Ocean expedition 1256
They say news travels fast and bad news even faster. Hence it was unsurprising that news of the capsizing of the Empire’s first floating fortress reached Kingdom ears within days.
The floating fortress idea was a multi decked vessel that was loaded up with heavy cannon to be capable of bombarding shore locations as readily as other ships. There were rumours aplenty about all the possible reasons she sank, truth was that a combination of design flaws, too much weight poorly distributed and lower deck gun ports being open when she healed over whilst tacking caused the loss of the vessel with most hands, including the First Admiral.
Until that catastrophe both factions were competing to seemingly build the largest ship of war, even against the advice of some of their leading sailors.
Upon receipt of the news though, Kingdom halted production immediately and took stock. Eventually both factions shifted their thinking to smaller and more manoeuvrable and faster vessels. Of course, for a range of reasons, the merchant’s guild combined with other neutral interests had started their ship building at the smaller end – hence, it was the privateers and merchants who led the way in ocean going vessel development. Given their overwhelmingly vaster resources and centralised governing though it would not take long for factions to catch up and ultimately overtake neutral interests. This was unsurprising and seemed the natural order of things. In the meantime, there were riches to be gathered.
The harbour in Doomsayer’s Keep had long been referred to as bustling and it was, however, now the nature of vessels had markedly changed. There were still the coastal luggers, not in as much abundance now, and the odd river lugger that had braved the coastal run, but now the main vessels were the ocean going, much sturdier built and generally with a deeper draft vessel. Ranging from sloop type vessels up to a frigate class ship and ocean worthy galleons. The trader’s guild tended towards galleons with sloops and a few brigs as security, whereas the privateers and adventurers tended towards the brig or the more highly favoured frigates. Frigates were the largest (Generally) of the ocean-going war ships, they were fast, agile vessels, yet were also heavily armed with up to 75 guns (capacity) on the largest ones, they were rare though admittedly. One particular group of ships garnered particular attention – a fleet of seven ships, two Frigates, two brigs a sloop of war and a pair of Demi’s (smaller galleons) were shortly due to embark on one of the first ocean explorations in hundreds of years. There were the rumours of course of others who had sailed beyond the horizon, however, no evidence of anyone returning. It was hoped that would not be the case with this mission and that the wonders beyond the shore would be bountiful. Gathering officers and crews had been initially challenging, however, once there was a small group of officers gathered, things began to move along faster. Of course, the expedition was well funded which helped too. Several of the officers brought crews (and their own ships) along, the man in charge of the fleet had neither ship nor crew beyond the twenty or so he brought along. He had knowledge though – he came from one the ocean families as they were colloquially known. All ocean families served in faction navies either for Hadovean or Geldheim, but they also had knowledge of navigation by stars and other useful ideas if ever there were ships worthy of ocean going. They understood that their kind had been there before and all of them yearned to rediscover what had been lost. Tombs squinted into the early morning sunlight to catch a look at the ships – despite his general disinterest in floating things he could not help but be impressed, particularly by the frigates. “So, one of them is ours you say?” he looked side eyed at Tall as he asked. “Aye,” replied Tall, smiling at his good fortune. Tombs chuckled to himself; he swore the old man had lost twenty years of age. Tall had been approached to lead a mission to sea, for Henry this was a surreal dream come true moment – for as long as he could recall he had gazed out beyond the horizon. He had cleared it with Tombs and Baelin and had brokered the deal. He was well aware it was his knowledge and experience that was being sought and upon hearing just an outline of the plan he knew what he wanted. Red company would have a new frigate out of this deal at the very least, what he ended up with was a little better than just the frigate. Both Tombs and Baelin had approved of the deal, a quantity of gold paid to red company up front as part of the agreement and this had occurred promptly. They walked along the dock together, celebrations were winding down and it was time to board, the other captains were already heading towards their ships. Henry paused at the gangplank, turning to shake hands with Tombs, “Good fortunes to you Major – keep Tabai on top of looking after my sloop If you please.” He said with a wink and a smirk. Tombs laughed, shook the captain’s hand, slapped his shoulder, “Aye captain, my sloop will be looked after.” All three men laughed together. Turning to Baelin, Baelin spoke first, “Look after our crew friend, and of course yourself” a slight smile. Henry took the offered hand in a firm grasp and shook. “Will do my best there, the sea is a fickle mistress though” replied Henry. Among his crew were eighteen red company crew and Kona their healer, this is who Baelin was referring to, although Henry knew he probably included the rest of the crew, partially at the very least. A nod and a smile and he turned and climbed the gangway onto his deck, the men on the dock heard whistles piping from the ship and their friend disappeared aboard her. From the vantage point they could see the ship’s deck spring to life – mooring ropes fell away, sails were hauled, the ships caught the morning tide for some assistance as the light wind filled sails, cracking and snapping as if to attention, and the small fleet moved, slowly at first, but steadily towards the open water and adventure. Henry briefly revelled in the moment coming aboard a brand-new ship, snapping out of his reverie he gave the lieutenant the order to take her out, she called the crew to order and set some aloft to get the ship under way. The rest of the fleet was signalled compliments and ordered to form up on the flag ship. Henry watched briefly as the ships in his flotilla came into formation, handed command over to Lieutenant Orarlosto and he made his way to his cabin to change from his dress uniform. Vixen had made her way below decks with her possessions, awkwardly – the narrow and steep companionway had been daunting at first, she would eventually get used to it, but not today. She eventually made her way to the orlop, it was new and clean – the wooden tables were gleaming highly polished timber, wall cabinets filled with all manner of tinctures, tonics, ointments, and concoctions. Vixen recognised some items until her eyes were taken with the ‘things’ on the wall. She could not tell if they were ornaments, weapons or what their meaning was. She felt the presence behind her before hearing the cough, she turned to face the rotund figure of ruddy faced Connell the ship’s healer. “You’ve not been ta sea before have ya lass?” he wheezed gruffly. Vixen, unsure how to respond nodded, realising that she was with her new colleague, she thrust out her hand in greeting, “Vixen…Kona…” an awkward silence drew out uncomfortably. “A no then I take it” blurted out Connell pushing past her further into the Orlop – waving a hand at his various saws, blades, and assorted probes – “Tools o' the trade on a ship M’dear” he chortled. She nodded, realisation dawning. “Most of the time at sea you’re either helping ‘em shit, or helping them not shit, fixing the odd result from incurable stupidity and hang overs”, against her will she felt herself smiling, the older man produced a hip flask and pulled a generous drink from it, he pushed it into her hand, “you’ll learn to enjoy this soon enough…” he said gruffly. Kona’s nose wrinkled as she sniffed the contents of the flask – she sipped and immediately her mouth and throat were afire. She almost coughed as she noted the warmth spread from her stomach moving out to her limbs – it was not unpleasant. The ship’s healer continued, “if we get into a bit of action then your main job will be removal of the destroyed bits. Arms, legs, fingers, toes, eyes and all manner of ghastly repairs.” He paused, sipping, “You’ll drink your fill then lass.” His voice trailed off. Kona had heard of these “ship’s” healers, they were priestly sort of, this Connell left much to be desired on that front, however, they also practiced other healing arts. From what she could gather the less invasive parts were not much different to the herb lore that she understood. She would see for herself now she though. “Welcome aboard anyway, after all that joy…” He leaned in, winking and offering a hand. She caught the smell of Rum, tobacco and sweat as she grasped his hand in reply. His grasp was steady and firm. She looked to the next few months with some trepidations to be sure. However, as it turned out, she would take to shipboard life quite well with one very slight bout of the wave sickness which she was certainly not alone in, seeing, hearing, and treating quite a few of the crew for much more serious bouts.
The first few weeks at sea were uneventful in every respect. Good winds, fair weather they made good headway up the coast. The fleet had remained on station extremely well, with Tall’s frigate out front, the two supply ships side by side behind, a brig either side of them with the other frigate protecting the rear of the fleet. The sloop skipped and danced about the fleet or went scouting ahead and reporting back. All the while crews on all ships drilled running guns out, running them back in, closing gun ports, manoeuvring. Henry was eager for them to train with live ammunition long before being tested in battle, but he was patient as they developed all the other necessary skills. The fleet made rendezvous with a small flotilla from the trade guild standing off Scorla’s Revenge – to Henry’s delight they topped up provisions, but more importantly provided powder and shot specifically for the drills Henry had been waiting to do and so it was, as they sailed north westerly away from the Ashnoor coastline guns crews began really training in earnest. The wisdom of training now became clear with the very first broadside the Windsong unleashed. Fifteen heavy cannons firing in very close to volley firing were deafening, the entire ship shuddered from the force of the cannon’s erupting. Those who had experienced ship board life previously were demonstrably nonplussed by the thunderous shock, others though fell to their knees, some pissed themselves others threw up. This would pass. As with everything, the repetitious practice over weeks put all gun crews on each vessel in good order. It was assumed that the supply ships would flee and not fight, they had a few guns and their crews trained none the less. The ships pressed on to explore the northern waters of Ashnoor and beyond. The planned voyage was thought to be about a three month round trip to explore the waters to the north of their home. The adventure had begun.
31 Ayvla, 1256:
The harbour in Doomsayer’s Keep had long been referred to as bustling and it was, however, now the nature of vessels had markedly changed. There were still the coastal luggers, not in as much abundance now, and the odd river lugger that had braved the coastal run, but now the main vessels were the ocean going, much sturdier built and generally with a deeper draft vessel. Ranging from sloop type vessels up to a frigate class ship and ocean worthy galleons. The trader’s guild tended towards galleons with sloops and a few brigs as security, whereas the privateers and adventurers tended towards the brig or the more highly favoured frigates. Frigates were the largest (Generally) of the ocean-going war ships, they were fast, agile vessels, yet were also heavily armed with up to 75 guns (capacity) on the largest ones, they were rare though admittedly. One particular group of ships garnered particular attention – a fleet of seven ships, two Frigates, two brigs a sloop of war and a pair of Demi’s (smaller galleons) were shortly due to embark on one of the first ocean explorations in hundreds of years. There were the rumours of course of others who had sailed beyond the horizon, however, no evidence of anyone returning. It was hoped that would not be the case with this mission and that the wonders beyond the shore would be bountiful. Gathering officers and crews had been initially challenging, however, once there was a small group of officers gathered, things began to move along faster. Of course, the expedition was well funded which helped too. Several of the officers brought crews (and their own ships) along, the man in charge of the fleet had neither ship nor crew beyond the twenty or so he brought along. He had knowledge though – he came from one the ocean families as they were colloquially known. All ocean families served in faction navies either for Hadovean or Geldheim, but they also had knowledge of navigation by stars and other useful ideas if ever there were ships worthy of ocean going. They understood that their kind had been there before and all of them yearned to rediscover what had been lost. Tombs squinted into the early morning sunlight to catch a look at the ships – despite his general disinterest in floating things he could not help but be impressed, particularly by the frigates. “So, one of them is ours you say?” he looked side eyed at Tall as he asked. “Aye,” replied Tall, smiling at his good fortune. Tombs chuckled to himself; he swore the old man had lost twenty years of age. Tall had been approached to lead a mission to sea, for Henry this was a surreal dream come true moment – for as long as he could recall he had gazed out beyond the horizon. He had cleared it with Tombs and Baelin and had brokered the deal. He was well aware it was his knowledge and experience that was being sought and upon hearing just an outline of the plan he knew what he wanted. Red company would have a new frigate out of this deal at the very least, what he ended up with was a little better than just the frigate. Both Tombs and Baelin had approved of the deal, a quantity of gold paid to red company up front as part of the agreement and this had occurred promptly. They walked along the dock together, celebrations were winding down and it was time to board, the other captains were already heading towards their ships. Henry paused at the gangplank, turning to shake hands with Tombs, “Good fortunes to you Major – keep Tabai on top of looking after my sloop If you please.” He said with a wink and a smirk. Tombs laughed, shook the captain’s hand, slapped his shoulder, “Aye captain, my sloop will be looked after.” All three men laughed together. Turning to Baelin, Baelin spoke first, “Look after our crew friend, and of course yourself” a slight smile. Henry took the offered hand in a firm grasp and shook. “Will do my best there, the sea is a fickle mistress though” replied Henry. Among his crew were eighteen red company crew and Kona their healer, this is who Baelin was referring to, although Henry knew he probably included the rest of the crew, partially at the very least. A nod and a smile and he turned and climbed the gangway onto his deck, the men on the dock heard whistles piping from the ship and their friend disappeared aboard her. From the vantage point they could see the ship’s deck spring to life – mooring ropes fell away, sails were hauled, the ships caught the morning tide for some assistance as the light wind filled sails, cracking and snapping as if to attention, and the small fleet moved, slowly at first, but steadily towards the open water and adventure. Henry briefly revelled in the moment coming aboard a brand-new ship, snapping out of his reverie he gave the lieutenant the order to take her out, she called the crew to order and set some aloft to get the ship under way. The rest of the fleet was signalled compliments and ordered to form up on the flag ship. Henry watched briefly as the ships in his flotilla came into formation, handed command over to Lieutenant Orarlosto and he made his way to his cabin to change from his dress uniform. Vixen had made her way below decks with her possessions, awkwardly – the narrow and steep companionway had been daunting at first, she would eventually get used to it, but not today. She eventually made her way to the orlop, it was new and clean – the wooden tables were gleaming highly polished timber, wall cabinets filled with all manner of tinctures, tonics, ointments, and concoctions. Vixen recognised some items until her eyes were taken with the ‘things’ on the wall. She could not tell if they were ornaments, weapons or what their meaning was. She felt the presence behind her before hearing the cough, she turned to face the rotund figure of ruddy faced Connell the ship’s healer. “You’ve not been ta sea before have ya lass?” he wheezed gruffly. Vixen, unsure how to respond nodded, realising that she was with her new colleague, she thrust out her hand in greeting, “Vixen…Kona…” an awkward silence drew out uncomfortably. “A no then I take it” blurted out Connell pushing past her further into the Orlop – waving a hand at his various saws, blades, and assorted probes – “Tools o' the trade on a ship M’dear” he chortled. She nodded, realisation dawning. “Most of the time at sea you’re either helping ‘em shit, or helping them not shit, fixing the odd result from incurable stupidity and hang overs”, against her will she felt herself smiling, the older man produced a hip flask and pulled a generous drink from it, he pushed it into her hand, “you’ll learn to enjoy this soon enough…” he said gruffly. Kona’s nose wrinkled as she sniffed the contents of the flask – she sipped and immediately her mouth and throat were afire. She almost coughed as she noted the warmth spread from her stomach moving out to her limbs – it was not unpleasant. The ship’s healer continued, “if we get into a bit of action then your main job will be removal of the destroyed bits. Arms, legs, fingers, toes, eyes and all manner of ghastly repairs.” He paused, sipping, “You’ll drink your fill then lass.” His voice trailed off. Kona had heard of these “ship’s” healers, they were priestly sort of, this Connell left much to be desired on that front, however, they also practiced other healing arts. From what she could gather the less invasive parts were not much different to the herb lore that she understood. She would see for herself now she though. “Welcome aboard anyway, after all that joy…” He leaned in, winking and offering a hand. She caught the smell of Rum, tobacco and sweat as she grasped his hand in reply. His grasp was steady and firm. She looked to the next few months with some trepidations to be sure. However, as it turned out, she would take to shipboard life quite well with one very slight bout of the wave sickness which she was certainly not alone in, seeing, hearing, and treating quite a few of the crew for much more serious bouts.
22 Ildres, 1256:
The first few weeks at sea were uneventful in every respect. Good winds, fair weather they made good headway up the coast. The fleet had remained on station extremely well, with Tall’s frigate out front, the two supply ships side by side behind, a brig either side of them with the other frigate protecting the rear of the fleet. The sloop skipped and danced about the fleet or went scouting ahead and reporting back. All the while crews on all ships drilled running guns out, running them back in, closing gun ports, manoeuvring. Henry was eager for them to train with live ammunition long before being tested in battle, but he was patient as they developed all the other necessary skills. The fleet made rendezvous with a small flotilla from the trade guild standing off Scorla’s Revenge – to Henry’s delight they topped up provisions, but more importantly provided powder and shot specifically for the drills Henry had been waiting to do and so it was, as they sailed north westerly away from the Ashnoor coastline guns crews began really training in earnest. The wisdom of training now became clear with the very first broadside the Windsong unleashed. Fifteen heavy cannons firing in very close to volley firing were deafening, the entire ship shuddered from the force of the cannon’s erupting. Those who had experienced ship board life previously were demonstrably nonplussed by the thunderous shock, others though fell to their knees, some pissed themselves others threw up. This would pass. As with everything, the repetitious practice over weeks put all gun crews on each vessel in good order. It was assumed that the supply ships would flee and not fight, they had a few guns and their crews trained none the less. The ships pressed on to explore the northern waters of Ashnoor and beyond. The planned voyage was thought to be about a three month round trip to explore the waters to the north of their home. The adventure had begun.
