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. The resulting blast
blew the minotaurs out of the water and the gnomes off
course by about twenty miles.)
Let other races mock them, the gnomes knew that their
ship was years ahead of its time in practicality, economy,
and design. The fact that it was slower than anything on the
water - averaging about half-a-knot on a good day with a
strong wind - didn't bother the gnomes. They know that
nothing is perfect. (A committee is currently working on
this problem and is confidently expected to come up with a
solution sometime in the next millennium.)
The gnomes knew that all ships had sails. This was
requisite, in their opinion, of a ship being a ship. The
gnome's ship had a sail, therefore. But the gnomes, upon
studying vessels built by other, less intelligent races,
considered it a waste of space to clutter the deck with masts
and ropes and canvas and an additional waste of energy
hoisting sails up and down in an effort to catch the wind.
The gnome ship, therefore, used one gigantic sail that not
only caught the wind but, in essence, dragged it along with
it.
It was this sail that gave the ship its revolutionary
design. An enormous affair of billowing canvas with a
beam the size of ten stout oaks, the sail rested upon three
greased wooden rails, one on either side of the ship and one
down the middle
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