ONE:
Angle, on GISELLE, perched high atop the main-mast, at the highest spar. She’s got her hair bound back, and is indicating off past us, shouting. Excited.
1. GISELLE: Two points off the larboard bow!
TWO:
On DECK, as SABRE comes racing up from below, DRAKE at her heels.
They’re passing DRUM, who has been leaning against the rail here. He looks mildly curious at the commotion.
2. SABRE: West!
3. SABRE: Glass!
THREE:
SABRE – followed by DRAKE – is joining WESTFIELD at the rail on the larboard bow, close to the masthead.
WESTFIELD is holding out a SPYGLASS for SABRE with one hand, indicating with his other hand – not fingers, but his hand – the called direction.
4. WEST: Through the low bank, just for a moment.
FOUR:
On SABRE, now all grim-faced concentration, as she raises the GLASS.
5. WEST/off: ‘Selle can’t make ‘em out just yet.
Out of curiousity, Which general direction is Larboard? Or is Larboard merely a substitute for Starboard, since they’re surrounded by stars anyway? Whatever the direction, if it’s an unknown ship that is not flying colors, is currently hiding behind cloud cover, and it not using navigation lights whilst in said cloud banks, it’s a fairly good bet that this ship and its crew aren’t going to be very friendly.
Larboard is an older term for port, or the left side.
Probably changed to avoid confusion with starboard (which relates to the use of a steering oar on the right side rather than stars).
IIRCC, larboard is the name for ‘port’ when you aren’t near a port. I could be wrong…
I just finished reading through from the start for the first time and just want to say keep it up! Loving it! Not sure how I’m going to cope having to read at a slower rate now though…
Additionally, when sailing this kind of environment and vessels, we have to keep three-dimensional thinking in mind. “Continents” and “Islands” above and below the plane of the vessel, never mind other ships.
Whatever this universe’s quirks… it would appear to be the right side of the boat as long as ‘bow’ still means front… check the direction West is pointing in.
It’s meant to be left. Starboard is to the right of the bow, Larboard left of the bow. Rick gets a lot of leeway for things like this – what I’m writing and asking for isn’t always the easiest things to draw, and this is his nonpaying gig (though we hope to be able to change that soon with the trade), so it by necessity has to be scheduled with work that actually, y’know, pays the bills.
So forgive the artist his foibles, and the writer his inadequate scripting, please, and we’ll all just say it together, now – Starboard is right of the bow, Larboard is left of the bow, and no, Lady S doesn’t use “port.” Other nationalities do. As you’ll soon see.
Considering that both the lookout and West are pointing left, I don’t see a problem.
I’m really, really hoping for a ship to ship battle. They’re great in fiction anyway, but in the Aether it should be amazing.
What a wonderfully ponderous magnification system.
Not sure how vertical movement works for attack vectoring, but
- these rigged ships seem to have a blind spot on the bottom.
- the dirigible that started the story would have a blind spot on the top.
Both vessels would have some way to counteract their natural blind spot.