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And you designed this yourself, my lord?"
"I did. A rough sketch ….hardly a proper design, and the latter would be presented to you in the coming week, but for now this would be enough to convey the gist of what is required to be built. Sleek, fast, and simple. More sails, slender masts, and an underdeck with enough space to carry additional crew and cargo alike. If built to my exact specifications, or even to your own refined interpretations, this ship would outrun any other."
"A bold statement Lord Bolton", He furrowed one of his brows in amusement.
"To me it looks like an oversized fishing boat, unfit for rough seas. Still, it is your coin being spent, so we shall proceed by your orders," the man said, sounding entirely unbothered of what I wanted to make , it was after all gonna be reviewed and scrutinized before a plank was laid out. It was their job to do the work and properly. Or up to standards, they were a business after all.
"And what would this new type of ship be called, if I may ask? " he now asked.
"A sloop , I call it a sloop",
"A sloop?" He repeated as if feeling out the words before writing it down.
A sloop was a sailboat with a single mast, generally carrying one headsail forward of the mast and one mainsail abaft it. It is a fore-and-aft–rigged vessel. The mainsail may take several forms—most commonly a Bermuda rig, though gaff or gunter rigs are also used.
"Ah, I see. Well, with the resources at hand and considering this is a custom commission, it will take a month to meet all of your specifications. That includes smoothing out rough edges and correcting any errors while keeping the core design intact."
"Nonetheless, the five other ships you ordered have completed their sea trials and are ready for their crews. It is a risky business you are entering, Lord Bolton. And as prodigious a client as yourself, we feel obligated to warn you: being a young merchant and fleet owner is a fast path to wealth—and an even faster one to debt and ruin."
Climbing the ladder too fast and stepping on toes was a way of finding one's self in a grave but he'd let any who dare try. It wouldn't end well for them.
The Braavosi spoke sagely, though Domeric merely stared at him, aloof.
"I'll take your words with caution Noastrias " , he nodded in acceptance.
"Then allow me to show you the new ships. No doubt you have been eager since their commission?" the shipyard owner replied now standing from behind his ebony table.
His was one of the many shipyards that littered Braavos,his own modest in comparison to other privately owned entities. And then there was the Arsenal of Braavos , famed for the speed at which it could build ships, and for the vast armadas it had produced. It served as the military heart of the Free City itself.
Braavos was the northernmost, richest, and arguably most powerful of the Free Cities. A city of seafarers , merchants and master swordsmen, it consisted of hundreds of tiny islands connected by stone bridges. Its great landmarks included the Titan of Braavos, the House of Black and White, and the famed Iron Bank.
More than any other Free City, Braavos was renowned for its ethnic diversity and religious tolerance. Its founders came from many lands and bore countless appearances, leaving no single feature that marked a "Braavosi" ethnicity. This stood in sharp contrast to more homogeneous cities such as Lys—where inhabitants were fair-skinned, fair-haired, and light-eyed—or Myr, whose people were dark-haired, dark-eyed, and olive-skinned.
And because the city founders worshiped many different gods, it was decreed that all faiths would be honored and that no one religion would be elevated above any other, although some faiths have more devotees-and thus larger temples-than others (the Moonsingers and the Lord of Light being outstanding examples).
Another defining trait of Braavosi culture is its hatred of slavery, a direct relic of the city's founding. The first law of Braavos-engraved on the arch that rises above the Long Canal-decrees that no man, woman, or child in the city is ever to be made a slave. In fact, Braavos remains as one of the very few places in Essos where slavery was not practiced by contrast, the Free City of Volantis contains five slaves for every free man. However, they do still have ties to it through the Iron Bank, who are financially invested in the slave trade.
Braavosi swordsmen, or "bravos", are famed for their unique fighting style. Rather than donning heavy armor and wielding broadswords like Westerosi knights, they wore little armor and fought with slender blades in the elaborate, fencing-like art known as water dancing.
And also unlike Westerosi nobility, wealthy and powerful Braavosi favored wearing dark colors a similarity to Domeric's own liking.
Braavos dealt in merchandise and trade. Its wealth was built upon commerce, exploration, expansion, and industry. Nowhere else in Essos could one find such an abundance of free, skilled labor. Workers lined the streets, shipyards, and quays; warehouses and businesses crowded the ports.
Domeric had chosen Braavos deliberately. It was closer, more reliable, and cheaper than any alternative. Most of the Essosi he hired hailed from the city, and a new batch of skilled men would soon journey north with him. His own shipyard was slated for completion by summer, after a year of arduous labor and immense expenditure.
His lands were beginning to stand freely on their own. And after a year and a half of changes, the people were well fed and content. New towns and villages sprang up, while peasants from neighboring lands migrated in…causing friction with houses such as Umber, Flint, Hornwood and Karstark.
His three bloomeries now produced more steel than any other territory in the North. Steel that now flowed into Braavosi and Essosi markets—Pentos, Myr, and Tyrosh among them.
Exports of furs and lumber had increased sixfold. Ice had also entered the fray, its demand skyrocketing in King's Landing and even as far as Dorne. Pentoshi magisters had taken a liking to chilled drinks, and rumors spread that ice itself had become a symbol of status, given the difficulty of transporting and storing it without melting.
Tin, copper, silver, nickel, and bronze followed, along with salted fish and pork. Butter, yogurt, and cheese were shipped as well. Wool exports lagged only because sheep herds were still being expanded upon, but within two years, that too would change.
His reliance on Manderly ships had proven detrimental, though that dependency would soon lessen with the increase of his trading ships.
Ten cogs had been purchased months earlier, top of the line, each costing nearly a thousand gold dragons, crew included. To be precise, each had cost 987 gold dragons, with total expenses rising above ten thousand once provisions and equipment were added.
He did not regret the expense. By the time the ships returned from their voyages, they had doubled the investment.
Each vessel was also outfitted with new navigational tools. These tools were highly guarded and kept secure by their captains, and navigator who were amongst the only two to gain access.
He would take advantage of this leap in seafaring for as long as possible, sharing or selling this to others now would be a foolish decision. And he never regarded himself as a foolish man.
Nevertheless chief among these navigational tools was the magnetic compass. It was no pocket trinket like those of his old world, but a large instrument,roughly six inches in diameter. A proper circle, marked with all cardinal directions.
There was also the quadrant, a quarter-circle instrument of wood or brass used to measure the altitude of Polaris by sighting through a peephole and reading where a plumb line intersected the arc.
Polaris…the North Star, the Star of the Sea was preferred for determining latitude, as it lay less than one degree from the north celestial pole.
The astrolabe served a similar purpose, measuring the angle between the horizon and Polaris. The cross-staff as well was comparatively useful like the others. It consisted of a square staff 11 inches to 1 foot in length, bearing a scale, with four sliding cross-pieces or transversals of graduated lengths. Only one transversal was used at a time, its selection being based upon the height of the heavenly body in the sky - the higher the body, the longer the transversal. The user held on end of the staff to his eye, then slid the transversal onto the far end and moved it back and forth until its upper and lower edges seemed to touch, respectively, the observed body and the horizon. The location of the transversal on the scale was converted by a table into degrees of latitude
The stars here held a similarity to the old world a coincidence of course not. George Martin knew what he was doing. That cheeky old man.
One might be wondering on latitudes and longitudes in this world, but there had already been a rudimentary system of latitude and longitude already existing…..created not by Westerosi or Valyrians, but by the Yi-Tish. Crude and unrefined, yet adopted and spread by Valyria in its time. And of course we all knew where the andals came from and the bravos of today and blah blah blah .
But the Yi-tish or Yi-Ti was famed for its scholars. And over the many years none had refined navigation to how he did it. It was a big leap and , this was only the beginning. A many if not much remained undiscovered. But for now the rest he would leave to Rigmond to uncover.
Rigmond was an astronomer, mathematician, engineer, and scientist before he was ever a healer. His expulsion from the Citadel came from bedding a young woman who bore him a son—now two-and-twenty. Unlike his father, the son favored engineering and mathematics over the stars, though he shared one trait all too well, a fondness for women. The apple, after all, never fell far from the tree.
Just like his father Reginald had grown to also become an adept fornicator and lover of women.
"As you requested, and as promised, your ships, Lord Bolton."
Marvelous. They were truly marvelous.
Domeric stood admiring them. Pride swelled up inside him, not because he hadn't seen greater creations, but because these had come to fruition through his own design, coin, and will.
Five more ships would now join the ten already in service, with another 13 still underway.
And with favorable winds and the new navigational tools, a cog could reach Braavos in one week, and return in the same. Pentos lay two to three weeks away, perhaps less.
With these additions to his trade fleet, Domeric Bolton was ready to expand his reach—across Essos, and beyond.
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