Maelstrom Campaign - Shipping

Alkonian Barter Ship
The Alkonian barter ship is one of the finest vessels a merchant captain could wish to command. The luxurious officers’ quarters and staterooms are complemented by an adequate cargo hold and a robust design that can still provide a fair turn of speed in all but the most treacherous seas. The province of wealthy merchants, it is rare to find two of these ships that are exactly alike.   
Dhow
This ship hails from the Southern waters between Rukh and Amun-Sa. Apparent in the design is the need to move cargoes along coastal and river trade routes. Rigged with triangular sails the dhow can make headway against the wind although it often has difficulty in hostile sea conditions. The dhow is a common trade vessel in all waters and is especially favoured by avian merchants. A version of this vessel is also used as a raiding ship by the tribesmen of Fidelia, although these vessels are adapted to the harsher climate of the northern seas.   
Flembic Galeass
The backbone of the Flembic naval strength, the galeass is designed to be swift and deadly. Despite its reputation for being somewhat fragile when up against heavy seas or opposing warships, the ship's excellent speed allows it to pick and choose the battles it fights.   
Freiboden Whaler
The Freiboden whaler is a ketchrigged ship that was originally designed for whaling and fishing. With excellent all weather capability, a large cargo capacity, and a good speed, this ship has been used for all manner of mercantile commerce.   
Gnoll Battle Barge
These warships are the scourge of the eastern seas. A simplified Malathian design, the battle barge is designed to move Gnoll warriors to and from battle with a combination of sail and oars. With little armament the crew tends to rely on boarding actions. An excellent vessel against smaller trade vessels, the battle barge is outmatched when facing more heavily armed warships.   
Mayan Slave Ship
These vessels are built by the Mayans but are commonly available in most shipyards across the world. They can carry a fair amount of cargo but their handling in poorweather leaves much to be desired. A common choice for many poor traders, they tend to be sold on as soon as the captain can afford a better vessel. Their low speed and large cargo capacity make them favoured piracy targets and so they tend to avoid dangerous waters.   
Malathian Corsair
Although designed as a naval vessel, the Malathian corsair carries minimum armaments. However, the speed of the corsair has made it a popular vessel amongst merchants (when they can obtain one) and militarily the vessel has been used to launch lightning raids on enemy shipping. The corsair does not carry as much cargo as other ships of its size, but fewvessels on the seas are capable of catching one.   
Malathian Man-o-war
The man-o-war is an excellent allround vessel capable of carrying a reasonable cargo at speed whilst defending itself against attack. The design heralds from Malathia, however the idea of having a prestigious flagship has caught on amongst many of the nations of the Known World. There are even rumours of an independent man-o-war operating out of the Free Islands.   
Merisusi Proa
The proa is little more than a platform for carrying siege weapons. Surprisingly fast, the vessel tends to be slightly centerheavy in a strong swell, and somewhat fragile when facing similarly armed warships. However the armament is generally more than enough to intimidate or sink most targets.   
Merisusi Raptor
The raptor is designed, created and exclusively built by the Merisusi. It has too deep a draught to sail into shallow waters but the raptor is not designed for this. It is built to carry sufficient armaments to ensure it can destroy any hostile vessel foolish enough to close with it.   
Rukh Galleon
This well rigged ship is a model of simplicity. Although it lacks the luxurious cabin space of the barter ship it makes up for this with a combination of speed and unprecedented cargo capacity. Built as a way of transporting valuable bulk cargoes across the dangerous waters near Rukh, this vessel is unsurpassed as a merchant ship.

And so it began......

Dawn breaks, war looms, the evil Lord is gathering his armies to wage a campaign of destruction upon the free peoples of the world. It is up to I, Sir Maximilan Pegasus to stop him, with my trusted band of adventurers we must gather the enchanted sword of Tek, the Shield of Way-Lem and the amulet of Subsidence and together we shall slay this abomination! “TIME FREEZE” And bam, the fantasy world fades away, the enchanted sword of Tek in my hand is a rubber sword smothered in coloured ribbons with a laminated card cable tied to the hilt, I look down and I’m wearing plastic armour and unflattering heropants, and the magical world of my imagination washes away to reveal a field in Wigan, but you know what? It’s larp and I’m a larper, it’s what I do.
I started larping when I was 17, I’d never role-played before, I’d never played D&D or Warhammer, never played WoW or any form of online game, I’d never even read Lord of the Rings, I feel somewhat privileged that I hadn’t done any of those things, I think it gave me an untainted attitude towards what larp could be, I had no preconceptions about saving the maiden fair, slaying the dragon or smiting the liche, to me it was just a new thing to try.
It was cold, really cold, 10am on a September morning, the rain was battering down and I’d been given a faux fur tunic, a mouldy old sword and been pointed towards a man and told, “You’re monstering, there’s the ref he’ll tell you what to do.” I obeyed, I played wave after wave of zombies, orcs and various line monsters and to be honest, was cold, bored and hungry. That is, until lunchtime, the teams switched sides, I got into the kit I’d scrounged up, as with most first timers, a black trenchcoat. I took the mouldy old sword, stood with my fellow adventurers and it hit me, I’m a god damn hero!
Pow, there it was, a new larper was born.