If an airship can be supported by either a fire or an air elemental, why can only a d’Lyrandar control the elemental when a d’Orien can control the air elemental for the lightning rail? For the same reason a Lyrandar can’t control a lightning rail. They don’t directly control the elemental; they use tools (Lightning Reins or a Wheel of Wind and Water) that amplify the power of a particular mark and are integrated with the specific vehicle.
— Keith Baker (@HellcowKeith) November 26, 2019
The premise is that this is about more than simply “generating motive power.” The airship *moves through the air* and the elemental galleon *moves through water* — and air and water are the realm of the Mark of Storm. The lightning rail *moves over land* — and that is Passage.
— Keith Baker (@HellcowKeith) November 28, 2019
The lightning rail and airship both use bound air elementals — but they use them to do two different things. It’s back to the point that it’s magic employed in an industrial fashion, but it’s still MAGIC. It’s not just controlling an elemental; it’s about what it accomplishes. So the Wheel of Wind and Water is a tool for *guiding a vehicle over water or through air* and as such, it’s the domain of Storm.
— Keith Baker (@HellcowKeith) November 28, 2019
Both lightning reins and the wheel of wind and water do more than just control the elemental; they control the VEHICLE, and that’s where the different marks come into play.
— Keith Baker (@HellcowKeith) November 28, 2019