It was not meant to be specific. But I'll pass your assessment of the design on to tol Scaeva, when next I chance to meet him.
[Which may well be some time, all things considered. But rather than bother with anything else along that line of discussion he turns instead to the more relevant details of design.]
As I recall, they were initially designed to support a larger - and more well-armed - warmachina. The forward armament - and it is meant to be a form of cannon - would have served to harry any adventurers foolhardy enough to seek the warmachina's destruction. However, the fixed position of the cannon would require them to fly at relatively low altitude. They may well have been beyond the reach of swords, yes. But they would not have been beyond the range of any of a variety of ranged attacks. Which would have included not only magic but the jumping attacks often favored by spear-wielders.
Thus, the presence of what you have termed a helmet.
[There's a brief pause there, but it's more to let his words sink in than any suggestion that he's ready to be finished with his explanation.]
As for the wings, those are a common design in ceruleum-powered vessels. For example...
[There's a moment of silence and the sound of sketching, before Emet offers up drawings of a strangely vertical ship that's possibly designed to see use on land and in the air, given the addition of what looks like clockwork legs on the undercarriage, as well as one of more typical airship.
Neither are to the level of detail as the technical details for the magitek bit he'd offered earlier, but it's still enough to get a general sense for what he means.]
You are, at least, correct that the wings would pose an easy target. But the fact that they are constantly in motion makes them difficult targets to hit accurately.
Voice
[Which may well be some time, all things considered. But rather than bother with anything else along that line of discussion he turns instead to the more relevant details of design.]
As I recall, they were initially designed to support a larger - and more well-armed - warmachina. The forward armament - and it is meant to be a form of cannon - would have served to harry any adventurers foolhardy enough to seek the warmachina's destruction. However, the fixed position of the cannon would require them to fly at relatively low altitude. They may well have been beyond the reach of swords, yes. But they would not have been beyond the range of any of a variety of ranged attacks. Which would have included not only magic but the jumping attacks often favored by spear-wielders.
Thus, the presence of what you have termed a helmet.
[There's a brief pause there, but it's more to let his words sink in than any suggestion that he's ready to be finished with his explanation.]
As for the wings, those are a common design in ceruleum-powered vessels. For example...
[There's a moment of silence and the sound of sketching, before Emet offers up drawings of a strangely vertical ship that's possibly designed to see use on land and in the air, given the addition of what looks like clockwork legs on the undercarriage, as well as one of more typical airship.
Neither are to the level of detail as the technical details for the magitek bit he'd offered earlier, but it's still enough to get a general sense for what he means.]
You are, at least, correct that the wings would pose an easy target. But the fact that they are constantly in motion makes them difficult targets to hit accurately.