When Corco entered the clock maker’s workplace on Chukru Island, the cluttered room already housed a guest.
"What are you doing here?" the king asked the familiar figure who stood together with Egidius in front of one of many work tables. Even from behind and with his awkward stance, Corco had no trouble identifying his giant cousin Atau. In response to Corco’s call, the two turned around.
"Ah, yes. Greeting, King Corco," Egidius said. "Since I needed an expert on navigation and ship building, I decided to find one by myself. Captain Atau here was kind enough to provide so of his insight, so I brought him over to help work out the details of my current projects."
"Hey, Laqhis, we’ve been waiting for you. For a good while, actually," Atau added. Even ruder than normal, he scratched the inside of his leg, but Corco was willing to overlook it. He had new inventions to worry about.
"So you’re the expert?" he asked his cousin as he approached the two.
"Who would be more fitting than the greatest navigator in all four seas to revolutionize sailing for all tis?" The captain showed off his cocky grin before he grabbed the small test piece Egidius had worked on up until Corco’s arrival. Held in his hand was a complex construction of several wooden rods. The rods radiated out from a common center with a partial circle at the bottom to connect them, and a small telescope on the front.
"You got the sextant done!" Corco bead as he took the object from Atau. Upon closer inspection, so of the surfaces still looked a bit rough and needed so sanding and varnish, but the basic shape was unmistakable. "You made it from wood though?" he asked after his assessnt and offered Egidius a critical look.
"Of course this is only a preliminary version of the tool, to prove that the principle works in practice. Wood would not be a good choice of material for a precision instrunt, even less so on the high seas where it would be under attack from moisture and salt. The final product would be made of so type of tal, I assu. Though more tests are required for a final version," Egidius answered as he looked over to the table, where the plans for the instrunt’s future had been strewn about.
"We have done so tests and it appears the readings are sufficiently precise to be useful. However, I cannot claim that the sextant is done," he added.
"The thing looks pretty complete to , apart from the material and the finish. What’s left to do? Whatever it is, I’m willing to help out. By which I an, I’m willing to lend you money or more work space. I really don’t have ti to actually help you with the designs."
"The instrunt itself is fine, but its use is limited so long as we do not have the knowledge to use it properly. The biggest barrier is that we need better, more precise astronomical maps than what we have right now. Even though the tool is already quite useful on its own, it would be much better with the additional knowledge."
"We should be talking to the priests then," Corco said. "I’ll ask the Pachayawna in Arguna for support, I’m sure Lord Nasica would love to play interdiary for us again."
"King Corco, not to be rude, but... I am unsure priests would be able to add much to our work," a rude Egidius said, but Atau only laughed in response.
"You got no idea, Arcavian. They’re Pacha priests, not Arcavus clergy. The great Pacha encompasses all the lands of the earth, as well as the water below and the stars above. And the stars are the place where all the Divines sit to watch over the mortals. Most Pacha priests have spent all their lives watching the stars and trying to understand their movents, to read the intentions of the Divines. I don’t think anyone in the world knows more about the celestial constellations than the priests do."
Again, Corco ignored Atau’s scratching and added his own take.
"Even most of our old stories are coded ssages about planetary and celestial movents, in so way or another. If a story from Yakuallpa ntions so specific animals, there’s a good chance they stand in for so astrological sign. Like ’the wolf swallowing the raven’ ans the moon is moving into the wolf constellation. It’s quite a neat way to do oral tradition, actually."
"In that case, I will be glad to welco their support," Egidius said, though he still sounded unconvinced. Corco knew that the clock maker was a radical naturalist and didn’t think highly of any religion, even of the useful parts. Instead, he would only value what he could see with his own eyes, so very different from the more taphysical views of the priests. However, both sides would have to learn to work together. After all, they all had great things to contribute to his kingdom.
"Right, I’ll be sending out a runner today, and I hope that I can get so support from the priests soon. Once their astronors show up, I’ll also need to teach them so calculus and show them our new lenses. Oh, that reminds : I need you to make a second version of the sextant for horizontal use. That’s a small adjustnt, right?"
"It is, but what do you plan to do with it, Sire? With a horizontal sextant, one could only judge the distance between objects on the ground, its use in navigation would be limited."
"Aah, just gonna clean up our horrendous maps. I think it’s about ti we removed the dragons and serpents."
"Mysteries beyond mysteries. I guess we’ll learn what that ans when the ti is ripe, huh?" Atau said, while his hand once again went between his legs.
"And what the fuck happened to you? Ever since I ca here, you’ve been scratching yourself like a dog in heat."
"Ah, sorry about that." Although he tried to play it off, Atau’s hand still halted halfway to his crotch for a second and wavered there, unsure whether or not to continue. Only after so visible effort did he finally move it away again, a forced smile on his face. "Ever since the banquet I’ve had this persistent itch, y’know?"
With a non-plussed look, Corco stared down his cousin who looked more and more uncomfortable in the process, like a kid who had been caught red-handed.
"...I told you to be careful about that girl, didn’t I?" Corco finally said in a flat tone.
"Hey, I know what I’m doing," his cousin protested. "There’s no way Airi would have given anything. That was her first ti, so it couldn’t have been her."
"So if it wasn’t that girl, it was another one?" Corco wasn’t one to be bullshitted easily. He spotted the holes in Atau’s argunt right away.
"Well..." Atau answered with a disappearing voice and a guilty look out the window. "It’s kinda hard to say which one it was."
"How many did you fucking fuck with you fuckwit?" More astounded than angered, Corco stared at Atau as the atmosphere got increasingly uncomfortable. In the end, Egidius saved the room with a change in topic.
"King Corco, so long as I get the help of a good blacksmith, I should be able to finish the work on the sextant soon. However, Captain Atau also helped with a second project, the new rudder. To finish work on it, we may need your help again, Sire."
"Second project?"
Now that he was no longer focused on Atau’s loose lifestyle, Corco really took in the ss of a room around him for the first ti. Although the workshop couldn’t be considered dirty – or even ssy – the room was cramd full of all kinds of strange objects. All along the walls, the clock maker had pinned up papers with various kinds of drawings and writings, ideas he had scribbled down in monts of inspiration. Several tables were covered with all kinds of chanical parts, so looked like useless toys, others like transmissions, so may be half-finished or failed projects. For most, Corco had no idea what they would even be once they were finished.
In one corner, away from the light, Egidius had also piled his paintings. As a naturalist, his subjects ranged from people, to animals, landscapes, and tools. Yet no matter how different they were, all of them were real objects, and all of them were drawn so well that Corco could have mistaken them for photographs. Only the picture on top, a half-finished drawing of a young Yaku woman, gave away the fact that they were indeed painted with oil colors.
"You don’t think you’re stretching yourself a bit thin?" Rather than be impressed, Corco was concerned about the clock maker’s health as he continued to look at all the junk in the room. How could one man focus on so many things and not lose himself or burn out?
"Ah, but all of these things are too interesting. There is no trouble at all. I will be able to fulfill all of your orders sire, and only work on my side projects in my free ti."
*Maybe that’s what they call a universal genius.*
In the end, Corco decided to leave the clock maker to his devices. Best case, Egidius would be able to handle his creative sparks and the king would have one of the greatest creative minds of their ti on his hands. Worst case, Egidius would lose focus, get nothing done and Corco would lose the productive force from a single craftsman. In the face of an entire country, a single talented worker didn’t really an much. A genius did however, so it was worth the gamble.
"Okay," he gave up. "Show that rudder of yours, and tell what the problem is."
"Please follow along," an elated Egidius led the cousins across the room.
Together, they walked over to a table cluttered by cogs and rope. However, it was dominated by a scale model of sothing Corco himself had wanted to introduce for a long ti now, yet had never found the ti for in between all the constant crises.
"Isn’t that a ship’s wheel?"
Fascinated by the creation, Corco’s fingers ran over the wheel with its eight spokes, as well as the ropes that connected to the tiller. Moved back and forth by the wheel’s motion, the tiller in turn would move the rudder in the back of the contraption. Installed on a proper ship, it would increase the response ti during navigation and would also reduce the number of n required for sailing.
Up until this point, all crews – be they from dala, Chutwa or Arcavia – would steer their ships straight from a tiller connected to the rudder. Several n were required to move the giant wooden stick, which was usually placed below deck, right in front of the rudder itself. It was hard work, and quite unresponsive. However, a ship’s wheel could be installed atop the quarterdeck, and its clever use of pulleys made turning a breeze.
This way, Saniya’s new crews would only need a single helmsman each, freeing up manpower for other areas and improving maneuverability. It was a true revolution in seafaring, and one Corco himself hadn’t even been responsible for. He was sure that he had drawn so version of this in his notes sowhere, but he had never shown it to Egidius, or tasked him to build it.
"That’s right, it’s a ship’s wheel," Atau confird with a proud look on his face. "I rember you talking about sothing like that a couple tis back in Arcavia, and I asked Egidius to help make a proper version, one that’s not just in your head. For now it’s only a model cause we can’t get into the shipyard."
As soon as it had co, Corco’s happiness from the first Saniya invention independent of his influence was overshadowed by displeasure.
"What do you an, ’you can’t get inside’? Aren’t you the highest ranking officer of our fleet?"
"Sure, but the people at the dock don’t see it that way. The entire place is top secret, they tell ." His crooked grin and narrowed eyes showed that the captain wasn’t happy at all about his treatnt.
"At first, I tried to get inside so we could asure out the dinsions of the actual ships, to make sure we could fit a full-sized wheel inside one of them," Atau explained further.
"We need to coordinate our efforts with the shipwrights as well. If the builders do not leave space below the quarterdeck during the construction, we may waste a lot of effort if we wish to include the ship’s wheels later," Egidius added.
"Right, of course. It looks like all the secrecy has caused so trouble. I an, the shipyard is top secret, but at least you should have access," the king said to his cousin. After all, if he couldn’t trust Atau, who could he trust? After he had thought about a simple, ti-efficient solution for a bit, he ca up with an answer.
"Uhm... Captain Atau, you are hereby promoted to admiral I guess. You’ve been in charge of a large fleet for a while now anyways. And I think we need an admiral or two as our fleet grows in size, so it’s not like the title is undeserved. With that sort of status, you’re the head of the entire fleet, so there’s no way the guards can still deny you entry... and we don’t need to set the precedent of making exceptions like this. Though I’ll have a word with the guards anyways, just in case. You guys have free reigns in the shipyard from now on. Still, I’d like you to make sure you don’t show the Arcavian shipwrights the design of the wheel. Install it yourselves, after the ship has been built. After four more years, at least so of them will leave for their ho again, and I don’t want this sort of technology to end up on a Bornish ship too soon."
"Uhm... thanks, I guess?" Atau scratched his head and received the promotion with the sa carelessness Corco had given it out with. "So... does an admiral have more responsibilities than a captain?"
"Of course he has." Corco reassured his cousin, but Atau looked less than happy to receive the honors.
"You know about my goals, so I really can’t take on any more work, at least not for now. I’ve been waiting for far too long already, and I think it’s ti to get going."
"Your journey around the world?" Of course Corco rembered Atau’s great goal, his plan to sail around the entirety of the known world, from Yakuallpa’s east coast, around Arcavia, past Ak’Challa and the unknown parts of the continents, then along Chutwa’s entire coastline and back to Saniya on Yakuallpa’s west coast.
"I don’t want to sound spoiled or anything, but all the others moving ahead with their own goals. Brym’s building his business empire, Dedrick’s building his reputation and Ronnie’s... Ronnie I guess. Only I’m stuck here," Atau explained. "I wanted to get these improvents done and get the ships on the east coast ready. Then I’d be on my way."
"You know that I need your help here right now." Corco frowned.
"You’ll always need , and almost always more than now," Atau replied as if he had been waiting for the objection. "So now’s the perfect ti for to go. Your brothers are busy killing each other and politics in the south are as stable as they’ll ever be. There will be a lull in direct conflict, so you can make do with others in that regard. You won’t even need on the seas. We have the support from the Verdant folk, so you don’t need my help in the Verduic Sea. Even better, once we run out our first batch of ships from Saniya’s shipyard, no one along the west coast can stand up to us, no matter how incompetent your chosen captains are."
"As for the east coast," Atau sneered. "After they sent over all those fleets and took Port Ulta, we just don’t have enough ships to stand up to the Bornish right now. And we can’t build any new ones either. If I take two or three and make my way around the world, no one’s gonna miss them until I co back. They’d just be stuck in a harbor otherwise. Even better, I can go find all the plants and animals and minerals and whatnot you wrote down for before my first trips. Now’s the ti to make up for all the stuff I missed. I’m sure I can bring back a lot of useful stuff for your new industries when I co ho."
Tension rose as Corco thought about the proposal. In truth, he was conflicted. Although what Atau had said made sense, it wasn’t sothing Corco was eager to hear. After all, Atau was one of the very few people the king could fully trust, and he was highly capable as well. Losing an ally like that because of sothing he didn’t consider high priority was a harsh blow during such a crucial ti of developnt. Even more, he was worried about his cousin’s safety.
A trip across the high sea was never safe. A trip around the world, through mostly unexplored waters, would be a dance with death itself. However, Corco also thought back to the ti when he had first received the mories from his second life. He rembered the oath he had sworn with his friends back then. He would lead them into a brighter future, and so he would not stand in Atau’s way either.
"Fine-"
"Yes!" Atau interrupted and was about to give Corco a painfully enthusiastic hug, but the king stepped back and raised his arms in defense.
"However," he continued with a raised voice, "for now it’s too dangerous to even start the trip. Even though there hasn’t been an official declaration, we’re basically at war with Borna and Cahlia. If you start from the east coast, you’ll have to get through an entire ocean dominated by them, and then travel past their coastlines. It’s a stupid idea. Just wait a while longer, until I can negotiate at least a temporary peace with them. Then, we can consider sending you off. You can use the ti to get familiar with the new tools you guys have built, and we’ll install them on the east coast ships as well in the anti."
"So that ans more diplomacy." Pained by past mories, Atau looked like he was about to cry.
"Isn’t it fun?" Corco grinned. "Plus, we need to get rid of that itch of yours. Whatever disease you caught in your escapades, it probably won’t help you find your way ho. For that, like for so many other things, I have the perfect solution ready... soon-ish."
Giddy, Corco soon finished his visit in the clock maker’s futuristic workshop and turned towards his next goal. Now that the big issues about the future of the world were out of the way, it was ti to turn towards the smallest of issues. He could hardly wait.
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