Cargo Ship

For most countries in Leanor, trade is an important part of the economy. Due to the predominantly mountainous geography of most of Leanor, using the many rivers and lakes as trade routes is generally the fastest and least treacherous way to transport goods within Leanor. Most other regions can be reached by sea, which is faster and more efficient than transporting goods on land. Unlike the rivers, which are quite safe, travelling by sea can be as dangerous as on land due to unpredictable weather, pirates, and, if one believes the sailor's tales, sea monsters. After all, the sailors manning the cargo ships are known as people who have seen much of the world, but also for being fond of drinking and telling tall tales, often exaggerating their adventures at sea.

Still, trade by sea is very common, because a ship, in addition to being faster and more efficient, can carry more cargo than can be transported by any known vehicle on land. Many trading harbours exist on the leanorian shores, particularly near the mouths of rivers in the Western and Silver Sea, but also around the Sea of Fire, where goods are transferred from sea vessels to vessels suited for travelling up river or on land. Because of this, cargo ships are crucial for the leanorian trade and economy. There are two main types of cargo vessels that are used for different waters.

Those used on rivers are generally smaller with minimal draught even when fully loaded and better maneuverability and are therefore better suited to more narrow waters. Those river ships usually can be operated either by sails or by oars. The cargo vessels used on the open sea on the other hand are generally operated only by sails and larger, resulting in larger capacity. Since the open sea variety does not have any oars, no crew members are needed to operate them, so the ships require only a smaller crew, despite being larger than the river ships. Over time, attempts to compensate the drawbacks of either kind and to implement advantages to the other resulted in a large variety of cargo vessels that can now be found on leanorian waters.