The ship had been traveling for a handful of days and nights by now.  It had been a quiet voyage - the noises of the sea and the sounds of the ship the main company to the crew... besides each other, and the guests.

Doghelm is nearby - a day and a bit away.  As the noon day passes to the evening, the weather was shifting.  A low fog rolled in, cooler air shifting with it.  Unusual, fog at this time of day!  It was coming in from the West, from the Belka Archipelago islands that the Darkmaiden's Dance was skirting past.  For where they were heading, there was no need to enter the numerous islands (largely unmapped) that made up the two archipelagi.

As the sun disappears over the horizon, the fog rolls closer.  It's more of a dim mist, Light can see - nothing but irritating.  The fog will pass in front of them, though - necessarily intruding on their path.

It also means the fog doesn't fully encompass the sailing ship breaching the edge of it.

A weathered-looking vessel, the ship looks like a three-mast Barque that has seen better times.  The sails looked dirty, rotting at the edges.  A smattering of barnacles stuck to the ship's sides.  The crew... Light couldn't see a crew.  There was nary a soul, the ship looking to be completely adrift.

From the direction... a traveling vessel that was moving between Belka islands?

The thin fog rolls along with it, the ship's drift slightly pulling ahead of the fogbank as it continues along ahead - at this route, the Darkmaiden Dance will pass in front of it, far enough to be safe but close enough to get a good look at it...

In reply to Atlas Blue GM (msg # 1):

Light calls out to Rosa: 'Ship ahoy starboard, Captain! Looks like it might be a derelict that's lost its crew, we should be passing it soon at our current pace and heading.'

He wondered if it could be some kind of ruse, but it seemed a lot of work to disguise your ship AND wait/generate your own fog bank. Unless it was magic.

He wondered if it could be some ghost ship like in the tales sailors told to earn free drinks at the shore side bars.

For now he stayed up top and observed.

As always, Rosa checks her charts as they pass the island and updates it if needed. She takes a compass reading, uses her sextant to measure the angle of the sun, drops a plumb line to check the depth, throws overboard a piece of wood with a knotted rope attached to it to check their speed, checks the time on the ship’s clock, then marks it all down in the ship’s log.

As the mist rolls in and the sun sets, Rosa orders the ship to be taken to half-mast. There’s no point charging forward at full speed when visibility is poor.

When Light calls out that he’s spotted a ship, Rosa takes out her telescope and scans the ship, looking at its decks, sails and hull. She doesn’t like the look of it, but she’s curious too. Sometimes too curious...

“Righto Lads, let’s take a closer look! Dolph, give us another quarter-sail. Hugo, give us ten degrees starboard on the lateen sail. We’re going to come up alongside of it!”

She spins the ship’s wheel and sails the ship closer to the mysterious ship.

Tylluan spends most of the voyage in his cabin, studiously working on reproducing the book from his infallible memory. As with the rest of his race, he naps for short periods of time, rather than sleeping through a cycle. He also tends to work through meal times, but when he pauses to eat he bolts down copious amounts of food to sate his hunger.

During evening hours, just after sunset, Tylluan emerges on deck to stretch his wings. He takes to the air and circles the ship, making sure he's far enough above the water to avoid any breaching creatures that might decide he'd make a tasty snack. When he sees the ship at the edge of the fogbank, Tylluan banks his wings to take a closer look. How odd. Is this a derelict, or has something happened to the crew? I don't see anyone moving about on deck. I don't like the look of that fog though. I'd best stay clear of it for now.

Dolph gives a bit more of the quarter-sail, and Hugo works on adjusting the other one.  With some simple manoeuvering, Rosa brings the Darkmaiden's Dance into an approach at the ship.  The drifting vessel was caught both in a current and in decent winds - this kept it moving along at a decent pace.  Nothing that the 'Dance' couldn't keep up with - the only real concern Rosa and the crew have is in making sure the strange ship doesn't do anything weird... like tip over.

Soon, the Darkmaiden's Dance is pulling up alongside the other ship.  It's sails were billowing as the wind crosses them, though the ship was already slowing down - the wind no longer pushing quite as much as the light fog rolls in around them.

Old lettering of "Journey's Bride" named the ship - a large vessel that looks wholly abandoned.  This ship type is something Rosa is familiar with - they are known for requiring less crew for managing the rigging and sails.  ...But it's still a large ship!  The ship looks a little weatherworn, but had to have been abandoned fairly recently - a little more than a week at most?  It still was in need of cleaning, minor repair, and other care...

That aside.  The masts stand tall, the crow's nest is empty, and a tattered flag of some kind is flapping off the height of the mast near the nest.  It looks like there was a pattern on it - the flag has a white background, but it looks to be torn.  No condition to tell what it might have been from here.

The deck looks clear.  And to Rosa's interest... there are deck emplacements that look unusual to her.  More so, there are side-coverings that look like they could be cannon ports!  They are not open, and do not look attended by anyone...

No sound, only the waves and water and creak of wood.  The ship stands silently... waiting for visitors, perhaps?

In reply to Atlas Blue GM (msg # 5):

Light's human eye twitched a bit. There was no immediate sign of a crew from his position on the Dance, but the ship looked abandoned. Part of him, the Chef part that wanted a clean gantry area, made him want to go over there, and... clean it.

Fortunately it wasn't exactly a compulsion, and not knowing for sure what might happen once one of them set foot on the strange 'ghost' ship... He thought it better to look to Captain Rosa's orders before he swung over there like some swashbuckling hero type and started poking around.

The silence was something else though. Like it was a precursor to something. Something bad.


He wondered if ghosts were real, and whether he'd see some soon.

Rosa slowly manoeuvres the Darkmaiden closer to the Journey's Bride and ends up slightly ahead and off to the starboard side of the mysterious ship. She keeps an eye on those cannon ports and wonders if all the crew are hiding below decks and just waiting for the right moment to pounce.

“Dolph, take the helm, and keeps us here for now. Hugo, stay and the main sail. We might need to get out of here fast. The rest of you, grab your gear. We’re going over.”

She pops into her cabin, and quickly gets changed, strapping on her reinforced corset and slipping into her seal-skin trousers. She tightens her holster belt and checks her pistol, then puts on her bandoleer of bombs over her shoulder. Now she’s ready to board.

“Tylluan, you know what to do,” she says, pointing upwards. “Dolph, brings us closer in.” She hops up onto the railing and holds onto the rigging and waits for the gap to narrow. At the earliest opportunity, when the ships are about 5 metres apart, she makes an audacious leap across to the other ship.

Tylluan clicks his beak at Rosa as she calls out to him. He's already in the air and made a circuit around the apparently abandoned vessel. There was no indication of where the crew was or what might have happened to them. "Yes, yes. I didn't see anything on my first pass, but I will continue to look. I am not liking this fog though. While my eyesight is excellent at night, fog and cloud are a different matter." I am a paying passenger, by the Four Winds. Why am I allowing myself to be ordered around like some common deckhand? Well, I suppose my own curiosity has been piqued, so I would be doing this anyway, but it's still somewhat vexing.

The creak of wood and sail and the rolling waves were their company as Rosa rouses her crew.  The cannon ports were silent, nary a sign of anyone.  Rosa prepares herself and checks her things as Dolph brings the Darkmaiden up to the other ship.

Before Rosa leaps to the ship, Tylluan wheels back around.  His initial survey?  The ship is abandoned... sort of.  He doesn't know much about the vessel, but it looks like there were signs of battle.  Damage, though, was repaired... partly.  By who?  By what?  It would have to have been weeks prior, judging by the weathering.  Maybe even from further back.  There's specks and signs of blood, damage to railing and stairs.

With a 'thump', Rosa lands aboard the silent vessel.  From here, she too can see that the ship isn't just weathered, but damaged in battle.  Much of the damage though looks to have been minor, such as during a boarding action.  Crude attempts were made to repair it... but most of the damage was superficial, left as is...

But that was just the view from the deck.  The aft of the ship is likely where the officer and captain's quarters are.  The fore will hold the crew's quarters... and of course, there is belowdecks...

After landing on the deck, Rosa draws a pistol and spends a few moments just standing there, listening for any sounds of life. It all seems quiet though … too quiet...

Without saying a word, Rosa points Light to the hatch leading to the forward cabins, while she takes the hatch leading to the aft quarters and the captain's cabin.

In reply to Rosanhi the Red (msg # 10):

'Dolph, Hugh. Stay here.' he says before he crosses over to the other ship.

Following Rosa's cue, he heads to the forward hatches, pulls out a tea towel and then heads on in. His cyber eye adjusts to the slightly darker interior on his behalf (OOC: mostly due to his raw +3 PER bonus rather than Infrared or UV Sense).

'Hello? Anyone alive down here? We saw your ship and thought we'd investigate...' he says as he peers about, tea towel in hand in case he needs to defend against an ambush.

His cyber eye lens switches to red (Focus).

Dolph and Hugh give Light Vessel a silent salute... they already did so when Rosa made it to the deck and went across.  Seeing him back her up seemed to be all the assurance they needed... and the ship wasn't going to take care of itself.

Tylluan wheeled overhead, his eyes piercing fighting to peer through the mist.  For a few good minutes he had a clear view of the deck, but the fog was catching up again.  He could see the topsails well enough, the crow's nest, the flapping rags and swinging ropes.  But the deck now is just shadows in the mist, far beneath him.

Rosa hits the other deck with a 'thunk', her feet finding the ship's boards solid beneath her.  The ship's wood creaked as it rocked, the flapping of fabrics and rippling of sails the only other real sounds.  She went for the aft of the ship - the captain's quarters, and the aft quarters.

Belowdecks - it's dark and musty.  Given the general disrepair, it's honestly a bit surprising to Rosa - did someone try and clean this place somewhat?  It doesn't smell as much as she'd expect for an abandoned ship on the water.

But down here, she heard more creaking, and a faint knocking.  It comes from the direction of the captain's quarters... which Rosa creeps towards.

Knock...  creak.  Thunk.

Rosa finds the captain's door slightly open, an old jacket caught against the doorjam and keeping it from closing all the way.  As the boat rocks, it swings open, occasionally knocking against the wall... before swinging closed again.  Darn rocking of the ship.  Beyond, she finds the quarters...

The dark grey wood and light from the mist gives the chamber a faint blue cast.  There's a chest against the wall, cushions set on it to provide seating for putting on one's boots.  A necessary deed for a captain, really!  And the boots, and their owner, were ahead of the chest... a skeletal corpse, splayed out in a chair.  There was still remnants of salt-weathered flesh clinging to the bones... but he must have been there a while.  A surprising amount of a while.

Most ghastly, however, was his sword.  It was driven up into his skull from below, poking out the top and back of his bony skull.

Signs of insects were left behind, as well as a piece of fabric torn on the edge of his sword.  A macabre grin of a skull on his dead face.

--

Light went down below as well, to check out a different part of the ship.  Faintly, he heard the sound of something scritching - insects, undoubtedly, though his sharp vision didn't catch sight of the buggers.

There's no response to his words, though the red-tinged eye casts the interior in a ghastly light.  Like the interior was faintly painted in blood.

A little too ghastly to think about.

It was also dark.  The belowdeck halls didn't have any source of light, though enough of the doorways in the quarters alley are in various stages of open to provide -some- light.  A little.

Light finds precious little signs of life.  Precious little response...

Rosa freezes for a few seconds when she sees the skeleton of the captain. WHen it doesn’t move, she takes a few steps forward, saying, “Permission to come aboard, captain?”

She slowly circles around him, her eyes going wide as she sees his sword thrust through his skull. Did he do it to himself, or did someone do it to him? Both are scary thoughts. Her eyes travel down the sword to his, then down his legs to his boots, and to the chest...

“Ok Captain, time to move.” She considers using her sword somehow, but then she decides to just pull the chair back until either his feet fall off the chest, or they just fall off...

Then it’s time to take a closer look at the chest.

Murleena was good at one thing, being unseen and quiet. Okay, that was two things. She was good at stealing...and learning things and...okay she was good at more than one thing. That said only the first one was needed right now as she ducked down from her perch into a shadow, and spied a shadow on the neighboring ship then moved through her 'shadowport' to it.

She would follow quietly behind Rosa, not saying anything at first until the ivory was seating in the chair. "Murleena don't like this. Why would the bone man be like this?"

Rosa jumps when Murleena speaks. She glares at her for a moment, but then sighs. There’s no point in telling her off for sneaking up behind people; that’s just who she is.

She looks back at the skeleton and shakes her head. “No idea. Maybe some sick person arranged him this way, or maybe he did it to himself...?” She looks at the captain's hands and wonders if that is possible.

“Anyway, help me move him.” She goes back to moving the chair and getting access to the chest.