Chapter Three Hundred and Thirty-Six - Crash Scene Investigators

Chapter Three Hundred and Thirty-Six - Crash Scene Investigators

Chapter Three Hundred and Thirty-Six - Crash Scene Investigators

We spent the night hiding from the storm within the ship. The worst of it took an hour or so to arrive, then hung above us for twice as long. There were constant booms as lightning stuck nearby and the ground shook almost constantly with the echoing explosions.

Calamity pointed to something glowing in the distance at some point and said that part of the grasslands was on fire. Apparently that was pretty common during storms like these. I could barely see it at all, but I took his word for it.

I was mostly impressed that anything could burn in the pelting rain, though it did disappear after a few minutes.

We drew lots for the order of watches, then settled in for the night. Thanks to my Cleaning magic we didnt need to freshen up as much, so we mostly all just slept in our gear on a blanket or three.

I slept fitfully, but it wasnt the worst sleep Id ever gotten. It helped when I had my friends close so that I could use them as warm pillows to keep away the chill.

Awen cooked up a simple breakfast in the morning with a few chunks of the ships floor as kindling. The storm had passed but there was still a faint drizzle outside. Nothing at all like the deluge of the night before.

The rain will pass in a few hours, Calamity said. Well be a bit muddy and wet, but well manage, I think. Lets finish up eating first though. Let the earth soak up more of yesterdays rain.

That would've been a good idea. I stepped out of the ship after breakfast to see the wreck from the outside--since I didnt actually look all that hard the night before--and almost immediately lost a shoe as it was slorped up by a patch of mud. After ripping it out and tying it a bit tighter, I found that the best way to move was to step on the grassiest patches.

The ship was called the ers Eye. Or at least, that was the part of the name that was left. The rest was probably on the other half of the airship, wherever that was. It was, as I suspected, a bit wider than either one of the Beaver Cleavers hulls, but not wider than both. It also wasnt nearly as fancy, though there was a beautifully carved figurehead of a harpy girl with her wings spread wide wearing a very windswept dress. A chunk of one wing was outright missing.

I noticed something on the hull. A long metal harpoon was jutting out of the side, the metal bent and a cut off rope dangling from an eyelet at the back of it.

Someone had jammed that in there, probably before the ship crashed.

It had been attacked!

When I reported my findings to my friends, I got some other possibilities. Thats plausible, but its not unheard of for ships to harpoon each other in times of need, Amaryllis said. If this ship was loosing ballast, for example, its possible an allied vessel harpooned it to prevent it from rising too quickly. Or to tow it in an emergency. Both unlikely, but plausible explanations. It certainly lends credence to there being an attack, but its not a sure thing.

No bodies either, Calamity said. Some blood here and there, but honestly, I imagine the folk onboard this thing took quite the tumble on the way down, so its anyones guess if they were hurt from that or from an attack.

Did anyone find anything salvageable? Awen asked. Shed packed up most of our things, then shed loitered around one of the rooms currently above us: the mechanics room, which I imagined was meant to be connected to the missing engine room.

Calamity nodded. Yes, but nothing worth taking now. Plenty of provisions, some tools, a few odds and ends. All the stuff I guess youd expect to find on a ship. The hunters are going to love scavenging this thing. Usually we bring back meat and pelts, not finished goods.

I found the mechanics log, Awen said. It has details on all the recent repairs and maintenance. There was a mechanic and two apprentices. Um. The maintenance log seems pretty up to date? Unless the mechanic was lying or cutting corners, then this ship should have been in decent shape.

Which doesnt rule out mechanical failure, but does make it unlikely, Amaryllis concluded. Lets head out. Maybe the other half of the ship will tell us more.

We did just that, climbing onto Blinky, Tassel, and Shanks and heading out of the wreck. We didnt try to hide that wed been there. Maybe another adventurer walking by would use the firepit wed made. I kind of liked the idea of the wreck being turned into a landmark.

How do you know? I asked.

The ships in decent condition other than the obvious. If someone had boarded it to steal it, they would have taken it, I think, or scuttled it. This ship crashed slowly. The lifeboats are missing as well. Amaryllis pointed to a pair of racks in the centre of the deck where I imagined a pair of long boats were supposed to sit.

Maybe the people boarding the ship took them? I asked.

Thats possible, I suppose, Amaryllis said.

As it turned out, she was probably right. We couldnt explore most of the decks on the ship--the bottom-most one was ripped apart, and the main deck was a mess of broken floors and splintered wood, though it was possible to travel through it. There werent any signs of fighting though.

Awen spent a few minutes at the captains door with a few tools before she finally unlocked it and opened the door wide for us.

Calamity whistled when he entered the cabin. It was quite nice, with drapes over the shattered windows and a beautiful desk in the centre of the room. Latched cabinets with glass doors were stacked to one side filled with maps and there were expensive navigational tools strewn across the floor.

There was a door past that leading to a few rooms. On one side was the captains quarters and across from those were two smaller rooms for the officers.

Nice! Calamity said as he returned to the main room with a sword in hand. The grip looked like it was designed for a harpy, but it was still usable. He swung the cutlass around a few times, grinning all the while. Think I might keep this one.

Were looking for something a little more important, Amaryllis said. She checked around the room, clearly looking for something that was hidden. I poked around too, but there wasnt anything too shiny. I did find a nice hat, but it was the First Mates and I preferred my Captains hat over it.

I think I found it! Awen called back.

She had discovered a hidden compartment built into the desk in the centre of the room. Within it was a thick leather-bound book and some writing implements.

Its soul-bound, Amaryllis said as she inspected the book. The ships log. Bound to the captain. I think these are linked from captain to captain. The book had a heavy clasp on its front.

Can you open it? I asked.

Only certain people can, she said. In case the book falls into enemy hands. You need the blood and mana of a willing person taken from a relatively short list. That includes the captain and first mate, who are added to the records, a few admirals, and of course the person who originally made the vessel. It keeps a continuous record of the ships voyages and actions which cant be tampered with. Well, unless the captain themselves do so.

Oh, I said. So well need to find an admiral to open it? I asked.

Amaryllis shrugged, then made a small cut along the back of her hand where her talon started. She dripped a drop of blood onto the clasp and it glowed faintly before popping off. Or, you could find a direct blood-descendant of the person who built the ship, she said.

That was anticlimactic, I pointed out.

Yes, well, lets not complain about being lucky one of the few times that lucks on our side, Amaryllis said. She opened the manifest which turned out to be pages and pages of carefully penned notes and navigational information. She leafed over to the last page with writing on it, then stared. Huh... I wasnt expecting actual pirates.

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