Arcineering

History
The properties of the skymetals are said to have been discovered when an enterprising dwarven miner by the name of Thorgin Blackbeard discovered some slag that he had been melting floating above the rest. He had been working an iron mine near Moc and found that whilst trying to purify the ore that some of it began floating above the rest of the ore. He began experimenting with the ore he had dug up, spending months working in secret to replicate the results until he had found out which ores caused the floating event.

It was the metals known as Hoch and Ruch that mixed together connected to a belt of iron and copper provided this force. He discovered that the hotter the metals the greater the force and that it repelled at all air it touched but at nothing else. He experimented further for years, producing smaller versions of the skyships that now exist, little models powered by a couple of coal chunks.

His experimentation eventually grew after securing some funding from a noble family in Moc itself and hiring apprentices, building the first full-scale skyship. Eventually his practice grew large enough that a permanent home had to be found, the university in Wrost offered him land and funding there as long as he founded a new department centered around the new alloy and the working of it. Thus the Department of Arcineering was founded and it grew from then on. It was later discovered that skilled mages trained properly could direct and enhance the flow of power from the heated alloy, created concentrated blasts of force in certain directions.

A famous polymath and Arcineer enthusiast by the name of Boris Lenovich would later discover the famous Lenovich Formulas which revolutionized the practice of Arcineering and made it possible for the floating cities of Echnabalil to be created. The Republic of Echnabalalil was formed soon after this, the leaders of the towns realising the power and wealth it would give them and deciding to band together to profit off each other's strengths.

Applications
The working and mixing of the skymetals is a precise art, one only mastered by those with the title of Arcineer, who study for years to understand how to work it. Thus the applications of this knowledge is only available to those with either great power or wealth. The obvious applications are in the floating cities of Echnabalalil and its fleets of skyships, used to transport great amounts of raw materials around and troops. Few skyships are owned by people outside the government of the republic, those few mostly being rich nobles and merchants and notably the trade town of Ivanstead, which uses them to transport its horses.

There are rumours that some engineers and Arcineers in Ivanstead have found a way to make self-propelling carts that move many times faster than carts and carry more metal than them, however no conclusive evidence exists to substantiate these claims.