W&W Co.

W&W Company was founded by Aaron and Aaric Winston, both avid aircraft designers. After failing business numerous times, they finally found an investor and started W&W with their first product: The Recreational Air Vehicle Mk. I. Advertised as a small luxury craft, the R.A.V I boasted ten rooms, four exterior ports for flight modules, two glass “pods” on either side of the ship, and an onboard automaton P.I.L.O.T (Programmed In Low Orbit Travel). The allure of the R.A.V was its ease of use, due to having an advanced autopilot, and the ease of customization. One could make it into a slow luxury observation blimp, a hunting hovercraft, or a high-speed rocket cruiser fairly easy.

 Using their success, W&W developed the Military Air Vehicle (M.A.V) alongside the R.A.V program, creating a modular combat vehicle designed for aerial transportation of troops. It was quite popular for some time and was described as a flying centipede, but was quickly abandoned after a few battles where more efficient aircraft were used.

 

Work on the R.A.V Mk. II began soon after the M.A.V’s discontinuation. R.A.V II had more exterior upgrade ports, sixteen rooms, and a much more powerful engine, while being only slightly bigger than the R.A.V I. R.A.V II was a success due to even greater customization modules, but the high price meant far fewer were produced.

 

After Aaron Winston died in a fall, Aaric took full control of the business and quickly became disillusioned with the company’s goal. Aaron’s creativity was gone, so Aaric invented the R.A.V Mk. III by himself. It was an abyssal failure. The R.A.V III had the greatest customization options, but flew like a brick. Because it was one. Each room was square-shaped and sold separately, allowing potentially unlimited custom options and limitless size. But it was ugly and performed poorly, thus quickly fell out of production. Despite the failure, some Mk. IIIs had some success in military due to their rigorous design, and are now valuable collector items.

 

W&W slowly collapsed. Aaric dismantled the shipyard to pay off mounting debts, then disappeared, leaving the rest of the place to rot. Today, the factory sits half-buried in sand on the northern border of the Shattered Desert, a twisted series of metal platforms long abandoned and overrun. Travelers, bandits, and vagabonds who stop there often tell tales of strange flying machines or people, but reports are always met with skepticism.