The Court of the Compass and the Wheelmaster are responsible for plotting a course and navigating Tiomera, but the Arkmates do the manual; work and labor that is required within the floating city that actually keeps it afloat and capable of moving at all.
Many Hands
There are twelve crews of arkmates in Tiomera of varying sizes, one for each
anchorhouse. The crews consists of various types of professionals including sailors, carpenters, builders and blacksmiths. Most of the work done by the crews is done at the anchorhouses. Every crew has an
Anchormaster who inspects and surveys all the work that has been done on top of their main responsibility with regards to the anchorhouse's anchor itself.
Ship Shape
Being an arkmate is hard but rewarding work. The work is neverending as the city requires repairs and adjustments almost every day. An arkmate is usually responsible for several tasks that are tied to their individual expertise, but they often help other arkmates with whatever needs to be done. Jobs that arkmates are responsible for include rigging, setting and repairing the many sails of the city, repairing floatation devices, bridges and connections of rafts and most importantly lowering, raising and maintaining the anchor itself. Because of their highly organized efficiency, arkmate crews have also assisted in firefighting and on a few occassions have taken up arms and tasked to protect the citizens or patrol the city.
Eyes and Ears on Deck
Generally speaking an Arkmate is a respected individual among the
Tiomeran people. Citizens are likely to lend a hand, a drink of water or a bite of food to an arkmate. As the arkmates see and hear many things within the city, they often know many things that the ordinary citizen might not. Some of this information is given to the Anchormaster or the Court of the Compass if deemed important, but other information might be provided (at a price) to a curious or investigative individual.
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