Topic: Captain's Logbook of Diritas Ashin

Diritas Ashin

Date: 2014-03-15 15:51 EST
Captain Ashin, Log entry Fifty seven years past.

I've managed to finally get the plans for my new ship completed. The Admiral would be impressed if I had any intention of letting him know of them. After months, I settled on the name "Abyssus" which I believe captures many aspects of the ship herself. At twenty years of age, I will have the perfect ship under my command.

The Abyssus will be a shallow drafted sloop of two masts. I will spare no expense in materials. My plans call for heavy oak in the hull, which I will have specially grown by the druids in the western tribes using blood dyes so that it grows a deep red. I will be there when they cut down the trees, and I will soulbind the materials before they ever leave their homes to smooth the process. The sails I will have made of black canvas, and I will ensure that every piece of the ship from mast to hull is bound to me.

Once completed, I will be able to sail this ship without a crew. Construction is expected to take at least three years. During this time, I will travel with the Admiral's North Fleet until I have amassed the necessary skills to protect my investment. Warding in conjunction with my soul magic will have to be a primary defense against boarding, since I plan on crewing the ship will little more than a dozen able bodied fighters and crew.

With my intended improvements coupled with the inherent power of the Ashin line, the Abyssus will be an unstoppable force on the ocean, a wooden ship able to stand against far more modern and advanced steel warships. Without engines, and black sails, she will be a bloody specter on the water, a silent ghost of vengeance that I will use to wreak havoc on the admirals ships.

The Admiral had me whipped again today, of course the wounds healed quickly but the pain will not be forgotten. I am a noble of the house Ashin, Descended from the forces that rule the ocean his paltry fleet finds itself adrift within. His cruelty has taught me my own. Power flows through my veins, it yearns to dash this man's soul on the rocks of the Northgate Passage. I have learned patience though, and practice it daily even as my blood flows over his hands.

Twelve good sailors have pledged to join me. I don't expect them to fight the overwhelming numbers of the North Fleet. I will train them in magic and combat, but I have greater use for their talents elsewhere. The Abyssus will be a ship of stealth, and her crew will be one which strikes with a swiftness brutal in nature. They have been told to give no quarter. The Abyssus will have a brig. I expect it to remain empty.

Diritas Ashin

Date: 2014-03-15 16:26 EST
Log Entry: Captain Ashin Fifty four years past.

The Abyssus is complete.

For three long years I have endured the cruelty of the Admiral's lash and the ambition of a man blinded by power not his own. I will not be a tool any longer.

My chance has arrived, and with timing from the spirits themselves. Truly I am watched over.

The Great Spirit Ashinabe the Guardian has appeared before me during my meditative training. She told me to go to a monastery in the east, where alchemists will teach me of balance. I am to gain their trust, and learn their ways. It is a long voyage, and will take months to arrive at the nearest safe harbor, and then weeks of trekking along the coasts to the monastery. These monks are the keepers of Lorkhan Alchemy, surely they must know great wisdom and power that would help me in ridding this world of the blight that is the Admiral's fleet.

We set sail tomorrow morning, long before dawn. I've already raised a storm complete with hail to mask the Ice constructs that are now freezing into the riggings of much of the fleet. It is tiring to use so much power, but such a display is unlike anything the Admiral has witnessed from me. He will not suspect I intend to leave the fleet and by the time his ships are able to pursue, I will be far beyond the horizon.

It is tempting to sink every ship, but I would never be able to destroy them all and protect myself as well. The Admiral has spent twenty years amassing powerful allies, and none would hesitate to kill me if given half a reason. More power for them when the Admiral's dream of a sovereign nation at sea comes to fruition. Can't have the Prince of the North complicating matters after all.

I have readied the Abyssus for the trip, we are well stocked, and my crew is making their way separately to the ship under the cover of the storm.

Now, I must make my escape.

Diritas Ashin

Date: 2014-03-16 12:47 EST
Log Entry: Captain Ashin Fifty four years past

The fleet is far behind us, though it was an unexpectedly long night. Several of my crew were caught in their escapes and delayed. Orus never made it. Someone was followed, and we had to eliminate the party that followed him. It was quick, as they were only nightwatch sailors, and it gave me an opportunity to demonstrate what the Abyssus was capable of.

When they confronted us it was with a force of fifteen men, probably from the Dissidence as it was the largest ship any of my crew had come from and the only one able to spare such numbers on a man sneaking off into the night. They saw the Abyssus, and foolishly thought they'd found an independent smuggling ship. After demanding our goods from the docks, and our outright refusal to acknowledge them' they attempted to board my ship.

The men had been ready to defend the Abyssus with their lives. But I waved them back. The ship herself responded to my will, and her rigging reached for the men like living serpents. They wrapped around the first few by the necks, taking them by surprise. I could feel their throats as if they were in my very hands. The remainder had drawn their swords, attempting to hack away at the living rigging. I let them be concerned with the ropes as I opened the hull and reached out with the heavy oak. I impaled all but one of them, driving their bodies up into the air on wooden spires. The survivor stood alone in shock, wide eyed and pale. I told him the Abyssus must remain a secret as I drew my cutlass.

He had these shockingly green eyes. I'd never seen their like before I slid the blade across his throat. He didn't even fight back.

I took the time to memorize every face. These men who'd done their duty and served with honor. My crew stood watching, and when I stepped back aboard the Abyssus, not one of them challenged my gaze. I realized how much of the Admiral was in what I had done, but I could not change it now. So I ordered that the bodies be wrapped and identified, left where they would be found in time. They did so without hesitation.

An hour later, we had set sail for the Lorkhan Monastery by a wind I raised into the sails and sped along by the water beneath the hull. There was no ship that could match the speed of the Abyssus in the Admiral's fleet. My adopted father would not see me for quite some time.

Diritas Ashin

Date: 2014-03-21 16:05 EST
Log Entry: Captain Ashin FIfty four years past. Landfall.

We've arrived in the safe harbor nearest the Lorkhan Monastery. I should have easily been able to use the Northgate to simply teleport my crew to the gates, but it seems that the surrounding countryside is warded against such things. The monks are careful, and wise in the ways of spirits and magic. I have much to learn.

I have spent the time at sea compiling a charter and a roster of my crew, all of them capable in combat. We are down to eleven men sans myself, they are as follows.

My Navigator is Mikhail. He's a capable sailor, and a worker of Atlantean sea magery. It's been whispered aboard the ship he is descended from the sea serpents of old, but I've sensed nothing but awakened human magic within him. He's a quiet man for the majority of the time, of average build and plain looks. He is a trusted ally within my crew.

Charon is my Quartermaster. He is a fine fighter, and a better tactician. He possesses a seemingly innate sense for what must be done, and his charisma is a force to be reckoned with. The crew has already begun to look to him for answers in my absence, and I would have it no other way. I have known Charon for several years, fought at his side on dozens of raids. His strength will be needed.

Terras has accepted the Boatswain position. On a soulbound ship and with such a small crew, his job is likely fairly easy, however I am relying on him to oversee the sailors and riggers as best he can and to sail the ship when I am otherwise occupied. His talent for logistics will be useful, as will his penchant for practical thinking.

I've got a healer named Nymand. His brand of healing is" unorthodox I will admit. But it has served several ships in the past with an exemplary track record. It is not one I look forward to contributing to however, I've heard the screams.

The Rigger's name is lost to memory, he's a waif of a lad though. We call him Riggs for convenience and I am fairly sure he prefers to sleep in the rigging. I've never seen such deft hands with knot work, and his archery skills are only more useful from the higher ground.

Riggs will be working with the best sailing men I could find. Cas and Pol. They aren't brothers, but they've taken the names of the twins of legend because they work so well together. Near as I can tell, they have been sailing for several years together and have no desire to part ways yet.

I even managed to find a cook. Chushi is from the eastern provinces, and I've found no better food among the Admiral's fleet than on the ships he cooks for. He is a fairly well liked throughout the fleet, but more than once he's been disciplined by officers for minor infractions not worth the measures taken. His grudge against the fleet was likely his motivation for joining me.

My combat team was hand-picked as well. They are my personal guard, As it stands, they are Hex, Kodo, and Luke. Orus was to occupy the fourth place" but he never made it to the ship. I don't know what happened to him. But I will find out. The remaining three fighters are capable enough for what we must do.

After all? I am the Captain.