Seafarer's Companion -- All good seamen know the difference a good sextant can make when out at sea. These devices make use of the stars, and some versions the sun, to insure accurate locating no matter where a vessel may be. To use your sextant is a simple process which requires naught more than a knoweledge of the stars, and especially, a good sense of longitude and latitude. The good seaman studies these things diligently. Your average sextant will give readings currently calibrated to this section of the hemisphere. While most consider the nine land masses to be most of the world, yet the truth is that these islands are actually only a part. Yes, we are located in the southeastern portion of the planet, in its east quadrant. With this knoweledge, a sextant, and information on where the nine islands are basically, one can construct an actual map! One need only keep in mind where 0e, 0s is. This point is called the stellar north pole, and is located in the far northwestern portion of Gonzar, the King'sland. On a paper map, this would be the uppermost, leftmost corner. This point defines the upper-leftmost area of a square which continues southwardfor 126 lines, and eastward for 154 lines, a point just southeast off the coast of Gordzan. If you wish to construct a map, always remember, then: Point 0 east, 0 south, is the upper leftmost. Point 154 east, 126 south is the lower rightmost. With a ruler and quill, and good papyrus paper, the seeker could thus construct a gridwork, allowing him to locate any point on the map. For example, if he watched the day/night cycle, and timed how fast day and night switch, and then compared it with two points on his map, he could estimateabout how long it should take to travel between the points. Thus he could plan his journey by ship to insure he will arrive before nightfall. Scholars thus far have located the approximate center of the nine islands, information which should be useful to any mapmaker: Gonzar: 25e,50s. Bizloth: 61e,50s. Zeblin: 90e,30s. Brindar: 133e,30s. McRin: 80e,62s. Elitoth: 133e,63s. Zylar: 80e,82s. Gizdan: 110e,81s. Gordzan: 135e,90s. There is still one major problem confronting cartographers: Why do the stars indicate 0-126 for a north to south range, while men at sea have only measured up to about 95s, where they run into southern polar ice? Does this indicate a land mass beyond the 95s barrier. (to 126s)? Or does it indicate an area, perhaps, underneath...? We may never know. END
