Today I’ll be digging up Tritti and Johnka from the pilgrim and Shanty thread. After a sort.
Johnka’s wagon is typical of any on the thinly disguised desert sands of [somewhere]. But it’s of the largest sort. It’s size isn’t what you notice first. The low featured desert dune magnify and reduce objects in a random way that makes appreciating scale a waste of time. No, the first thing you notice is how high it rides off the blown sand given she’s just tri-rigged.
Typical of the older drivers out here, Johnka likes the stability of three balloons over the draft/lift of four. [need to dig up more consistent sailing ship terminology] And he still gets the good drafting. It’s not because he’s underloaded either, potatoes, apples, and tellats are literally falling over the sides. Creating a something of a trail for the desert animals looking for easy food.
The the bridge under slings the prow. Johnka has a few extra canopies flown out along the rim to get even more shade in the setting and rising sun–he likes his days early and late. No doubt he drifts off to sleep during the dull noon hours while his veteran kab team continues eastward or westward depending.
Kabs are not well built for desert winds. Their pink and grey scaled humps rising from their stout frames and short legs makes them look just like a sailboat turned lizard. But the winds run mostly the direction they are heading or opposite it. In the end, the absurdly scaled water reserve acts more like a keel than a sail.
Need to wrap it up there. Maybe I’ll tack on something later today.