The Warbirds' Propulsion
by Bruce Heard The power that sustains warbirds in the air and allows them to move comes from Vanya's artifact. The artifact has two modes of operation, the Winds of War and the Holy Grasp.The Winds of War: allows up to 5,000 tons of material to be moved telekinetically. The person holding the artifact can directly apply this force to anything in sight. The Heldannic Knights found another use to the artifact's power. They found that part of its power could be summoned and controlled remotely through a consecrated chapel and altar. The power could then be summoned from any distance or plane to move the chapel itself (since it would be part of ship, the entire ship would be moved as well). Once the power is enacted, the ship's movement can be controlled through the helm which is linked to the altar. The helm is considered to be a sacred item. Sails are then used to augment speed, especially when a strong breeze or stronger winds are blowing.
The Holy Grasp: Part of the force lifting the warbird can be redirected from the ship's altar toward other smaller objects. The force being redirected is subtracted from the force lifting the warbird and requires a priest of Vanya standing by the helm. The priest needs to succeed a Wisdom Check with a penalties reflecting the weight of the object to be affected, as follows:
None for anything 100 pounds of less,
-1 up to 300 pounds
-2 up to 900 pounds
-3 up to a tons
-4 up to three tons
-5 up to nine tons, etc.
Furthermore, the Wisdom Check also suffers penalties for the distance at which the force is being redirected, as follows:
None for anything with 100 yards
-1 up to 300 yards
-2 up to 600 yards
-3 up to a mile
-4 up to three miles
-5 up to nine miles, etc.
Finally, each separate object requires its own Wisdom Check, plus another -1 penalty for each additional object. The Wisdom Check is required at least once. If it fails, the cleric must wait until the next day to try again. If successful, the cleric must make another ability check each time any one of the above conditions worsens. Control can otherwise last for a number of hours equal to the cleric's Constitution score minus 1d6 after which the cleric collapses. The cleric will need to rest for twice as long before being to pray and cast spells again.