Ship is the fourth village founded on The Land, in LY 360. It is situated on the northeast coast of First Land at roughly 11° north latitude and 93° west longitude. Its population as of the 905 Census was 33,123 humans.
The idea for founding Ship originated with a carpenter from First Village named Gallen, who was inspired by the fact that the settlers of Sorret had discovered West Ocean. Gallen believed that First Land should be explored more thoroughly, and the entire coastline mapped out. He knew this wasn't likely to happen in his lifetime if the land was explored merely by land-based expeditions, which led him to conceive of ship-building. So, he wanted to find a good place on the east coast to found a village dedicated primarily to that endeavor. In 355, he led a group of explorers across First River and then through River Valley, which had been explored by others around 150. Those earlier explorers had stopped when they discovered New River at the far side of the valley, but Gallen's group began building a bridge across that river, which was completed in 358. From there, they followed the edge of the New River Mountains until they eventually reached the coast. They immediately began constructing their village, which was named in honor of the purpose of its existence. Word was sent back to First Village, and soon more settlers arrived.
Once ships had been constructed, exploration by sea immediately commenced, which led to the founding of eight more villages over the next 20 years, most of them on isles, thus tripling the number of villages on the Land. (Ship is considered the "big brother" of Shipsister, which was founded ten years after Ship.) To this day, there have never again been so many villages founded in such a short period of time, despite how dramatically the world's population has increased since that time.
Ship was the first village to establish a Coast Guard division of its police department, in 362. In 371, when the Coast Guards of various villages separated from the police to become their own organization, Ship became the headquarters of the newly unified Coast Guard.
People who live in Ship are referred to as "Shippers."
Ship beans[]
Ship is also known agriculturally for a cultivar of beans that were first discovered there, which were dubbed "Ship beans," though most people simply refer to them as "beans." They are commonly canned in a sauce made from molasses or brown sugar, sometimes with salt pork, and referred to as "baked beans." Spirits have attested that Ship beans are very similar to Terran navy beans. Since their discovery, they have been successfully transplanted to and grown in various other villages, though they remain most closely identified with Ship. In slang, Ship beans are sometimes referred to as "noncompanies," owing to their tendency to produce flatulence when eaten.