In conferences held across their local branches earlier this week, the captains of the Sayran Helmsmen Guild explained the new techniques that will lead to more ships that can travel through space faster.

Under the former doctrine, space travel could be done with a sayran helmsman, or without. A journey from Peldor to Relgan without a helmsman could take 24 days under perfect conditions, or, if the winds of cosmic energy were especially poor, up to 44 days of travel, with the average being about 32 days. Because sayran have an innate ability to manipulate that cosmic energy they call ‘vaalige’, they could force those perfect conditions, and the same journey would take 24 days every time.

Each ship under the old doctrine required two or three helmsmen working in shifts, and there are only so many sayran born into the caste that can become helmsmen. This scarcity ensured that Protectorate travel was always prioritized, and what was left for private or commercial use was prohibitively expensive.

Under the new techniques, the sayran create a ‘bubble’ of vaalige around the ship and then move that bubble through space. This large bubble can safety envelop up to 20 ships with no loss of speed, and no additional helmsmen required.

This represents an overnight, twenty-times increase in the number of slots available for faster shipping. Less helmsmen will be required for official Protectorate needs as well, so the actual increase of faster private shipping will be even greater. The new reliability has also reduced costs as travel and trade ships no longer need to prepare for the worst-case scenario and bring enough food and oxygen in case there are unfavorable winds.