Sail

Twelve thousand years ago someone courageous took a boat out of sight of the vastland coast. That event marks the first year of the Oceanic Era, even though we're not certain exactly when it happened.

Development

Valdians use tripod platforms to raise a person above treeline and communicate with each other by settng brightly colored banners similar to Tiderider message flags. Some of their rafts have high lookout perches as well, and from there it becomes clear how these rafts eventually became freesailing ships.

Out on the ocean, far from land, there are no physical landmarks to tell you where you are. The earliest ocean maps are credited to the Tide Readers, who could sense the depth and movement of water. They could have known that small islands existed far beyond sight from shore.

It's very likely, then, that the first masts had nothing to with moving the boat. These would have been sturdier versions of the river rafts, redesigned to survive rougher water and crewed with rowers to propel them in the absence of a steady downstream current. The lookout perch continued in its role, since it is well known to any Tiderider that the higher the lookout, the more distant is her visible horizon.

We can only speculate how the sail became attached to the mast. If these early sailors were using the same signal banners, they would have to have noticed them catching in the wind and affecting the direction of the boat. From that observation, some crew must have realized they could use a larger banner to let the wind take over from the rowing.

Social Impact

Sail immediately began the split between Vastlanders and Oceanfolk. Both groups have good aura sense, but there seems to be something innate and hereditary about whether that sense is compatible with the complicated body of water that is the ocean. Vastlanders have described it as immense, chaotic, unpredictable, dangerous, and uncomfortable. Oceanfolk say the same, but replace "uncomfortable" with "fun".

Some Tideriders claim their families are as old as the Oceanic Era itself. While that's unlikely, it's not impossible. Once navigation opened up regular travel between distant islands, boats could spend months at sea. From there the structure of a Tiderider family fleet is nearly inevitable.

It's only within the past hundred years that there has been any alternative to sailing fleets. Conduit boats, launched at the start of 2000 Vol, can carry more freight much faster but require immense and expensive infrastructure. There is the tantalizing potential for air travel, but that development is still far in the future. For now, sail remains the only way to reach islands across the ocean's expanses.