For Magic Mondays this week we’re changing gears.
This week we show you the Gearbox array.
Notation: Push Iron at a speed of 1 m/s if Copper is present, at 2 m/s if Copper and Gold is present, at 4 m/s if Copper, Gold and Silver is present, or at 8 m/s if Copper, Gold, Silver and Tin is present. Pull Iron at a speed of 1 m/s if Wood is present. Stop Iron if Lead is present.
Class: Utility
Description: It’s a good old five speed gearbox, just made of magic rather than steel. It even comes with a built in braking system.
This array works in a straighforward manner in that it increases the speed at which the iron is being pushed if more material is added. By using all the If-Then statements, you can get much more control than if you did multiple arrays or tried to use the Quicken runes as modifications rather than as affecting runes. Remember that because each Quicken rune is chained to another, and ultimately to the Push rune, you must have all the materials inside the array’s field of effect for that rune to activate.
For example, if you had Copper, Silver and Tin but no Gold then only the Push rune would activate. This is where the control comes in as you can limit which rune activates at what time. You can even chain different runes, or even entire arrays, this way to create a sort of runic algorithm.
As to how this array works in practice? Well it function as the gearbox for all the trains in Middleburg and the entire island nation of Alfresia. Inside the engine of each train, these arrays are placed around huge teethed wheels that connect to the train’s wheels on the track. As these arrays push the teethed cogs, they turn the train’s wheels and off it goes. However, between the cogs and these arrays are six levers, each made of one of the materials in the array. Moving the train then becomes very simple, you just pull each lever into position between cog and array and it activates the array to push the cog that pushes the wheels.
And if an emergency should happen, you can always pull the lever made of lead to freeze the cogs in place, stopping the train as quickly as anything could. Of course, remember that 8 meters per second is almost 30 kilometres per hour, so stopping a fully laden train at that speed in an instant will almost definitely result in damage to the engine, but that is why they call it an emergency.
I can also see this array being set up in a central motor for a cable-car system (like the one in San Francisco). For that matter, if you make the stern of an airship (or even a surface ship) of iron, with this array in the prow?
That would definitely work! The new electric powered tramcar system in Middelburg that replaced the trains do actually use this array, and you are right you can put it on a ship or airship, or well anything that has gears.