Thar Shaddin

Availability: Technically closed, but feel free to approach us.

Posting Speed: Standard speed is once a day with a maximum 3 day wait.

Characters Involved:
Lu Jīnwū - http://www.tharshaddin.com/rp/viewtopic.php?f=44&t=3110
Ryu Jun-Seong - http://www.tharshaddin.com/rp/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=3091

Thread starting date: PW126, summer. (Approximately 4 years prior to present day)

Location: The ocean of Tian Xia - http://www.tharshaddin.com/rp/viewtopic.php?f=50&t=3563

Summary:

Internal political disputes within the greater Nian Shou fleet have led to the pirate Wei Gang, captain of the Sea Dragon, being ousted by one of the fleet commander Yi Sao's protégés Lu Jinwu.

A week has passed since the authorised and witnessed duel took place, and the Sea Dragon has sailed north to intercept a merchant who'd not paid off Nian Shou operatives before sailing out. The Sea Dragon's crew remain wary of the new captain, while the existing First Mate Ryu Jun-Seong internally sorts out the conflict between loyalty to the Nian Shou fleet and to his mentor who had just died at the new captain's hand.

Before any issues have a chance to reach a peak of antagonism, the lookout spots the first sails to greet the Sea Dragon a week after their departure. They are not those of the merchant ship, however, but belong to a pirate of the rival Wokou clan based in the isolationist island country of Wakoku.

It's a pirate's life, all right, and the Sea Dragon faces its first major opportunity to sink or swim.

Other working titles for this RP:
Ashes to Ashes, Junk to Junk
Touch My Junk
Trunk(Full of Gold) In Your Junk
Swashbuckle Your Seat Belts
Lend Me Thine Buccaneers
My Junk Is Bigger Than Your Junk

(Full credit to Matt for these. I am still laughing.)

NB: the Nian Shou Pirate Fleet world dev thread is here - http://www.tharshaddin.com/rp/viewtopic.php?f=40&t=3112


I'm going to post info links here to help keep track of all the various background technical details
(Some of the links also appear here: http://www.tharshaddin.com/rp/viewtopic ... 062#p34971 )

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Junk_%28ship%29
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Junk_rig (This has a lot of useful info re: how to sail a junk)
For context/visual reference, see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPEZStS0rn8 where a bloke reefs then raises a small boat's junk-rigged sail

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_an ... ty#Nautics (Has some historical accounts of larger junks)
http://www1.chinaculture.org/created/20 ... _69882.htm (Shipbuilding in ancient china)
A UNESCO video on the building and history of junks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZP9fFyitn4

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naval_hist ... mbat_junks
...and pictures for those combat junks can be found here: http://www.adams2.smmusd.org/Teachers/p ... e%201.html

More pictures of Junks: http://devich.xanga.com/2011/07/28/697/

I imagine the largest Nian Shou and Tian Xian navy warships resemble this:


I figure the Sea Dragon would be a somewhat smaller variant, and I think we can model it off the Fuchuan warships which accompanied Zheng He's fleet:

or



Reference materials for Wokou pirates
http://papermau.blogspot.com.au/2011/09 ... -cafe.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_n ... century.29
http://trooperworld.wikidot.com/golden-age-of-wokou

Map Tool to help determine distance in nautical miles: http://www.freemaptools.com/measure-distance.htm
Information on chinese shipboard watch routine http://books.google.com.au/books?id=7yk ... ne&f=false (TL;DR - 10 watches per day, 2.4 hours per watch. Other resources tell me that Junks were recorded travelling, on average, 20 nautical miles per watch, or 200 nautical miles per 24-hour period.)

===Senior Crew===
(Names to be created/added as and when needed during RP.)

Captain: Lu Jīnwū

First Mate: Ryu Jun-Seong
- Second Mate:
- Third Mate:

(A captain cannot be everywhere on deck at once. Which is why they have Mates.
The First Mate's role can be as difficult as the captain's at times.

Whilst they do not have the burden of reporting to the Squadron and Fleet leader, they often need to perform the same disciplinary duties of a captain, ensuring the Nian Code is followed, and that ship and crew are ready for bad weather or battle.

The First Mate is often aided by second and third mates, depending on crew size and ship requirements.)

Purser: Shen
(Responsible for handling the ships accounts. If a ship has nobody capable of the role, the Squadron Leader is expected to assign a new crew member to the ship lacking one.)

Quartermaster: Jūn Xū
(An assistant to the purser, responsible for handling the ships stores)

Navigator: Chengde
(Assists the captain in plotting the course and maintaining the ship's charts)

Carpenter: Baojia
(Responsible for maintenance and repair of the ship's hull and woodwork. Given emergency authority to conscript assistance if leaks are discovered.)

Surgeon/Cook: Xiaoren
(Responsible for the health of the crew. The Nian pirates believe that a man whose reputation is staked on the health of his companions should also be responsible for their food. A respected but difficult role.)

===Other Crew Members/NPCs===
(To be created/added as and when needed during RP.)

Helmsman: Jingshui
Ship's lookout: Heming. Given the job due to very sharp eyesight.
Artillery officer: He Zhang. In charge of cannon crews during engagements
Sailor/reliable fighter: Gongming - fights with shield and piandao - most likely to become a ship's mate if any should fall

The Sea Dragon has on average - give or take a few depending on losses in battle/captives recruited - approx 120 pirates on board.

And it has begun! http://www.tharshaddin.com/rp/viewtopic.php?f=50&t=3563

There are two sections where I make certain assumptions about Jun-Seong's actions. Please let me know if you'd like these altered/tweaked in any way:

"His mate had been, thus far, tight-lipped and unreadable. But he performed his duties efficiently, which was what mattered to Jīnwū at present."
and
"Out of the corner of his eye, Jīnwū could see his first mate organising the men who would be in the primary assault."

Posted for ease of access

Let's do this thing!

Posted. I figured you would make a parallel post to go over Jinwu's side of the battle, since mine took up a long stretch of time.

There are a few spontaneous instances in which I've left events ambiguous in cause (the rumblings and the fire below decks come to mind). If you want Jinwu to have a confrontation with that qigong user, go ahead, I didn't have any more plans for him.

Subplots: who started that fire? Did the wokou start it to keep the ship out of Nian Shou hands and simultaneously try to take a few down with them? Was it that qigong user with other machinations in mind? Is that also the source of the rumbling? Was the rumbling really He Zhang's cannon fire? Any other ideas? I'd love to see them, they're probably better than mine

Shorter post, but wide open for you to dictate the ceremony.

Funeral posted. Let me know if you'd like anything altered or added to the funeral rites

Since I don't seem to catch you in chat much, is this thread still happening?

Yeah, I was actually plotting in my head earlier today. Since my mental state has seemed to normalize a bit and my life is a bit more conducive to fostering some creativity, (I know I've said this multiple times but I believe myself this time) I'm going to start posting more frequently.