| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Jamallo Kreen |
Posted - 11 Jan 2008 : 18:46:59
Thanks to AD&D's The Magic Encyclopedia (Volume Two), my players have found a Xiphoid Xebec (originally published in Book of Marvelous Magic, AC04, page 72).
Alas, while I know what a xebec is, I cannot find out what it is otherwise known as in D&D. It's a three-masted lateen-rigged sailing ship (and I know from researching it elsewhere that it has back-up oars, too, and is pointed both fore and aft), but I don't know its keel length nor its beam width, so I can't match it to the ships in Arabian Adventures, nor does it appear in Stormwrack.
Will someone who has some other books on ships in fantasy campaigns (or who just happens to know about such things, such as the awesome and legendary Grey Mouse, should he by some chance be reading this) please clue me in on game statistics for the xebec?
Apropos of nomenclature, does anyone happen to know what "gunwales" were called before ships began carrying guns? The usage is Medieval (yes, Jamallo Kreen does do research before posing questions of the assembled scribes and scholars), but I can't find what they were called before 1300 or so (and may have continued to be called on ships withouut guns). I wrote to the august Professor John Guillmartin asking him the question (I told you I do my research!), but he, alas, has failed to answer me. (And you can believe that's the last time I'll buy one of his books at full retail….)
By the way, lest I be accused of being chary with my own research into esoteric military language: for those few of you who were wondering what command was given to archers to release their arrows at a foe in the days before gunpowder made the word "fire" fashionable, the appropriate term of art was "loose!" Remember that the next time someone is scouring one of your Dales or a swarm of pirates is attacking your ship. It saves ever so much confusion should your archers be standing in front of some crazed high-level PC wizard who believes that every third-level spell slot should be filled by fireball, and every higher-level slot by some metamagically-enhanced version of the same spell! (The worst that he might do hearing "loose" is unleash an embarassing cantrip or two....)
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| 7 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Jamallo Kreen |
Posted - 15 Feb 2008 : 08:37:30
Dale "slade" Henson featured a Xebec on page 54 of the War Captain's Companion: Book 2 -- Ship Recognition Manual. My understanding of a real xebec's dimensions are diffeent from his (I think it's a much bigger vessel), but at least it's something from which to proceed!
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| Jamallo Kreen |
Posted - 19 Jan 2008 : 20:57:16
I don' tol' you dat Jamallo Kreen, Friend of Religion, do his research! Hereafter are some salient facts about the xebec, including where to buy a 72 cm model one should your characters happen upon a xiphoid xebec of their own.
Note that in most European languages the xebec was generally called something like "shebeck;" one pronunciation of it, however, was "zeebeck," which suggests that the Xs in the name of the magic item should both be pronounced as "Z," since "xiphoid" (meaning "sword-like") has an initial "Z" sound.
Alas, I cannot find my Osprey Spanish Armada book, but I know that the Spaniards sent (at least) four gigantic Neapolitan galleasses (see the last reference) to England, and while they were close to useless when the winds were up, when the fleets were becalmed they were effective gun platforms, which could be rowed to wherever they were needed. A decade earlier, at the Battle of Lepanto, the Venetian galleasses played a significant role, hammering away at less maneuverable Turkish ships. (I wonder whether Lepanto played a role in the subsequent widespread adoption of the xebec by the Barbary pirates? [i[ÀQuien sabe?)
Having done all of this in-depth research on the xiphoid xebec, I ask that someone please look up its original source and tell us with what the xebec came equipped ince it was transformed from its xiphoid form? Ballistae? Catapults? Culverins? Three hundred summoned planar corsairs? A crew? A navigator, maybe? What about sails, rigging and a well-stocked larder?
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http://www.websters-online-dictionary.org:
A xebec, also spelled xebeque, jabeque, sciabecco, and chebeck, was a small, fast, three-masted (but originally two-masted) vessel of the 16th to 19th centuries used exclusively in the Mediterranean Sea, with a distinctive hull, which added a pronounced overhanging bow and stern, and rarely displacing more than 200 tons.
In the 18th and early 19th centuries, a large xebec carried a square rig on the foremast, lateen sails on the others, a bowsprit, and two headsails.
They were greatly favored by Mediterranean nations as corsairs, and for this purpose were built with a narrow floor to achieve a higher speed than their victims, but with a considerable beam in order to enable them to carry and extensive sail plan. When used as corsairs they carried a crew of 300 to 400 men and mounted up to twenty-four guns according to size.
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Xebec."
Ancestral Language Translations: XEBEC
Language Period Translations
Arabic 500-Modern shabbak. (various references)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references.
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http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ship/sail-rigging.htm:
Lateen Xebec
A small three-masted vessel of the 16th to 19th centuries, with a distinctive hull, which added a pronounced overhanging bow and stern, and rarely large than 200 tons in burden. The three mast Xebec with its lateen sails was used for centuries in the Mediterranean as a merchant ship because of its speed and shallow draught. Corsairs, the pirates of the Mediterranean, decided on the Xebec as their vessel of choice for attacks on merchant ships.
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http://pirateshold.buccaneersoft.com/images/ships/galleass.jpg:
Galleass - similar to a Xebec, two to three lateen rigged masts, about 150 feet long, 25 feet wide with a single bank of oars, favored by the Genoese and Venetians in 16th and 17th centuries (six in the Spanish Armada of 1588)
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For those who'd like a scale model for PCs (or NPCs) to use in combat ...
http://www.shousha-inc.com/index.php?cPath=152&osCsid=68c912d00e3da45d7:
Amati 1427 Xebec Barbarian Pirate Vessel $247.79(USD)
This famous vessel with lateen sails derived from the Xebec used by the Barberian pirates. Armed with 14 cannons of medium caliber and 6 culverines for action at close range, the Xebec was also used for coastal defence from Spanish Navy to fight against pirates. Oars made traveling possible even in case of lull. Kit features wooden and metal fittings; wooden precut keel and frames; flags and sails; rigging rope; masts and spars; instructions and construction plans. Scale 1:60 - Total Length cm. 72
N.B. -- The reference is to what we call "the Barbary Pirates," those hailing from "the shores of Tripoli" (and Algiers and Tangiers, and...). [/I]
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| ddporter |
Posted - 15 Jan 2008 : 02:02:19
quote:
Originally posted by Jamallo Kreen
Alas, "strakes" isn't the word I need. ("Strakes" are planks of equal width which run fore and aft.) HOWEVER (cue music, please!) "black-strakes" are strakes which are placed "above the wales," and that is the term (dating back to at least 1330) used for "gunwales" before ships carried guns. So, ddporter, you were close, close enough for me to discover the word I actually needed. Thank you!
Hey, just like science: sometimes a wrong answer is just as helpful as a right one! Glad to contribute, even in a small way! |
| Kentinal |
Posted - 14 Jan 2008 : 23:56:55
Xiphoid
Xiph"oid (?; 277), a. [Gr. xi`fos a sword + xiphoide.] (Anat.) (a)
Like a sword; ensiform. (b) Of or pertaining to the xiphoid process;
xiphoidian.
Source: http://r0k.org/dictionary/x.txt
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| Kentinal |
Posted - 14 Jan 2008 : 23:50:04
Quick seach for provides xebec
corsair vessels from 1650-1820
This site: http://www.modelshipmaster.com/products/tall_ships/xebec.htm might even be more useful, though not loading pictures not sure if the D&D version matches the histroical one. |
| Jamallo Kreen |
Posted - 14 Jan 2008 : 23:26:10
quote:
Originally posted by ddporter
quote:
Originally posted by Jamallo Kreen
Apropos of nomenclature, does anyone happen to know what "gunwales" were called before ships began carrying guns?
JK, there may not have been gunwales before ships carried guns. However, one (more generic) term for such a bracing structural member is "strake," and you can probably use that safely.
I don't have access to the nautical supplements, so I can't help with your xebec problem.
Alas, "strakes" isn't the word I need. ("Strakes" are planks of equal width which run fore and aft.) HOWEVER (cue music, please!) "black-strakes" are strakes which are placed "above the wales," and that is the term (dating back to at least 1330) used for "gunwales" before ships carried guns. So, ddporter, you were close, close enough for me to discover the word I actually needed. Thank you!
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| ddporter |
Posted - 11 Jan 2008 : 22:13:52
quote:
Originally posted by Jamallo Kreen
Apropos of nomenclature, does anyone happen to know what "gunwales" were called before ships began carrying guns?
JK, there may not have been gunwales before ships carried guns. However, one (more generic) term for such a bracing structural member is "strake," and you can probably use that safely.
I don't have access to the nautical supplements, so I can't help with your xebec problem. |
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