Suspendium

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Suspendium Theory

A compilation of information regarding the physics and functionality of Suspendium.

Divided into four sections:

1. Confirmed Information
2. Partially-Confirmed Information
3. Unconfirmed Information
4. Plot Holes

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Section 1: Confirmed Information

Information that is directly stated by Zarkonnen himself through blog posts, discord, or the game.

- http://zarkonnen.com/airships/suspendium/

1. Suspendium is a crystal.

2. When charged, Suspendium repels other Suspendium crystals.

• The repulsive force of Suspendium is dependent on its alignment.
• Two Suspendium crystals that are perfectly aligned do not repel each other.
• Suspendium does not repel itself if it is flawless (no imperfections in its crystal structure).
• Maximum repulsion force is achieved at 90° or perfectly perpendicular.

3. Suspendium exists everywhere on Adanati, the planet that Airships: Conquer the Skies is set on.

• Suspendium exists as fine dust within the atmosphere.
• Suspendium exists as large crystals within the earth.
• Suspendium exists within plants, animals, and people.

4. Any Suspendium above the earth that is charged will repel the Suspendium in the earth.

5. The repulsive force of Suspendium weakens with distance.

6. Larger crystals are rare.

• The majority of Suspendium is small crystals, sand, or dust.

7. Suspendium is not inherently toxic.

• When ingested, Suspendium repels other Suspendium; they exert mechanical stress on the cells they’re in which leads to illness and/or cancer.
• Generally, the more Suspendium ingested, the shorter the lifespan of the person.

8. Plants and Animals are capable of adapting and utilizing Suspendium.

• This is generally done by developing tissue that aligns the Suspendium to prevent it from repelling other ingested Suspendium.

- https://airships.zarkonnen.com/forum/1/topic/884

Zarkonnen:

“Basically, the idea is that Suspendium crystals "tune into" other crystals of a certain size. So if you use very small ones, that's cheap, and you can target the Suspendium that's just generally present in the soil. Which gets you hovercraft. Which is what I'm planning to add.

If you use large ones, you can tune into bigger crystals further down. That's more powerful, but it gets less effective at higher altitudes.

If you use a very large crystal, you tune into the very large crystals very deep down, which gives you a huge amount of lift that reaches very high up. The people who built the Sojourner didn't fully understand this, hence the accidental reaching orbit.”

1. Suspendium crystals will repel crystals of a similar size.

• Small repels small, big repels big.

2. Suspendium increases in size the lower the depth.

• Smaller crystals closer to the surface, bigger crystals deeper down.

- https://airships.zarkonnen.com/forum/1/topic/326

Zarkonnen:

“Yep, an overcharged crystal would shatter explosively. Suspendium's repulsion works based on orientation, so two crystals that are perfectly aligned do not repel one another, and two crystals at right angles repel each other maximally.

In a single crystal, everything is aligned, and so the crystal stays in one piece - but no crystal is absolutely flawless, and once you pump enough energy into it, even absolutely minor flaws are enough to exert a meaningful force. And once that force causes a crack, the misalignment is amplified, further increasing the force in a runaway cycle: boom!

In short, if you drop a Suspendium crystal halfway through installing it in its chamber, you have to throw it away and use a new one, unless you really want the thing to shatter explosively the first time it powers up...”

1. No Suspendium is perfectly flawless.

• All will have imperfections, although generally microscopic.

2. Cracks and fractures in Suspendium will exert pressure on the crystal when supplied with power.

3. When Suspendium is overcharged, the microscopic imperfections begin to exert pressure leading to larger fractures and the crystal explosively shattering.

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Section 2: Partially-Confirmed Information

Information that is not entirely confirmed by Zarkonnen.

- https://airships.zarkonnen.com/forum/3/topic/807

Zarkonnen:

“I’m not sure if it’s [Suspendium] meltable or alloy-able.”

>Possibly Outdated(?)

>Unsure confirmation

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Section 3: Unconfirmed Information

Information that is assumed from confirmed information.

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Section 4: Plot Holes

Information that is contradictory or missing.

1. Suspendium can be powered by both AC electricity and Static electricity, although they function very differently.

2. If crystals tune to crystals of similar sizes, how does Suspendium work over the ocean?

3. How do you control the lift output of dust tanks or shell armor?