Tradesman

A tradesman, also known as a flying fish, was a very common spelljamming ship found in Realmspace and surrounding crystal spheres.^[1]^[3]

Description[]

A tradesman was a small, fish-shaped ship. Its spelljamming helm was located on the aft section. It could be either above its gravity plane, or, in dangerous situations, be flipped upside down. A ship needed a minimum crew of ten individuals in order to work properly and could support a maximum compliment of 25 creatures without compromising its air supply.^[1]

Tradesmen were short-ranged vessels typically employed by merchants in interplanetary travel. Slightly modified, more heavily armed versions were also frequently used as pirate ships that preyed on other tradesmen and galleons.^[1]

Spelljammer battle — *A tradesman being broadsided by another vessel.*

Tradesmen were relatively cheap to build and easy to maintain. For that reason, they were the preferred first vessel acquired by adventurers and were used by crews of all races, such as humans, lizardfolk, elves, dwarves, gnomes, and even mind flayers and other typically non-spacefaring races.^[1]

History[]

Sometime in the distant past, a tradesman with a human crew and a trading ship with a darven crew and orc prisoners were attacked by illithids near Glyth while en route to Selûne. Managing to escape after taking heavy damage, the ships made an emergency landing on Chandos. The dangerous ever-shifting terrain destroyed both ships and left the occupants marooned on the planet.^[4]