Quote:
Originally Posted by dcarson
Sailing master?
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I assume you mean a professional navigator, like the position of Master in the Royal Navy or a member of the Spanish
Cuerpo de Pilotos, rather than someone in charge of the technical tasks involved in sailing the ship, i.e. master of sails, rigging and the like (which are the province of the bosun)?
Essentially, a warrant officer responsible for mathematical navigation and likely any duties related to cartography and hydrography (the latter perhaps not applicable on a skyship), but not an officer in the military chain of command?
With the captain, as a Spanish
hidalgo, not expected to actually know how to
do anything as mundane as a complex technical task, being exclusively a
caballero, swordsman and courageous leader of fighting men?
In the case of Don Rafael de la Vega, he is actually a gifted 'seaman' and knows how to calculate a ship's position in the sky using astrolabe and compass. The ship's mage, Zancas, can also navigate, in his case using dowsing and divination magic to plot their position and steer toward a destination.
The position of Quartermaster on a pirate ship also implies responsibility for steering and navigation, in addition to being a counterweight for the authority of a captain. Still haven't decided which fictional character to use there. There are many good options, but I want to go with someone who appeals to a Chilean girl, which makes
English pirates like Calico Jack Rackham less likely, as the traditional attitude of English pirates toward the 'Spanish' (including all inhabitants of Hispanic South America at the time) was as victims.
That being said, it's not exactly unknown for tweens and teeenagers to admire, idolize and fantasize about fictional or fictionalized characters who in real life would have been likely to rob, rape and kill them.