02 - Iron Kingdoms W.. - Captain Spud Is Amazing

102 Iron Kingdoms
108.1.141.197
has become an increasingly common sight. Today,
pure sailing ships remain widespread in the deep
waters, but without a doubt shallow-keeled, steamspewing,
coal-powered vessels have overtaken the
rivers and streams.
Increasingly common sights aboard the steamers,
especially below decks, are the pint-sized, greasesmeared
gobbers. The reasoning here is simple: they
are small and just as proficient at technical matters
as any human. Below decks, gobbers are employed to
keep steam plants running and squirm into places that
many humans cannot in order to make fast repairs.
Cognizant of nearly every detail, they make excellent
quartermasters, and as is the case on dry land, many a
water-faring gobber is an able cannoneer. In a human,
these traits make for a good sailor; in a gobber who
takes up less than half as much space as a human,
this package of traits can be indespensible to many a
captain. Gobbers also use up half the resources and
are rarely known to be lazy. Aside from brute strength,
they are often the equals of their human counterparts,
and not many humans can match a gobber’s zeal in
tackling a troublesome steam engine.
What’s a knot?
a knot is short for “nautiCal mile.” a nautiCal mile is
someWhat longer than a statute (or land) mile and measures
6,080 feet. one knot is approximately 1.15 land miles per
hour, so if a riverboat is heading doWnriver at a Clip of seven
knots, it is Covering a little over eight miles per hour.
Where did the term originate? ingenious mariners devised
a speed-measuring deviCe that Was both reliable and easy to
use. it Was Called a “log line.” the log line Was a length
of tWine marked at roughly 47-foot intervals by Colored
knots. at one end of the tWine Was fastened a CirCular log
Chip Weighted With lead. When throWn over the stern, the
Chip Would float and remain relatively stationary. the log
line Was alloWed to run free over the side for 28 seConds
and then hauled on board. shipmen Would Count the knots
that had passed over the side, and in this Way they measured
the ship’s speed.
What’s a fathom?
long ago, men often referenCed points on their oWn bodies
as a Way of measuring size or distanCe. the arm span from
fingertip to fingertip Was a Common measurement, and the
Word for this Was faeTm, meaning literally “the embraCing
arms” or “to embraCe.” this distanCe, on average, is six feet.
sailors of the time Would estimate the length of their
lines—Chiefly in measuring Cables, Cordage, and the depth
of navigable Water—by faetms, WhiCh evolved into the Word
fathom. thus a fathom is approximately six feet.
Ships of the Iron Kingdoms
Sailing Ships and Merchant Vessels
Are ye telling me that His Royal
Majesty sent me a cack-handed, inkstained
pillock of a swot to pepper a
busy man like me with questions, and
you don’t even know where to begin? If
I didn’t have a trading charter, I’d toss
yer arse over the rails, boy. However,
since His Royal Mah-jess-tee wants a
book on sailing, we’ll just have to give it
to him, now won’t we? Let’s start at the
beginning so’s you don’t get yerself all
mixed up. Here we go, laddybuck. Just
tell me if yer hand starts crampin’.
Wind power has been a resource of the sophisticated
races of Immoren for millennia. Almost every culture
has constructed sailing vessels of some kind, from
crude log or reed rafts to highly developed barks and
clipper ships. At present there are two types of ships in
the kingdoms: sailing ships and steam ships.
Most sailing ships are constructed of wood,
although recent vessels are often built with ironreinforced
hulls and masts. Sailing ships are classified
according to their rigging. To a landlubber, anything
bigger than a rowboat is a ship, but to the sailors of
Immoren there is a world of difference.
Some of the major classifications are:
Ship
Classification Mast & Rigging
clipper 3 or more masts, all square rigged
bark
—Halford Bray, captain of the steamship Palaxis
3 or more masts, all but the last squarerigged