Junk

Junk A junk was a type of sailing ship.

Description
A large sailing vessel, a junk had a flat bottom with a high keel and no stern. They had two masts supporting sails that were fully battened, that is, reinforced with bamboo ribs. The hull would be partitioned into several small compartments; watertight, these made a junk exceptionally seaworthy.

Junks came in various sizes and for different purposes, with small junks, large junks, and war junks all known. A T'u Lung war junk might have a length of 60 feet (18.3 meters) and in ideal conditions sail at a speed of up to 80 miles (129 kilometers) per day, with a crew of only five. A typical large junk could have a length of up to 80 feet (24 meters), a beam width of 20 feet (6.1 meters), a height of 10 feet (3 meters) above the waterline and a draft of 10 feet (3 meters) below it. It sailed at 1.5 miles (2.4 kilometers) per hour.

A small junk could carry 17 passengers while a large junk could carry 25 passengers; a horse or similar beast took up the space of four people. A typical large junk could carry up to fifty people, requiring seven crew on watch. It could carry a cargo of up to 160 tons (145 metric tons).

A war junk could be armed with a ram.

Costs
A small junk typically cost 300 ch'ien, a large junk 500 ch'ien, and a war junk 800 chi'ein. A typical large junk could cost 15,000 gold pieces and took 3 months to construct.

The wu jen spell vessel could conjure a seaworthy junk from a single piece of origami-folded paper that could sail itself by magic. However, it only lasted a worryingly short time. Magical paper of forms could do the same.

In Kara-Tur
Junks were commonly used in the seas of Kara-Tur in the 14th century DR. For example, junks were used in Kozakura. The Imperial Navy had some twenty large war junks among lesser vessels.

Junks were also sailed around Koryo.

Junks were used in T'u Lung, both by agents of the realm and by the navy, but these could be pretty shabby.

Merchant junks regularly sailed between Shou Lung and Wa and from T'u Lung.

The notorious wako pirates that plagued the seas regularly made use of junks. Usually disguised as traders, they often preyed on Shou Lung shipping to Wa.

History
Around the year 1200 by Koryoan reckoning, in Koryo, a great many refugees fled the city of Karak by junks, journeying down the coast to Tu Pe. They moored their ships at the Long Pier, creating a neverending traffic jam that trapped still more vessels and steadily grew and evolved into a veritable "floating city".

Notable Junks

 * Golden Lily