Bryan:
>
> I would think that the obvious explanation is that is where fish have
> their "rudders." Most likely the jump involves fish
> somehow....whether a fish pointed it out (in suitably mythic
> fashion), or whether someone killed an enormous fish, hollowed out
> the bottom part of, and turned it into a ship (complete with some way
> to move the tail), and other ships were built to copy this wonder. I
> think the latter is more colorful (and no doubt the ships would have
> other fishy features, like overlayed planks with rounded ends to
> looks somewhat like scales, eyes painted on the sides of the prow,
> etc).
Thanks! That's the missing piece I needed (and blindingly
obvious at that...).
> I look forward to a chance to see what you come up with!
Short summary: there are of course plenty of ship-building
traditions in the East Isles, all with their myths of how
the first ship was built. I have ideas for three major
traditions: the Sendereven (stone-hull catamarans devolving
into wood catamarans and outrigger canoes), the Ratuki (skincovered
boats) and Mokato (water-adaptation of sky-vessels
from the divine city).
Nils Weinander
We sail on a ship made of dreams.