Gold Wins Wars

by Verlax

Prologue - Little Conqueror

Every year, I’m supposed to deliver the report on the current state of Equestrian affairs, and every single year it looks the same. First I talk about foreign affairs, then I present the status of this year’s budget and after that I usually summarize our economic and military situation. However, in the wake of what happened just yesterday, I am forced to abandon this routine.

As you may have heard already, not twenty-four hours ago we witnessed the largest riot in our capital since the enactment of the Unification Act. The masses, dissatisfied with our current politics, decided to stand against our government. They protest our politics, they accuse our pegasus Legions of harassing them, and they take up arms to fight us on the streets. Hundreds, if not thousands of dissatisfied citizens are rebelling, uniting themselves against us, and throwing our grand city into chaos. We managed to subdue them, but at the cost of dozens of lives and several more wounded. I know however, that this is only the tip of the iceberg. There are far too many reasons for them to revolt.

I think that we, ponies of Equestria, made a grand error when uniting under one banner. Our respective leaders tried to guide us to prosperity, to make a country that would pass the test of time. Yet either their guidance was flawed at its roots, or uniting and creating a single nation was a prospect doomed from the start. Everytime I think about it I see more and more clearly that the mistake was made back then, not now; that Equestria was born with some sort of defect, eternal flaw, hard if not impossible to cleanse.

The idea that our three pony tribes could live together was truly heartwarming, and at the time seemed like the only logical conclusion. United we stand, divided we fall. But the way in which we stood united is a completely different thing. There has always been bad blood between our races and I cannot claim that the spite between our tribes was groundless. Our very nature dictated it; after all, we are all dualistic creatures. Pegasi are both guardians and oppressors, Unicorns are both caring gentries and ruthless nobles, and Earth Ponies are peaceful farmers as well as stingy capitalists. We have traits we can either love or hate, and at this moment I think that the balance has been tipped towards the latter.

I know that healing old wounds will be a long and strenuous process, and that it will take more than just our lifetimes. As such, we need to focus on the welfare of the three races right now. I will not mince words: the situation looks bleak. As I see it, our efforts on stabilizing the budget are doomed to failure, and our infrastructure and food production are too underdeveloped to sustain our nation. Even now several provinces suffer from famine. And as I already said, our land infrastructure leaves much to be desired, forcing us to rely on naval transport. Even the sea is far from perfect. Our trading fleet is barely large enough to sustain our needs, and what’s worse, the ships are constantly getting attacked by marauders, bandits and pirates allied with the Victual Brothers...

- Legatus Twister, delivering her Speech to the Parliament, 425 A.E

---

Prologue

The wind howled like a wounded beast as the Little Conqueror plowed through the crashing waves. Captain Winterspell turned his hardened face towards the west, looking for any movement on the horizon. The cog swayed heavily beneath him, disturbing his balance and nearly throwing the pony onto his face. He wrapped his hooves around the steering wheel and heaved, and the etire construction groaned in protest as it struggled against the raging sea.

The Little Conqueror was a cog, a smooth and elegant trading ship with a high broadside and a lazy crew. Winterspell cast a glance at his comrades, milling about slowly as they kept the deck and sails in check. The northern seas were unforgiving to all and he wasn’t really sure which was going to break first: his ship, or his crew.

Disregarding his crew, Winterspell turned the steering wheel yet again, trying to shield the Conqueror from getting ravaged by the chaotic waves. He blinked as he suddenly realised they finally left the stormy weather, the sun shyly peaking through the clouds. The crew of his ship likewise stopped what they were doing, gawking towards the sky in amazement at the sudden shift in weather. Winterspell himself didn’t show any enthusiasm.

After the battle with the environment, Winterspell finally shook his wings, sending cold droplets everywhere. His white feathers and fur were wet anyway, no matter how much he tried to shake them off. It was just one of several nuisances occupying his attention during the long voyages.

The pegasus looked at the horizon, at the fat, gray clouds churning the seas below. He was supposed to reach Lubuck a long time ago, but this constantly shifting weather was causing insufferable delays. This was embarrassing; he was going to be late again and he couldn’t do anything about it.

“Capt’n?”

Winterspell raised his head to meet the gaze of his adjutant and boatswain, Quick Signal, speaking in his thick accent.

“Proceed as usual. Do not expand sails, the wind is blowing in the opposite direction anyway.” Winterspell ordered. “Tackle in order, prepare for larboard turn.

“Aye.”

“The crew holding up?”

Quick Signal glanced behind his back.

“Nope.”

The sight was discouraging to say the least. Sometimes Winterspell found himself wondering how, on all the gems of the Diamond Kingdom, did he end up in command of such a poorly trained and lazy crew. Some of the unicorns were struggling to stay on their hooves, leaning on railings, barely able to draw a breath.

“Get them in order.” he finally ordered, sighing with resignation.

“Aye.” Quick Signal nodded and bolted towards the sailors.

Winterspell smirked as he watched his boatswain scold the crew, showing them the value of discipline. He enjoyed it so much, in fact, that he barely noticed an unfamiliar shape appearing on the horizon. Only after several seconds did he finally recognize the unknown vessel sailing towards them, still miles away.

The captain slowly took a spyglass from the pocket of his jacket. It was truly a technological marvel, allowing him to see faraway objects far better than with the naked eye. All he needed to do was wipe the droplets of water from the instrument and he could finally take a better look at the new arrival.

The ship itself seemed to be a galley, but far bigger than usual, borderline galleass even. Its broadsides were far bigger, and it possessed several large oars: somewhere around thirty at each side. He couldn’t tell if it was a trade or war galley from this distance, but the crew on board seemed to be relaxed. A red ship flag with two crossed golden keys flapped in the wind from the galley’s main mast, indicating its home port as Ridge. No matter how hard he was trying to focus, however, Winterspell couldn’t spot anything more. He didn’t see any cargo, he couldn’t see the name of the galley, and he couldn’t spot the officer in charge of the vessel.

“Quick Signal!” Winterspell shouted for the boatswain.

“Moment, I’m still scolding the crew!” was the response from the unicorn.

“It’s an emergency, Signal!”

“M’kay, I’m comin’, jeez… what’s the problem Capt’n?” Quick Signal asked, trotting to the pegasus.

Winterspell rolled his eyes. Even the boatswain was giving him a hard time.

“We need a signal. In order : green, then white and red.”

“Green, pause, white, red…” Quick Signal muttered. “Aye.”

The stallion closed his eyes and focused on his horn, sparks starting to ignite on its tip. The sparks grew more intense by the second, becoming almost a beacon of light. With a quick flick of his horn the unicorn opened his eyes, sending a green magical flare high into the air above the ship. After a brief pause Signal renewed his efforts, sending two additional sparks, one white and the other red, both flares joining the first one. Some of the sailors stopped what they were doing and looked at the magical lights, but Winterspell glared angrily at them, snapping them out of it and silently ordering them back to work. He took his spyglass yet again, looking for the reaction from other ship.

The crew of galleass looked surprised, pointing out the signal to one another with their hooves and talking among themselves. This reaction was… not what Winterspell was expecting. He waited for a few seconds, the two ships slowly sailing towards one another. There was no reply from the other vessel.

“Boatswain, one more time.” he ordered, anxiety creeping into his voice.

Winterspell scanned the deck of the vessel once more, this time more carefully. Finally he spotted what he assumed was the captain of the ship. He was a huge earth pony dressed in a typical merchant outfit, albeit a bit lighter, indicating they sailed from more temperate climates His general appearance, however, was slightly off, mostly because he looked incredibly muscular for somepony with such a ‘peaceful’ job.

The captain of the incoming galleass shouted something to the unicorn sailor standing behind him. After a few seconds, a series of flashes lighted the sky as magical flares sailed into the air.

Green, and after a pause red and gold.

Winterspell clenched his teeth, realization slowly dawning on him.The galleass before them was under the Ridge banner, but they used the Danzig signal.

“Right full rudder and full speed ahead! Get the tackle in order, hoist the main sail! Boatswain, sound the alarm! Enemy ship ahead!” Captain Winterspell shouted out orders. “Move it you lazy bums!”

The crew responded with a massive “Aye!” and soon the chaos that was moments ago predominant on the ship was no more, replaced by strict order. The pegasi unrolled the sail and soon caught the wind, the ship momentarily gaining speed. Winterspell turned the steering wheel and the Little Conqueror leaned right, showing its side to the incoming galleas.

“What’s going on, Capt’n?! What’s with that ship?!” Quick Signal asked, barely audible over the noise on deck.

Winterspell gave him his spyglass.

“Victa,” was his only response.

No sooner had the words left his mouth than the galleass before them dropped the act. Its crew replaced the fake flag of Ridge and hid it somewhere, the laid back sailors suddenly equipped themselves with axes, shields, swords and bows, and some of them even replaced their casual clothes with leather armours and helmets. The galleass itself dashed forward as the rowers went to work, giving the the ship a significant boost in speed. The Little Conqueror was already in motion, sailing at full speed. The cog was piercing the waves of the sea, leaving only white sea foam behind, the galleass hot on its trail.

A galleass with a fully operational crew is faster than cog. However, if the Conqueror is able to run for long enough, the rowers will tire and they’ll lose their speed. The only thing we need to do is keep our distance from them.” Winterspell thought frantically. “If they catch up to us they’ll board and loot us, if not worse. We can’t let them get near to us...

“Signal! How many weapons do we have?” the captain shouted.

“Lemme check!” the boatswain gave Winterspell back his spyglass and bolted inside the ship, under deck.

“Maintain the tackle! I want this cog to reach Midhay in thirty minutes!” Winterspell ordered to the rest of the crew.

The chase, despite being in theory uneventful, from the sailors’ point of view was complete chaos. The crews were running in circles, trying to keep their ships in order while simultaneously preparing for what was about to come. A few hundred meters behind them the Victual Brothers were preparing for battle, equipping themselves with everything that could be used as weapon, and angrily staring daggers at the fleeing merchant ship. With each minute the galleass grew a few hundred meters closer, the rowers giving it their best. However, the cog was a far lighter vessel, more agile and better suited to operate in such conditions. Winterspell hid his spyglass inside a pocket of his suit; the galleass was too close already and he didn’t need it anymore. He cast one more glance at the pirate ship surfing through the waves. Despite the situation he breathed a sigh of relief.

“They have no pegasi…” He thought.

Winterspell never truly understood it, but pegasi were an incredibly rare sight both amongst sailors and pirates. The Victual Brothers were no exception in this regard, and as far as he could tell Winterspell saw only earth ponies and unicorns in their crew. In any other situation he would see this as foolish; every race played an important role on a ship, without expection. Earth ponies were the best rowers, as their strength could double the ship speed and its navigability. Unicorns such as Quick Signal were crucial in communication between vessels and were more precise while working the riggings. Pegasi were the best scouts; they could warn the crew about a storm far before it happened or even prevent it, and their ability to fly allowed them to work with sails better.

The lack of pegasi in the pirate crew was a real boon for Little Conqueor’s crew. If any were present, they could already harass them with bow fire or try to damage the sail. Pegasi could also quite easily board them or lock their ship with boarding hooks. It was a big flaw in the Victa's plans, and he was going to use it to his advantage.

The boatswain came back running.

“Ehm, Capt’n? I think we have problem…” Quick Signal said in a worried tone.

“What is it Signal?” the captain asked as he adjusted their course.

“Well, we have your typical sailors hatchets for everypony on the ship, but besides that we’re out of everything. We have three crossbows with little ammo, and some javelins,” the boatswain said.

For a moment, Winterspell was silent.

Lūn’s sake, I should’ve never agreed to Grainwood’s proposal of cutting our self defence budget, he cursed internally. I knew it was going to came back to bite us in the flank sooner or later.

After a few seconds Winterspell glanced back at the approaching pirate ship. Seeing it draw nearer, he sighed and spoke up.

“We’ll have to manage with what we have. Give the crew weapons; those Victa bastards aren’t about to give up,” Winterspell growled as he moved the steering wheel again, avoiding a collision with the bigger waves. “Say it to the ponies! We are not giving them this damn ship!”

“Aye!” Quick Signal saluted and went straight to work.

The chase continued, the two ships plowing through the sea, a merchant cog and a galleass full of pirates. Winterspell took note that the galleass was still not losing speed, despite the fact they had been rowing hard for several minutes now. It was a truly worrisome sign; their crew was either incredibly trained and skilled, or instead of pirates, slaves were at the oars. It wasn’t looking good at the moment, especially when he realised the Conqueror was already in range of their bows.

“Everypony! Get down! Boatswain, where are those crossbows?!” Winterspell shouted, all the while maintaining his position at the helm.

Quick Signal tried to say something, but he was forced to dive behind cover as several arrows embedded themselves in the wood just before him.

“Holly dolly!” He scooted back in surprise.

Winterspell cast a glance at the approaching galleass. He spotted several pirates loading their bows with arrows and preparing to fire.

“Sonuva!” he cursed. “Crossbows!”

“Here!” Signal, along with two other unicorns, held the weapons in their magical grasp, already loaded with metal bolts. One of the sailors also dropped a quiver with ammunition and several javelins from the armory. Most of the crew was already equipped with hatchets.

“Return fire!” Winterspell ordered immediately.

Quick Signal aimed carefully, and the two unicorns copied his moves. The bolts flew from the weapons. Two of them missed, but one of them managed to reach its mark. Winterspell could see how the metal bolt went through the pirate’s skull and almost straight out the other side of his head. The captain smirked as he saw the worried look on the Victa pirates’ faces, finally realizing they were not going to give up this ship without a fight.

“Fire at will! Just don’t waste ammo!” Winterspell ordered as he turned the steering wheel yet again, trying to gain some more distance between the two vessels. The cog banked to the right, toward the northwest. The galleass followed right behind them.

The captain took his spyglass yet again, managing to just barely spot a new object on the horizon. It was an mountainous island, jutting out of the water with its jagged peaks.

“Coltland” he murmured.

If he could just reach the island, the cog could outmaneuver the galleass there, using its superior agility. If the crew of the galleass was crazy enough to chase them around the rough shore of the island, it would either sink on one of the jagged rocks protruding from the sea, or at the very least break a good number oars.

The moment he took the spyglass from his eye Winterspell realized that his discovery came too late to be of any real use. The enemy galleass was mere dozens of meters from their cog, and while the rowers did slow down, they had already done what they needed to. Winterspell turned toward a nearby sailor, watching with fear written on his face at the nearing pirate ship, and shook him.

“Take the wheel and keep course!” Winterspell ordered him and pushed the unfortunate sailor towards the helm. The sailor wordlessly obeyed and took it in his shaky hooves.

Now, with one less thing to worry about, Winterspell could concentrate on the real problem. It was time to deal with the Victa. The pegasus took one of the javelins in his hooves, and at his order, the rest of the sailors followed suit.

The Victa archers let loose another volley, sending dozens of arrows into the air. Winterspell ducked behind a railing, the projectiles barely missing him. Several sailors did the same, but not all of them were fast enough. He spotted Red Hatchet fall to the ground, several arrows puncturing his back, making him look like a grotesque hedgehog.

“Send those bloody bastards to the depths boys!” Winterspell encouraged his crew, as he readied his weapon for a throw. Several ponies did the same and it wasn’t long before a hail of javelins flew towards the pirates. Winterspell felt nothing as the projectiles stuck into the pirates’ bodies; he barely even flinched when he saw one of them split a unicorn’s gut open. He didn’t have time to watch anyway, as he was forced to hide from another shower of arrows sent their way. Only his quick reflex saved his life.

“Signal! Status report!” Winterspell shouted over the chaos of battle.

“Several of our men are down! We don’t have enough javelins to keep this up much longer, Capt’n!” Quick Signal said, crouching under a railing, reloading his crossbow. The sailor next to him crumbled to the ground as an arrow buried itself into his head, his blood staining the wooden deck red.

Winterspell uttered a long and foul curse, casting his gaze at the pirates from behind his cover. The Victual Brothers were definitely not conserving ammo as they sent volley after volley at their position, although the pirates’ accuracy fortunately left much to be desired. The marauders managed to wound or kill only a couple of Winterspell’s sailors, while the Victa bandits already lost several of their own crewmembers. Despite the casualty count, however, the pirates’ sheer numerical advantage would be enough. There were simply too many of them.

Winterspell’s gaze finally settled on the pony that was supposed to make boarding possible. He was a massive earth pony wearing chainmail armour and with a pair of axes attached to his belt. In his hooves he held a chain ending in a big, black hook, shining like if made out of crystal. The rest of the galleass’ crew stepped back in respect before him. Maybe he was the captain of this band, but Winterspell doubted it. What really worried him was the hook’s material was made out of. Void crystal, a fearsome weapon of the Crystal Marauders from the North. It was known to eat all magic, making it ideal in a fight against unicorns. If this hook were to land on his ship, there wouldn’t be anypony capable of detaching it quickly enough. Therefore, the pegasus captain knew immediately what to do.

“Take him down!” he ordered, but Winterspell realised he could’ve saved himself the trouble. Every last pony in his crew capable of doing so concentrated their fire on the large earth pony. The pirates tried to shield him with wooden shields but their they were too slow. In a few seconds the dreadful bandit was looking like a pincushion, falling to the ground in a puddle of his own blood.

The sailors on his cog started cheering, but their cheer immediately ended when another pirate simply took the hook into his own hooves. And this time nopony could respond.

“Quick Signal, shoot him!”

“Ah can’t!” the boatswain answered, struggling to pull back the string in his crossbow. “This thing’s hard as heck to reload!”

Winterspell checked the deck to see if there was any forgotten javelin that the crew could use. Unfortunately, there wasn’t, and the captain resigned himself to the fact they would be forced into melee. Under-equipped, untrained, and outnumbered three to one, there was only one possible ending for the crew of the Little Conqueror. And the Little Conqueror was just mere three hundred meters from the protective rocks of Coltland too.

The pirates didn’t seem to notice they had already won and most of them were still shooting; the rest hid behind cover, expecting more javelins and crossbow bolts to strike. The marauder finally threw the crystal weapon, the magic-resistant arm sailing towards the Conqueror’s railings.

Just as Winterspell and his crew thought they were about to to meet their fate, they heard the sound of splashing oars coming from a direction different than the pirate ship, off the port railing.

The crews of both ships turned, surprised to see a second galleass coming in from behind Coltland isle, aiming its battering ram directly at the middle of the pirate ship’s side. A solid red flag of the city of Hayburg was proudly displayed on its mast and its crew was already prepared for battle.

The sudden appearance of new warship and the realisation of just how fast it was approaching threw the pirates into completely chaos. Some of the panicking bandits jumped into the crashing waves. Others tried to shoot at the oncoming vessel, only to find their attacks useless. The rowers tried one more time to increase the speed of the ship, to try and avoid the collision, but exhaustion had already caught up with them up with them and the pirate galleass barely even stirred.

The ship from Hayburg achieved ramming speed, and in a few seconds it struck the Victa ship. The wood groaned for only a second before giving way, and the pirate vessel broke apart in the middle. Several ponies fell to the water on impact, and the rest joined their fate not long after. A few, especially those in heavier armors drowned immediately, dragged to the bottom of the sea by their defenses. The rest of the pirates tried desperately to hold on to the wooden remains of their own ship. They were shot down by archers from the Hayburgian galleass.

Winterspell raised from his cover, watching the massacre before his eyes. The wolves with bloodied claws turned into helpless sheep as their ship was destroyed in mere seconds, the pirates drowning in the icy embrace of the sea. His crew watched this in amazement and relief, realizing that this might have very well been their own fate if not for this new arrival.

“Hey, Quick Signal! Wake up!” Winterspell said to the boatswain who was doing a headcount of the downers with a vicious glare.

“Huh?” he turned towards him. “Ah, aye Captain!”

“Flares, one more time.” Winterspell smiled.

Quick Signal responded with a nod and after focusing briefly new magic sparks went high into the skies : green and white-red.

Winterspell was carefully observing the crew of the Hayburgian ship. The captain finally spotted his counterpart on the other vessel, an earth pony mare with a red coat. She was accompanied by a unicorn, probably her boatswain. At the sight of flares the mare whispered something into his ears. Seconds later, sparks appeared on his horn and soon the response came : green and double-red.

Winterspell’s face turned into a tiny and exhausted smile as he could finally calm his nerves. Now, all that had to be done was to properly thank their saviors.

---

The white pegasus slowly descended and landed on the wooden deck of the Hayburg galleass. What surprised Winterspell was that it wasn’t a military vessel per se, but rather a trading galleass equipped and supplied for naval encounters. The crew looked menacing; they had the air of hardened veterans from dozens of voyages about them. The ponies didn’t care much about his presence, being too focused on their duties to spare him more than a glance. Realizing he wouldn’t get anything out of them, Winterspell turned to face the commanders of the vessel instead.

As he spotted earlier from the deck of the Little Conqueror, the captain was earth pony mare with a red coat. She looked peacefully, her features were calm and her mane was neatly combed. Winterspell wondered how in blazes she had managed to keep her mane so clean during a voyage.

The second pony, probably the boatswain, was a huge unicorn with a heavy jacket and thick blue fur. The expression he wore, however, took the pegasus by surprise. The stallion before him looked bored, just as if the massacre of an entire ship didn’t faze him in the slightest.

“Greetings.” the mare spoke. “I’m Captain Hornbreaker, but if you’re wise on you won’t be using that name in my presence.”

The sudden statement took Winterspell aback.

“Then... um... what should I call you?” he asked carefully.

“Doesn’t matter, as long as it’s not Hornbreaker,” was her only reply.

“Ehm… right?” Winterspell looked at the stallion for help.

“Allow me to explain.” the boatswain spoke in a bored tone. “Hornbreaker is our captain only by name; she’s the owner of the Quick Row. Also, she’s a pacifist and she doesn’t like her warlike name. I’m the de facto commander and my name’s Howling Wind.”

“Nice to meet you, Howling.” Winterspell took off his hat in a gesture of greetings. “I’m Winterspell, captain of the Little Conqueror. I wanted to thank you for the rescue.”

“Not to be rude or anything, but I wouldn’t conquer anything with a cog.” Howling Wind remarked, a smirk playing on his lips.

Winterspell rolled his eyes.

“I didn’t choose the name. I’m not the owner.”

“Oh, and who is…”

“Guys, it’s all fine and dandy but I can’t stand the sight of dead ponies, especially drowners.” Hornbreaker interjected suddenly, turning away from the railing. “I’m going to bed. Boatswain, proceed as usual.”

“Aye.” Howling Wind nodded. “Ehm, where were we?”

“We were talking about owners?” Winterspell reminded.

“Yeah, whatever. Let’s talk about something else.” Howling Wind waved off the topic. “I feel I need to explain how all this happened in the first place. First of all, don’t thank me for anything. We used you as a bait. We were sailing to Lubuck from a different direction to sell some grain, but before we reached our target port legionaries from the 4th Legion approached us. They warned us there were a bunch of Victa ships in the region, so I took the command from Hornbreaker and decided to hide the ship behind Coltland isle. It seemed obvious that if any trading vessel was to sail in this region and then try and escape from the pirates it would most certainly try to swim through here, so we prepared an ambush. As you can see, it worked out perfectly.

Winterspell furrowed his brow. “Wait, so what did the pegasus legionaries do after they warned you?”

“Well, they said they couldn’t spare any of legionaries to protect my ship, mainly because it’s more or less untouchable as it is” he said, pointing at the heavily-armed crew. “...and there supposedly was this ship from Mareggen that was heavily attacked by several ships up north and they needed every soldier there.” the unicorn explained. “These bloody Victual Brothers are getting cocky.” He spat the last bit in annoyance.

“Lūn dammit.” Winterspell cursed. “How many raids this month? Three?”

“Four. And they are getting more frequent,” Howling Wind muttured darkly. “I asked the Hayburg city council to force trading vessels to travel in larger packs, but they said it was ‘unprofitable’.”

“Idiots.” Winterspell nodded. “Well, as much as it was fun to chat, I don’t think I can afford to stay any longer. My crew is waiting for me.”

“Fine then. I wish you a portion of good, strong winds and calm weather all the way to Lubuck!” the de facto captain of the Quick Row said in farewell.

“And good weather to you too.” Winterspell responded and with a quick wave, unfurling his wings and lifting from the deck, flying towards his own ship, where his crew was already awaiting his command. Thankfully, Winterspell thought, the rest of the voyage should be peaceful.

And so the cog and the galleass went their separate ways, the Little Conqueror setting a course for Lubuck, and once again sailing towards its destination.

---

Naval communication was always of vital importance to the Equestrian fleet. Since the foundation of the navy there were several ways this was accomplished, yet among the multitude of early methods two seemed predominant: pegasus messengers and unicorn signal flares. The first of the two was also the most straightforward; it consisted of messages, either written or oral, delivered by specially trained pegasi. This method had obvious flaws, as in the event of a battle such messengers were at risk of being shot at, and hard weather conditions could shut down such messengers completely. In Novigrad, the idea was completely abandoned after several pegasi crashed to the sea, their wings frozen by the combination of high altitude, harsh winds, and constant freezing temperature. In the end, despite the speed and vigor of the pegasi, this method was too flawed to be considered reliable.

Signal flares first appeared in Ridge in the 3 A.o.E., developed by a merchant captain by the name of West Wind. West Wind was approached by the ruling council of the city to develop a long range communication system for their vessels, so that captains could inform the port officials before they arrive. In response, West Wind came up with a system of magical flares that heralded a new age in naval communication.

Since the early days of the system, new combinations of flares have been continually developed, and their use has been expanded from simple port use to communication on the high seas. The direct successor of the early combinations is the Triple-Signal-System (TSS for short). The first signal is either a welcome signal, or a situational signal. Usually it consists of a green flare extending greetings to the other vessel as well as indicating its peaceful intentions. After this first signal is given there is a short pause, followed by two successive flares indicating the port of origin of the ship, or in some cases, its allegiance. For example, the city of Novigrad is represented by white and blue flares, Lubuck is indicated by white and red, Ridge is signalled by red and gold, and Danzig is represented by gold and red. The third and final signal is usually an order, message, warning, or request, such as “turn left”, “stop!”, or “danger, pirates nearby!”

Aside from the simple “welcome signals” there are a number of more specific situational ones. Among the better known are the Triple-White signal, used in battle to signal the surrender of a ship; Double-Black indicating the destruction of a naval vessel (usually given when the captain of a vessel orders its sinking to prevent capture); or the Red-White-Repeat, translating into “We require immediate assistance”. The most well known and at the same time feared signal, however, was the “Yellow Jack” -a Double-Yellow signal. It indicated a ship whose crew has been struck down with a deadly disease, such as the red plague, the black plague, or on occasion leprosy, and had to be avoided at all costs.

Despite its numerous advantages, the TSS was not devoid of several flaws. The most obvious one was the poor visibility of certain signals in certain weather conditions. On a cloudless day it’s hard to notice a blue signal flare, and in turn, white is all but invisible against clouds. In the heat of battle it was hard to notice a Triple-White signal, or any signal at all, proving the uselessness of this system in those conditions. The TSS also required at least one moderately skilled unicorn to be utilized, which proved to be a problem in itself as not many unicorns were willing to become sailors. Moreover, in the case of a unicorn signalist being dead or otherwise indisposed, his vessel would lose the ability to communicate.

Despite its flaws, however, the TSS is still utilized to this day alongside the maritime flag signalling as a failsafe, and for years before the development and introduction of said flag signal it has been the preferred form of communication on the seas.

“History of Naval Communication” by Red Flare

Comments

[Brown Books]

Man I looked everywhere and don't see a story like this at all, dude awesome job with this chapter and the naval battle of course.

The song went so well I almost fell of my couch getting too excited and the soundtrack was perfectly fitted into the tension of the scene.

“Not to be rude or anything, but I wouldn’t conquer anything with a cog.” Howling Wind remarked, a smirk playing on his lips.
Winterspell rolled his eyes.
“I didn’t choose the name. I’m not the owner.”

I wonder if that's Grainwood's trade ship?

Wow it turns out the victuals brothers are real, I happened to be playing patrician 4 and they mentioned them in the story mode somewhere.
Also happened to look them up, it was an interesting read. Aww man now I wanna play patrician!

Hey bro stay uplifted, awesome story with a lot of potential. I'm personally motivated to write myself (Medieval Fic) because of this Fic.

[Zennyth]

Pretty interesting start actually. Reminds me a bit of the new 300 movie, with the naval warfare.

[FancyFan]

Ponies on boats. The idea has always baffled me. I look forward to seeing how it is portrayed.

[Zevski]

I like Hornbreaker, hope she shows up later.