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-- Muhtim Alsufun Sultanate War Galley --
- Category: Ship
- Image Credit: Deviantart - Under Black Sails
- Intent: To introduce the Muhtim Alsufun Sultanate War Galley as the Sultanate of Masyrpt's premier fast-attack ram vessel, that shatters enemy formations with devastating rams and boarding actions before the heavier ships of the main fleet close in
- Development Thread: Not Applicable
- Permissions: Not Applicable
- Name: Muhtim Alsufun Sultanate War Galley
- Classification: Galley Warship
- Affiliation: The Sultanate of Masyrpt
- Craftsman: The Sultanate of Masyrpt
- Availability: Limited (Available within a single realm)
- Materials: Seasoned cedar and oak timbers for the keel, hull, and decking; bronze plating and iron reinforcements along the waterline and ram; heavy linen canvas for the single square sail; hemp rigging and ropes; obsidian-inlaid paint for the sacred bow emblem.
- Tradable: No
- Customisable: No
- Length: 48 metres
- Width: 9 metres
- Height: 18 metres (from keel to masthead)
- Locomotion Type: Primary oar propulsion (single bank of 60 oars, 30 per side, rowed by trained free oarsmen or penal crews) supplemented by a single large square sail for long-distance transit
- Speed: High
- Maneuverability: High
- Crew: Minimum 80 (skeleton crew for transit); optimal 160 (100 rowers, 40 sailors and officers, 20 marine commanders)
- Passenger Capacity: Up to 50 additional boarding troops for short-duration assaults (standing room only on the raised fighting deck).
- Cargo Capacity: Low
- Weaponry: Heavy bronze-sheathed underwater ram at the prow; bronze grappling hooks, boarding ropes, and collapsible boarding planks stored along the rails.
- Defences: Reinforced oak hull with bronze strakes at the waterline; raised central fighting deck with protective wooden railings and shield lockers; shuttered oar ports that can be sealed against incoming fire.
- Devastating Formation-Breaker: The long, low hull and weighted bronze ram allow the galley to slice through enemy lines at ramming speed, shattering oars, holing hulls, and creating gaps for the main Sultanate fleet to exploit, functioning exactly like skirmish infantry on water.
- Seamless Ram-to-Board Transition: Once the ram strikes, the high curved bow and abundant grappling gear enable immediate boarding by the marine complement, turning a single pass into a chaotic melee that disrupts command and control before heavier enemy vessels can react.
- Oar-Dependent Vulnerability: With only a single large sail and reliance on rowers for combat speed, the galley becomes sluggish and exposed if oarsmen are killed or exhausted by sustained missile fire or magical interference; enemies can exploit this by concentrating archers or spellcasters on the exposed rowing benches.
- Limited Endurance in Heavy Seas: The low freeboard and open deck, while excellent for speed and boarding, make the vessel dangerously unstable in storms or long pursuits; prolonged exposure to rough water can swamp the lower oar ports or fatigue the crew beyond recovery, forcing retreat or surrender.
The Muhtim Alsufun (literally "the Shipbreakers") were born in the shipyards during the final years of the Great Caravan Wars, when the Sultanate's older, heavier galleys proved too slow to counter fast-moving pirate and rival fleets raiding the coastal trade routes.
Designed under the guiding influence of the newly ascendant faith of Almuqddasayn, each war galley bears the sacred Obsidian Eye of Sannoyom painted boldly on the forward hull exactly as depicted symbolizing the deity's unblinking gaze that brings calculated ruin to the enemy.
The red-and-white emblem is ritually consecrated by Mizan Shaykhs before every voyage so that every successful ram earns Sannoyom's favour while the inevitable boarding slaughter is later balanced by acts of mercy or reconstruction once the battle is won, maintaining the sacred symmetry of the Level Scale.
Tactically, these vessels never fight alone; they operate in wolf-pack squadrons of six to twelve ships, striking first to break enemy cohesion, then withdrawing behind the protective screen of the Sultanate's larger sailing warships. Their crews, drawn from the merchant class and professional military converts to Almuqddasayn, train relentlessly in the Evening Recount, logging every ram and every boarding as paired deeds of light (victory and survival) and shadow (necessary destruction).
