The Shipwright

Market Size

The first thing to look at is the size of market in which the vessel will be built. Since these are primarily bulk carriers it does not make since to have one built in small market size settlement where there carrying capacity is far too great. In addition, the cost for these vessels may be too great for any merchant within a small market community, or even for a conglomerate of merchants from such a community. Therefore, it only makes economic since that most of these vessels are built in settlements that will be able to provide them with sufficient loads as to make the effort and expense worth while. Looking at the information above, a Medium Haul would fit the requirement of moving bulky good from one region to another. Since the material above says this encompasses settlements with a market size of 5 or greater I see these being the settlements in which a Dak or Karune would be built.

Market Size Descriptions

0-2 - Very Minor Market
3-4 - Minor Market
5-6 - Average Market
7-8 - Major Markets
9 - Very Major Market

Shipyard Size

The next key factor to look at is the size of the shipyard staff. The smaller the staff in a shipyard the less likely they can take on a large project like building a Dak or Karune. Since a shipyard is busy doing more than building ships, its employees may be busy repairing or refitting other ships, making sails, etc. Looking at what the material says about a shipyard’s size we will take a look at what the minimum size requirement might be for a yard to be able to build a Dak or Karune and still maintain its other duties, which probably are its bread and butter. Since a port with a market size of 5+ would be a very busy place we can assume that there are maybe 3 vessels at anytime under repair or being refitted; this would require at a minimum of two bonded-masters to oversee the work. In addition there would be the freemaster and maybe two apprentices. Since a large port would put demands on most of its metalsmiths, the yard most likely employees its own metalsmith. Thus far this gives us a total of 6 full-time employees. Since these are large busy ports we have to assume the yard also has a sail loft and ropewalk and a bonded-master overseeing both of them. This then gives a shipyard size of 7 now. Finally, the shipyard’s freemaster will oversee any new construction or he will appoint another bonded-master to do so; if this is the case this gives a final size of 8. It appears journeymen are not included in this total. In addition, we can assume there may be up to 10 journeymen working for each master, the number being dependent on the task at hand. Based on the above, a port must have a size of 8 or greater in order to build a Dak or Karune.

Shipyard Size and Vessel Types

0-3 - Small boats and fishing vessels
4-5 - Medium sized vessels
6-7 - Large sized basic vessels
8+ - Very large vessels

1-12 - one slipway and beach facilities
13-22 - two slipways and beach facilities
23-30 - three slipways and beach facilities

Small boats – vessels under 22 feet
Medium vessels – vessels between 23-40 feet
Large vessels – vessels 41-60 feet
Very large vessels – vessels 61+ feet

Access to the Sea

If a shipyard is located along an estuary, a bay, or has open access to the sea it can build these larger vessels. However, if the access is by way of a river there is a significant chance they cannot be built there due to depth of the water, narrowness of the passage, and/or contrary winds either blocking access or egress from the building site. Therefore, the majority of sites along rivers will not be able to build a Dak or a Karune.

Exceptions to the Shipyard Size

There are some settlements located on rivers that have a large shipyard size. Since they are on rivers it is very unlikely they would build very large vessels. Unless they are building a Dragonship or a galley I would suggest setting the largest size of vessels they construct to large instead of very large.

The Dak

When building a Dak the port in question must have a shipyard that specializes in the clinker style. However, as of 720 TR none of the Ivinian, Harbaalese, Jarenmark, or any other port associated with Ivinians builds Daks. The one exception to this being Chelemby. However, it is only a matter of time before they start doing so. Within the last 50 years Chelemby has successfully defeated Harbaalese forces. It is assumed that the Dak played a key role in these defeats in that its higher sides provided the smaller Chelembian forces a significant advantage. Thus it is only a matter of time before the Harbaalese begin constructing Daks for trade and naval expeditions. The other Ivinian nations won’t be far behind once that happens.

Palithane is an exception to the above in that most of the shipwrights are indigenous and thus trained in the Caravel style. This is especially so in the southern parts of the kingdom where shipwrights of the clinker style make up no more than 5% of those building vessels. The northern section has a larger population of clinker style shipwrights, about 40% of the total building vessels.

The Island of Tarkain has seen all but a handful of its clinker style shipwrights go by the wayside. They now build the Caravel style exclusively.

The Karune

The Karune is a recent arrival within the shipbuilding world. The design originated in western Trierzon around thirty years ago and has spread into southern Palithane. This is a very specialized ship design whose secrets have been closely guarded. The exception to the above is the Kingdom of Chelemby which acquired the secret by bringing shipwrights from Palithane who were knowledgeable in the building the Karune. As of now no other kingdom has shipwrights privy to the building of this vessel.

the Karune: A Conflict of Data

Within Pilot’s Almanac, in the write-up on the Karune, it states that they arrived about 30 years ago (about 690 TR). It also states that there are about 60 of the vessels afloat.

However, in the Kingdom of Chelemby module they have the kingdom having more than 12 Karunes. This is about 20% of the total afloat. When did Chelemby get these shipwrights who build the Karune? It must have been early in the history of the vessel for them to have that much on hand already.

The problem is that this number appears to be way out of touch with the other facts mentioned above. At the most Chelemby probably only received the means to build these ships over the last decade and a half. That means they had to be building one ship a year. Only the Chelemby shipyard meets the above key factors to build the Karune and only one other port that can build the Dak, if they sacrifice some repair jobs. The Chelemby yard can possibly build a Dak at the same time. However, with the large fleet they maintain it probably spends a lot of manpower repairing vessels instead.

I for one would suggest that Chelemby have half as many as the kingdom module states, thus giving them only 10% of the Karunes current afloat in 720 TR.

Putting it all Together

Now that we know some of the key factors that come into play when building a Dak or Karune, let’s see how it all comes together.

1. Market size needs to be 5 or greater.
2. Shipyard size needs to be 8 or greater.
3. Shipyard is not located on a river.
4. As of 720 TR Daks are only constructed in Shorkyne, Chelemby, Emelrene, Northern Palithane , and Hârn.
5. As of 720 TR Karunes are only constructed in Western Trierzon , Palithane, and Chelemby. Emelrene may also be producing these but does not mention them.

Based on the above a shipyard in a settlement having a market size of 5, a shipyard size of 8 and specializing in the clinker style, and is not located on a river can build Daks, but not Karunes. This also goes for a shipyard in a settlement having a market size of 5, a shipyard size of 8 and specializing in the Caravel style, and is not located on a river can build Karunes, but not Daks. The exception being Chelemby and the northern portion of Palithane; both of these areas may build both Daks and Karunes if they meet the above requirements.

Emelrene and the Karune

In the Pilot’s Almanac on Shipwright 5, under the Karune description, it does not mention Emelrene or Chelemby.