Mounts and Vehicles

Crodlu
A crodlu is a large bipedal lizard mount, resembling a scaled ostrich. A crodlu is appropriate as a mount for a Medium humanoid creature. Crodlu are hard to control in battle, while war crodlu can be ridden into battle easily. Crodlu benefit from stabling, can wear barding, and require feed like normal mounts.

Erdland
These creatures are large, flightless birds used as mounts or to pull caravans. They weigh around 2 tons and can stand up to 15 feet tall. An erdland is appropriate as a mount for a Medium humanoid creature. Erdlands can be ridden into battle easily. Erdlands benefit from stabling, can wear barding, and require feed like normal mounts.

Erdlu
Erdlus are a smaller variety of erdland, mostly used as herd beasts. They stand 7 feet tall and weigh around 200 lbs. An erdlu is appropriate as a mount for a Medium humanoid creature. Erdlus are hard to control in battle. Erdlus benefit from stabling, can wear barding, and require feed like normal mounts.

Inix
The inix is a large, 16- foot long reptile commonly used for riding and as a beast of burden. An inix is appropriate as a mount for a Medium or Large humanoid creature. Inixes can be ridden into battle easily. Inixes benefit from stabling, can wear custom barding (specially constructed, adding an additional 50% to the price), and require feed like normal mounts.

Kank
A kank is a large, 8-foot long insect, commonly used as a personal mount. These insects cannot be used as food, for their meat smells atrocious, but they produce highly nutritious globules of honey. A kank is appropriate as a mount for a Medium humanoid creature. Kanks are hard to control in battle. Kanks benefit from stabling, cannot wear barding, and do not require feeding.

Mekillot
A mekillot is a huge, 6,000-lb. lizard, used for hauling large cargo or serving as transportation for troops. These beasts are hard to control in combat and usually require a psionic handler. Mekillots benefit from stabling, can wear barding, and require feed eight times more than a normal mount.

Chariot
A chariot is a two-wheeled vehicle used for transportation, racing, war and processions. Transport chariots are very small and simple, requiring only a single animal to draw it.

Howdah
A howdah is an enclosure mounted on a riding animal containing space for one or more persons. Howdahs can be fitted on inix or mekillots, and provide shade and cover from the elements. An inix howdah usually has room for only one person, though the war howdah, built much stronger, can hold four. A mekillot howdah can hold one or two persons, but a war howdah is much bigger, consisting of two levels and holding up to sixteen warriors.

Wagon
Wagons are an essential part of Athasian economy, as they facilitate the caravans that make life in the wastes possible. Open wagons are basic, open–topped wagons that can carry a certain amount of cargo. As Athasian wagons are built using little or no metal, there’s a limit to how much cargo they can carry. Open wagons generally require two beasts to draw them, but sometimes a single erdland will work.

Enclosed wagons are more commonly used to transport people or fragile cargo that would otherwise be damaged by exposure to the elements.

Armored wagons are primarily used by caravans traveling through areas plagued by dangerous monsters or raiders. It is an enclosed wagon with agafari wood used to strengthen the wagon throughout. There are also mount points for fixed crossbows on each side of that wagon that can swivel 180 degrees. Anyone using the crossbows or firing out of the rear of the wagon (when it is open) receives cover. Armored wagons require at least four smaller mounts to draw it, two inixes or one mekillot.

Argosy
This gigantic enclosed wagon is used both for war and for trade. Inside its enclosed walls, goods or troops can be carried protected from the elements and raiders. An argosy has six mounted crossbows on both side of its upper, open deck. The soldiers on the upper deck get improved cover against attackers on the ground. The interior space can be prepared to accommodate goods, military material, or passengers. A fully loaded argosy can be pulled overland at 2 miles an hour by a team of two mekillots.

Drik War Machine
A favorite of the Raamin and Urikite armies, these powerful beasts possess tremendous strength used by their handlers to plow through barricades, upturn slow-moving vehicules and send beasts such as mekillots flying, and haul fortifications on their backs. The following entry expands upon the drik entry found in Terrors of Athas. In that book is described the typical 16 HD drik of Gargantuan size; described below is the rarer 32 HD drik of Colossal size.

This forty-foot long, 8-foot high lizard has a great horned and ridged shell. Its limbs and head, scaled with dull violet hide, protrude from beneath the shell in a fashion similar to a tortoise, and enormous tusks jut from its slavering jaws. The creature’s small eyes are dead black and its talons are seemingly cut from jagged, stained ivory.

Roaming the northern Tablelands in herds, driks cannot reproduce in captivity and must be captured from the wild. As a drik grows to maturity it also secretes a shell, which siege engineers have learned to remold and fashion to form a well-defended platform ideal for waging siege warfare. As such immature driks have nearly exclusively been taken to become war machines, albeit a few mature specimens are still taken and used solely as living rams and to wade through enemy troops.

Now rarer than they were in ages past, drik numbers still provide enough replacements for those lost in battle.

Quick for their size and deadly to smaller creatures, driks must be captured by well equipped teams of reavers and psionic handlers. Brought back to a client village of either Raam or Urik, they are then trained for battle and outfitted into war machines (see Remolding and Outfitting below).

Strategies and Tactics
Most drik war machines deployed in the field are Gargantuan in size but a few, more terrible specimens attain Colossal size, dwarfing in size even the largest of undead war beetles. Their superior strength and reach, carrying capacity, and their ability to be equipped with siege engines gives these creatures an evident tactical advantage over their competition.

Well equipped driks are often deployed alone, able to take down numerically superior enemy forces through tremendous firepower, mobility, and an incredible ability to absorb damage. The Awesome Blow feat allows them to upturn slow-moving vehicles smaller than they are, or to send smaller creatures like inixes and mekillots flying. They are often equipped with fixed crossbows or splashbows, and most carry multiple siege engines such as ballistae and catapults, or even a giant ram to rival that of the mekillot ram. Driks equipped with the fortification improvement offer cover to troops on their back, and may thus be used to carry large numbers of troops they can disgorge once enemy lines have been crossed.

Driks are sometimes used to drag full-sized siege towers at exceptional speeds, or fortified wagons carrying extra troops.

Driks need a crew of two: a psionic handler and a commander. When available, and then only for the Urikite army, a high drik can fill both roles. The rest are soldiers stationned on the drik. The number of sieges engines a drik can carry depends on the creature’s size and the choice of engines. Space on a Gargantuan drik is 20 ft., and 30 ft. for a Colossal drik. Considering that a ballista takes up a 5 ft. space, a light catapult a 10 ft. space, a heavy catapult a 15 ft. space, and a mounted siege tower a 15 ft. space as well, DMs are free to configure their drik’s complement of siege engines as they like. Smaller fixed weapons, such as fixed crossbows or splashbows, do not take space.

Driks can carry as many creatures as are necessary to operate the siege engines installed on them, plus a number of additional soldiers: Gargantuan driks can carry 10 soldiers (those man the fortifications if the drik is equipped with that improvement), and Colossal driks 20 soldiers. A Gargantuan drik that is not carrying siege engines (a ramming prow does not count as one in this case) can instead carry 10 additional troops, and a Colossal drik 20 additional troops.

Warriors on a drik without the fortifications improvement receive soft cover (+4 bonus to Armor Class) but only against targets lower than they are. All creatures standing 5 or more feet behind the fortified walls of a drik with the fortifications improvement―such as siege engine crews, soldiers on the ground floor of a mounted siege tower, or troops waiting disembarkment―do not have line of effect with targets on the ground and effectively gain total cover against them.

Warriors attempting to fire ranged weapons while a drik is moving its speed do not suffer penalties for using ranged weapons, but still suffer a -4 penalty on their attack roll when the creature is taking a double move; the War Beast Fighting feat halves that penalty.

Remolding and Outfitting
The Handle Animal skill is normally used to train the likes of jhakars and sand howlers, but those that have mastered it can even train such beasts as the giant drik. All driks trained to become war machines are trained with the fighting purpose (see the Handle Animal skill).

While some driks can be encountered that are used solely as living rams and beasts of war, most are outfitted to also carry siege engines and fortifications on their backs. Only driks reared right from the egg, or immature specimens captured from the wild, can be used this way as only they have growing shells that can be remodeled.

Through the application of heat, usually in the form of torches, the shell can be flattened into a surface better suited to carry ballistae and catapults. During that time the animal is allowed to roam free accompanied by its handler, returning to a special pen every few days to get its growing shell further remolded and pruned.

The remolding process takes a year to bear fruit, the time it takes for an immature drik to reach maturity and fully secrete its shell (or two years if the drik is being reared from the egg), and requires skilled labor in the form of a crew with the Profession (siege engineer) skill.

Remolding the shell requires a DC 20 Craft (structure) check or a DC 25 Heal check. A character with the Profession (siege enigneer) skill can improve upon the basic design of the drik as a siege weapon by adding artificial structures to its back. Each improvement has a cost in Cp, weight, and is applicable only once.


 * Lookout Tower: This 20 ft. tall, one-man tower is supported by a korinth rib bone and takes up a 5 ft. space, providing soft cover to a creature stationned at its top. Up to two such manned towers can be carried on a drik, one at either end of the beast, each providing a +2 circumstance bonus to the drik commander’s Spot checks. Cost: 300 Cp; Weight: 500 lb.
 * Mounted Siege Tower: You build in a half-sized siege tower in the middle of the drik’s back, with each level fitted with arrow slits. This tower is secured to the shell and takes up a space 15 feet across, and contains a crew of 10. Cost: 1,000 Cp; Weight: 8,000 lb.
 * Ramming Prow: You melt a great ram―either an agafari trunk or korinth bone tipped with a massive stone head―into the resin of the drik’s back, projecting it forward and above the beast’s head. The damage dealt is per 10 feet of speed the drik currently possesses if it rams another object. Rams for Gargantuan driks deal 3d6 damage, those for Colossal driks deal 5d6 damage. Driks equipped with this improvement do not have enough room to carry catapults. Cost: 3,000 Cp (Gargantuan), 5,000 Cp (Colossal); Weight: 2,000 lb (Gargantuan), 4,000 lb (Colossal).
 * Resin Fortifications: Through the application of wooden strictures and frames to guide the formation of the shell, you grow a natural crenelated shell wall along the rim of the drik’s back, granting improved cover (+6 bonus to Armor Class, +4 bonus on Reflex saves, +10 bonus on Hide checks, and improved evasion) to any Medium or smaller creature standing behind. Catapult operators on driks equipped with this improvement lose line of sight with their target. Cost: 300 Cp (Gargantuan), 500 Cp (Colossal); Weight: 0 lb.
 * Swivelling Platform: This low, circular platform is mounted on wooden wheels turning into a groove. A ballista mounted on it can now fire in any direction, and a catapult gains a 180-degree range of motion, but using such a platform doubles the crew required to operate the siege engine. Cost: 500 Cp; Weight: 1,000 lb.
 * Wooden Fortifications: You add crenelated walls of thick wood and mekillot ribs along the rim of the drik’s back, granting improved cover (+6 bonus to Armor Class, +4 bonus on Reflex saves, +10 bonus on Hide checks, and improved evasion) to any Medium or smaller creature standing behind. Catapult operators on driks equipped with this improvement lose line of sight with their target. Cost: 500 Cp (Gargantuan), 1,000 Cp (Colossal); Weight: 1,000 lb (Gargantuan), 2,000 lb (Colossal).

Mekillot Ram
This innovative war wagon is built around a mekillot, shielding the creature from missile and other attacks. The result is a slow-moving fortress with the power to ram most gates down, or to burst open another vehicle.

The wagon usually does not cross the wastes towards its target in one piece, instead its dissassembled components are towed by the mekillot and then assembled around the animal for the final assault.

A mekillot ram can accommodate a single light catapult and two ballistas on its open upper deck. The soldiers on the walkway around the sides and rear of the middle deck have cover from attackers on the ground, while those on the upper deck get improved cover.

The mekillot inside has total cover behind 2 inches of wood (HP 20, hardness 5). A fully loaded ram can be pulled overland at 2 miles an hour by the mekillot inside.

Sail Cart
A sail cart is a wind-propelled vehicle common in the Bandit States. The vehicle is called a wind wagon in the Great Ivory Triangle where dwarven pilots use a similar vehicle to cross the salt flats.

It consists of a low, triangular frame made of bones, often the hollow bones of giant birds, or light wood, covered with leather or hide spread tauntly across it. The tri-wheeled cart, one wheel in front and one to each side at the rear, is propelled with the help of a single mast and sail, which can be as high as 15 feet. The pilot controls the cart with steering bar and guide ropes connected to the sail boom.

A passenger can, if he is light enough, take seat in the cargo space, but is considered fatigued after one hour of travel due to the cramped positions.

When used in the Barrier Wastes region, on roads, or across salt flats, the sail cart pilot needs only make a DC 10 Driving check; driving a cart in any other region or terrain entails a DC 30 Driving check be made by the driver.

Undead War Beetle
For King’s Ages sorcerer-kings have used animated giant beetles to wage war against one another, especially in areas so parched that mekillots, driks, and other mighty war beasts would die of exposition. The following two entries update and expand the undead war beetle entry found in Terrors of the Dead Lands.

A typical rezhatta war beetle is 20 ft. long by 15 wide, is 20 ft. tall and weighs around 8 tons, while a typical watroach war beetle is heavier and built in height, 20 ft. by 20 ft. on the sides and 30 ft. tall, weighting around 12 tons.

Any number of weapon’s ports can be found all around these creatures, allowing between one and two warriors of Medium size per port to fire ranged weapons behind cover. Sometimes heavy weapons such as fixed bows are permanently afixed to these locations, but are usually found on the upper deck. It is from that last area that the animator controls the beetle and receives order from the troops’ commander, who can survey the field of battle.

Tight passages permeate the rezhatta war beetle’s interior, connecting the weapons’ ports to a central agafari and bone spiral staircase leading to the upper deck. Troops enter and exit the beetle though ropes and ladder ropes secured to the weapons’ ports and upper deck. In a watroach war beetle, these passages are a lot wider, allowing extra troops to be carried along, and can enter the battlefield by exiting the beetle through several reinforced trapdoors underneath the carapace.

Strategies and Tactics
Undead beetles are tremendous assets to the armies of the sorcerer-kings: A mobile weapon’s platform capable of carrying several soldiers protected from attacks, able to ram fortifications, and trample enemy formations or make them scatter from fear. As undead beings they do not require supplies and thus can be used to cross desolate expanses, attacking enemy locations from directions otherwise innaccessible to living mounts or war beasts.

Undead war beetles are rarely deployed alone, usually accompanied by one or more additional beetles. They are often equiped with fixed crossbows or splashbows, raining down alchemist’s fire on the enemy.

Both types of undead beetles need a crew of two: an animator and a commander. The rest are soldiers stationned on or inside the beetle. The rezhatta war beetle can carry up to 18 soldiers (9 soldiers in the weapons’ ports and 9 soldiers on the upper deck), and the watroach war beetle up to 27 soldiers (7 soldiers in the weapons’ ports, 5 soldiers on the upper deck, and 15 soldiers inside).

The warriors inside the weapons’ ports gain improved cover (+6 bonus to Armor Class, +4 bonus on Reflex saves, +10 bonus on Hide checks, and improved evasion), while warriors on the upper deck receive soft cover (+4 bonus to Armor Class) but only against targets lower than they are. Warriors attempting to fire ranged weapons while a beetle is moving its speed do not suffer penalties for using ranged weapons, but still suffer a -4 penalty on their attack roll when the creature is taking a double move; the War Beast Fighting feat halves that penalty.

Coupled with the large number of hit points such a creatures has, plus it’s ability to regain lost hit points through spells such as enervation and inflict light wounds, it is not unusual for it to be used to break a battle line.

Skilled siege engineers can modify these creatures before they are animated, turning the rezhatta beetle into an engine of war able to devastate enemy troops just by wading into them, and taking advantage of the watroach’s otherwise discarded drones.

Animation
The animate dead spell normally only creates zombies, skeletons, or bugdead. It can also create undead war beetles, albeit the process is a lenghtlier and costlier one.

The undead war beetle must be assembled just like a vehicule from the pieces of a whole watroach or rezhatta beetle that has not yet decayed significantly. The creation process is a costly one, requiring skilled labor and special alchemical substances and bindings: rezhatta war beetles cost 7,500 Cp, while watroach war beetles cost 6,000 Cp; in addition to this is the price of the spell components necessary for the animate dead spell. The creation process requires the carapace to be pried off and the internal organs discarded, and the carapace reformed to make space for an upper deck and individual weapon's ports all around the body. The creation process takes 10 days and requires skilled labor in the form of a crew with the Profession (siege engineer) skill; once ready, the beetle is animated by a templar or necromancer sponsored by a sorcerer-monarch.

Reforming the carapace requires a DC 20 Craft (chitinworking) check or a DC 25 Heal check.

A skilled craftsman can improve upon the basic design of the beetle depending on his mastery of the Knowledge (warcraft) skill. Each improvement has a Knowledge (warcraft) DC and a cost in Cp, and is applicable only once.


 * Reinforced Carapace: You add mekillot ribs and agafari plating underneath the carapace. The watroach war beetle gains damage reduction 3/bludgeoning. DC: 15 ; Cost: 500 Cp; watroach war beetle only.
 * Improved Gait: You skillfully redistribute the weight of the hollowed-out beetle on its load-bearing points, taking advantage of it’s long legs. The rezhatta war beetle gains a 10-foot increase to its base land speed. DC: 20 ; Cost: 750 Cp; rezhatta war beetle only.
 * Slivered Carapace: You work small chitin, obsidian, or silex shards into the carapace. Any creature attempting to climb up or down the sides of an undead war beetle suffers 1d6 points of slashing damage every round. This damage can be negated with adequate padding in conjunction with the use of a rope or ladder rope secured to one of the weapon’s ports or the upper deck. DC: 15 ; Cost: 250 Cp.
 * Spiked Legs: You add chitinous spikes around the legs of a rezhatta beetle, granting the following attack option.
 * Impaling (Ex): Whenever the rezhatta war beetle makes a trample attack it deals bludgeoning and piercing damage and runs the chance of impaling targets. Opponents at least one size category smaller than the rezhatta war beetle that fail their Reflex save against the trample attack must succeed at a second save (same DC) or become impaled on the leg spikes. An impaled creature takes 1d12 points of damage and is considered pinned. Each round, the creature takes another 1d12 points of damage as the movement of the rezhatta war beetle causes additional pain to the impaled creature. (Large or larger creatures take the intital damage but do not stay impaled on subsequent rounds.) The impaled creature cannot break free unless it makes a DC 28 Strength check. Success indicates the creature is free of the spikes but takes an additional 1d12 points of damage in the process. Failure means the creature takes 1d12 points of damage and remains pinned in place. An ally can try to free an impaled creature with a DC 20 Strength check. A rezhatta war beetle’s leg spikes can hold up to 12 Medium, 48 Small, or 192 Tiny creatures. DC: 20 ; Cost: 300 Cp; rezhatta war beetle only.


 * Hive Chamber: You preserve and animate the otherwise discarded hive chamber at the center of the watroach war beetle. This improvement prevents the beetle from being fitted with large inner passageways able to store extra troops―limiting the number of soldiers the beetle can carry to those in the weapon’s ports and on the upper deck, instead making room for the hive chamber containing the beetle’s drones, granting the beetle the following attack option. (Should the drone swarm this attack option unleashes be damaged so much that it disperses, a replacement can be obtained at the cost of 500 Cp from the corpse of a watroach war beetle that has not yet decayed significantly, and then transfered into the animated hive chamber, after which time the drones will animate into a new drone swarm. The HD of the drone swarm do not count against the animator’s limit of undead controlled and he does not need to pay the material components for their animation.)
 * Drone Swarm (Ex) As a full-round action, the watroach war beetle can release an undead drone swarm from its hive chamber. The drone swarm can act immediately. Until it’s next action, the watroach war beetle takes a -5 penalty to its Armor Class. The watroach war beetle is immune to its drone swarm’s distraction and swarm attacks. A watroach war beetle can call its drone swarm back as a free action, but it is a full-round action for the watroach war beetle to accept them back into its hive chamber, during which time the watroach war beetle takes a -5 penalty to Armor Class. Releasing or accepting its drone swarm provokes attacks of opportunity. A watroach war beetle can keep only one drone swarm into it’s hive chamber.  DC: 25 ; Cost: 1,000 Cp; watroach war beetle only.

Heavy War Chariot
This four-wheeled chariot is made of stiffened leather stretched over a frame of wooden beams, the wooden spokes of the wheels protected by a leather overlay. The frame, which is protected in the front by reinforcing bone or chitin plates, support a large chitin roof above the chariot.

Used as harassment and elite shock elements for the sorcerer-kings’ armies, heavy war chariots are often used against massed infantry formation.

The crew gains cover behind 1 inch of bone (HP 10, hardness 6). They are also considered on higher ground for the purpose of making melee attacks against targets on the ground.

A team of four crodlu, harnessed in two pairs, can pull the chariot at a speed of 50 feet.

Light War Chariot
A single concave piece of stiffened leather or chitin forms the body of this chariot. The two spoked wheels are covered with sheaths of leather. The chariot is open at the rear and is reinforced at the sides and front by pieces of bones and chitin plates to a height of 3 or 4 feet. Spikes are also fixed to the sides in an attempt to stop elven or thri-kreen skirmishers who have been known to board moving chariots.

Light war chariots are used mostly as reconnaissance, skirmish, and pursuit vehicles when speed and maneuverability is a distinct advantage against enemy troops. The crew gains soft cover behind 1 inch of leather (HP 5, hardness 2). They are also considered on higher ground for the purpose of making melee attacks against targets on the ground.

Two crodlu, harnessed abreast to a long, tapered pole, can pull the chariot at a speed of 50 feet.

Silt Skimmer
The silt skimmer described here is a typical trading vessel using conventional (non-psionic) motive power. It has a single mast with a triangular sail. It possesses four massive wheels, each one wide at its center but tapering to a fine point along the edge. The skimmer has wheels 30 feet in diameter that thread on the Sea of Silt’s seabed, slicing through the silt. The skimmer can cross silt depth up to half its wheel’s diameter.

A conventional skimmer crew includes the captain and the people working the riggings and keeping lookout. Such ship don’t usually have space allowed for passengers, but accommodation can be made for passengers to take over ordinary cargo space.

People within the bridge are not affected by the Gray Death condition that can prevail outside on the deck.

Silt Skiff
Silt skiff is the term used to describe a psionically-powered siltworthy ship used for coast hugging and as a means of revenue for sailors living in cities and villages near silt, such as Balic and Ledopolus. The skiff statistics given here are for such a typical vessel.

It has a hull similar in shape to a conventional silt skimmer’s, including mast and square sail, but it possesses no wheels. Its keel is flat-bottomed so the ship can rest level on the coast or while docked when not lifted by its shipfloater. In its center is installed a psionically powered piece of obsidian, the obsidian engine, which is used to lift the skiff to the surface of the silt, so that it can be moved by use of the wind or by using poles against the siltbed to push the vehicle forward. A skiff can be used to cross any depth of silt.

Its crew is composed of a captain, a shipfloater and one or two apprentices, the rest crewing the riggings or manning the poles when no wind blows. Such ships do not usually have space allowed for passengers, but accommodation can be made for passengers to take over ordinary cargo space.

Silt Schooner, Trade
Silt schooner is the term used to describe a psionically-powered siltworthy ship used for trade, plying the sea between siltside cities and villages. The schooner statistics given here are for a typical trade vessel.

It has a hull similar in shape to a conventional silt skimmer’s, including two masts and square sails, but it possesses no wheels. Its keel is flat-bottomed so the ship can rest level on the coast or while docked when not lifted by its shipfloater. In its center is installed a psionically powered piece of obsidian, the obsidian engine, which is used to lift the schooner to the surface of the silt so that it can be moved by wind or through poles set against the siltbed to push the vehicle forward. A schooner can be used to cross any depth of silt.

Its crew is composed of a captain and his officers, a shipfloater one or two apprentices, the rest being sailors who double as polers when the wind is dead. Such ships don’t usually have space allowed for passengers, but accommodation can be made for passengers to take over ordinary cargo space.

Rarely, a trade schooner can be fitted with a single light catapult or ballista instead of a corresponding amount of cargo space.

People within the bridge are not affected by the Gray Death condition that can prevail outside on the deck.

Silt Schooner, War
Silt schooner is the term used to describe a psionically-powered silt skimmer. The schooner statistics given here are for a typical war vessel. Bigger vessels, such as those used as flagships for cities renowed for their fleet, like Balic and Eldaarich, exist.

It has a hull similar in shape to a conventional silt skimmer’s, including three masts and square sails, but it possesses no wheels. Its keel is flat-bottomed so the ship can rest level on the coast or while docked when not lifted by its shipfloater. In its center is installed a psionically powered piece of obsidian, the obsidian engine, which is used to lift the schooner to the surface of the silt so that it can be moved by wind or through poles set against the siltbed to push the vehicule forward. A war schooner can be used to cross any depth of silt.

Its crew is composed of a captain and his officers, a shipfloater and one or two apprentices, the rest being sailors who double as polers when the wind is dead, and the catapult slave crews. A war schooner can be fitted with three heavy catapults or six light catapults or ballistas instead of a corresponding amount of cargo space. Most of a war schooner’s cargo space is often converted into passenger space for soldiers.

People within the bridge are not affected by the Gray Death condition that can prevail outside on the deck.

Cliff Glider
This glider is constructed from the hollowed-out carcass of one of the great flying lizard beasts that soars from the Ringing Mountains high above the surrounding wasted lands. Since many different flying creatures’ bodies can be used for glider’s construction, their appearance vary wildly. However, the things they all have in common are a gutted rib cage where the pilot takes place; stiffened and consolidated wing flaps; and levers mounted unto the wings as to permit a semblance of control during flight.

Each cliff glider is built for a specific pilot; any other pilot using the glider has a –4 penalty to his Profession (pilot) checks. Unlike most flying vehicles, a cliff glider cannot ascend under its own power. Cliff-gliders rely on either high launch points or thermal updrafts to gain altitude (at the DM’s discretion).

A cliff glider’s pilot gains soft cover behind 1 inch of bone (HP 10, hardness 6).