Battle dolphin

Battle Dolphin Dolphin-Shuttle Battle dolphins, sometimes just called dolphins, were spelljammers designed with commercial space voyages in mind.

Description
The ship had a fully enclosed interior with no exposed decks. Its aft section was elevated, providing a point of view that overlooked the decks of other ships. It had two square sails on the upper deck and one lateen sail on the forward deck, as well as two catapults mounted behind the forward bridge. The galleon-shaped upper deck was detachable and worked as a shuttle.

The purpose of the dolphin-shuttle was to make landfall on planets, since the dolphin itself was not capable of landing. Its inconspicuous design was less likely to attract unwanted attention, while the separating capability allowed the mothership to provide defense if necessary. Battle dolphins could be equipped with one or two spelljamming helms. If a dolphin only had one helm, it was usually fitted to the shuttle, unless it had another means of propulsion, such as a crown of the stars; ships with two helms had each helm fitted to one of the decks.

A battle dolphin required a minimum crew of 12 to operate its sails and weapons and could support a maximum compliment of 70 without compromising its air envelope. The shuttle required a minimum crew of 4 and could support up to 20 individuals.

A variant design of the battle dolphin mounted a piercing ram on the forward deck and removed the bridge windows. It was known as a narwhal.

History
In the, the battle dolphin Starfoam discovered an elven armada adrift while on patrol near the planet Radole in Winterspace. The ship had suffered an attack from the scro.

Appearances

 * Novels
 * The Radiant Dragon • The Broken Sphere