The isles of Thanatos are often stormy, foggy, and wet. Today is no exception. On this murky day, as the day was setting into dusk, the sea was not calm...but it also unable to hide the
sound.
Something was coming... Local fishers could hear it first, the sounds of a sail-laden boat thrashing the water with oars at full speed. Those that were in the way heard it coming and called out, but no heed was given and they had to get out of the way or get wrecked.
They could now see it at port. It was a large vessel, Connlaothian in origin. It looked to be in a bit of disrepair, but its sails were unfurled and using the wind, as well as the fact that whoever was below was rowing like their lives depended on it. The ship was called the
Swiftus, and as the fog was beginning to let up, you could see that there were only two figures on-deck. The one at the wheel was - at least, at a distance - apparently a normal hat-wearing sailor. Except...well...he
wasn't normal. Anyone who was
on-board could see that he was a skeleton, grinning skull and eye sockets addressing the world.
The other one was far worse.
The other was its master, and the maxter of those down below. It was made entirely of bone, some kind of armored body-shell in the form of humanoid jackal-figure. Beastkin were not unknown in the world, but this was very obviously not one. It was seven feet tall and clearly the magically-maintained armor-body for another inside. Behind the openings for the eyes were...well...
eyes, Human eyes, it would seem. The thing also held a scythe with a curved handle, all made out of dense bone. Clearly, this was some sort of practicioner of the arts of the dead...
The figure stood up from the crate it had been sitting on as they made port. The oars all retracted before they ground up against the pier, causing splintering on both sides, before it came to a halt. The bone-jackal now headed over to the captain's quarters and opened the door. There, it spoke to someone in a
female voice, an utterly calm young girl's voice, of all things!
"I should be alright. You'll know immediately if something is wrong."
Because if something DID go wrong, the hatted helmsman and the
numerous Bone Warriors below would begin to act. She was here for a purpose, to see what necromancy and similar arts existed on Thanatos. She'd heard tales of strange things out here at the islands. She wanted to know, maybe even to learn something. And even though many people were horrible for her to watch, it was maybe worth putting up with them long enough to see what was here. The jackal-form leapt down onto the pier - the wood creaking and straining as she did - and began walking.