User blog:Kasarn/Crimson Dawn

''Idle musing about the Crimson Dawn. May contained unfinished thoughts.''

Little is known about the origins of the magnificent battleship, except that it is a marvel of pre-Upheaval technology. Some historians believe that the Crimson Dawn and Scarlet Blade were actually decommissioned craft, allowing them to survive the Great Upheaval relatively unscathed, albeit, missing much of their equipment.

The restoration of the battleship was one of the first large undertakings by the fledgling Commonwealth. To keep the restoration a secret and prevent a pre-emptive strike from pirates or warlords, the project was broken down into many smaller projects. The Silverbacks, Svendheim's original mercenary group, oversaw the recovery of parts while development was overseen by Thomas Islo, father of Lawrence Islo.

The completion of the Crimson Dawn secured the dominance of the Commonwealth against any enemy and most governments were quick to join.

People who have never seen the Crimson Dawn often underestimate just how large the ship is. Unfortunately, it's immense size and the ancient technology that keeps it aloft makes it very difficult to maintain, especially alongside it's sister ship, the Scarlet Blade. Most of the easily obtainable supplies were used up during the Commonwealth years, with new supplies requiring extensive surveys of heavily populated skylands or dangerous expeditions into the Black.

Thus, the Crimson Dawn was decommissioned and has served as the headquarters of the Crimson Armada. To this end, the battleship has seen extensive retrofitting to remove unnecessary military accoutrements and make it more habitable.

Whether the Dawn could be brought back into active service as a weapon of war is often debated by military scholars, but most agree that the expense of doing so a second time would be prohibitive. Both the Crimson Dawn and Scarlet Blade already use a fleet of blimps to keep running costs down.