Corsairs and Cataclysms 1: A Darkwyrlds tale (Corsairs & Cataclysms) by Devan Drake

Author:Devan Drake [Drake, Devan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-05-23T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 18

My first impression would best be described as wow! Not the game, just the general expression of amazement.

What stood out immediately were the sleek black lines of the craft. The crystalline substance that formed the cocoon or something very similar appeared to have been used in the formation of my vessel. Unlike the cocoon, my new ship didn’t glint in the sunlight, if anything the vessel seemed to absorb the light and refused to release it. I suppose I’d expected the ship to be made of wood, not whatever this material was.

The ship was maybe twelve metres long, a few metres longer than the river taxi had been, but a touch thinner than the five metres wide the taxi had been. The ship was all sharp lines and edges, not even remotely practical for real seaborne vessels, but then as it was powered by a dungeon core it probably didn’t need to be.

The prow was narrowed and pointed.

Protruding from it at water level was a metre-long barbed spike. The stern of the ship similarly narrowed, though it wasn’t quite as pointed and had several smaller spikes to deter other ships ramming it from behind. There was no sign of a rudder or other means of changing direction or propulsion.

The back third had a two-metre-high cabin with a flat roof and steps that led up on top, the design of which was more reminiscent of mediaeval ship construction that I’d expected. The cabin roof was surrounded by a taffrail that matched the one which lined the lower portions of the deck.

There was no wheel to be seen, and the mast was about four metres back from the prow. The mast only extended three metres into the air and the sail wasn’t made of cloth. It seemed to be a slightly more flexible version of the vaguely crystalline material the rest of the vessel was made of. Like the rest of the ship, the sails didn’t seem to be genuinely made for sailing.

The entire ship was black like the sclera of my eyes apart from ice-blue frosting on the numerous edges of the hull which matched my own markings and irises. There was no flag or any symbols on the odd sails. At least, not yet.

As we watched, the ship started to move and dislodged itself from the sand bar.

The vessel slipped onto the Grand River smoothly and came to a full stop once it was clear of the dry-bed inlet. The hull sat unnaturally high on the river, not displacing as much water as you would expect, which was just as well as there didn’t seem to be much hull before it became the taffrail. The hull was perhaps half a metre deep before the deck began and the taffrail a metre high.

Thankfully, we would only be on rivers and lakes for a while as any choppy seas would send water onto the deck very easily.

A partition in the taffrail appeared, extended a little, and then slid out of the way like a sliding glass door.

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