This question might be affected by the answer to another question:
Does the Empire need a fleet at Karse?
If it's an Empire wide priority, it is within the capabilities of the Empire to hire locals, bring in wood at ruinous expense, hire mercenary shipping from a wide area as allies, etc. So if they really wanted a fairly big fleet at Karse, they could probably have one.
On the other hand, if they wanted access to goods imported by sea but didn't much care about controlling the sea lanes, they might have no fleet whatever.
The most likely arrangement, it seems to me, is for the lunar governor to be bribed by some enterprising private seafaring operator, and to grant some kind of official sanction to a basically local operation. He in turn could more than make his money on by some combination of what the Empire paid him and sanctioned extortion and/or piracy. This would give the Empire some capability to chase pirates who captured someone important enough to require retaliation, suppress local rebels who fled to nearby islands, etc, without involving the Empire in direct supervision of a large scale operation. If they did this, the fleet would probably be composed of local ships and sailors, and nominally commanded by an army officer.
From a storytelling viewpoint, this could involve the lunars in basically local disputes that aren't really relevant to larger lunar objectives.
Ray,
Ray,
Greg Stafford <Greg_at_...> wrote: YGWV
Quoting Oliver Bernuetz <bernuetz_at_...>:
> Greg said:
>
>> And there are virtually no boat-building matrials.
>
> Not necessarily the Egyptians built ships out of reeds.
In fact, several of the "weeder" peoples of the Janube make their boats of reeds too.
> Aren't moonboats
> made of reeds?
The smaller ones can be.
> All you need is some would-be moonboat commander with the
> half-baked idea of starting a moonboat shipyard at Corflu. Even if they
> couldn't make flying ones they could make at least one crappy reed boat.
Mon boat construcion is not the same as making a watery boat.
> http://cruises.about.com/library/pictures/baltic/bloslo26.htm Imagine the
> fun of some horribly unprepared Lunar crew aboard their reed ship running
> into the Wolf Pirates? Sounds like fun to me.
If it's fun, I say do it.
But my original point stands. I can't really imagine a warship, or
even a quality sea transport ship, made of reeds.
Unless, of course, it was in the hands of player characters, who
undoubtedly could come up with the right magica and the right
interpretation of other magic to make some kind of outlandish warship.
"OK, guys, you two work the Bouyancy spells. Then we'll put stasis on this giant metal bull we captured for a ram, and then we'll get these whales to propel it at the last minute--you know, for surprise effect. And we'll have these seven sylphs whirling around us to protect us from the arrows, and ..."
Issaries, Inc.
c/o Greg Stafford
1942 Channing Ave, #204
Berkeley, CA 94704 USA
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