Galley

Galleys were large ships used by pirates and other sailors, largely defined by their use of oar-power. The term "galley" could also refer specifically to one with only one bank of oars. They shared many similarities with longships and drakkars.
==Description==
Although galleys could have at least one mast, they primarily relied on oarsmen to propel the ship, and had the advantage of not being reliant on the wind and had improved manoeuvrability over sail ships. However, the amount of rowers needed had several drawbacks that lowered its appeal compared to sailships. The large crew demanded a proportional amount of supplies, which meant that a galley had to either stay close to shore and make constant resupply landings, or carry all its supplies, reducing its effective cargo capacity. The crew themselves were more difficult to manage; either the crew was paid well and kept loyal, or a body of slaves were used but posed a constant threat of rebellion. Finally, the crew could quickly become exhausted from engaging in intense "combat speed" rowing for more than very short periods.
==Variants==
* Biremes, a common variety of galley that was used by various nations in east Faerûn and that were noted as having two banks of oars.
* Dromonds, an exceptionally large galley with sails developed in Chessenta.
* Galleass, an attempt at combining the qualities of the galley and galleon. 
* Great galleys, a design based on the dromond. They were sometimes fitted with spelljammer helms by inexperienced or desperate groups, creating ad-hoc spelljammers with poor performance.
* Pentekonters, a variant of bireme.
* Ramships, small, disposable galleys used by Inner Sea pirates.
* Strikers, a variety of small galleys that sported lateen sails.
* Triremes, another variety of galley that was used by nations in east Faerûn, but that were noted for having three banks of oars.
==History==
Galleys were the first large ships to be developed in Faerûn, and continued to be used in later ages through continual refinements. They were largely superseded by ships with sails, which required far smaller crews and could potentially reach higher speeds, albeit with complete dependency on the wind.
Unther once dominated its part of the Inner Sea with a fleet of one hundred biremes and triremes, but their numbers and effectiveness declined significantly until by 1359 DR their battles with pirates and other navies had reduced them to five ships in harbor at Unthalass. Worse, the Galley of the Gods was stolen by pirates, inspiring them to rebuild their navy if only to reclaim the holy relic.
Chessenta's cities had fleets primarily made up of biremes and triremes due to the unfavorable winds in the Bay of Chessenta. Dromonds and great galleys were also popular there.
Mulhorand's fleet was reduced to twenty rotting galleys at Skuld by 1359 DR, mirroring Unther's navy. Great galleys were also widely used.
==Notable Galleys==
* The efreeti of the City of Brass traversed their plane's Sea of Fire through use of galleys that were constructed of brass that was magically enchanted.
* The Mulhorandi pantheon entered Toril by sailing on the Matet, a huge war galley. At the same time, the Untheric pantheon arrived by sailing aboard the Galley of the Gods.
* The Wave Wyvern, the personal galleass of the Seasilver family.
==Appendix==
===Appearances===
===External Links===
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===References===
Category:Items
Category:Items from Mulhorand
Category:Items from Chessenta
Category:Items from the Old Empires
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Category:Ships and vehicles
Category:Watercraft
Category:Ships
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