Captain Gagen himself told me this story while I was on his ship. After I had asked why these quarters on the Eiten were sealed up he told me the entire tale. After I had coaxed him a bit with some wine. Even after all the years that passed Gagen could still swear the he could feel the presence of Adiel on board.
The helmsman of the Eitan guided the ship with grace across the waves. The ship rocked back and forth rhythmically as it passed over the sea. The sailors on board were used to the movement of the ship. Many had been at sea most of their lives, some since they were children. They were as at home on the sea as a farmer was tending to his fields.
The ship's veteran captain had been in command of the Eitan for several years. Time after time he led the Eitan and its crew to victory after victory. This is exactly the reason the Eitan was selected for this mission. The admiralty knew that if any ship had any hope of succeeding in this mission it was the Eitan.
The Eitan, a 32 gun frigate, was one of the fastest ships in the fleet. Many other sailors and captains wondered why. It was constructed identically to the other frigates of the fleet, but the 203 souls that served aboard the ship knew why. It was because they were the best. On this voyage however, there was another serving with them. This person had never set foot on a ship, of any kind, in his life, much less a ship of war. He spent most of his time in study in dusty libraries or secluded laboratories. He was far from used to having the floor lurch beneath his feet. He sat behind his desk in a cabin near the main deck wishing every moment that the ship would stop this dreadful rocking. He used to always complain about riding in a coach or on horseback because of all the bouncing, but he decided it was far more preferable to be dragged by a coach or horse then spend another moment on this ship. He found himself wondering why he would volunteer for such an excursion, but then he remembered his responsibilities, and pushed the thought from his mind.
Suddenly the door to his small cabin opened; that was something else he could never get used to. People did not simply walk into another's quarters, they announced their presence then waited for permission to enter, on board this ship however, there seemed to be no such thing as privacy. He was forced to wonder if the captain was forced to endure such irritations.
"Adiel?" came a gruff voice. Adiel recognized the voice of Cyril the first officer. "We are nearing the island," he said quickly then closed the door.
Adiel lifted his small frame from behind the desk and headed toward the door. Finally, he thought to himself, maybe now he can get this assignment over with and go back to his studies. Slowly Adiel made his way to the deck. He had to constantly put his hands against the ship's walls to keep his balance. He had no doubt that the sailors on board considered him weak, but Adiel knew that if they were suddenly thrust into his normal environment, they would feel the same way he does now. Adiel also got the feeling that the crew did not really want him on board, and many thought that this mission was either a fool's errand or a suicide mission, depending on which set of rumors that a person believed.
When Adiel opened his door he suddenly felt fresh air hit him in the face for which he was thankful. He emerged on the deck and looked around for the captain. It did not take long to find him. He was standing near the bow of the Eiten next to his burly first officer. They were both looking out at the horizon.
"Captain Gagen," Adiel said as he approached.
"Ahh, Adiel", Captain Gagen replied politely. He was the only one on board who showed any kind of politeness to him. "We are nearing the island."
"Have you seen anything?" Adiel asked.
"No." replied the gruff first officer.
"Just as I expected," Adiel said annoyed.
"So I guess then you don't think we will find anything out here?" the captain asked Adiel.
"I've made no secret of the fact that I feel this is a fool's errand, and that you are fools for believing this superstitious nonsense."
"This is not nonsense!" the first officer said turning to face Adiel. "The survivor was very adamant. He knows what he saw!"
"Easy Cyril", Gagen said, "Adiel is here to investigate the survivor's account. We are here to investigate the disappearances."
"Humph!" was all Cyril said as he stormed off.
"You must forgive Cyril he gives a lot of stock to these superstitions. Most of the crew do."
"Do you Captain Gagen?" Adiel asked. Captain Gagen was the only person that Adiel has found on this ship that he actually liked to talk to.
"Frankly, yes I do, but I can't allow those feelings to undermine my judgment," Gagen replied. "Tell me Adiel, you study mysticism and magic, do you not? It's odd to me that you have such a hard time believing survivor's account."
"You're right I do study mysticism and magic, but what I study is based on facts passed down from those came before me. The monks of my order strive for knowledge and the things that I've been told about this place sound more like stories told to frighten children than anything else," Adiel said. "The existence of undead has never been proven in any form, much less in the form of a ghost ship. I must admit though, that the chance to make such a discovery proved to be too tempting, which is why I volunteered."
"Sometimes seeing is believing," Gagen replied ominously. Adiel looked at the captain but said nothing.
Adiel asked the captain why they did not send more ships; his reply was because of him. The admiralty thought that Adiel's presence would be enough. Though Captain Gagen did make sure his superiors know that the only reason there was a survivor, was because there was more than one ship the last time. This time though, it was just the Eitan. Adiel did not know any of that, much less the rest of the crew. The captain did not want any of them to know how frightened he really was of this mission. The island they were sailing to had become a source of fear for any ship sailing near here.
The Isle of Cascade had long been used as a way station for passing vessels. Ships stopped there often to restock their food and water supplies; it also gave a place for weary crews to rest and relax. A sudden, short war changed all of that.
The enemy attacked the Isle in a sudden strike. Only one ship was stationed at the isle to protect it. The way station was destroyed, and the ship disappeared. It was presumably sunk; though no wreckage was ever found. The war ended soon after, with the enemy being easily defeated. That was when the trouble started at the isle.
The admiralty sent ships to rebuild the way station, they promptly vanished. More ships were sent, they too vanished. For a time it was thought that pirates or maybe a privateer were to blame. Then ships that were passing near the Isle began to disappear. It was decided to avoid the island all together and after a time things quieted down.
The admiralty lost interest in the island, until a few months ago, when yet another ship was attacked, this time either further from the Isle of Cascade. This time however, there was a survivor, another ship that was traveling a few hours behind rescued the lone sailor from the wreckage.
He spoke a terrifying tale of a ship whose hull was full of holes, but it would not sink. The sails were rags, but they harnessed the wind as though they were in perfect condition, but that was not the worst part. The worst part was that none of the crew that the sailor saw seemed to be alive, yet they were not dead either. That was why Adiel was here. He was sent to investigate the more fantastic parts of the sailor's story. Captain Gagen was here to investigate the rest of the sailor's story; which Gagen thought odd because, to him, all of it was a fantastic tale.
The two men stood side by side in silence at the bow of the ship, looking out over the horizon. Captain Gagen looked out over the sea marveling, as always, at its beauty. Adiel looked out, all the while his mind going over every detail of the story, and finding himself getting nervous, but he could not figure out why.
"Land ho!" came a loud call from high in the ship's rigging. The captain's spyglass was instantly out scanning the horizon; he quickly found what he sought; a seemingly tiny spec of land that was slowly growing larger.
"There it is Adiel," captain Gagen said. "We should be arriving soon."
"Very good captain," he replied, "we should be able to end this mission quickly." He tried to sound confident but his voice was strained with a fear that he could not place.
"Sail ahead!" called the same loud voice from the rigging just a moment later.
Captain Gagen moved his spyglass from the tiny speck of land over the horizon then he stopped suddenly. "Cyril!"
Cyril was at his captain's side almost immediately. "Aye sir?" he said gruffly.
"Change heading 2 degrees north I want to intercept that ship." Gagen said.
"Aye," Cyril said, and took off running towards the stern. Adiel could hear him barking orders to the helmsman relaying Gagen's instructions.
"Here, look Adiel." Gagen said thrusting the spyglass into his hands. "Look just over there." he said pointing. At first Adiel could not see anything, and then he saw a small object over the horizon. He marveled at the sailors' sight, he could see nothing more than a dot, but both the lookout and the captain could see that it was a ship.
"I'm sorry captain, but it's obvious that my vision is not nearly as keen as yours. All I see is a dot," he said apologetically, handing the spyglass back to Gagen.
"Fair enough," Gagen said. "That may be our mystery ship. It doesn't seem to be at full sail, so we should catch up with it fairly quickly. I believe we are approaching from its aft, when we get close enough, we may be able to identify her."
"Do you see any colors?" Adiel asked
"No," Gagen said a little surprised he knew the nautical term for a ship's flag. "Unfortunately not even my eyes are keen enough to see that at this distance. We must wait until we are closer."
"Pirates maybe?"Adiel asked.
"Again, at the risk of repeating myself we must wait until we are closer."
The Eitan caught up quickly to the mystery ship. Her sails seemed to be capturing every bit of wind carrying the ship ever closer to their target. The entire time Adiel wondered what would happen next. He had no idea what a sea battle would be like. He had, of course, read about them in history books, but that does little to prepare someone for the real thing. There was one thing however, that worked out in Adiel's favor. He seemed to be getting his sea legs. He was standing tall now. He rarely had to adjust his balance now.
The crew became hushed. The stories the survivor told had been passed to every member of the Eitan's crew, and they all shared the same superstitions. The only problem was, many listened to them first and the mind second where as the Captain Gagen seemed listened to his mind first, and used his own superstitions to temper his decisions.
The other ship was getting larger on the horizon now. Gagen's spyglass was once again to his eye scanning the ship. His eyes grew wide he took the spyglass away from his eye then quickly looked again. He suddenly paled.
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