1441

## **North Point Maritime Industry Blossoms**

House Stonehearth had only dabbled in the shipwright industry, but had done amazing things with ships built in Baldur's Gate, Waterdeep and Orlumbor alike, with Marquisate traffic leaning on the scrappy island since settling roots in troll country.

There was an instant maritime industry in North Point, though most of it was support operations. Boatyards for small and medium vessels were built as North Point itself went up, first for repair, then later laying keels for locally-produced fishing vessels.

As military operations started moving upriver and occasionally up the coast, the paddlewheel vessels were brought to North Point as well. By the mid-1420s, the maritime industry native to North Point was comparable to Baldur's Gate, Waterdeep or even their off-shore ally Orlumbor.

It was the long-distance wartime capacity that was driving the North Point shipyards farther, faster and bigger.

### **The Portal Ships**

The support operations for Lantan and Halruaa, and the naval operations against the Abolethic Sovereignty, were driving maritime development. The nature of the portals themselves were driving tiny adjustments in the hull design, then there were the heat concerns of the magical naval artillery, the shape of the mind-protecting wards and the ships anchors that kept the crews safe... not to mention shifting away from wooden hulls altogether.

Stonehearth ships were already pushed by magical propulsion with the wind barely there to provide redundancy should a dozen other systems fail. Being a Stonehearth sailor was a job of technical expertise, and their ships were unlike any other on the Toril (or Abeir) seas.

This led to Stonehearth taking shipbuilding into its own hands.

### **Rise of the Ceramic Hulls**

By 1439, the move away from wooden hulls was a given, though the replacement hadn't been decided yet. The two possibilities were either metal or ceramic, both heavily enchanted. The metal had certain advantages, but the mining wasn't enough to support building more than one ship every two years or so. Given the conflicts in Abeir, they needed a more robust fleet sooner than later.

Even around the Marquisate, the trolls were sensing the threat and were gearing up for more sustained attacks. The construction of Hearth's Reach on the north shore of the river )and the troll wave attacks on it just after) were proof positive that the trolls were an issue.

The troll factor meant that general shore patrol needed to increase, and that meant more riverine vessels – and more protection at Stonehearth standards. Not only did they need oceangoing hulls, they needed the shallower hulls that were just as sturdy (if not heavier).

From the Ironport naval base two miles south of North Point, the city itself was made an independent municipality and security reached a new level as Stonehearth's maritime focus pivoted.

## **Commissioning the Stonehearth Shipyards**

By 1441, the first of the ceramic-hulled ships were sent to sea from the Ironport dry docks. These magnificent beasts were celebrated, scorned and feared the length of the Sword Coast.

While there were few looking to openly challenge Stonehearth, this was as much as statement about maritime superiority as anything else.

It also marked the point of no return for Stonehearth maritime industry. While the age of wooden ships and iron men was a celebrated part of their heritage, it was now as much history as the sails that they no longer relied on to cut the waves.