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Since humans first walked on the face of Kethira they have constantly found water to be a barrier to their movements; as a result they looked for any
means to bypass these watery barriers. At first they fell upon the idea of using floating logs that they had seen floating in rain swollen rivers in
regions where timber was abundant. Other humans noticed that when some of the internal organs of the game they were cleaning in water would float when
full of air and started using air filled bladders and skins as floatation devices. In regions where reeds were abundant they noticed the clumps of reeds
floating upon the waters and started using bundles of them as flotation devices. These three basic floatation devices would lead to the first vessels
constructed by the humans of Kethira. The following six vessel types were the root of all current vessel types on Kelestia. Even within the current age
versions of these vessels can be found in use by tribal groups, rural societies and non-human races.
The Raft
Humans soon learned that they could lash a number of smaller logs together forming a flat-bottomed structure with no sides. These crude rafts were not
very watertight; however, the raft’s buoyancy is its main attribute. Around the same time those who used inflated bladders also hit on the idea of
adding them to the raft to increase its buoyancy and lift its load out of the water even more. Thus they could now carry items across the water and keep
them dry. Since rafts are partially submerged when afloat and susceptible to having their decks washed over they are widely used in warmer climates.
Rafts were a key element during early tribal migrations and were used to carry goods as primitive societies became civilized. The descendant vessel
types of the raft tend to be flat-bottomed.
The Log Boat
Some time after learning that a log could be used to cross water man either found a split hollow log it’s like and found that he could cross
without getting wet and carry goods with him also. It was only a matter of time till he figured out that hollowing out a log, and rounding off its ends
in some cases, requiring noting more than a fire and stone handaxes. As better tools and skills were developed builders began adding planks to the sides
to give them greater depth and capacity and extensions to the ends to for length; these being sewn into place and sealed using moss, grass and/or pitch.
The clinkered hulled construction technique would be developed from this method of adding planks to the log.
The Bundle Boat
Along the reed chocked river beds, lakes, and marshes men began taking the bundles of reeds they used to float across water barriers and tying them into
reed rafts. Within Western Lýthia they were commonly found along the large river deltas emptying into the Venarian Sea, the Gulf of Mafan and the
Melurian Sea.
The Basket Boat
Once man learned how to construct baskets he began to use the same technology to build boats in a like manner. These boats have a basket-like structure
and were covered in skin, fabric, or plastered over with clay and/or tar to make them watertight. The materials used depending on the region in which
they were constructed.
The Skin Boat
A basket boat can be a skin boat; however, not all skin boats are basket boats. In most cases a skin boat is long and narrow and made covering a wood or
bone frame with sewn animal skins. Skin boats are used by peoples who have ready access to skins and light timber; cool arid regions being the most
likely due to the lack of large timber. The dominant use of these vessels was and is as an all around utility transport. Many of the tribal groups in
Ivinia and the upper reaches of Altland reached these areas in such vessels. Although there is no clear evidence, its is believed the longship design
may be descended in some part from skin boats; its lattice construction and long length to beam ratio having had some influence on the ancient clinkered
hull’s development.
The Bark Boat
Bark boats are very similar to the elongated skin boats mentioned above; however, instead of skin they are covered by skin of bark. The bark comes from
trees that can have a continuous cylinder of bark removed from the tree. The shape is maintained by a wood framework like a skin boat. These vessels are
only found where suitable trees, like birch, can be found. Vessels of this type have been seen within the jungles of Molkuria and may also be found in
other parts of Kethira.
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