Chesmis Kanaal Rederij

The Chesmis Kanaal Rederij (translated: Chesmis Canal Shipping Company), or CKR, is a major shipping company based in Westhaven, capital of Craw Eiland. It prides itself on its main selling point: being the only company willing to sail through the lethally dangerous Chesmis channel. Sailing around the continent would be cheaper. But sailing through Chesmis will save months of travel.

Origins

While the rest of the world panicked following the End  , some rather clever (and quite wealthy) Crawler merchants saw it more fit answer "How can we profit from this?" The largest explosion known to man had just tore the continent in half, and as luck would have it, it tore the continent far enough in each direction to create a waterway between the two halves. New waterway meant new shipping lane.

The merchants quickly founded CKR following the End, bought a variety of cheap, war-damaged ships manned with war-damaged veterans, and started sending them through the canal. Carefully taking note of of every detail of each ship and the protective measure taken by the crew, and meticulously checking these notes again whenever a ship made it back, a recipe for "safe" canal travel was established. Less than a year into business, each ship had a steady success rate of 50%, which was more than enough to make a significant profit.

Five years after its founding, CKR had amassed a huge fleet of retrofitted warships, 90% of which made it through the canal every time, and with very few casualties on board. Most of the ships in service at the five year mark are still in operation today, many sporting a veteran crew of mutants.

Services

CKR first and foremost transports goods from one side of the Chesmis canal to the other. Doesn't matter what it is as long as it's not alive. On the east side of Crownmark, it is most common for clients from Greymarsh, Ghardlind, and Craw itself to bring their wares to Westhaven for repackaging before CKR takes over. Certain goods will need special packaging to survive the journey, and the company is more than happy to provide it. For a fee.

On the west side of Crownmark, CKR owns several commercial harbors in southern Arkovoij, Ghardlind, and the Freelands. It is more common here for the company to pack and carry goods from the sellers directly, even providing cheaper services by reusing packaging that would otherwise be empty on a return journey to the east.

Of course, there is no guarantee your precious cargo makes it to your buyer on the other side. Nor can you know for sure whether your payment will make it back. It would certainly be beneficial, then, to purchase CKR's premium insurance package! With ever-increasing success rates of the trips, insurance packages have become the company's second highest source of income.

Recruitment

A success is measured in whether the ship survives, for there is rarely a trip across without casualties. One would think this would impact the recruitment effort, and put the company in decline. But CKR does what few others do: they hire anyone and everyone. And they always need more workers. Dwarves, thrill seeking foreigners, diseased, criminals. Especially mutants have an easy time finding work here with their resistance to the blue fog of Chesmis.

Criminals

Some say piracy is the main export of Craw Eiland. Sooner or later a pirate's luck runs out. When the authorities come looking for them, CKR gladly accepts these hardened, desperate seafarers into their ranks. Sure, they may skip out when the ship makes it to the other side, but it is just as likely that they will die in the fog. No unaccounted losses.

CKR also recruits from prisons. Former inmates have a hard time finding well paying work after serving their sentences. They realistically may not have another choice but to join the canal runs.

Deviants

Mutants have a high rate of survival on ventures through the canal, and many others who do survive end up as mutants anyway. They are not only accepted into the company, but actively headhunted for their resistances to the poison fog. They often receive special training, and naturally gain more experience than most due to their likelihood of surviving the journey. Most captains on CKR ships today are mutants.

Many wonder why the company hires a disproportionate amount of dwarves, and the only official answer they've given is "They're less likely to fall off the railing." Whether this is just a quip at their short stature or an actual statistic is unknown.

Controversy

CKR bought old warships for a reason. Once established that the journey was possible, they needed to ensure their monopoly. Many smaller companies have tried passing through the canal, yet they never make it. Suspiciously, ships passing by sometimes report sounds like cannon fire coming from the fog each time a non-CKR ship enters. It is quite possible that some ships that were "lost" are actually stationed permanently in the canal, entirely manned by mutants receiving supplies whenever another CKR vessel passes by.