FOUNDING IZBY

Planet tellus is earth’s twin about 800 years younger. Rubi Isle is an important region on tellus and was ruled by a king. The king who was in a meeting with his Chief Minister said “I know tellus is vast but new territories haven’t been discovered. There seem to be no explorers.”

The CM said “No sire. There was even an attempt to reach the end point of tellus but it failed.  There was a great dig to see what lay under tellus. But it was abandoned.”

“That is because some people believe that tellus isn’t flat but is spherical and is spinning. It is absurd to say tellus is spinning as then we would all be thrown off however slow the spin.”

CM nodded. The king said “Think about expanding my territory. Find out if there are explorers who can go in search of undiscovered regions. My kingdom is prosperous. I can invest on new ventures.”

CM said “There is a sailor named Izby. He is tall and broad with his hair in a pigtail and has a long red beard. He wanted to start a business but had no encouragement. He said he was willing to go to sea to find investment.”

“Good. Use him to explore. Get estimates from him about manpower and funds needed. I’ll finance an expedition.”

CM summoned Izby and discussed about organizing an expedition. Izby said “I will need 30 sḥips and about 60 men. It would be a long voyage. About 10 of the ships would carry supplies, medicines and support equipment like extra sails and so on. The men must be hardy. I can even use men in prison if available and possibly able bodied ex -convicts. Those who are recruited would be told they would be away a long time and there were unknown dangers to be faced.”

The required finances for the expedition were calculated which came to a tidy sum. The king was informed and he summoned CM and Izby. After they came he said “I’m granting the required funds. Izby, in case you found prosperous new territory it will be named after you to give you greater incentive. Go ahead. I wish you good luck.”

It took Izby more than a month to find the supplies and the men. Izby told his men “We’re going on a long and dangerous mission. Some of us may not return. Some of us may die. Those of you who are leaving families behind should know that there could be a long separation. Those who perish in the operation will be suitably compensated. This is Jenz who will be my next in command.” When he was ready to sail the king was informed and he came and flagged off the expedition.

The convoy left Rubi Isle and sailed in smooth weather for 2 weeks close to the coast. They would anchor and alight when food will be cooked and men rested. They had crossed known territory in a couple of months. A vast expanse of sea now faced them. Izby said to his men “We’re nearing Monkey Island where primitive people live. They are also cannibals. Let us be cautious.”

But there was a storm approaching and they were forced to anchor on Monkey Island. Armed men stood guard as co-sailors cooked ate and rested.

When they again set sail Izby said “We’ve been lucky and escaped the primitive tribals. Let us hope our luck holds.”

They had now reached the ocean and there was no respite of land. They ate the food out of what could be eaten raw when a storm flung them to a shore. A couple of boats capsized and some developed leaks forcing them to be towed for repair. Some of the men were drowned.  However Izby, Jenz and the rest of the sailors were safe. The survivors seemed to be on uninhabited territory. The place seemed fertile and was overgrown with bamboo groves and banana plants. The men of the expedition helped themselves to banana fruits and stocked raw bananas to be cooked and eaten later.

Izby and his depleted compliment of men decided to halt there for a few days. One of the enterprising men went into the interior and was missing. The others thought he was perhaps captured and may have been executed. The man was Judo, a murderer who had been released from prison for the expedition. However he returned 2 days later as Izby was planning to sail away.

Izby questioned him and learnt they were in a place named Clax. He said the people were friendly and he was fed by them. In fact he had been given a woman to be with. Judo said “After months of being without a woman it was just what I wanted.”

His talk excited a few more men of the expedition and they went to the interior. However they didn’t have much luck. One of them had seized a woman and had brought her to their camp. Now a large number of men and women of Clax came armed and sprang on the men of the expedition. Izby  ordered the woman released and spoke and calmed the wronged. They were happy when the woman was released. Izby found the people of Clax were largely friendly and used them to service damaged ships. He noted the route to reach Clax from Rubi Isle.

It had been more than 5 months since the start of the expedition and when Izby wanted to sail further he was opposed by Jenz himself. Jenz said “We’ve travelled long. We could have reached the end of tellus.”

Izby said “Nonsense. Tellus is a sphere wihout end.”

“The witch has cautioned me about going too far to the edge. It is dangerous.”

Izby said “I’m ordering you to sail forward.”

Jenz said “I and my men refuse to do so.”

When Izby tried to assault Jenz some sailors went in support and held Izby captive. Jenz then announced “I’m the commander from now on. Izby will travel as a prisoner.”

But there were some Izby supporters and a war broke out between the two. Three sailors were stabbed to death but Jenz held on. He ordered his men to set sail for home. The convoy with the remaining sailors sailed. When they had reached Rubi Isle Jenz released Izby fron captivity. The king was told about the return of the expedition. He received Izby and asked “What news have you to report?”

“We reached the land known as Clax which is very fertile and whose inhabitants are largely very friendly. You could perhaps establish a mission there. I had ideas of going further but my sailors mutinied saying we could fall off tellus. They believed that tellus is flat.”

The king said “You’ve done a good job. In your honor I’ll rename Clax as Izby after it joins Rubi Isle.”

That was how the first colony on tellus was established.

END