The Giff Navy

        Heres something that I have been developing along with the creation of
Ives, my new character in the Jammers game.  I would like to thank Paul
Westermeyer for his help in reviewing my work and making suggestions to
improve it.  I have this aviable as a word doc and rtf file for those who
wish it.

Cheers, David


                                Giff Navy


The existence of a separate Giff Navy is not a commonly understood aspect
of Giff society, as giff lack the ability to man helms , and distrust magic
enough to avoid using furnace helms.  The navy's presence in wildspace
though is seen through the presence of fleets of Great Bombards, and
Clippers escorting large merchant convoys across the spheres, or engaged in
work as mercenary ships.  As well the presence of Giff Marines on board
help complicates matters in the view of outsiders.  The structure, its
history, and how the navy operates are unique in wildspace, and the navy
operates and thrives in wildspace playing a significant role across the
spheres.

        Structurally the navy is based around the ship, not the platoon, and as
such is much more stable and cohesive.  The reason for this is that Giff
ships have a solid core of ships crew that changes only occasionally when
the crewmembers are shifted out through promotions, transfers and death.
Unlike the Corps platoons there is no need to increase or decrease the
platoons size to fit an employers needs, the ship itself is hired fully
manned and crewed by the giff themselves.  Giff ships always have at least
one officer  on board no matter the size of the vessel be it Dragonfly or
Clipper, and the highest non flag officer is the usually the captain of the
vessel.  This system has created for the navy a two level social structure,
the officers and the crew.  The crew, even though it may consist of only
one member, is headed by the Boson, who keeps the other members of the crew
in line.  The position of Boson is not an actual rank, but is the title of
the highest-ranking non-officer.  Under the boson are the master mates, who
in larger ships are in control in certain aspects of keeping it running,
these include the sail master, "Gunny" or gunnery master, and on vessels
with oars, the oar master.  The giff as always are inventive in coming up
with small degrees in rank between the crew, but there is only one Boson on
a ship.  Officers start at the rank of midshipman, and can reach from this
bottom rank: Ensign, Lieutenant, Lieutenant Commander, Commander, Captain
(Ship, Line, Flag, Post, Fleet), Commodore, Rear Admiral, Vice Admiral, and
Admiral .  A Giff officer attains Flag rank in the final stages of the rank
of Captain with a personal pendant created and designated for his sole use.
 For Giff this means that Captain X would not be a Flag officer, but Flag
Captain C would, as well as Post-Captain W.  Flag Captains can continue to
captain a vessel, but some others also take command roles within fleets.

        Part of, but under a completely different command structure are the Giff
Marines onboard the vessel.  The Giff Marines are an essential part of any
Giff ship, and play a vital role in manning the ship.  The Giff Marines are
employed as marines, they are charged with leading boarding parties, and
securing the ship from enemy attack.  Fierce warriors a full platoon can
take on all but the most heavily guarded vessels and take it.  The Giff
platoons place in the ships command structure is as with all things Giff
marked by their love of complex and intricate rank systems, the platoon is
under its own separate command, and only takes suggestions from the ships
captain.  This has lead to occasional clash, but most Giff captains, and
the marines leader get along quite well, in fact there are number of pairs
who are mates as well.  As well by wearing their distinctive red-coated
uniforms, the presence of the marines on board Giff ships, has left most
non-giff confused as to the true nature of the Giff navy.

        To helm their vessels most Giff Captains reluctantly hire on an important,
but disliked part of the crew, the helmsman.  Viewing most mages with
distrust the more traditional and mage fearing Giff Captains hire on
priests to man the helm, with priests of Ptah being the most common,
followers of gods of war also are found among Giff helmsman are common as
well.  Any deity that favours smoke powder has hireable priests as well,
but because of the limitations of the gods most Giff only hire them for in
sphere helming.  Among the more open-minded Giff Captains mages can be
found as helmsman as well, with Rastipede mages being favoured, along with
invokers with the spell fireball .

        The fleets of the Giff aren't lead from a central command like the elves ,
but instead are spread throughout stars hiring on with virtually all the
races of wildspace  as ships of war engaged in protecting ports, escorting
convoys, hunting pirates, attacking enemy shipping, blockading ports, and
any other duties required of them.  As well individual Giff can be found
working in the throughout wildspace, they are still part of the Giff Navy;
they merely are not working on a Giff Naval ship .  They are still vital
parts of the Giff Navy as most are officers who seek the opportunities to
command their own vessel, be it warship, merchantman, or adventuring ships.
 Maintaining the links in the Giff Navy is the Naval House found in each
port, which is home to a number of Giff ships.  The Naval House occurs when
a Giff Captain decides to put down roots and base himself out a port.  Of
course this means that a variety of support services are required , but
most often the first acquired is an office  where the Captain can discuss
contracts with various clients.  If the Captain is the first to settle down
in the port, his office has become the Giff Naval House for the port.
Members of the Giff navy in port will come up to the Naval House looking
for information on who else is in port, any news of other ships, where the
best places in town are etc.  Of course the actual location of Naval House
can constantly fluctuate depending on what happens in the Giff community,
some of the larger more prosperous communities have a large solid building
with many services available, while at the other end the Naval House could
be no more than a small rented room in a run down inn.  If substantial
numbers of ships are home ported, the Captains will meet and assign at
least one officer to command the Naval House, which is considered a
position of great responsibility and the quickest way to get a command.

        When a Giff ship is home ported and on a contract remaining in sphere they
are expected to forward 5% of it to the Naval House for the use of the Giff
community in general.  In turn the Naval House in turn spends the monies on
maintaining the Naval House, providing services for Giff in port including
medical costs, helping them out in case of trouble from port authorities,
and saving up to purchase and outfit new ships.  As well the Naval House
receives 1/4 of the value of any prise ship captured by a Giff naval
vessel.  The main reason why the Giff navy follows this tradition is that
there is a constant demand for new ships among the Giff, as the younger
members press for command slots, and the senior Giff resist giving them up
.  New vessels help relieve this pressure, as well as replace those lost in
combat, accident, or old age.  Often if the Naval House's treasury is large
enough to support it, it will purchase small craft to run messages to other
Giff Naval Houses as couriers.  A common practice among Giff is to send
messages between one another through the Naval House courier system, as
well as announcements of new ships, deaths, births, and promotions.  When
traveling between spheres, Giff ships usually leave a Naval House to which
to forward its mail to, if the crewmembers wish to.

        As the Giff are deeply interested in all activities martial Naval Houses
will often have rooms devoted to practicing skills at arms, and of course
put in a firing range to practice with whatever smoke powder weapons they
have.  As well the more successful Naval Houses will often sponsor series
of lectures by noted warriors, tacticians, historians, and sages to help
maintain the skills of its members.  Another common characteristic of Giff
Naval Houses is to build small libraries devoted to military history and
tactics.  Seekers are often employed to run these libraries, and for the
smaller Naval Houses unable to afford libraries access to the Seeker's
local library is often sought.

        Another oft feared function of the Naval House is the Captain's Board,
which is made up of either 3 active ships captains, or officers with the
rank of Captain and up.  The Board is called any time calls for promotions
occur, court martials are held, mediating major disputes between fellow
Giff, determining assignments to new vessels, applications for enlistment,
and more happily welcoming new born Giff into the community by entering
him/her into the official listing of their name and vital information .
Appearing before a Board a major event for PC Giff, as they are either
being reviewed for employment, or even more feared being called forward for
a court martial.  Commanders of the Naval House participate in most of the
Boards functions, but do not take part in court martials in order to keep
the Naval House neutral until the matter has been decided.

        Here are a few examples of the Giff Naval Ships:

GS (Giff Ship) Imperious, Damselfly
Under the command of Lieutenant Vanderboom (F 4)
Ships Men:  Boson Bombbast (F 3), Sailor Rompta (4hd Giff),
Marines: (4 Giff marines)
Helmsman: 2 priests (1st, 2nd)

GS Tigers Fury, Great Bombard
Under the command of Captain of the Line Ombadidoo (F 7)
Ships Officers: Lieutenant Commander Bompa (XO) (F 5), Lieutenant x 2,
Ensign x 2, and   Midshipman x 1
Ships Men: Boson Farsight (F 6), Sail Master, Gunnery Master, Sailor x5
Marines:  12 Marines
Helmsman: 2 priests (1st, 4th) 1 Rastipede mage (3rd)

GS  Dunkirk, Clipper
Under the command of Post Captain Hornblower (F9)
With Admiral Fisher embarked (F 12)
Ships Officers: Commander (XO), Lieutenant Commander x 2, Lieutenant x 3,
Ensign x 6, and Midshipman x 4
Ships Men: Boson Davy Jones, Sailmaster, Gunnery Master, and Sailors x 15
Marines: 20 Marines
Helmsman: 3 priests of Ptah (1st, 3rd, 6th)

Websites used:

http://www.wargamer.com/aos/
http://www.btinternet.com/~pjehome/hms.htm
http://www.cfcsc.dnd.ca/links/milhist/naval.html

Books used:

Complete Spacefarer's Handbook
1st Boxed Set
War Captain's Companion
Horatio Hornblower Compendium by C. F. Forester