Warborn BladesThe Warborn March · the third school
Sea Faring
The hull carries the steel. This school is taught the way the forge is taught — every answer below is true of real timber, real rope and real water, and a wrong answer is answered with the reason it is wrong. Try as often as you like. Nothing here is timed and nothing here is scored against you.
The ladder of rating
You hold the rating of Landsman — 0 of 10 waters answered. 2 more and you are Deckhand.
- Landsman · 0 waters
The staithe is open to you. Nothing is asked and nothing is owed.
- Deckhand · 2 waters
You know a hull from a boat-shaped thing. The yard will let you hold the other end of the plank.
- Bosun · 4 waters
Rope, seam and ballast answer to you. The Salt Staithe of the March speaks to you as crew, not cargo.
- Navigator · 7 waters
Wind, water and way. The hard waters open, and your standing is spoken of at the staithe.
- Shipwright · 10 waters
Every water stands answered. The house counts you a shipwright of the March — a standing that cannot be purchased and was not.
The ten waters
I — The Timber
Choosing the Tree Before the Hull
A hull is chosen standing in the wood, not lying in the yard.
II — The Shell
Clinker and Carvel
Two ways to make a hull: skin first, or bones first.
The water before this one must stand answered first. There is no other way past it — not coin, not rating, not asking.III — The Seam
Keeping the Water Out
A wooden ship does not leak because it is wet. It leaks because it is dry.
The water before this one must stand answered first. There is no other way past it — not coin, not rating, not asking.IV — The Shape
Sheer, Rocker and Beam
Every curve in a hull is paying for something.
The water before this one must stand answered first. There is no other way past it — not coin, not rating, not asking.V — The Stability
Ballast and the Righting Arm
A ship stands up because her weight is low and her buoyancy moves out.
The water before this one must stand answered first. There is no other way past it — not coin, not rating, not asking.VI — The Wind
Points of Sail
No boat sails directly into the wind. Every boat sails across it.
The water before this one must stand answered first. There is no other way past it — not coin, not rating, not asking.VII — The Rope
The Knots That Hold
A knot is chosen for how it must come undone.
The water before this one must stand answered first. There is no other way past it — not coin, not rating, not asking.VIII — The Water
Tide, Set and Leeway
The water is moving under you whether you allow for it or not.
The water before this one must stand answered first. There is no other way past it — not coin, not rating, not asking.IX — The Way
Finding the Way Without a Chartplotter
Latitude is easy. Longitude killed people for centuries.
The water before this one must stand answered first. There is no other way past it — not coin, not rating, not asking.X — The Upkeep
Salt, Steel and the Ship That Lasts
The sea takes back everything not tended.
The water before this one must stand answered first. There is no other way past it — not coin, not rating, not asking.
Take the helm
The staithe teaches. The water asks. Five isles lie off this beach and each is fetched under sail — the no-go zone, the polar curve, the beat to windward and the set of the current, all reckoned as they truly are. Access and standing only; never a coin.
Sail the PassageThe forge teaches steel; the table teaches command; the sea teaches the hull. Three schools, each cited to its own source, none of them able to pay for the others. Forge Wisdom · the War Table · The Convergence · walk the March · the classroom path.