The New Tozàn Navy

Since Olòyà took over the position of biggest port city from Abedan it became easier for oceanic ships to reach the port. Abedan was built inside the lagoon, while Olòyà was built between the lagoon and the sea, so it had a deeper port and could receive ships with keels. During Abedan's centuries, those bigger ships had to transfer their cargo into small galleys or barges to reach the mighty harbour, but as ships became bigger it was a good thing that Olòyà could accomodate generally every ship regardless of size.

Olòyà was more open to attack from the sea, whereas Abedan had been virtually invincible against enemy navies, but on the flip side it was Olòyà that was nigh-invincible against enemy armies, because its heart lay on an island and that provided the city with a strong natural barrier. If someone was to be really dedicated they could always try to cross it, but given that across the island the land was low and prone to floods, Olòyà had nothing to fear. As a small, minor added benefit, it was also in the centre and south of Tozàn meaning that no one could target it in the first place.

As for the navy of Tozàn, which had never been its strongpoint, it must have enjoyed the change from Abedan to Olòyà. That is a silly premise, since there was no connection between the navies of other cities, but it was true for Abedan that its navy had generally consisted of smaller and weaker ships, with only exploratory vessels of renouned travellers such as Prince Obigi and Princess Yayáròna matching the size of mercantile ships. This made sense generally because most of Tozàn's naval action was coastal where shallow water was more common.

In new Olòyà the navy's priorities lay elsewhere, with pirates. The centuries of disorder and of course the disaster called Amarokun had brought pirates to the Sea of Tozàn and their ships dared to stray further from the coasts. Tozàn had no choice but to match them. Their Ìnáwó¹ was the ship of their choice, a generally bigger ship with strong bulkheads to survive the ocean with a typical junk hull but large lateen sails to take on the winds of the African Atlantic Ocean. Armed with a number of marines, the Obibo typically used Ìnáwó to shoot at and then board the enemy but new innovations had given these ships ballistae to launch devastating hull-piercing bolts. This required parts of the sail to be raised, however, so it was an impractical weapon on a sailing ship and only used when the enemy was not being chased.

¹ For mechanical purposes, the ìnáwó is equal to a junk

That's why I'm pleased to announce I'm constructing 30 large junks.