99OTdN When William puts finally this in the field I think the queen will put Royal Shotgun Wedding back on the agenda. Also take care of yourself Blue. Concept art will carry us to next week if need be.

22junk

Get well soon! Dont rush through your health for a chapter! We can wait its ok!

Guille Hummel

New virus running around everywhere. Knocked just about everyone I know on their ass for a week. Don't feel bad, just focus on getting better. Stressing yourself out over deadlines doesn't help.

DMR1

Don't push yourself too hard man, well still be here even if it's late

Footbraclet

Take all the time you need. I'd rather have a happy author writing amazing chapters than a sleepy sick author writing still arguably amazing chapters

vetro 26

Ah, we've all had those times of minor sickness/injury, when you're just left waiting for your body to hurry up and sort itself out again. It's never fun, but intestinal problems sound particularly bad, you have my sympathies.

Baron Von Mott

Yes! All of the previous comments! And also, pulling for you to kick this vile affliction in the nuts!

Kaywye

It's not gonna sit right with us either if the wordsmith is compelled to keep working while sh***ing his guts out. Take the rest your body sorely needs.

Timo Geerties

Take care of yourself first please. We can wait on a chapter. Skip this week if it'll help. Love the art!

White Neko Knight

We're not that kind of fans, I hope, expecting you to kill yourself to satisfy the hogs. We'll be fine, just make sure you are.

Lawrence Christian

Take your time lad.

James Loch