Act II: Voyage Of Enigma
As the mid morning sun reaches it's zenith you trek once more to the bluffs. The day is windless and hot, almost expectant. You hurl the ship, keg and ring out into the sea. They disappear under the water without trace, leaving a surface as calm as a mirror.
You wait for minutes that seem like hours. Then, looking out to sea, you catch sight of a sail. But what kind of ship can sail so swiftly in such lifeless air?
You see the familiar shape of a merchant's galley gliding towards the cliff. But this is no ordinary trading vessel. For you can see no crew on its deck. Its sails hang lifeless from its masts, yet the ship glides smoothly over the waves. As you look closer, you see that the galley really is sailing over the waves - it is floating above the water!
Suddenly, the ship stops dead. A landing-boat is winched down to the waves, and moves towards the shore. Again, you are certain that there is nobody aboard. It reaches a narrow cove just along the cliff from you, and grinds on to the sand. You get the feeling it is waiting... for you.
A slippery path leads down to the beach from the top of the cliff, which you can easily descend with a little care. As soon as you all climb into the boat, it slides down into the water, and smoothly heads in the direction of the galley. What have you let yourselves in for?
The landing-boat reaches the ship and you climb up the side-rigging. As soon as you are all aboard, the ship sails off at great speed.
Most ships' decks are very cluttered with ropes, barrels and all kinds of nautical tackle. Not this one, though. There is not so much as a coil of rope. The deck seems to be made entirely from black pine, one of the strongest and rarest woods in Allansia. In its middle, between the masts, is a hatchway, presumably leading to the hold. At each end of the lower deck there is a door. To the right of the forward door is a large brass plaque, on which is inscribed 'TWICE SHY'.
Even on the upper decks, there are no ropes - nor even a wheel for steering! What wind there is seems not to touch the sails: they hang limp and lifeless.