A few words about the dwarven Fetzgrim engine. I posted a note in the Calidar chat group on Facebook on this matter. I’m picking up here where I left off there.
Those of you with CAL1 In Stranger Skies might remember this (see page 122). The Fetzgrim engine involves spinning cylinders filled with force stones that exert telekinetic fields, which provide dwarven ships with thrust. The faster they spin, the more thrust. Steam engines mechanically rotate the cylinders. The devil is in the details, though. How does this actually work?
I updated the diagram showing the power plants' positions in the Iron Queen’s engine room. There are eight spinning cylinders—four on the port side and the others starboard. Likewise, of these eight, four lie forward of the engine room and the others aft. Cylinders are grouped in pairs, one spinning horizontally, and the other vertically.
Each cylinder is fitted with a parallel copper rod. It can be rotated alongside the cylinder to control its telekinetic field’s direction. So, if the rod lies forward of a horizontal cylinder, the exerted force will be forward of the engine room. A rod positioned above or under its (horizontal) cylinder controls vertical movement. A rod on the right or left of its (vertical) cylinder vectors thrust portside or starboard. All horizontal and vertical cylinders in the diagram are shown in the forward thrust position.
Combinations between port and starboard powerplants or forward and aft powerplants control pitch, roll, and yaw. For example, if the forward cylinders pull to port and the aft thrust pushes starboard, the ship rotates counter-clockwise. If the portside cylinders thrust upward and the starboard ones thrust downward, the ship rolls clockwise, etc. All these maneuvers can be combined with forward motion.
The force the cylinders generate affects nearby deck surfaces made of an Araldium alloy, as indicated by the green-shaded spaces on the diagram. These deck plates are solidly affixed to the ship’s structure. Araldium is a quasi-magical metal from Kragdûr, the dwarves’ ancestral moon (somewhat like Adamantite or Mithril in other worlds). The cylinders’ forces are akin to magnetic fields, except that they only affect nearby deck plates. Fortunately, the engines aren’t affected by the forces at work other than the cylinders’ mass, only the deck plates, since the torque and proportional loads required to move the entire ship would overwhelm or wear out the powerplants.
The ship’s bridge communicates commands verbally via voice pipes and with a mechanical device called an engine order throttle. This device controls engine speed: all stop and ahead (or reverse) full, half, quarter, or dead slow). The engine room officer then manipulates levers and cranks controlling the cylinders’ copper rods to execute orders from the bridge. Meanwhile, the remainder of the engine room crew stokes the two furnaces with dwarven kragnul or releases steam pressure to obtain the correct amount of thrust. Kragnul is a type of coal from Kragdûr that burns very hot and for a long time, thus reducing fuel stores. Exhausts include a system of flaps to expel fumes and steam into the space void outside the ship.
The full resolution image is posted in the Facebook chat group. Hope this helps.
From Facebook: By the way, I have a side project aimed at redrafting the Iron Maiden (the dwarven ironclad from CAL1), eventually. This will be upgraded and renamed the Iron Queen. The ship's larger and drafted at 300 dpi, 1" per square (1 sq. = 5ft). Two poster-sized files (digital only) may be needed to include all the decks and needed views. It's going to be a while before I can finish that one.
At least I got the powerplants done.
(...which prompted this article).
