Tag Archives: Copernicus

Cover Reveal Party for Glitter Ponies: Welcome

Welcome aboard the AS Patsy Nottle for the Glitter Ponies cover reveal party. Before we head into the forward parlor for refreshments, Copernicus, the airship’s navigator, explains the specifications of Wizard Kadmeion’s airborne home.

About the Good and True AS Patsy Nottle

An Airship Operating in Its Water-Surface Mode

The Airship (“AS”) Patsy Nottle is a carrack class wooden and stone airship invented in the 16th century. The carrack airship comes with six sails: a bowsprit, foresail, mizzen, spritsail, and two topsails. The hull is fashioned from floating rock to give the ship neutral buoyancy in airborne operations. The sails provide wind propulsion and steerage. Perpetual enchantments see to basic operations, defense, and personal comfort of the crew and guests.

Carrack airships are square-rigged on the foremast and mainmast. The mizzenmast is lateen-rigged. They have a high rounded stern. The carrack airships have a large aftercastle, forecastle, and bowsprit. The carrack airship can also operate as a water-surface ship.

Specifications for the AS Patsy Nottle

Airship Class: Carrack

Origin: Agatha Island Aerodrome and Shipyard

Initial Year of Service: 1625

Commissioning Agency: Agatha Island Magic Guild, for operation by human wizards and sorceresses in good guild standing.

An Airship Weathering a Magical Storm

Captain: (Wizard) Haldemare Kadmeion Dorian Trentworthy sen Magica Vir

First Mate: (Honorable Mage) Wolverhampton Brighton M’Choakenchilde

Navigator: (Minor Demon Homunculus) Copernicus

Crew: 40 (mostly clockworks rig monkeys or demon-inhabited homunculi)

Length: 75 feet

Beam: 25 feet

Draught: 6 feet

Displacement: 223 long tons (minus floating rock displacement)

Machinery: Standard sailing magical clockworks. This vessel has typical below decks gearing and linkage to accommodate the sailing spells.

Speed: 6.7 knots (unaided by magic)

Range: Unlimited

A Fairy’s Point of View of the Oak Forest on Kadmeion’s Airship

The airship inside volume is much larger than the outside hull dimensions due to perpetual Inverse Magic spells. The AS Patsy Nottle has spacious crew quarters, private sitting rooms, parlors, galley, spell casting workrooms, and a quercetum for Sir Bright’s miniature oak tree forest. Kadmeion’s fey-folk fairies live in the quercetum.

Next: Refreshments and origin of the Glitter Ponies story

Monkey Business About Old Bony Blue Eyes

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1000 Monkeys at 1000 Typewriters for 1000 Years–They Might Write Shakespeare, but Still Wouldn’t Have as Much Fun as the Simians in Old Bony Blue Eyes

Those adorable, clever simians! Lita is a monkey’s ~~uncle~~ auntie over the commotion about Old Bony.

Take a look at what Chris The Story Reading Ape’s New (to me) Authors Blog has to say in a promo about Lita’s Old Bony Blue Eyes. Grab a handy vine and swing over for other fun articles on the Ape’s homepage.

Simians and Wizardry

The fantasy world of Clockpunk Wizard in Old Bony Blue Eyes features wizards who summon minor demons to animate homunculi. Kadmeion and his assistant Sir Bright specialize in clockwork automata, but they have peers who create homunculi from plants–such as mandrake roots–and (shudder) animal bodies. Lita has already explained Kadmeion and Bright’s brand of wizardry elsewhere.

Which Wizard on Sir Death’s Island Would Create a Monkey Homunculus?

Could a wizard use erstwhile monkeys for automata? Well, yes. Which wizard on Sir Death’s island would do such a horrible thing? The answer might surprise Gentle Reader. Check out Kadmeion’s visit with Sir Death in Old Bony Blue Eyes to discover which wizard would do such monkey business.

Rig Monkeys

In a fantasy world stuffed with the technology of Leonardo da Vinci, Kadmeion’s home is an airship powered by wind and wizardry, and has Copernicus, a clockworks homunculus, as its pilot. Humans and automata work in the topside rigging on airships.

Malfunctioning Rig Monkey

Frequent storms and random magical interferences require rig monkeys to constantly tend airship sails. Because of the harsh topside conditions, automata rig monkeys frequently malfunction.

Bright worked as a rig monkey while attending Agatha University. He finds rope-swinging skills critical in saving his friends in Old Bony, but there is something fishy about the circumstances. Lita will not say anymore–she mustn’t spoil the surprise.

After reading The Story Reading Ape’s promo about Old Bony, if Gentle Reader is curious for more Lita Burke gossip, then take a look at the News Releases page.

Announcing the Release of Old Bony Blue Eyes

All Aboard for the Ephraim’s Book Launch Party

Copernicus, One of the Minor Demons

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Cross section of an automata

Step inside the Pilot House. Meet Copernicus. He flies Wizard Kadmeion’s airship.

Copernicus is the most advanced metal homunculi (also called automata) on Kadmeion’s airship. Copernicus is a magical sentient creature with a metal body created by Bright, and animated by a minor demon summoned by Kadmeion.

Demons live on the nether plains until called by a magician in the Clockpunk Wizard world. There is a hierarchy of demons based on their mental sophistication and physical ability to animate magician-created bodies. The demons have established this caste system for themselves. I’ve simplified it here.

The lower classes of minor demons easily answer the calls of magicians that practice low magic, such as pellars and hedge-witches. These lower demons are jesters that favor crude humor, such as word puns and rude noises. They are indiscriminate with the bodies they will inhabit, so you will see them in mandrake roots and fresh corpses.

Copernicus is just out of camera view. This is the Pilot House.

The middle class of minor demons will be thick-witted, but are useful as bodyguards (the magical term is goons). While they will not animate corpses, they will inhabit vat-grown homunculi bodies. They don’t like residing in clockwork bodies because they lack the mental acuity to use the legs without tripping.

High class minor demons are smart, articulate, and well-behaved. They respond only to a wizard’s high magic summons (this is a point of pride in the minor demon ranks). These minor demons will only inhabit clockworks bodies of a certain high quality. Copernicus is the epitome of fussiness about his metal body. I understand from talking with the Agatha University clockworks magicians that Kadmeion and Bright’s efforts with Copernicus are splendid.

Let’s not distract Copernicus while he’s guiding the airship through these tricky floating islands. Let’s go below decks and see Kadmeion and Bright’s current magical project. The Workrooms are next on our tour.