Airships are driven by Aetherstones — stones that, as the old saying goes, “remind the sky of what it was before the Unmaking,” and so lift themselves into it. The larger the ship, the more stones she needs, and the greater her cargo can be.
Ships are Aetheria’s primary mode of transport. Road and horse travel exists on the largest isles, but all inter-island trade travels by sky. The world is maritime in shape and habit — only the sea is the sky.
Technology Level
Late medieval to early renaissance, braided with magic-technology. Black powder exists but is rare, and almost entirely a dwarven monopoly. Firearms are uncommon and small-bore. Printing presses are in use. Literacy is a middle-class privilege.
Craftsmen, shipwrights, and arcanists each carry some part of the knowledge required to keep the sky-fleets flying. No single guild controls it all, and this is — by most accounts — the reason civilisation has held together.
Aetherstones in Daily Life
Smaller aetherstone shards appear in lanterns, heating plates, and navigation tools. A good stone is a prized inheritance. A cracked stone is an omen. A truly large stone, fit for a ship, is a fortune.