Oath Upon the Deep

Before wind and wave, I pledge to keep the peace on deck, obey the captain’s word, and care for the safety and good of all aboard, until we set foot again upon the shore.

Bound for Dryhook

(Chorus) So haul me down and lay me low,
 Where the tide don’t pull and the wind don’t blow,
 Where the hammocks swing and the sheets don’t bend—
 I’m bound for Dryhook at the end.

 I've sailed between the twenty towers,
 And watched ten thousand nighttime hours

 I swore to Shuro all my oaths, 

 And fed the gulls to calm the ghosts.

 (Chorus)

 There’s a taproom there what's built from bone,
 With a cask for each knot that I've known.
 The stools don’t splinter, the pipes stay lit,
 And the floor don’t sway—not one damn bit.

 (Chorus)

 They say he waits with a weathered grin,
 As Saratan rolls my body in,
 My soles'll go dry, my breath'll come back,
 And I'll drink my grog ‘til the stars turn black.

 (Chorus)

 So lash my bones to a barrel tight,
 And toss me deep in the dead of night,
 Let 'Rita howl and the dark tide rise—
 I’ll float ‘til Dryhook's in my eyes.

 (Final Chorus, slower)

 So haul me down and lay me low,
 Where the tide don’t pull
and the wind don’t blow,
 Where the hammocks swing 

and the sheets don’t bend
— I’m bound for Dryhook at the end.

The Captain's Privilege

While most ship's captains are neither from the upper class nor descended from it, all such men are considered members of the gentry while on dry land. While at sea, or on ship's business, they are considered baronets and distinguished as such by wearing gold bars on the collars of their shirts. It is a ready way for polite society to recognize such ill-used and poorly dressed men.

A captain is considered the Patriarch of a House -- his ship. As such he has the right to enter contracts, access banking and pick his faction heir.

On dry land a captain also has authority to press certain people into service -- an accepted form of abduction that keeps inhabitations free of drunkards and vagrants.

The Salt Lanari

The Salt Lanari are thought to be the descendants of the exiles of the proud noble House of Ferona and its one-time patriarch, Lan. In 3413ey, after the Desolation of Lanaria, some of those that survived the anguish became nomads across the Principalities. According to legend, others fled to the sea and became sailors and sea dogs who live without borders. 

Centuries passed and the Free Provinces came to think of all the Sea Jacks as itinerants -- the "Salt Lanari." Whether there is any direct connection between the Lanari and the multi-cultural Sea Jacks is not relevant. The appellation remains in wide use.

The Sea Jacks

Since the time of the cataclysm there have been those who have lived upon the waves. But while dry land keeps ruinous record of the civilizations which have risen and fallen on its surface; the Seven Seas hide all. Beneath dark and briny waves are lives, dreams and treasures untold; but the one record which remains is the Argot. To those who study such things, the language of the sea contains clues to former civilizations in its structure and lexicon. There are words and phrases that are drawn from gnomish, dwarfish, elfish, wyrmish and the common tongues of man.

The Shi-jaks (Southrun) or Sea Jacks (Westrun) are the people of every Land who make their living as seafarers. Their numbers also include the so-called 'Salt' Lanari of the Free Provinces, the Hayao of Eastrun and the Raiders of Northrun. While they come from every kingdom and country, they share that common tongue and the culture it describes -- life at sea.

Oshuron and the Kraken

Oshuron was of the Tytanos -- great beings who were like gods among men. He made his home in the Seven Seas and lives there still. It is said that after the cataclysm which flooded the Great Sea, the Dagger Sea and the Sea of Ice; Oshuron left Dry Land to hunt the krakens and leviathan which came in with the rushing waters. He made the seas safe for seafarers by driving the massive predators from the waters.

Oshuron has great enmity with Valritra the Eternal... the mother of krakens. He is said to protect all who swear an Oath upon the Deep -- using his mighty trident to ward them against his ancient tentacled foe. 

For her part Valritra the Kraken cannot die. She is one of the Old Ones -- ancient powers from the dawn of time. She is capable of consuming even the largest ships after taking them in her eight tentacles and pulling them into the deep. She has been wounded by men and even slain by Oshuron many times, but unless her lifeless body is dragged to Dry Land and burned, she will always be restored to life.

Oshuron loves all those who follow the Law of the Sea. He accepts the sacrifice of gulls to placate his anger. He looks favorably upon the consumption of fish and snails. He lives on Zaratan, a massive turtle which serves also as an island. He travels the Seas on a collapsible boat made from the skin of sea serpents, which is called Levadir. It has invisible sails which were sewn for him as a gift of the legendary Sea Elves. He also carries the breath of Garyx in a magical horn and can use it at will to burn his enemies. Finally, he is almost always armed with Torida -- the massive trident made by him from the ivory of a vanquished Dragon.

The Vicenary Pharoi

Seafarers are frequently greeted by the comforting loom of the Vicenary Pharoi. In most places, this light can be seen at about 25 miles distance, weather permitting. For the seafarer, this means not only a safe port and a journey's end, but subjecting himself to the rule of a political structure larger than that of the absolute rule of his ship's captain. Learned men of the sea refer to this political structure as the vicegerency.

The vicegerency is measured as the offing, or the farthest point visible from each Pharos in each direction. A matter is "in the offing" if it comes under the jurisdiction of the Viceroy. In like manner, a sailor considers himself under the power of the Viceroy (except in the case of piracy) whenever he can see the loom of the Pharos -- the light of the tower. 

In the vicegerency of that port, the seafarer considers the Viceroy as having ultimate sway to resolve disputes and to represent seafarers before the land residents of Erenth. They do not generally take notice of landed nobles or the customs of the princes and rulers of the land. They will not avail themselves of their courts

The Pharoi of Northrun

The Sapphire Tower of Samarabad (Ald Ciula)

The Emerald Tower of Tamar (Tirgus Holm)

The Pharoi of Southrun

The Coral Tower of Uruda (Rak Gremluuk)

The Blue Tower of Byza

The Copper Tower of Qahira

The Bone Tower of Kalani (Calleny)

The Pearl Tower of Istada

The Ivory Tower of Sabaha (Tradepost)

The Jade Tower of Danab

The Topaz Tower of Isnafar

The Crocus Tower of Anshabajan

The Pharoi of Eastrun

The Gold Tower of Susa (Shu)

The Bronze Tower of Lahara (Laster Shores)

The Crimson Tower of Fah Tawaj (Free City)

The Pharoi of Westrun

The Cedar Tower of Bezapur (Bolden)

The Silver Tower of Walashabad (Watersedge)

The Ebony Tower of Tamisand (Treft)

The Rust Tower of Dabil (Dor Inur) 

The Ruby Tower of Bilishapur (Balduren)

The Sable Tower of Kashir (Tradestop)

While there are 20 different Pharoi, and the turret of each is painted for its unique name, each of the towers has the same basic architecture. The towers are four hundred feet from base to lantern tip. 

The barracks, cellars and wellroom take up the first three floors of the tower. They are only accessed through massive ironbound doors and sally ports.

The great hall of the pharos is 36 feet above ground level and can be accessed from the internal ladder or the great sweeping stone stair which spirals up the outside of the tower. It boasts a 50 foot high ceiling on a 70 foot diameter room. The floor of the great hall boasts a massive map which depicts the known seas and its shores.

The next four floors are 60 feet in diameter and 12 feet high.

The next floor is 55 feet in diameter and 12 feet high.

The next two floors are 50 feet in diameter and 12 feet high.

The next three floors are 45 feet in diameter and 12 feet high.

The Viceroy's Hall is 40 feet in diameter with a 75 foot ceiling.

The Vicereine's Apartments are 40 feet in diameter and boast two floors with 12 foot ceilings.

The Law of the Seas

1: All those who travel upon the Sea are obliged to take the Oath Upon the Deep, for even those who do not shall continue to be bound by it.

2: Piracy and witchery are crimes against all and may be avenged freely. Let them be put to death or left as flotsam for Valritra to avenge. Let those who recover pirated goods or lay hold of a witch be entitled to one-third of what is recovered, but only if the offender be returned to face his accuser.

3: All water aboard a boat will be as if entrusted to the captain. Upon need it will be his to distribute freely to all.

4: Freight is the mother of wages. A merchant shall retain six shares of safely-carried cargo. A captain's pay will include two shares; the mates will divide a share; the carpenters and boatswains will divide a half-share; the crews and cooks will divide a half-share.

5: No passenger is to cook, nor split wood, nor kindle fires aboard a ship. 

6: If a passenger comes on board and has gold, let him entrust it to the captain. If he does not entrust it and says: "I have lost gold, or silver," no effect is to be given to what he says, since he did not entrust it to the captain.

7: If a ship is lying in harbor or on a beach, and is robbed of its anchors, tackle, articles or cargo; when the thief is caught and he confesses, he should be flogged and make good the damage he has done twice over, even if he must be pressed into service until the payment is made.

8: If the sailors of a ship, by direction of their captain, steal the goods of a merchant or passenger, let the captain make good the damage twofold to those who were robbed, and let the sailor receive a hundred blows. If the sailor commits the theft of his own accord and is caught and convicted by witnesses, let him be well-beaten. Whatever he has stolen, let him make good the loss to the person robbed.

9: If a captain brings the ship into a place which is infested with thieves and pirates, although the passengers testify to the captain what is at fault with the place, and there is a robbery; let the captain make good the loss to the sufferers. On the other hand, if the passengers bring the ship in, in spite of the captain's protests, and something untoward happens, let the passengers bear the loss.

10: If sailors set to fighting, let then fight with words and let no man strike another. If a man strikes another on the head and opens it, or injures him in some other way; let the first pay the second's fees and expenses and his wages for the whole time he is away from work taking care of himself.

11: If sailors are fighting, and one strikes the other with any object, and one returns the blow; he did it from necessity. If the man who gave the first blow is killed or maimed, it is to go harmless, for he suffered what he wished to inflict.

12: If the captain is deliberating about jettison let him ask the passengers who have goods on board and let them take a vote what is to be done. Let there be brought into contribution the goods; the bedclothes and wearing apparel and utensils are all to be valued; and if jettison takes place, with the captain and passengers the loss should be proportional. 

13: If the captain and crew are negligent and there is an injury or wreck, let the captain or the crew be responsible to the merchant for making the damage good. If it is through the merchant's negligence that ship and cargo are lost, let the merchant be responsible. If no default of either captain, crew or merchant, and a loss or wreck occur, what is saved from ship and cargo is to come into contribution.

14: If a man makes a deposit in a ship or in a warehouse, let him make it with a man known to him and 'Worthy of confidence before three witnesses. If the amount is large, let him accompany the deposit with a writing. If the man who agreed to take charge of the deposit says that it is lost, he must show where the wall was broken through or how the theft took place and take an oath there was no fraud on his part. If he does not show it, let him restore the goods safe as he received them.

15: If a man hires a Ship and pays earnest money, and afterwards says: "I have no need of it," he forfeits the earnest money. But if the captain acts wrongfully let him give back to the merchant double the earnest money.

16: Where a man hires a ship, to be binding it must be in writing and signed by the parties, or it is void. Let them also write in penalties if they wish. If they do not write penalties, and there is a breach, either by the captain or the hirer-if the hirer provides the goods. . . let him give half the freight to the captain. If the captain commits a breach, let him give half-freight to the merchant. If the merchant wishes to take out the cargo, he will give the whole freight to the captain. 

17: If there is a contract between merchant and captain let it be in writing and binding. If the merchant does not provide the cargo in full, let him provide freight for what is deficient, as they agreed in writing.

18: If in the open sea a ship is overset or destroyed, let him who brings anything from it safe to land receive instead of reward one-fifth of what he saves.

19: If gold or silver or anything else is raised from the sea from a depth of eight fathoms, let the salvor receive one-third. If raised from fifteen fathoms let the salvor have one-half, by reason of the danger of the sea. Where things are cast from sea to land and found there, or carried to within one cubit of the land, let the salvor have one-tenth of what is salved.

20: If there be any persons left afloat it shall be the duty of every captain to return them to the next vicegerency. Fair passage may be charged and a week after landfall given to make good. Those who do not make good may be pressed into service to pay their debt.