“The shift in naval warfare from boarding actions and ramming maneuvers to ranged combat was something that was surprisingly pioneered by the tribal islanders of the Western Isles, rather than any of the large nations.

Tales of the islanders, who relied on their agile and swift, if fragile ships to remain out of their enemies’ reach while they pelted them from afar with all sorts of projectiles and the occasional mage was at first met with laughter when it reached the continents. At least, until a fleet from the Posuin Kingdom ran afoul of them shortly before the civil war that led to the Kingdom’s dissolution.

A great fleet of fifteen top of the line ships were humbled and defeated by islanders on their woven reed boats, with five of the ships sunk during the battle and another three so damaged they were left to the islanders’ mercies. The survivors ran themselves ragged to escape and give their reports, but were mostly met with scorn and mockery, as they were thought to have fabricated the tale to escape their responsibilities.

It was only a couple centuries later, when the islanders began to probe further and started trading with the further-off lands on the northern continent that the truth of the matter came to light.” - From a lecture by Garth Wainwrought, Dean of the Levain Institute of Higher Learning, circa 686 FP.

“Reel in the Starboard sails, hard to port!” yelled the Captain of the ship with a practiced voice. They had clearly given commands on a regular basis, and knew how to speak so that their voice carried without yelling until their throat hurt. “All shooters to your bows! Load piercers with full cords!”

The larger crew members deftly loaded meter-long spears into the ballistae, each tipped with a metal tip that narrowed to a needlepoint, clearly designed for penetration. A long coil of durable cord was tied to the back end of the bolt, which kept them connected to the ship.

Cal saw the logic to the cords, as they could be used to either haul in the target, or if the shot missed, the bolt itself. Should either prove unfeasible it was easy to cut the cord off as well, which gave the ship some flexibility in its use.

Even while the ballistae were being loaded, the ship itself swerved to the left, as they took a hard turn and simultaneously turned their broadside towards the still-pursuing behemoth. Five of the ship’s ballistae on each side was set on the broadsides, while one was located on the fore and aft each. The way they were set up, all seven could turn enough to aim at the same target at the side of the ship.

“Ready to shoot, Cap!”

“Steady… wait for it…” said the Captain of the ship as they watched the behemoth come closer to their circling ship, their arm raised in readiness to give the signal. Finally, when the behemoth reached a scarce two hundred meters away from the ship, the Captain swung his arm down and gave the command. “Shoot at will!”

Almost as one, the seven ballistae at the post side of the ship shot their bolts at the behemoth. A couple struck the obviously durable forehead of the beast at a bad angle and were deflected away after they inflicted a mere flesh wound, but the other five pierced deeper into the creature’s left side.

The White Behemoth bellowed, more angered than pained considering the size difference between it and the bolts that embedded themselves in its body, and swam even faster as it charged at the ship. Even so, the Captain seemed to have expected that exact response as they calmly gave out commands.

“Hard strafe port! Load cutters! No Cords! Keep shooting the bastard till it bleeds!” commanded the captain from his perch atop a raised platform in the central region of the ship.

Most of the larger crew members immediately reacted to his command, as they twirled the cord that connected the ship to the bolts embedded in the beast around some structured meant for that exact purpose. Others loaded bolts that had a wider, flat head meant for inflicting large cuts into the siege engines.

Between the wind that propelled them at speed from behind and the ropes that went taut as the ship distanced itself from the beast, they managed to turn sharply while they kept circling around the beast, which while fast for its size, was less agile in its turns and had a difficult time catching up to the ship.

The “battle” that followed was closer to a one-sided drubbing, as the agile ship simply ran circles around the behemoth that kept giving futile chase to it. Bolt after bolt was shot at it, and while some bounced off the tough hide of the creature when they struck it at a bad angle, many cut deep into the flesh of the beast and caused large, gaping wounds that bled profusely.

A red trail of blood followed the behemoth’s wake as it continued its futile chase, until a couple hours later, the beast died out of both exhaustion and blood loss. The crew members of the ship gave no cheers, as if such a hunt was nothing special to them, for they had indeed made it look simple, and they pulled the ship closer to the behemoth’s carcass using the cords that were still connected to it.

“Apologies for the inconvenience, but we’ll be reaching port half a day later than scheduled due to this little mishap,” announced the Captain of the ship to the passengers who now came out from their cabins. “Should anyone have any losses to compensate for from the delay, please file the relevant claims at the port authorities and we will work out how to reimburse your losses.”

Cal was unconcerned over the delay, as her own scheduled meeting with Captain Arquivaldo of Le Faucon Noir was still weeks away, and instead she looked at the crew of the ship, which had hauled the carcass alongside the port side and had secured the cords that kept it there.

She was curious on what they were going to do with the dead behemoth.