One thing that strikes me: their life may be easier in many ways than that of sailors, but if the winds kick up and an skyman should fall from the platform on the mast, there's nowhere but down down down to fall. He's not going to go splat on the deck below and pick himself up with a bit of moaning. He's going to SPLAT! way far below.
Cattservant: Hooray for your speedy return as well!
Sean: excellent point, although gravity as we know it does not function in this world; rather, things fall toward their "proper place" according to classical principles (water under earth, earth under air, etc). A person's proper place is the ground of whatever celestial body is nearest. However, depending on the ship's position, a man fallen off the mast may tumble past all the planets and into the depths of hell. A handful of saints are remembered for floating upwards to heaven, but no one living has seen it happen.
Even though this is a completely fantastical world, you inject an element of realism into it. All of those tiny researched details of a time when ships sailed the seas in search of new lands, and societies were ruled by royalty. Only in this world, the mythological still exists. It's like a cross between the renaissance and a Jules Verne novel. I very much like it.
Returned
To our way!
[It's not surprising that the Aethernauts are an insular lot.]
Sean: excellent point, although gravity as we know it does not function in this world; rather, things fall toward their "proper place" according to classical principles (water under earth, earth under air, etc). A person's proper place is the ground of whatever celestial body is nearest. However, depending on the ship's position, a man fallen off the mast may tumble past all the planets and into the depths of hell. A handful of saints are remembered for floating upwards to heaven, but no one living has seen it happen.
Probably won't be.