A strange machinery

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Caldarion
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A strange machinery

Post by Caldarion »

~ Caldarion can often be seen in the workshop of Galmair working on a strange device. Only people accustomed to seafaring might recognize that this must be a heavy anchor and fitting winch for a chain.
While is usual brews simmer in the Laboratory he sits at the table to study several books and taking notes.
After some days of scribbling calculations on parchments, he finally comes up with a some drawings and construction blueprints for the project.
He is quite protective of that thick stack of notes, the top parchment reads something like this: ~


Longboat, Nordman type, Small.
Length: 50 feet
Width: 9 feet

Railing height: 6 feet
Depth of flotation: 2 feet (fully loaded 3 feet)

Pole heigth: 30 feet (yard with square sail)
Sail Canvas: 25x15 feet (blue for camoflage)

Oars: 10 (in 5 rows + 1 rudder)
Oar length: 15 feet
Crew: 12 (10 passengers / oarsmen, 1 steerman, 1 navigator)
Payload: lots
Estimated top speed: 10 knot (12 with orc oarsmen)

Image


Construction summary:

Hardwood planks, mortized and bolted, keel type B.
Image

Deck (pp.18) and pole (pp.21): Conifer wood

Rudder, right hand side. pp. 26
Anchor, custom design. pp. 28

Reinforcements:
- Usual tarred and waxed wood, and canvas
- Storm protection charm
- Fire resistance paste
- Details see pp.32
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Uhuru
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Re: A strange machinery

Post by Uhuru »

She takes her family to look all around the waterways, marching up and down the area, over bridges and all around. They look at the harbor, where ships are docked and find rocks at the shore and monsters roaming around, but find no better place. "Besides," she says, "this is where the Don had his ship docked for repairs, so it must be the place he would prefer." They agree this is the spot and head back to town.
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Re: A strange machinery

Post by Evie »

*standing near the woodworking table in the smithy, a redhaired woman can be seen tossing some parchments into the glass furnace before taking out fresh pieces and drawing anew*

"My plan for frames is to small, I have to plan bigger." she mutters to herself for awhile before nailing a few boards of conifer together producing a piece of frame work.

Dragging the frame near the smelter, she takes each wood type one at a time and nails one end to the frame before throwing a bucket of water onto the smelter and using the hot steam to warp the boards in a curved fashion.

Several hours later, face red and dripping with perspiration she stares at the frame with the four wood types nodding her head several times. "Aye that will do.."
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Uhuru
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Re: A strange machinery

Post by Uhuru »

She sits around a fire with her family. He says they want something bigger. Her eyes grow large and her mouth hangs open as he continues to tell them what they want in the design. The others in stunned silence as well. The place they had planned to build this thing is just not going to work. He tells them where they want it built and her jaw drops even lower.

"Where are we to store supplies?"

"How are we to get supplies there?"

We all ask questions. We have a mountain of supplies to gather and get as near as possible to the build site. "It will take weeks to build." But we all agree, we are hard workers and, when focused, can move mountains.
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Uhuru
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Re: A strange machinery

Post by Uhuru »

Hearing a rumor of supplies being found at the East Harbor, Evie, Cal, Uhuru and Brawndara rush out to investigate.

Cal says, "The crew was damn busy!" Uhuru looks around at all the supplies. They are piled everywhere. Stacks of wood, cloth, piles of crates. Evie exclaims, "They are fast." Brawndara asks as he looks around in wonder, "So this was what yall were working on?" Uhuru climbs up on a crate, sits down and looks around. She tells Brawn this is it, what we've been working so hard on the last couple of days before asking, "Is it all here?"

Caldarion flips open a notebook and checks the piles of supplies against a long list, checking things off as he goes. Uhuru comments that all the ropes and tools must be in crates. Evie chimes in that the pins should be too. Uhuru nods slowly as she ponders this then says something about the pins and cotters being in the crates as well. Caldarion begins looking at the crates for labels to match against his list while Evie tries to pry open a crate with a dagger. Caldarion peeks inside and says, "I think we can start. Looks pretty good."

Remembering something, Uhuru comments that we will need to bring the tools out that we forgot to hand over. Agreeing, Caldarion remarks that he's glad it's only two bag's worth. As they all walk around the crates and piles of wood, Evie notices the fire and is pleased. Caldarion exclaims, "Evie, we can set up a great bending-station here!" Caldarion nods contently, looking at all the supplies, "The hull skeleton....guess we can begin with the setup."

Uhuru looks at the fire and at them confusedly and asks, "You'll need the fire?" They both respond, nearly talking one over the other...Evie says, "aye for steam, to curve the boards." Just a moment before Caldarion says, "Its all about bending the wood perfectly." Evie further explains that it's for the aft and stern.

"Guess i should buy a ship with the brick coin...." Brawndara comments playfully, "or maybe a palace like Tula said." Everyone smiles and Evie suggest he build his own ship, which we are doing.

We continue to plan some before heading out to prepare to begin the arduous process of building the large ship.
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Re: A strange machinery

Post by Evie »

Walking up from Yewdale with a stack of buckets and a long forked hammer, Evie arrives at the Eastern harbor once again. She set the buckets by the crates the pulls out the hammer she brought along prying open the boxes til she finds pins. "I will save my daggers for the animals around" she thinks to herself. She drops her bag after removing a parchment with the details of the full size bending frames they will need. She eyes the log piles then with a sigh sits her plans on a crate weighted down with a rock and starts dragging the logs to where the frame will be constructed.


Several hours pass and the base of the structure is in place near the camp fire. At the sound of foots steps Evie looks up quickly expecting more Giant Demonbeasts, a sigh of relief is heard as she recognizes her sister and her sisters mate. "Your here at the perfect time!"


With the assistance of her family, the bending frames are soon completed and talk turns to were to place a platform so the frame work of the hull can be started. After everything is finalized and the forgotten tools stored into a crate, they pack up and head to town to get some sleep and be ready to start tomorrow.
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Re: A strange machinery

Post by Evie »

A familiar red hair human female is seen approaching the east harbor muttering about loss of manpower due to dwarves and having to guard the mine. She then consults a piece of parchment and starts building. Working deep into the night and into the following day, the figure glances to her work before falling asleep. It appears to be taking the form of a large platform.
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Uhuru
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Re: A strange machinery

Post by Uhuru »

Uhuru walks out of town, ready to take out the frustrations she has for a certain purple lizard on something else. She takes her sister and they walk out to the East Harbor were they continue to work on the project.

They both look over the design diagram after opening some crates and taking out some tools. Evie begins nailing boards down on a platform as I carry a large pile of boards over, laying them out in a line. I then go back and pull out a large basketful of pins and lay pins out on the boards to make the work go more quickly and smoothly. We get the boards nailed down in what feels like record time!

We look at our work, Evie seems quite satisfied, but my work is obviously sub-par as the boards are crooked and the nails aren’t in all the way and bent over in places. Evie asks me to replace one as she jumps up and down on my side and one of the boards seems to move with her. I set to my task, replacing the board and then I pounce on it forcefully, making sure it is stable and it stays in place as it should.

Evie suggests a pulley or winch system to lift the heavier items. Uhuru asks her what this is. Evie explains that it was something they used on the farm for lifting the animals after they were slaughtered and she begins to pull a rope up into a cherry tree and, when she is back on the ground, she lifts a log with it. Uhuru smiles brightly and exclaims at how much work this will save us. We look at the other tree, a naldor, which doesn’t seem very sturdy. Evie tries to shake it before climbing it. She calls out as she makes her way up, “There aren’t as many branches up here.” Evie’s boot slips and bark and leaves scatter down towards the ground and all over me. I begin to flail my arms about to clear the debris out of my way so I can see her in case I need to catch her if she falls when the other end of the rope comes down and lands on my head as Evie has threaded it through the branches. Evie finally begins the climb down, losing her footing, sliding down the tree and skinning up her arms but somehow managing to land on her feet.

Evie begins yammering about stop poles and logs, completely confusing me so I just stand there watching her as she looks at the plans. Evie explains, “Basically the ship is set on a platform of rolling logs. We built a base so the logs don’t get stuck in the mud. We put long poles on the ends to hold the logs in place. When the ship is done, we remove the poles, the logs roll, and the ship goes into the water. Hopefully.” We look over the plans again before getting back to work.

I dig four deep holes, two at each end and Evie places a log upright in each one. We dump in some rocks in each, then some mud, finally filling each with the dirt, which was removed from each hole. With the platform in between, we begin laying logs on top. After which, I walk up and down, testing each log to make sure it will roll properly. We are forced to replace several that are misshapen or remove small branch areas that stick out on some logs. I walk it again, testing that they all roll properly, not once, but twice. “Sister, this is critical, Cal will kill us if we can’t get the ship into the water,” I explain, as I continue walking back and forth. Sister says, “Then the lizard will finish us off.” We both laugh a little while we keep working.

I head over to the fire for a short break, offering sister some chicken soup while we discuss what we work on next. Evie decides to start the board bending process, telling me I have an important job. She says, “I am going to work with the wood. You have to keep the fire big and strong… and pour water around the rocks at the edges to make steam. That’s your job… hot fire and lots of steam.” With that, we both set to work for what turns into a very long night. I grab my buckets and start running back and forth from the river to the fire while she begins moving boards over to the framework and affixing some and bending them to the proper shape.
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Caldarion
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Re: A strange machinery

Post by Caldarion »

Cal, and a small motivated group of man, are in cheerful mood while working at the harbour. On the workbenches the framing parts for the hull are about to be prepared. Everyone of these young carpenters speaks about the generousity of the shipmaster, Cal just thinks 'However of you messes up, will not get his full payment from me'.

He hurries from worker to worker, taking exact meassurements of the framing pieces, giving advice with cutting the exact notches and grooves. Once in a while he curses and waves his construction book around, sometimes he utters surprised words of admiration on the crafters' work. Overall the mood is cheerful, and also the evil beasts of the nearby wood let the now busy place alone.

The stack of prepared framing parts gets higher and higher, while at the same time the prepared wooden trunks get fewer and fewer.

Hulk construction is finally going to take place. "The main center beam, thats the heart of our hull!" Cal controls and supervises every workstep exactly, as the fellowship work to setup the first outline of the ship's hull. The construction grows on top of the platform. Keel and frames are already recognizable, for some it might look like the skeleton of a huge beast that lays there.

Image


On the seldom occations when Cal lays away his construction book, people can read something of the following:
Large Galeon. Offshore Trade and War
Length: 160 feet
Width: 30 feet

Lowest Railing height: 15 feet
Depth of flotation: 6 feet (fully loaded 8 feet)

Poles: 3
Pole heigth: 45 feet (middle, double yard with square sail) , 30 feet (front, double yard with square sail), 20 feet (aft, spanker sail)
Sail Canvas: 25x15 feet (blue for camoflage)

Crew: 24 (1 captain, 1 steerman, 1 navigator, 1 commander, 10 able sailors, 10 ordinary seamen as a minimal crew)
Payload: lots
Estimated top speed: 12 knot (15 with full rigger crew)

Image


Construction summary:

Skeleton (pp.3 ) of hardwood, Plankings (pp. 7) of cherrywood
Deck (pp.18) and poles (pp.24): Conifer wood
Canvas and Rigging (pp. 35)

Armament (otional):

2x 6 Arbalest (under deck)
Heavy balista on deck (gynk flame ammunition)

Reinforcements:
- Usual tarred and waxed wood, and canvas
- Storm protection charm
- Fire resistance paste
- Details see pp.38
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Re: A strange machinery

Post by Evie »

*A slow walking figure approaches the fire in the darkness and stokes it up larger. From the reflection in the flames the face appears tired*

Evie yawns loudly and pulls out her supplies starting up the process of preparing the last few remaining planks.
She thinks to herself "I need to get these finished, and stacked back to the side before sister and Vel start in on the ropes and sails, besides the hull is coming along nicely and these are going to be needed soon"
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Re: A strange machinery

Post by Uhuru »

Uhuru rushes from town to the worksite and just watches the men as they work on the hull for a time in awe at how large it has grown. “The small drawing doesn’t do this thing justice, it’s huge!” Not finding Velisai or any work being done on the sails or rope ladders, knowing she isn’t allowed to hold a hammer herself, she begins helping the men by handing needed tools and wood to those in need.

“This is amazing, look at how tightly all these boards fit together,” I comment with a note of wonder in my voice to nobody in particular as I look over a rather large looking “beam” that runs right down the middle of the whole thing. This is actually many pieces of wood put together to form one strong, tight seal the entire length of the ship. “And then they bend and curve up the bow. So interesting.”
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Uhuru
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Re: A strange machinery

Post by Uhuru »

After the men finish the hull, nailing all the siding on, Uhuru stands back and admires their work with much happiness. They don’t rest long before taking up buckets of a rather sticky substance and begin to slather it all over the sides up beyond the estimation of where the waterline will be when fully weighted down. I look at the substance in the bucket and make a bad face as it smells awful, but at least this, I know how to do, so I jump in and help out, working alongside the others. Many men are there, working from the ground while others are swinging and hanging from ropes up above. I swing buckets of gunk up to them using the winch line Evie put into place earlier and things move along very quickly as the men suddenly begin singing a song and “painting” this goo on in a quick rhythm.

I’m surprised to learn that the goo doesn’t need any time to dry. As soon as we are done putting it on, we begin the process of heaving the hull out into the water. This is not an easy process as the hull is very heavy and the logs don’t roll as easily as they did while standing on their own, but with enough ropes tied onto the hull and enough manpower pulling and pushing her along, and sheer force of will, we manage to get the thing in, splashing many of us in the process.

I climb inside along with a few other men and we search for any seepage or leaks, where water is getting inside. We spot three areas that are bad and send men out to cover them with more goo. We watch a while, making sure the areas no longer drip and that no other areas have begun to leak before we determine the hull is sound. After which, we all finally relax for the night and celebrate around a big fire with beer and wine and much noise and boastful talk. I finally sleep soundly behind a crate for the first time in days.
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Re: A strange machinery

Post by Velisai »

Although her hands have lost all the delicacy they once had over the years of hard work, sewing the sails had been much more pleasant than handling the ropes, which left some painful blisters. Stitch after stitch the monotonous task had gone by with her mind wandering to the near future, when the ship would be ready to take off for the maiden voyage.

Velisai hated sailing. Not even living on an island for over a decade had made it easier for her to bear the thought of only a few planks of wood separating her from Tanora's unimaginably deep, dark and cold realm. The idea of sailing with these strange people however, even though they never mentioned needing a crew of locals, filled her with excitement. Not only did she dispise her militia job and the general direction fate was taking her and the rest of Illarion, she was also very curious to learn what the strangers were up to and where they came from. The money, though certainly not unwelcome, didn't even cross her mind when she daydreamed about what interesting places she might see and the things she might learn.
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Re: A strange machinery

Post by Uhuru »

Upon awakening, she sees Velisai hard at work on the rope work and sails. After breaking her fast, she runs over and digs in to help pleased with the progress that has already been made. "Blue sails, this ship is going to be so unusual. I can't wait to see it once it is complete!"
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Caldarion
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Re: A strange machinery

Post by Caldarion »

Cal proudly watches the bodyshell of the ship, how it peacefully lays in the landing of the harbour. "The new year waits for you" He seems to speak to the ship.

The workplaces are all clean and tidied up. As twilight begins not many people are left at the construction site. He locks the last chest, checks the last ropes before they all head back to town. As they march off he looks back over his shoulder and says "No work will be done here during Mas."
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Uhuru
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Re: A strange machinery

Post by Uhuru »

After the new year begins and a much needed rest, well, passing out really, for an extended period of time... Uhuru returned her attention back to the sails with Velisai where they are hard at work.
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Caldarion
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Re: A strange machinery

Post by Caldarion »

The construction place is very busy again, populated with several workers and loud noise of tool everywhere.

The masts are in place now, seeable from quite a distance away, towering over the surrounding forest. The vessel almost looks like a real ship already.

Cal and his family, along with some hired hands, work to get the tween deck and the upper deck finished. Ladders are in place and Cabin stands already. Evie and Cal work to get the rudder mechanics in place, Uhuru and Vel are busy to to prepare the mounts for the sails and rigging.

"Soon we can go to the finishing works, soon we can bring the first furniture on board." he says at the end of a busy day. A track of workers onload a figurehead, shiny metal railings, an anchor and several other instrumentation at the site.
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Re: A strange machinery

Post by Uhuru »

She receives a note via dove and gasps. "Sister, what trouble have you gotten me into now!" She yells across the work yard. "Why, oh why, is the Don demanding to see us?!" I begin running around all over looking for Evie and trying to figure out what is going on. "You know we don't have time for this!"
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Re: A strange machinery

Post by Uhuru »

After the meeting with the Don, I’m irritable and cranky. “Total waste of time! Put it off for another time? How many hours wasted? Nearly half a day!” I finally manage to get away from town, fleeing anyone else in need of food, and make haste for the construction site.

As I arrive, I take a small rowboat out to the ship, climbing a rope ladder up onto the ship, I begin assessing the progress made by the work crew while I was away. Now I can smile as the cabins are taking shape and nearing completion, finishes are being applied and looking good. Finally, something goes right!
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Re: A strange machinery

Post by Evie »

The Pryler sisters arrive to the work site in high spirits talking of the election and how soon this job will be done. As Uhuru wanders off to find her working man, Evie climbs aboard the ship. Grabbing Uhuru away from Cal after all items have been gathered, she gets her assistance installing the rigging and the sails. Then after a quick check to make sure there is no wind, they start testing the rigging and sails one at a time.
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Uhuru
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Re: A strange machinery

Post by Uhuru »

Uhuru arrives at the ship to see that all the decks are completed and the last of the finish is being applied. She joins Cal and they walk the entire ship, looking for any issues, addressing them as they arise before moving on. This inspection lasts all night and well into the morning. Afterwards, Cal paid each crewman, thanking him for his dedicated service and hard work. Cal returned to me and we tiredly returned to town, falling into the bed in our flat and sleeping a dreamless and exhausted sleep.
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