The Trails & Trials of ExplorerDude
Way back in the mists of time, the great leader of the
Indian people commissioned a mighty vessel. It’s
mission; to seek out new Gems and new Civilisations, to boldly go where no-one
had gone before! In accordance with this goal, a converted fishing vessel set
sail from the mighty city of
Lured by the pretty lights glinting in the jungles across the straights, ExplorerDude headed SE to discover the lands of Mulberry leaves and moth pupae (Silk) and beyond that a desert strewn with Gold!
Leaving familiar waters they ventured onwards and lo’ did
spy a veritable
Though far from home they swiftly dispatched a messenger bird to deliver the news to their kin, and also confirm the rumours some of their scientists had been muttering of a strange tawny metal known as Copper.
In 1960BC the birds flew again, this time to bring word of another race of Men far to the SE.
This Mao and his followers were of a strange sort and the
sailors did not want to enter their waters for fear of angering them – theirs
being a vessel not equipped for fighting. Fortunately a route was discovered
which skirted around to the North and once more they were in uninhabited waters
sailing for the
They were not alone for long, for to the North-East of Chinese lands lay the orange borders of the Russians and their volatile leader Catherine.
Again the prudent sailors of ExplorerDude would turn aside from their course to avoid conflict with these strange new people, and this time they spotted a route to the South that offered further potential.
They negotiated the obstacles and hazards set in their path for many a long year and while circling the lands of the Salad-obsessed Caesar reached the snowy expenses of the South.
Fearing their course would lead to destruction in the Southern Wastes, the birds flew again. Asoka was greatly worried by this news and ordered his personal Galley West to recover the Heroes, but alas the raw recruits who sailed her had confused the Poles and headed not South but North (although at least they had not confused West and East)!
In what would later come to be known as the year 970BC, a great calm descended on the sailors and suddenly, as if a gift from the Divine, something clicked in their minds and a greater understand and oneness with their ships developed.
After over 1700 years of travelling and thinking their task done, ExplorerDude and its weary crew started for home only to receive this terse message from their leader: “Once is good, twice is better – there remain Gems left to discover” and so they continued their voyage into history and on into Legend.
You may think this is the last anyone heard of that brave vessel which brought so much glory to the Indian people, but if you venture into one of Dehli’s dockside bars late at night you may hear a story of the last voyage of ExplorerDude.
It is whispered that some 4 millennia after their voyage had
begun; Asoka finally relented and allowed the weary
crew to enter retirement and return home. So used were they to the sway of the
boards beneath their feet that they could no longer imagine a life ashore and
chose instead to live out their days somewhere in the
May they live long in the memories of our people!