Boats in Bionicle

[Pikiru]

I am doing a story for the Lesovikk Contest and in it Matoran boats are used a few times (mostly just small fishing boats). So I went to Biosector01 to see what it says about Matoran boats. Unfortunately the page on boats is not very informative. So I have three questions about Matoran boats (all of which relate to Mata Nui style boats, Metru Nui style boats and Voya Nui style boats):

 

1) What are Matoran boats made of? (On Mata Nui, Metru Nui and Voya Nui.)

 

I know that the materials would differ depending on the location, but what types of materials? Wood? Protodermis? Giant leaves?

 

2) How are they made? (On Mata Nui, Metru Nui and Voya Nui.)

 

Is it similar to the way we make boats, or is it different because the Matoran Universe does not exactly work the same as ours (and has different technology)?

 

3) How long would it take to make a boat? (On Mata Nui, Metru Nui and Voya Nui.)

 

In our world boat making is a time intensive process, but is it the same in the Matoran Universe (and how long did it take to make the fleet of boats that traveled to Metru Nui)?

 

I would be most grateful for any answers/theories/speculation.

[Hitoshura]

1. Wood is a big possibility, as it floats and is quite durable. Maybe protodermis like how we would use metal, but it seems heavier, but who knows, the Matoran might find a way. On Metru Nui, they might use protodermis, as the city is quite technologically advanced compared to other areas of the MU. On Mata Nui, they might use wood, and leaves. In MNOG, take a look at Macku's canoe, it looks like it's made of leaves. Voya Nui, I'm not too sure, as it didn't look like they have much resources there, but I would say wood is likely to be used.2. I think, in places like Mata Nui and Voya Nui, they make frames of wood by hand, then cover with leaves. That's just my theory. On Metru Nui, they probably somehow used the protodermis and molded it to make the shape of boats, and end up like something similar to the metal boats we see on earth.3. This is a really hard question. It would depend on how fast they worked, how many Matoran participated in building, and what method they used.Hope that (somewhat) helps!

[25K Now!]

Most boats would probably be made out of solid wood, with maybe some protodermis to support it. Maybe in Voya Nui they would have less protodermis to use, but mainly everyone would use wood.

[Klanadack]

I think they use wood, and the boats would most likely be built in Ga-koro, due to there being a ton of water. The Matoran mass-produced boats when they sailed back to Metru-nui, so it would probably take a few days to make one.

[Pikiru]

1. Wood is a big possibility, as it floats and is quite durable. Maybe protodermis like how we would use metal, but it seems heavier, but who knows, the Matoran might find a way. On Metru Nui, they might use protodermis, as the city is quite technologically advanced compared to other areas of the MU. On Mata Nui, they might use wood, and leaves. In MNOG, take a look at Macku's canoe, it looks like it's made of leaves. Voya Nui, I'm not too sure, as it didn't look like they have much resources there, but I would say wood is likely to be used.2. I think, in places like Mata Nui and Voya Nui, they make frames of wood by hand, then cover with leaves. That's just my theory. On Metru Nui, they probably somehow used the protodermis and molded it to make the shape of boats, and end up like something similar to the metal boats we see on earth.3. This is a really hard question. It would depend on how fast they worked, how many Matoran participated in building, and what method they used.Hope that (somewhat) helps!

 

 

It does (somewhat) help.

 

I suspected they were made of wood mostly, but I wasn’t entirely sure (in some of the early Bohrok flash animations the boats look like they are made of Technic pieces, which look more like Protodermis (same with Bionicle Heroes, though that may not be canon)).

 

I have never played MNOG, so I have never seen Macku’s canoe, but I guess that confirms that some boats are made with leaves.

 

That’s actually a good theory, I may use it if you don’t mind.

 

Most boats would probably be made out of solid wood, with maybe some protodermis to support it. Maybe in Voya Nui they would have less protodermis to use, but mainly everyone would use wood.

 

Again thats what I imagined. My story takes place on more of a Voya Nui ish island, so my boats would probably be just wood.

 

I think they use wood, and the boats would most likely be built in Ga-koro, due to there being a ton of water. The Matoran mass-produced boats when they sailed back to Metru-nui, so it would probably take a few days to make one.

 

Ah a few days, thanks. Though that really wasn't the answer I was hoping for (It would work in my story so much better if it was something like a day).

[Katuko]

I have never played MNOG

*SPIT TAKE*

so I have never seen Macku’s canoe, but I guess that confirms that some boats are made with leaves.

In the game Macku's canoe looks pretty much like a smaller version of the boat she has at the beach in the beginning. You only see it for a few seconds as the Chronicler's Company sail into the waterfall, so I guess they didn't care to draw an entirely new boat.It looks very metallic like all boats in the MNOG, but I believe it's meant to be a more traditional boat made out of wood and palm leaves. Still, the Matoran had some mechanical stuff such as water and steam pumps, and I recall a few animated scenes where no one appears to row or paddle yet the boat still moves forward at high speed.

[Hitoshura]

Here is a screenshot(but not a very good one) of Macku's canoe in MNOG, if you want it.

[Pikiru]

 

I have never played MNOG

*SPIT TAKE*

>so I have never seen Macku’s canoe, but I guess that confirms that some boats are made with leaves.

In the game Macku's canoe looks pretty much like a smaller version of the boat she has at the beach in the beginning. You only see it for a few seconds as the Chronicler's Company sail into the waterfall, so I guess they didn't care to draw an entirely new boat.It looks very metallic like all boats in the MNOG, but I believe it's meant to be a more traditional boat made out of wood and palm leaves. Still, the Matoran had some mechanical stuff such as water and steam pumps, and I recall a few animated scenes where no one appears to row or paddle yet the boat still moves forward at high speed.

 

 

Yeah I know, shame on me for not playing MNOG yet.

 

Despite me not having played it I have seen the boat she had at the beginning. They probably made all the boats look like they were made of technic pieces so it could better relate to the actual sets (like the Rahi), but I think you are right in saying that they are most likely made of leaves and wood.

 

No one paddling could be because there is some kind of engine, but more likely its just because they didn’t want to animate a Matoran rowing.

 

Here is a screenshot(but not a very good one) of Macku's canoe in MNOG, if you want it.

Thanks for the screenshot, it helps a lot. It does seem like it is made of technic pieces, but the colour suggests its made of leaves.

[Katuko]

No one paddling could be because there is some kind of engine, but more likely its just because they didn’t want to animate a Matoran rowing.

That one is a bit interesting, actually, since Macku is seen using a stick to move the canoe forwards. In one of the later Bohrok-saga animations, however, Onewa and all the Po-Matoran are traveling at engine speed with no rowers seen. This type of machinery probably fits in along with the Ta-Koro bridge and other simple mechanisms. Since they had water pumps, they wouldn't have too much trouble with making a boat like that, I think.

[bonesiii]

I've actually thought a lot about this for various reasons; here's my two widgets.First of all, keep in mind everything is protodermis, of the available materials for the Matoran Universe and associated locations Mata Nui and Voya Nui. So unless you mean purified solid protodermis (unlikely), that's a "blanket yes" but says nothing about the type of protodermis.Metru Nui and the other MU locations are the most important in terms of number of uses. We have some evidence that boats are commonly made out of wood and/or metal. These are the ideal materials for boats in the real world, and these protodermic materials mimic the physics of normal matter, so I see no reason boats should use anything else, in general. But the most important example evidence IMO is the Mata Nui boats, which were metal (presumably recycled from the airship materials). If even on the "primitive island" they saw fit to use the limited metal of the airships for boats, how much more we should expect that in the Matoran Universe they used metal.So I see most manufactured boats as metal, with wood being used only for minor purposes sometimes (perhaps for flooring or decorative molding).However, they are aware of the principle of using wood for boats. When they turned the Vahki Transport into a makeshift boat, they used the Matoran pods on the way up to Mata Nui, likely drawing on their basic idea of what a boat should be as a vehicle with hollow pockets of metal for floatation. But when they came back down and needed to get across the sea again they used dead wood from the Karzahni plant to make a raft.So rafts and wooden boats would likely be things they all know how to make if they're in a pinch (keep in mind their incredible lifespans and the resulting theory that they generally have a full library of practical knowledge, so although some specialize as boatmakers for example, every normal MU Matoran would know how to do a wide range of basic survival things, although this rule is suspended after the memory wipe on Mata Nui). The Mata Nui boats were likely made of metal (with hollow sealed portions, similar to a common Earth practice of making floating docks out of sealed metal barrels) for the purposes of longevity. Boats made for a single "emergency" trip would likely be entirely made of wood, or what scrap metal they could find.Note that the Mata Nui boats might also have used wood to some extent, but IMO not much, as it tends not to last as long as metal, and it was a survival situation, so longevity would be important. But some parts may have required wood and thus needed regular replacement, hence the job of boatmaker (if mem serves).As for Voya Nui, I don't recall that they ever used any boats, off the top of my head, but almost certainly wooden, if so.Re: Leaves -- unless you had no other resources except large-leafed bushes, this is highly unlikely, as they do not make durable boats at all. You would basically have to use the leaves just as a "scaffolding" structure to make a hull virtually entirely out of pitch (perhaps tree wax). Otherwise, a wooden raft, at least, would be far safer.Re: How they're made -- well, in the Matoran Universe, presumably in factories, unless someone is in one of those emergency-type situations. The Mata Nui boats were probably forged by Vakama with his metal-carving staff, and/or others he taught the procedure to, as well as the Ga-Matoran by similar means. If there were any on Voya Nui, probably the same basic ways we used to make wooden boats -- a lot of carving, nailing, and coating in pitch. In an emergency-type situation, depending on the time you have, you could make anything from a well-crafted wooden boat to a makeshift raft.Re: time involved -- making a quick raft like the Lhikan II wouldn't take much time, and factory-produced boats could have been quick (esp. by the "sealed metal container" method). Making the Lhikan I better able to float was pretty easy too, since the Matoran pods worked like sealed barrels; they just tied them on. More time would be needed, IMO, to make the metal Mata Nui boats, for reshaping of the metal involved with nothing but Vakama's firestaff and primitive resources, or to make a more durable wooden boat.Re: Takua Dragonstar -- just to be crystal clear, Macku's boat was hidden by leaves (presumably from the Turaga, used to sneak to Po-Koro to visit Hewkii, but possibly from infected Rahi), not made of leaves.Re: have never played MNOG -- sorry for going off-topic, but you have not lived until you have played it. I would stop everything and go play it now if I were you!Re: Mata Nui boats moving with engines -- these were almost certainly the engines that made the robotic hammer-arms with Kanoka of Levitation and Increase Weight move in the airships, redesigned to spin freely rather than just spin back and forth to tap the hammers. I see no reason why they would entirely dismantle those engines instead of using them, so yeah. Likely some others were used in for example the Onu-Wahi mine elevators and the like.

They probably made all the boats look like they were made of technic pieces so it could better relate to the actual sets (like the Rahi), but I think you are right in saying that they are most likely made of leaves and wood.

I don't see how that would make sense. Sets represent things, and being made of Technic pieces represents being made of metal. Besides, it's already hard enough to explain how the large amount of metal in the airships was used in the making of the villages (which generally appear to be natural materials like stone and clay, not metal) -- the boats are the most obvious candidates for the majority of the metal (again, Onu stuff being the other major example). Far safer bet to presume the boats are metal just as they appear to be.And leaves are almost never a likely ingredient in making boats anyways. (Aside from sails and the like, plus the Multiverse has a Vehicles winner that was a giant plant pod-leaf thing, to be fair...)

No one paddling could be because there is some kind of engine, but more likely its just because they didn’t want to animate a Matoran rowing.

This really is the wrong approach to determining what is most likely. We have no evidence that they would be rowing them (although if they were out of fuel that would certainly suffice as a backup); they are portrayed with motors so that is what is most likely.Re: green color implies made of leaves -- Lewa's metal armor is colored green, but we don't see him as made of leaves. And besides, she was hiding the boat in leaves, so regardless of what it's made out of, green paint would help it be harder to spot. The color suggests it is well-camouflaged, nothing more.Hope this helps.

[Pikiru]

Thank you very much bonesiii, you two widgets is definitely helpful.

 

I hadn’t considered the fact that the entire Matoran Universe is made of protodermis. So I guess my original question needs to be changed to: “Wooden protodermis? Metallic protodermis? Giant protodermis leaves?”

 

I suspected that Metru Nui boats would be made of metallic protodermis, because it makes much more sense then any other material given how technologically advanced the city is. Though you never see boat making factories in the city, but I think that is because there was no need to include them in the story.

 

That’s a good point about the Mata Nui boats, if they decided to use the limited metal from the airships on their boats instead of in their villages, then its probably the norm in the Matoran Universe for boats to be made of metal. And that's another good point about how they would all know how to make a boat on some level, I never considered that before now.

 

And you are right that they are likely powered by motors from the airships, I just saw one of the old animations from the Bohrok era in which the population of Po-Koro arrives at Ga-Koro on boats and they look to be driven by motors (though does that mean that there were only six boats on Mata Nui, or do airships have more then one engine component?).

 

My question was mostly about Voya Nui styled boats, because the island that I made up for my story is similar to Voya Nui, but since there was not much information on boats I thought I would ask about every type of boat/boat construction.

 

The only reason I thought that they might use leaves is that Ga-Koro is made of giant lily pads which seem to be able to support a fare amount of weight, so they might have though to use them in boats (though now that I think about it the pads may have been supported from below, and they needed a pump to keep one hut afloat (although that could just be because the hut was damaged)).

 

And you are right; Lewa is not made of leaves (however joking aside you are probably right about the boats coloring being for camouflage).

 

And again, thank you very much; I really appreciate your help.

 

P.S. I will defiantly play MNOG sometime in my life, from what I have heard it is totally awesome! Unfortunately other stuff just keeps getting in the way.

[bonesiii]

Airships probably have tens to hundreds of those little motors, since they had to make the hammers tap the hull with Kanoka to both go up and go down. We've never seen that part of airships so it's hard to judge, but it would have to be some balance between the weight of the airship and the strength of each Kanoka's power. Then IMO we should factor the possible need for backups in case some would break mid-flight. Plus multiply it by six total airships taken to Mata Nui.

 

So that's no definite number but it has to be more than twelve, at least, and probably far, far more. One hammer for Levitation and one for Increase Weight would be the absolute minimum, so that's two times six, and if there's just one backup, double the whole count, etc. IMO it's more likely in the hundreds. So they would be "drowning in motors" really.

 

Note that airship propulsion was handled by basically water-rocket, so might not have involved an engine per se.

 

My question was mostly about Voya Nui styled boats, because the island that I made up for my story is similar to Voya Nui, but since there was not much information on boats I thought I would ask about every type of boat/boat construction.

Well, if it's in the MU, IMO that's probably not the best comparison anyways, since Voya Nui (post-cataclysm; I presume we're not talking about when it was part of the Southern Continent) was a unique survival situation -- shot far away from any connection to the rest of the MU. However, wooden boats or whatnot would be plausible anywhere if the situation on that island warranted it.

 

The only reason I thought that they might use leaves is that Ga-Koro is made of giant lily pads which seem to be able to support a fare amount of weight, so they might have though to use them in boats (though now that I think about it the pads may have been supported from below, and they needed a pump to keep one hut afloat (although that could just be because the hut was damaged)).

The whole pump storyline was always confusing. Seen from below, the other huts did appear to be held up by sturdy stalks. Maybe they weren't as sturdy as they seemed, though. Why one hut would be sinkable is unclear. But it was apparently airtight since they survived in it. And there would have been upwards of 200 Ga-Matoran canonically, who couldn't have fit all in one hut anyways.

 

Maybe all the huts actually had pumps and the game just showed the one (there really should be far more to the Koro due to the population thing anyways). That could mean they had air-filled sections in the floors, and that part was made to leak in the one hut, while the liveable area was a separate section. Food for thought anyways.

[Pikiru]

Unfortunately (as far as I know) we have no idea how much an airship weighs, or how powerful increase weight/levitation Kanoka can be (though we could try to estimate an airships weight based on its size and what its made of). Also on Biosector01 it says that the Kanoka were activated via a pulley system, not a hammer system, so is Biosector01 wrong? Regardless, that is a lot of motors! Not all of them would go to boats though (whatever technology is in the Onu-Koro mine probably uses some of the motors), but still they would have all the boat motors they could need.

 

If I may go slightly off topic (if its not ok then just forget about this section), how did the airship chute system work? If it’s a caped off chute section, the airship must get refueled sometime. And I take it its capped with a magnetic force field, so do they open the force field a bit when they want the ship to go forward (I know that it gets opened a bit but I don’t know how)? Also (if I may ask) does the liquid protodermis that is let out stay liquid, or does it turn to vaporized protodermis?

 

The reason I think my island is more like Voya Nui then Mata Nui or metru Nui is because it is quite small (maybe around the size of Naho bay), so it does not have a lot of resources, and has no contact with any other island or continent in the Matoran Universe, so it its Matoran population doesn’t have access to any of the hi-tech Metru Nui style boat making techniques. So in both ways it is similar to Voya Nui (though my island is inside the Mata Nui robot).

 

About the Ga-Koro pump I have a theory. What if the stalks under each of the huts are sturdy enough to support the huts without any extra support, but when the Tarakava attacked Ga-Koro it broke the stalk under that hut, causing it the sink. If this is the case then maybe the pump that Takua activated is the village’s master pump, that when activated tries to raise every hut. It could fill cavities under the huts (just like you theorized) with air, keeping those still afloat from sinking and bringing any hut that sank to the surface. Though this is just my theory, and since I still haven’t really played MNOG it could have many holes in it.

[Hitoshura]

The power of a Kanoka is defined by the power level. So I'm not sure how they work, like how light would an airship be if a level 5 Kanoka was applied. About your theory, it could work. It's been a while since I played MNOG, so I kind of don't remember how it looked underwater. It doesn't look like there were air holes, from what I remember. Though maybe the lily pads could stand some weight, and float.

[fishers64]

Or they could have used all those Levitation and Increase Weight Kanoka to keep the lilies floating (somehow), and the Rahi knocked out the Levitation, so the hut sank. But the huts have an emergency "buoyancy chamber" in the bottom of them, in case this sort of thing happens, which can be activated by pumping the water out of it, causing the hut to float to the surface.

 

It would explain where all that Levitation and Increase Weight Kanoka went, and why we never saw them used against the Rahi. (I'm particularly thinking Nui-Rama attacks might have been stymied by such disks.) It's also possible that the Matoran did use them, though, and they ran out of power and/or Makuta stole them all...hence the throwing disks we saw later. But I'm not sure I buy that because the Matoran did have a year of peace and the Turaga seemed to go out of their way to hide valuable stuff like that. The lily pads would be a "hidden in plain sight" thing.

[bonesiii]

Also on Biosector01 it says that the Kanoka were activated via a pulley system, not a hammer system, so is Biosector01 wrong?

That's true; I forgot about the pulleys (lol I'm proofreading a story I myself wrote at the part where that very fact is mentioned... my memory ). Still, they would want backup motors, and there would have to be at least a switching system, and preferably at least two motors, one for up, one for down.

 

So, considering the pulleys, I'd say each airship would likely have one motor attached to the pulleys for up, and one for down, and at least one backup engine for each (as if up ever fails, you're basically doomed). That's four per airship, times six is 24. I'd call that the "likely minimum", then, and I still think they'd have more. That does seriously limit the number of motorboats, but there would still be more metal. Also, I recalled after posting earlier that for Ngalawa boat racing they do row.

 

So how about this:

 

Around (or less than) 24-ish boats with motors (and some of the motors be used for the Onu elevators instead). Some others of the same design for shallow water conveyed by pole, like Macku's. And any others they needed could be conveyed by rowing, like the Ngalawa racing boats.

 

That could result in a lot of carrying capacity, easily enough for about 333 Po-Matoran, if those on the non-motor boats simply weren't shown in the animation.

 

If I may go slightly off topic (if its not ok then just forget about this section), how did the airship chute system work?

I'm fine with asking this.

 

BS01 says:

 

A portion of a transport Chute capped at both ends was built into the back of the Airship. It provided forward thrust when it let a small portion of the Liquid Protodermis that was under high pressure jet out from the back.

Now how it gets that pressure, and why a chute (rather than a tank) are the big questions that come to my mind immediately. Here's one theory that might work.

 

IMO, it uses a chute wall because it's lighter weight, and likely the inner cap is on a piston, so it can press inward to increase pressure. Chute walls are simply protowater -- the same thing as the fuel here -- magnetized in place. As more fuel is spent, the inner cap could push toward the back, keeping the pressure up, and the cylindrical wall would actually shrink in mass, so some of the material of the wall would actually be recycled as fuel. So the weight of the vessel decreases more with time than it would if the wall was metal. So as fuel goes down, ship loses mass, making it have less momentum and thus being easier to accelerate. The ultimate in fuel efficiency.

 

Whenever it completes a journey, simply pull the pressure cap all the way forward, and hook a pipe to the airship, whose other end is a spigot in the top of the supporting ring of the chute section. It would simply fill up like filling a bathtub; the magnetism would catch some of it to form the walls. Then, when it's full, the inner cap would push to the back a little, bringing the pressure up. And/or the spigot itself could have high pressure due to pumps to make it high-pressure to begin with.

 

And I take it its capped with a magnetic force field

Hadn't considered that. It's possible. If so, it would be even more efficient in terms of weight.

 

so do they open the force field a bit when they want the ship to go forward

I was assuming both caps were metal and the back one simply has a tiny nozzle in it. But yes, it's possibly they simply open a field cap a little too (maybe both, since a metal nozzle would help focus it).

 

Also (if I may ask) does the liquid protodermis that is let out stay liquid, or does it turn to vaporized protodermis?

My guess is it would be spread out so much by the force of the propulsion that it would in effect be vapor -- really liquid droplets too tiny to see as anything but mist. Some might glob back together, though, and rain slightly.

 

About the Ga-Koro pump I have a theory. What if the stalks under each of the huts are sturdy enough to support the huts without any extra support, but when the Tarakava attacked Ga-Koro it broke the stalk under that hut, causing it the sink. If this is the case then maybe the pump that Takua activated is the village’s master pump, that when activated tries to raise every hut. It could fill cavities under the huts (just like you theorized) with air, keeping those still afloat from sinking and bringing any hut that sank to the surface. Though this is just my theory, and since I still haven’t really played MNOG it could have many holes in it.

That would make sense.

 

Or they could have used all those Levitation and Increase Weight Kanoka to keep the lilies floating (somehow), and the Rahi knocked out the Levitation, so the hut sank.

No, Greg said that after a thousand years of use (and that would be even more use than normal), Kanoka drain entirely of power, becoming mere frisbees basically. (A corollary of this is that airship Kanoka had to be replaced often, probably in rotating arrangements to prevent an entire airship's worth going empty at the same time midflight.)

 

It would explain where all that Levitation and Increase Weight Kanoka went, and why we never saw them used against the Rahi. (I'm particularly thinking Nui-Rama attacks might have been stymied by such disks.)

I'm not entirely sure we didn't. The disks fired from that machine in the Le-Wahi minigame/battle in MNOG for example might have been empty Kanoka, while the Matoran preferred wooden disks. Or, they might have been used as mere disks for a while but stolen by the Rahi by the time of the Toa's arrival, and replaced with wood.

 

Or they might have melted them down to be various machine parts.

 

It's also possible that the Matoran did use them, though, and they ran out of power and/or Makuta stole them all...hence the throwing disks we saw later. But I'm not sure I buy that because the Matoran did have a year of peace and the Turaga seemed to go out of their way to hide valuable stuff like that. The lily pads would be a "hidden in plain sight" thing.

Yes, but sadly impossible, since they could not purify more proto and make replacement Kanoka. And since they were out there throwing disks of any type at the Rahi, it's inevitable that over a thousand years some wouldn't bounce right back perfectly. That trick would probably be a difficult learning curve anyways, so they probably accidentally threw the Kanoka away before learning it well. My guess is they would make some wooden ones right away, and save the Kanoka for tougher times, but since a thousand years' worth of those came and went, they used them enough to drain them, lost a few while not drained, and eventually lost them all before becoming really adept at not losing the wooden ones.

 

 

EDIT: You know, since I'm at this spot in my story and I see it included some theoretical details you might be interested in, why don't I quote that section here? I notice that in this version, instead of mentioning any backup engines I actually had a manual backup system, though since most airships were automated I would still lean toward backups that would automatically switch on (likely both). Keep in mind this is just a theory, not canon:

 

 

The airship's interior was an alien sight to Onua. It felt like being in a giant bubble [...] as it was made entirely out of a metal frame holding strong protoglass panes between the beams, other than the metal floor. But the bubble was textured by hundreds of big robotic hammers, each holding what looked like a Matoran disk, only not made of wood but some strange material he didn't recognize.

 

Half the disks, and the metal of the hammer-claws that held them, had the shape of a Kanohi Miru painted on them in white. These were tapping slowly right now.

 

The other half had a black mask shape he didn't recognize, and were not moving.

 

Cords from these hammers ran forward along a pulley system and met in two metal bars, one for each color, which were at the end of two machines. The right one, controlling the white hammers, was filled with spinning gears and pistons. This made the bar tilt back and forth rhythmically. When one side went taut, the hammers tapped the metal frame of the airship. When the bars turned the other way, the hammers were pulled back up. A heatstone in the center of this apparently powered it.

 

Two lines continued from here to a similar system with no heatstone under the pilot's chair. There was a peddle system and various levers to switch gears. [A non-canon character] sat in this seat, but didn't use the peddles. Onua assumed it was a manual backup system.

I went on to describe the tank propulsion system but actually I think I'll revise that in light of points raised here. (So thanks, this has been productive to me! )

Edited May 8, 2013 by bonesiii