Thursday, March 20, 2014

Is There a Hint of Steampunk in Pirates at Oceans Edge?

Evidently there is. One blogger reported seeing Steampunk like contraptions on the bows of some ships. The contraptions resemble pinchers that can be used to grab and hold a bow of another ship.

Another discovery that smacks of Steampunk is a playing piece called Lusca. Lusca, a sea monster and whether real or myth Lusca does figure in to local lore. The beast is said to be half shark and half squid and is said to live in the Bahamian blue holes. The version included in Pirates at Ocean Edge is depicted as a large squid.

There two clues that point to this creature as being another Steampunk invention instead of the sea creature as purported.



If you look closely at the creature you will see what looks like three green port holes. In addition to the port holes the vessel is said to belong to the English. How could the English train a sea creature like Lusca to do its bidding? Have the English built a submarine?

Phileas Fogg makes a cameo appearance in Anderson’s Captain Nemo. Whereas Fogg is self-assured in Verne’s “Around the World in Eighty Days”, he seems to be quite indifferent in Anderson’s Captain Nemo. After being pulled out of the sea by the crew of the Nautilus Fogg’s huffy demeanor puzzles Nemo. Fogg seems to haves no interest in the Nautilus or its workings. However, a bit later blurts out “You and this abomination of a vessel have just cost me a very large wager”. Because of some new found compassion in Nemo, Fogg does make it back to London on time to win his wager.

But what if Fogg was actually a spy and took in more than we first realized. Now the English government knows with out a doubt that the creature that has been raising so much havoc on the high seas is not a sea monster, but a manmade vessel. Why not endeavor to create your own. It may be the only way to catch the wily Captain Nemo at his game.

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