Montgolfier Brothers' Sackcloth

Origin
Joseph-Michel and Jacques-Étienne Montgolfier invented the globe aérostatique (Montgolfière) style hot air balloon, launching the first piloted ascent. After early experiments, they settled on using a triple-layered sackcloth for the balloon itself, decorated in a gold-blue scheme containing the zodiac. The brothers also laid a lightweight taffeta silk over a wooden crate as their basket. To prove their boldness, they agreed to hold public demonstrations during their test flights, including the calibration test that sent a goat, duck and rooster up for safety measures.

Effects
Lighting a flame beneath the canopy will cause the flame to sustain itself and propel the cloth, whether it is attached to a load or not. To become active, a large crowd must be actively looking at it, or at least momentarily noticing its presence. Rough sections of the sky and ground will split apart and drift away. In their place will just be large gaps, pulsating with color and texture but without solid form. Each piece will move until they settle down in a spot opposite from where they are normally fixed, causing the local sky and ground to reverse locations. Pieces are prone to crashing horribly while in transit, causing great damage to anything aboard them.