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Description
Forty one years ago a young daughter of a minor merchant house named Dalzanis ti'Volnan joined the crew of one of Valnothron's Ships of the Line. Naval service offered considerable room for advancement, wealth and. Unfortunately said prospects also went hand in hand with a high probability of a watery grave as said room was cleared out by the frequent attempts by the High Elves to sever the link between the Drow Homelands and their Colonies across the sea. Even so, she managed to survive, impress her superiors and rose up through the ranks, got a commission and eventually command, starting with a brig and then a sloop which had the distinction of launching a successful raid on an Infrastructural town and sinking a Shchuka boat. That last deed was enough to give her command of Raeltis (Bodkin), the first non Infrastructural ironclad warship.

The Raeltis was about the size of a sloop, lacked the typical adornments that a Drow ship had due to the rushed nature of her construction and had a a hull covered with 4 inches of wrought iron plating. When under sail she was slow and ungainly even with wind mages doing their best, this was made up for by the best steam engine that house Valcas' shipyards could build. She was launched two months ago and had a month of sea trials before being officially put into service. They had gone smoothly enough, even if she had her own quirks like the constant rumble of the engine, the smoke which could blow in your face if you were not cautious, the addition of "engineers" to her crew manifest and a so forth. Never the less Raelthis' real test was to be a trial by fire in the Assault on Daagsgrad.

As she set out for Hansoliath, she heard that the keel of a second ship of her class had been laid down and more like her would be built shortly. Everything was functioning well enough and the weather was decent. Even so the crew had been a bit anxious, which was only understandable given what they were going up against. Even so a few rumors had been circulating among the crew about how what they had heard. Most of the crew was decent enough at their job, but most of the Drow crew had been in the navy for less than ten years and all of them were from minor houses, despite the prestige that normally attached itself to the creation of a revolutionary new ship like this one. There was some talk about the old warrior houses disliking change on general principles, a squeamishness around loud messy machines and uncertainty about the new design but what Dalzanis and her crew came to agree upon was that a suspicion that they were to be thrown through the worst of enemy fire. This was confirmed by the orders that she was given.

Even so, she had her duty to do. The small defending fleet had moved to try to break through the blockade and had been joined. At first she opened fire. She had thirteen 10-Vaul rifled cannons for her broadsides and chase armament, a pair of experimental breechloaders and forward four 20-Vaul heavy guns, all of which were the newest rifled guns and moreover she had a number of steel tipped shells. Even so, this bombardment had little effect. After a few salvos a signal flare was launched and she and thirty four other ships (including the other seven steam engine equipped warships) made their move and converged on the Infrastructural line at full speed. She had the entire Drow crew contribute energy to put a strength buff on the hull earlier that morning just to be on the safe side for this maneuver. As expected, she began to attract fire and within a minute of the advance beginning a shell impacted against the Raelthis. There the thud of it's explosion, a shock that rang through the ship, a flash of light (with a slight green tint) and a puff of smoke, but still the armor held with only a slight dent. The next hit fell a few seconds latter, but only succeeded in making another dent. Other ships were not so lucky, erupting into showers of splinters and. The same went for subsequent impacts, even though one of the sails was blown apart and one of the anchors blown off it's chain. In response the Raethis returned fire with her heavy forward guns. The Captain grinned as she noticed that they making more of an impact as distance was closed, making bigger dents and once they got within two thirds of a mile, getting through. But regardless of that the main aim of the Raeltis's advance was to replicate her namesake as she slammed into an Infrastructural Ironclad, her six yard long runic prow cutting through it's hull, steam pipes and into it's boiler with minimal resistance. After that she pushed the steal box backwards while the captain order that the engines be reversed and she began to withdraw. The hulk took on water and capsized

Dalzanis savored this moment. Her ship had managed to withstand Infrastructural cannonfire and sink one of their 'invincible' warships. An achievement that her family would boast about for centuries to come and would earn her prestige and power. Moreover she thought about the real enemy, the despised High Elves. She imagined squadrons of these craft breaking apart those graceful warships of theirs. Then one of her ensigns came up from below deck carrying the link stone in a carrying frame.

"Captain, the Admiral wants to speak with you!"

She turned to face the small translucent image of Admiral ti Zaelros and bowed. "My lord!"

"Captain, an Infrastructural fleet has come from the South, withdraw immediacy!"

"But Admiral, we've just sunk one of their ironclads!"

"I saw that but they're seventeen more of them which have just arrived firing on our fleet as we speak. You have your orders!"

"Yes my lord." She said sighing slightly. The image faded. "Helm, bring us about full speed! Our main force is under fire!" Ahead she saw numerous plumes of smoke and explosions as ships were blown apart as well as mana flares and flags signalling a retreat to the remains of the sally, some of which being limited to tacking natural winds as their weather mages were exhausted.

Previous-Infrastructure: Part Two Hundred and Eleven
Next-Infrastructure: Part Two Hundred and Twelve

Description
Forty one years ago a young daughter of a minor merchant house named Dalzanis ti'Volnan joined the crew of one of Valnothron's Ships of the Line. Naval service offered considerable room for advancement, wealth and. Unfortunately said prospects also went hand in hand with a high probability of a watery grave as said room was cleared out by the frequent attempts by the High Elves to sever the link between the Drow Homelands and their Colonies across the sea. Even so, she managed to survive, impress her superiors and rose up through the ranks, got a commission and eventually command, starting with a brig and then a sloop which had the distinction of launching a successful raid on an Infrastructural town and sinking a Shchuka boat. That last deed was enough to give her command of Raeltis (Bodkin), the first non Infrastructural ironclad warship.

The Raeltis was about the size of a sloop, lacked the typical adornments that a Drow ship had due to the rushed nature of her construction and had a a hull covered with 4 inches of wrought iron plating. When under sail she was slow and ungainly even with wind mages doing their best, this was made up for by the best steam engine that house Valcas' shipyards could build. She was launched two months ago and had a month of sea trials before being officially put into service. They had gone smoothly enough, even if she had her own quirks like the constant rumble of the engine, the smoke which could blow in your face if you were not cautious, the addition of "engineers" to her crew manifest and a so forth. Never the less Raelthis' real test was to be a trial by fire in the Assault on Daagsgrad.

As she set out for Hansoliath, she heard that the keel of a second ship of her class had been laid down and more like her would be built shortly. Everything was functioning well enough and the weather was decent. Even so the crew had been a bit anxious, which was only understandable given what they were going up against. Even so a few rumors had been circulating among the crew about how what they had heard. Most of the crew was decent enough at their job, but most of the Drow crew had been in the navy for less than ten years and all of them were from minor houses, despite the prestige that normally attached itself to the creation of a revolutionary new ship like this one. There was some talk about the old warrior houses disliking change on general principles, a squeamishness around loud messy machines and uncertainty about the new design but what Dalzanis and her crew came to agree upon was that a suspicion that they were to be thrown through the worst of enemy fire. This was confirmed by the orders that she was given.

Even so, she had her duty to do. The small defending fleet had moved to try to break through the blockade and had been joined. At first she opened fire. She had thirteen 10-Vaul rifled cannons for her broadsides and chase armament, a pair of experimental breechloaders and forward four 20-Vaul heavy guns, all of which were the newest rifled guns and moreover she had a number of steel tipped shells. Even so, this bombardment had little effect. After a few salvos a signal flare was launched and she and thirty four other ships (including the other seven steam engine equipped warships) made their move and converged on the Infrastructural line at full speed. She had the entire Drow crew contribute energy to put a strength buff on the hull earlier that morning just to be on the safe side for this maneuver. As expected, she began to attract fire and within a minute of the advance beginning a shell impacted against the Raelthis. There the thud of it's explosion, a shock that rang through the ship, a flash of light (with a slight green tint) and a puff of smoke, but still the armor held with only a slight dent. The next hit fell a few seconds latter, but only succeeded in making another dent. Other ships were not so lucky, erupting into showers of splinters and. The same went for subsequent impacts, even though one of the sails was blown apart and one of the anchors blown off it's chain. In response the Raethis returned fire with her heavy forward guns. The Captain grinned as she noticed that they making more of an impact as distance was closed, making bigger dents and once they got within two thirds of a mile, getting through. But regardless of that the main aim of the Raeltis's advance was to replicate her namesake as she slammed into an Infrastructural Ironclad, her six yard long runic prow cutting through it's hull, steam pipes and into it's boiler with minimal resistance. After that she pushed the steal box backwards while the captain order that the engines be reversed and she began to withdraw. The hulk took on water and capsized

Dalzanis savored this moment. Her ship had managed to withstand Infrastructural cannonfire and sink one of their 'invincible' warships. An achievement that her family would boast about for centuries to come and would earn her prestige and power. Moreover she thought about the real enemy, the despised High Elves. She imagined squadrons of these craft breaking apart those graceful warships of theirs. Then one of her ensigns came up from below deck carrying the link stone in a carrying frame.

"Captain, the Admiral wants to speak with you!"

She turned to face the small translucent image of Admiral ti Zaelros and bowed. "My lord!"

"Captain, an Infrastructural fleet has come from the South, withdraw immediacy!"

"But Admiral, we've just sunk one of their ironclads!"

"I saw that but they're seventeen more of them which have just arrived firing on our fleet as we speak. You have your orders!"

"Yes my lord." She said sighing slightly. The image faded. "Helm, bring us about full speed! Our main force is under fire!" Ahead she saw numerous plumes of smoke and explosions as ships were blown apart as well as mana flares and flags signalling a retreat to the remains of the sally, some of which being limited to tacking natural winds as their weather mages were exhausted.

Previous-Infrastructure: Part Two Hundred and Eleven
Next-Infrastructure: Part Two Hundred and Twelve