This is more of a question than a polished idea. Has anyone ever devised a system for Santharians to measure speed at sea? The question came up in the story "Jovloff's Gold" on the RPG board. If there isn't anything developed yet, then would there be interest for the idea that some tribes (like the Avennorians, for example?) could have developed a standardized, calibrated system for measuring the speed of their ships?

A simple system could be a variant of the old 'knot' measurement on earth. All you needed was a piece of wood weighted on one side with metal; a line with knots; a reel; and an hourglass. This is how it worked on earth:

Sailors threw a piece of wood (the 'chip log') from the stern of their vessel into the water. The chip log was weighted with lead, so it would always float with the same side up, and also have some drag. Attached to the chip log was a thin line (the 'log line'), whose other end was rolled up on a reel. The log line had a number of equally spaced knots. Now, while the ship was moving forward, the chip log would approximately stay in place. The log line would be allowed to pay out for a fixed period of time (about half a minute, measured with a sandglass), and the sailors would count the knots that left the reel, thereby determining the speed.

Don't know whether this would be an entry on its own. But if it hasn't been done yet, it could become part of another entry (on a seafaring tribe, say)? What say the noble compendiumists?

And sometimes it isn't.....

Sorry, Mira!  Alsetic energies are disrupted by water.  Which means that seafaring is still a dangerous adventure and not a 'sure thing'...  we wanted to keep some uncertainty and mystery about the waters, which stretch off unto the very Void itself....

However, yes, there are sea measures.  There are constellations.  (Mind you, they move....)   I think Talia and I and a few others were batting around some concepts for navigation but never formalized anything.  Shaba's suggestion is strictly measurement-based, not navigational (except as it might apply to a straightish line, say, along a coast.  In which case you can start determining things like 'it takes five days of good northerly wind to get from XXX to Strata, sailing at twenty leagues/knots/spaces to a sandglass' or whatever...) and should probably be written up!

Shaba, might you be interested in an entry entitled 'Navigation around Sarvonia', which includes some concepts like the one you've described so carefully above, plus a mention of lodestones (which DO work very close to land), constellations, currents, winds, and other fascinating factors?  It would certainly be a very solid way to familiarize yourself with some crucial details of this universe, and a much-needed gap-filler...


Must go finish Alsetism entry!  (hits herself around the head a few times then desists because her nose is still sore)

Thanks, you three! Each of your posts encouraged me to look up something I didn't know before, and not least I learned that there are two dangerous things about bears: (1) they may want to eat you; (2)  they may compel you to describe a whole mountain chain.

'Navigation around Sarvonia' - that sounds like an interesting project, and one that would be a good reason to do a lot of research and also to phone up my father, who used to be a sailor. Alas, it also sounds a bit big to take on as my next entry; I regret that I really can't commit to working on something long and sustained in Santharia at the moment, as my main London occupations for the next 6 months or so will be writing, writing and writing.

So it may be months rather than weeks before I could return to this fascinating idea - but I'll keep it in mind. I understand that you sometimes 'reserve' entry projects - but I wouldn't mind if someone else takes this up in the meantime. I could still contribute to something that may already have started growing, in one way or another.

I guess the measurement of ship speed would need some sort of motivation: competition between merchants, for example, who would be keen to have a faster vessel than their competitor, and would put pressure on boatbuilders to provide objective measures for vessel quality. But it would be really fascinating to connect this to navigation. I understand that pocketwatches exist on Santharia?! Because sandglasses, of course, are not very exact over longer periods on ships, as ships roll in the waves. If you have a watch, the precision of your navigation may rise sharply (depending on how much you know about the movement of celestial bodies). Oh dear, I can see this coming back to haunt me one day...

Thanks again! Shabakuk