Current Magi-Tech ships, even the most advanced military or research vessels have yet to explore beyond the End of the World. In the age of science and Magi-Tech, a mystery as profound as not understanding what half of the planet holds, just will not do. In a joint effort to once and for all explore the unknown quarters of the world, seventeen nations from across Velwythe have teamed up to help research and fund exploration projects. The international project is known as Destination Horizon.
Destination Horizon’s will award several exactly 12 research grants over the next two years. These grants will be given to teams of researchers, scientists, professors, students and entrepreneurs to help cover costs associated with research. Then, at the end of 250EM the Destination Horizon board will award a full grant to the winning design. The grant will include funding, staffing and legal assistance in creating the winning design.
Two front runners have stepped into the focus of the world with their ingenious creations. One private group headed by Atla’s richest man, Perry Montgomery Rockenheimer, is designing a multi hulled behemoth of a ship. Part of the revolutionary design includes a deployable keel so massive, Rockenheimer says the boat can never be capsized. Reports indicate the boat will launch from Tru Dahn or Lands End and sail to deeper water. There, he will extend the keel down to a claimed depth of 200-250 meters. The keel will be long, wide and hollow (so that it may retract in on itself for transport) and force the boat upright in any size wave. Estimates put the length of the keel from nose to tail at least 40 meters. Rockenheimer has been quoted many times saying that “The darn thing looks like an iceberg; less than half of the actual boat floats above the water!”
While Rockenheimer’s beast has gained significant media attention simply due to its absurd size, the project headed by a man named Heaton Willstrom and a brilliant group at the FreePort University that have attracted the most attention. Their craft, nicknamed Deep Blue, is challenging everything we know about sailing the ocean. It differs from all other participants in one key way. Rumor has it the craft will be what is called a submarine.
A type of submarine has been around since the signing of Atla’s Constitution, though they have been very limited in their use and quite dangerous. Submarine vessels of the past were nothing more than large sets of pontoons attached to a shaft extending down below the water’s surface. Usually, an occupant can travel up and down the between the underwater pod and the floating platform by stairs, ladder or pole (depending on the vessels size). At the base of the shaft is a glass  cockpit, or pod, that offers 360 degrees of viewing. The vessels have been used primarily along coastal regions and deep lakes or rivers. Unfortunately, the lack of precise control and fragility of glass often resulted in the pods slamming into rocks, sandbars and other underwater dangerous. When a pod shattered the occupant rarely survived. Whether it was a partial crack resulting in the pod filling up before the occupant could safely climb the ladder to the raft above, or a complete shattering leaving the victim far below the surface, there were no small accidents.
Most submarines were publicly banned. Now, the few remaining submarines that function are used for tourism in carefully monitored and controlled seas to ensure there is no danger to the passengers. Much of the interest in Deep Blue has come from the deadly history of previous submarines. Though few people have seen the working concept of the vessel, those that have claim this version of a submarine borrows nothing from its predecessors. Whether or not it will revolutionize a dying concept or simply lead to more deaths has yet to be see. If indeed Deep Blue is awarded the grant, it will take several years for a working model to be operational.
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