G.S.S. Geomancer

Gudersnipe Star Ship Geomancer is the oldest comissioned warship in the fleet, first on the official registry, and sole surviving vessel to carry the "Star Ship" prefix (All later vessels would use either G.S.S. for Gudersnipe School Ship, or C.B.S. for Crimson Blade Ship.

The origins and role of the Geomancer are shrouded in mystery. Its dimensions, propulsion, and capacity are not listed anywhere, though a great many students and officers have served on her through the Ages. The ship is typically reached only by GATE, and no images exist of her exterior hull. It has been theorized that Geomancer is one of a line of -Mancy-named ships, and that there must also be (or have been) an Ecomancer, Anomancer, Auromancer, and Necromancer. This theory has been officially laughed at, but not denied by the Gudersnipe Foundation.

History

The Geomancer first appeared as the flagship of the first Gudersnipe fleet during the Mage Wars, back when all ships used the Gudersnipe Star Ship prefix. But immediately following the begining of the Golden Age, the entire rest of the fleet had been scrapped. Those ships not destroyed in combat during the Second Chaotic Period were decommissioned and dismantled, their components used to build the first iteration of the GATE network. By A.Y. 110, not a single example remained, save for the Geomancer.

Information about these early vessels was further stricken from the database. Their names, commission and decomission dates, and registry numbers survived, but no information about their design or capabilities was kept. Even their tactics were not saved; a very curious move for an organization which prides itself on saving every last scrap of data.

The original registry itself was not even continued. A new registry was created, listing the Geomancer first with no commission date. Other ships were added at the creation of the new registry, some even with commission dates still in the Mage Wars and using the G.Y. System. However, these were all captured enemy vessels that had been reporposed to serve in the fleet, and no Gudersnipe-built vessel would be added to the registry until A.Y. 112, using the A.Y. System for its commission date. However, since the A.Y. System was not created until 986 years later in A.Y. 1998, it is clear that the registry was edited sometime following this date. Why the edit was not recorded remains unknown, as millions of ships were commissioned between A.Y. 112 and A.Y. 1998.

Sister Ship

The Geomancer had a sister-ship, G.S.S. Cyclops, destroyed near the begining of the Second Chaotic Period.

Speculations

The Foundation has claimed that only raw materials from the old fleet were used in the production of the GATE network. However, given the speed at which the network was brought online while industrialization was still fledgling has led many to believe this is not the case. Instead, they speculate the core of each ship contained the foundational technology. Those who have served aboard the Geomancer indicate the ship may exist in some form of interdimensional space(or possibly some kind of artificial pocket-dimension). If it is in inter-dimensional space it would be exposed directly to the aether, allowing for observation of the same.