Early Model Atantean Age 'aereme'...

TL 4 and TL5 Basic Atlantean Aereme

This is a basic small passenger aereme, one of the earlier models used
in the Atlantean Age, combining lift from buoyancy and lift from
Psychokinesis. The power source for the aereme is the crew and
passengers, the crew of three must include psions capable of both
telekinesis and Psychokinesis. A fine weave of orichalcum is woven in
among the aluminum mesh of the gasbag, giving additional 'purchase'
for the telekinetic and pyrokinetic abilities of the crew.

Additionally, if the passengers are Atlanteans, they can form a
gestalt to amplify the abilities of the crew and extend the range and
lifting abilities of the aereme.

The gasbag itself contains hot air, heated to very high temperatures
by pyrokinesis, the high temperatures achievable by this method, in
combination with direct levitation by means of telekinesis, gives the
aereme a lift capacity approximately equal to that of helium.
However, because this requires constant active effort on the part of
the crew, it can not be sustained indefinitely, the aereme must
periodically land to enable the crew to rest.

This aereme has no lift-support capacity of any kind, and it is
limited by that and other considerations for practical purposes to
altitudes of about half a mile. The top speed is highly variable,
depending on the available psi Power, but averages around 20 mph,
sustainable for several hours at a time.

This aereme is not terribly comfortable, the inhabitable part is
cramped, and the only protection from heat or cold is the clothing and
psi abilities of the travellers. It's also very vulnerable to wind
and storms, and is definitely delicate.

This version has no landing gear or the like, but it _can_ float, so
it can be easily brought to rest on any calm body of water. It can
also land on very flat ground, on the bottom of the undercarriage,
though this requires care.

Crew: 0 total. 3 crew stations covering vehicle control (helm,
piloting), communicator. lifting gas rigger.

Subassemblies: Vehicle +9, Gasbag +9, Body +4.

P&P: 250,000 cf hot air (modified) lift gas [Gasbag].

Fuel: N/A

Occupancy: normal steering station, two normal crew stations, eight
cramped passenger seats, 40-cf cargo hold.

Armor F RL B T U
Body 4/50 4/50 4/50 0/0 4/50

Equipment
Body: heliograph; telescope (magnification x25).

Statistics
Size: [LxWxH] 200 x 50 x 25 Payload: 3,000 lbs. Lwt: 11,190 lbs.
Volume: 250,320 cf Maint: 153 Hrs (0.625 man-hrs./day) Price:
$271,700

HT: 10 HP: 250 [Gasbag], 225 [Body].

Water Performance: Top Speed 0 mph, wAcc 0 mph/s, wDec 2 mph/s (2 mph/
s), wMR 0.02, wSR 7, Draft 1.5 ft, Drag 108, Flotation 19,993 lbs.

Air Performance: Motive Thrust 0 lbs., Stall Speed 0 mph, Top Speed 25
mph, Terminal Velocity 748 mph, Glide Speed 299 mph, Glide Ratio
0.161:1

Design Notes:
TL5 (effectively) light frame expensive materials [Vehicle].
U TL6 DR 50 expensive metal, L TL6 DR 50 expensive metal, R TL6 DR 50
expensive metal, F TL6 DR 50 expensive metal, B TL6 DR 50 expensive
metal [Body].
Vehicle Features: mechanical controls, waterproofed, Fair
streamlining, finely made.
Water Features: no lines, flotation.
Volume: 250,000 cf [Gasbag], 320 cf [Body].
Area: 25,000 sf [Gasbag], 300 sf [Body].

On Apr 3, 2:59 pm, mike <mikes... DeleteThis @invariant.freeserve.co.uk> wrote:
> On a dark an' dismal Mon, 31 Mar 2008 21:26:51 -0700 (PDT), in flickering lamplight, Johnny1a
> <shermanl... DeleteThis @hotmail.com> scribed with phoenix qill :
>
>
>
> >TL 4 and TL5 Basic Atlantean Aereme
> >This is a basic small passenger aereme, one of the earlier models used
> >in the Atlantean Age, combining lift from buoyancy and lift from
> >Psychokinesis.  
> <<#>>
> >The power source for the aereme is the crew and
> >passengers, the crew of three must include psions capable of both
> >telekinesis and Psychokinesis.  
>
> Hi
> I thought Telekinesis was a subset of Psychokinesis, what is
> it in Gurps terminology ?
> Did you mean Pyrokinesis or is Psychokinesis correct?

You're right, I screwed up, I said psychokinesis when I meant
'pyrokinesis'. Both telekinesis and pyrokinesis are subsets of the
Pyschokinesis Power. These early aeremes worked, in part, because
powerful pyrokinesis took the place of the heat source with its
associated fuel mass.


>
> >A fine weave of orichalcum is woven in
> >among the aluminum mesh of the gasbag, giving additional 'purchase'
> >for the telekinetic and pyrokinetic abilities of the crew.
>
> I've been wanting to ask for some time now, so i'll take this
> opportunity. Since orichalcum is so disruptive to Psi use, making psionic
> mining deadly, how and why would any Psionic find it useful?
> At the moment it looks very likely that Psions would want to get
> as far away as they possibly could.
> Oddly they live on an island that got way too much of the stuff.
> Could you help me make sense of this, please?
>
> Confused, mike

Orichalcum doesn't _always_ interfere with Psi use. It interacts with
psionic fields in complex ways, and you can use the stuff to either
amplify or interfere with psychic powers, depending on what other
metals you alloy it with, the temperature and physical form of the
metal, and hundreds of other factors. The Atlanteans use orichalcum
as what we would term an 'industrial material', used one way it can be
used to make Psychokinesis more powerful, used another way it can act
as an insulator or a conductor of Telepathy, and so on.

The reaason orichalcum in its raw state is dangerous to a psion is
that all those myriad little details that determine how it interacts
with psi are _random_. A rock with orichalcum in it (usually found in
a mix with true copper) might interact with an impinging psychic power
in any of a thousand ways, helpful, harmful, or neutral. But a random
effect is more likely to be bad than good as a matter of odds, and in
an orichalcum mine, you're surrounded by large masses of the stuff in
random configurations, with random purity, random alloying, random
electrical, temperature, and other factors, and so psi becomes totally
and dangerously unpredictable.

Atlantis became the site of the first 'high psionic' society _because_
of the presence of orichalcum (among other reasons). In its refined
forms it's the basis of their psychic technology.

(High tech societies crave the stuff too, it can be used to travel
faster than light if you know how to use it, among other things.)

Hope this helps!