Report on the Astrovanis Sighting

Report to his Royal Tyrant   Regarding the reported sighting of the R.M.S. Astrovanis   May 9th, 1917

  Your Greatest of Lordships;   The following is a report from the R.M.S. Calvary, currently patrolling off the Eastern coast of Shimshar. They were in pursuit of the Ocean's Bounty following its attack on the S.S. White Warrior, which was sadly lost in the fighting. The Bounty was reported to sail into a fog that had developed around a small cluster of sandbars, and could not be sighted. The Calvary held position just outside the fog bank, waiting for the Bounty to re-emerge.   It was dawn before the fog disspated, the Bounty all but dead in the water. The ship was swiftly boarded, to find the entire crew save the crow's nest clustered and huddled below the decks, terrified for their lives. Their captain Aramis was nowhere to be seen; according to the bosun, the Bounty had been struck by something in the fog, and the renowned pirate had fallen overboard.   The crew was being rounded onto the main deck and prepared to be taken prisoner when the Ship's watch spotted a man floating in the water. His hair was shock white, and he was clinging to an orange life ring. The watch hauled him aboard, to find his lungs were half-choked by Fool's Ichor poisoning. The captain wishes to report that both the crew of the Calvary and the crew of the Bounty moved as one to secure any magic-infused items or crew-members to prevent catastrophic loss of life, should the ichor react to it.   The ship's doctor was quickly summoned, and the strange man tended to enough that he could breathe and speak once more. His report, however, beggars all belief. I have included a transcription that follows as thus:  

"When I first climbed aboard that glorious ship, it was as new as the dawn. Every banister gleamed, every rail smelling of fresh paint. the seagulls hadn't even had a chance to drop their loads on anything. And the people, wandering to and fro without a care in the world. To them it was a summer holiday, not a dreary night in the fog. I found myself wandering, amazed and lost in what could only be a fever dream.   None of these people seemed to notice me, save one; we chanced encountered in the grand stairwell, which is just as the photos portrayed it; glorious wood and golden orbs on its stands. How she could see me when all others seemed to pass me by unheeded I will never know; she has taken her secrets to the grave with her. It was there I learned that I truly was on the Astrovanis, the lost ship of dreams."

  It is here that the life-ring the man had been clinging to was inspected, and does indeed bear the marks and title of the Astrovanis. It has been seventeen years since the ship was lost at sea; All had assumed it sunk.  

"She showed me around the ship, the glorious halls, the dining rooms, the wonderful staterooms of the rich. I think I even saw the King himself in a lounge, surrounded by courtiers. I dared not approach. I was beginning to wonder if I was dead.   It was not until I passed a noble I was sure I had seen in the same spot only a scant few hours before, acting as if he had a drink spilled on him for the first time, that I began to realize something was amiss. And something was amiss; my mysterious counterpart had vanished, and it was if time had reset; The ship was as it was when I first boarded. I found my compatirot again, and with a bit of promting reminded her we had met before. Had I been smart, I would have taken a lifeboat and fled then and there."

  It is here the man broke into another coughing fit, Ichor spewing out of his lungs. It will take weeks for him to recover from the poisoning.  

"It took me far too long to discover the source of this strange malady of time, and why the crew and passengers seemed oblivious. It is well known in nautical scircles that the Astovanis was fitted with a Memoria-based engine, one the likes of which the shipyards had never seen. What was not known about this engine was that it created a preculiar by-product, as it likely had never been run long enough to find out; It created Fools Ichor. And I had been breathed then damned stuff for hours.   My only guess is the ichor has somehow frozen the ship itself in a few moments of time, the passengers and crew doomed to repeat their last two hours forever. With the help of my compatriot, I was able to escape before the ichor consumed me as well, adding me to the haunted host. It was also here that she and I learned that she was truly dead, and had been so for seventeen years. I took as deep a breath as I could and plunged over the side clutching a life ring; I heard her own dessicated corpse, freed of the mysterious freeze by a ray of clear moonlight, splash into the water beside me, sinking into the deep below.   And I trusted myself to the tide."

  It was here the man fell into another coughing fit. The crew of the Calvary were well and truly haunted by his tale, which proved to be to his great benefit. The man they had rescued from teh water was Aramis himself, who took advantage of the distraction to free his crew, cut loose the Bounty, and sail away before the Calvary could collect themselves.   However, we do stand at a great advantage; Aramis has been badly poisoned due to the Fools Ichor he inhaled, and will be bedridden for weeks-and more importantly, unable to use his gift of magic. He will go to ground, and we will be ready to hunt him down and find him.   It is only a matter of time.