A Point of Knowledge

[Ashka]

42 Summer 513

Ashka came down the ratlines hand over hand, and then jumped the last foot to land with a light thump at the back of the teaching group. At the front, the teacher, an older woman called Iza, raised an eyebrow and took a very blatant pose of waiting for Ashka to finish.

Ashka blushed and ducked her head. She got her balance and clamped her mouth shut, trying to present a look of close attention. From Iza's look, the woman wasn't taken in, but she went on after a moment, "Now that you're all here, we can get on with the survival lesson. Part of being able to survive is not getting lost. Or, if you do get lost, working out where you are so that you know which way to go to get unlost."

Ashka bit her lip, remembering how she had got herself lost in the forest when she was looking for kindling last year. She had gotten herself out of there again by following her own tracks. It would be very good to have more tricks to help her.

A boy said scornfully, moonlight bleaching the colour from his red hair, "We don't get lost, we can always find out way back to the sea. If we're marked, that is."

Ashka tried not flinch at the note of scorn in his voice, but before she could find any words, Iza had stepped back in with a scornful look of her own. "Maybe you can, but do you know which part of the sea. It isn't exactly a small place. And the techniques for survival can also be used to steer your own ship if you get one. No one's going to entrust a ship to someone who can't navigate it." That silenced the complaints and the group of older children straightened under the night sky and paid attention.


Wordcount: 318

Common, Pavi, Fratava

[Ashka]

Iza waited for a moment and then went on, "There are a number of methods of finding your way, and locating your position, so I'll touch on them each in turn. First of all, the reason we're doing this at night. Sun and stars can tell you which way is north, and once you know north you can work out the other directions. That means you know which side of the Suvan you're on, or which way to go back to the resources you've found, like food or water or your camp. If you'd all like to look up..."

Ashka obeyed with the others and listened as Iza pointed out two constellations and had them trace imaginary lines. Where the lines crossed was, apparantly, due north. Ashka looked from one set of stars to the other, and tried to memorise the patterns that they made in the sky so that she would know them again.

When they had all found north by the stars, Iza moved on to the sun. "The sun rises in the east and sets in the west. At noon, the sun is due south. If you find a spot open to the sky and stand a stick upright there - or a lone tree for example - and mark the tip of its shadow at different times of day, you will be able to build up an arc on markings. The shortest of the shadows is the noon shadow and points north because the sun is south.

"Don't try to just follow the sun though. You may have noticed that it moves across the sky? Good, you have. Following something that moves is a very easy way to get lost or go around in useless circles and waste your time and energy." Ashka ducked her head to hide a smile at the dryness in Iza's tone. It did, however, make it easy to remember.


Wordcount: 322

Common, Pavi, Fratava

[Ashka]

Iza continued after a moment, "Another way to find north, if you have one, is by using a compass." She drew hers out of the sash she wore and held it out flat on her hand. "A working compass always points north. Not with the letters here," she pointed to the engraved brass disk that encircled the needle, "but with the needle. You can turn the compass around and the needle will still swing back to north. The only times that it won't swing accurately are if you are holding it close to a lodestone or large source of iron, or if you are not holding it flat enough that the needle can swing easily. A compass is easier to carry with you and get directions from than a stick and does not rely on good weather like the sun and stars. A compass is also more precise about directions, which is why you will all learn to use one."

Ashka was handed a compass and copied Iza's pose, holding her hand out flat with the compass on top of it. The needle swung gently and settled pointing out to port. She looked that way and saw the distant shore sliding gently past. If that was north, they must be heading... She worked it out, lips moving silently as she muttered the directions under her breath. East. The ring around the edge didn't match the needle, of course.

Iza moved through the group correcting and making suggestions. When she reached Ashka she showed her how to twist the ring to make the letters match the needle. Ashka followed the instructions, tongue poking ever so slightly from the corner of her mouth as she concentrated. She saw for herself how that meant that you could easily get back on track if you had to detour round a tree, for instance, or tack against the wind. if you went crooked, you just turned yourself and your compass so that the needle matched up against the letters once more, and then you were back on the same line.


Wordcount: 354


Common, Pavi, Fratava

[Ashka]

When Iza finally arrived back at the front of the group, she went on, "Survival means that once you locate a source of food or fuel or water you need to be able to find your way back to it reliably. Part of being able to do that is noticing and remembering landmarks. For now we're going to find landmarks on the coast we're passing, so I want you all come over to the port side and look out."

Ashka drifted over to the side and found herself jostled away by the other youngsters until she eventually ended up crammed near the stern, away from Iza's instruction, where no one else wanted to be. It wasn't so much an active exclusion, just an absent-minded reminder that these marked children saw her as less of a person because she wasn't marked.

Iza waited until they were all in position, and then went on, "A good landmark is something very obvious that won't easily move or be destroyed. A tree makes a good landmark. A stick poked in the ground does not. A large boulder makes a good landmark, but a handful of pebbles does not. It is also useful to consider how common the thing you choose for a landmark is. For example, a tree in the middle of a forest is not nearly as useful as a tree standing all alone."

Ashka leaned on the rail and traced the grain of the wood with a finger as she absorbed that, then lifted her gaze to the shore. She soon spotted a lone tree that would work, and a small rocky hill that also stood out enough to steer a ship by.

Iza said, "If you can navigate from landmark to landmark, you don't have to worry so much about losing your way or breaking a compass. The landmarks will still be there to guide you. On board ship, landmarks can also include the shape of the shore, the currents deep in the water, and the prevailing wind. They may not be as sure and as steady as marks on land, but they will give you at least an idea of where you are."



Wordcount: 370


Common, Pavi, Fratava

[Ashka]

Iza continued, "The way many of these landmarks are passed on to other people is through maps, especially at sea. Using a map with a compass makes survival even easier than just one or the other on its own." She spread out one of the ship's maps and Ashka slipped over to study it before the others could crowd her out. This map had currents marked on it, and shoals, and river mouths, and inlets. One corner had two crossing lines with one point marked as north. Iza grinned and pointed out that with the map telling you which direction was north in the writing and a compass telling you which was north in reality, you could line the two up and angle the map so that the lines matched the place around you.

She looked at her compass and then at the map, and turned the map round so that both the line and the needle pointed the same way. "How do you test for currents to make maps?" she asked.

Iza grinned. "Good question. Most people drop small things that float - wood shavings and the like - into the water and see how fast they get pulled along and in which direction. The faster they move, the stronger the current where they are."

Ashka nodded and filed that option away in her mind. Currents or lack of them might also affect which places were good places to fish or to swim, and those she valued as much as navigating a ship. She doubted that she would ever be trusted with a ship of her own. Not as she was, with the lack of value the other Svefra saw in her.

A ship needed a crew, and the crew needed to value and trust their captain. Nobody ever trusted her, no matter how hard she tried to help. Still, she could dream.



Wordcount: 321
Common, Pavi, Fratava

[Ashka]

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Name: Ashka
XP Award:

• Climbing 1
• Acrobatics 1
• Wilderness Survival 5
• Land Navigation 3
• Interrogation 1
• Logic 1

Lore:

• Wilderness Survival: finding where you are
• Wilderness Survival: Not getting lost
• Wilderness Survival: re-finding resources
• Navigating by the stars
• Finding north using shadows
• How to use a map
• Wilderness Survival: how to use a compass
• Navigating by landmarks
• What makes a good landmark

Notes: Self graded