Description
A two-masted merchant brig, roughly 180 tons burthen. Registered in Trieste, built in Dalmatia. Oak-hulled, copper-sheathed. Ninety feet stem to stern, twenty-four feet beam. Two small swivel guns on the taffrail for Barbary corsair deterrence. A working cargo vessel: paint peeling, rigging salt-stiffened, decks scrubbed to pale grain by years of holystoning.
Layout
Quarterdeck (stern): Wheel, binnacle, captain’s skylight. The captain’s domain.
Main Deck (midships): Cargo hatches, longboat, ship’s boat, galley (open brick-iron firebox), chicken coop, water casks.
Forecastle (bow): Bowsprit, jib boom, anchor windlass. Crew quarters below in low, cramped hammock space.
Below Deck:
- Captain’s cabin (12x10 ft): Stern windows, berth, desk, chart table, books, locked cabinet. Given over to Jasper Endicott for the voyage — the paying passenger has the only private door aboard, and Zanier surrendered it for the fare.
- After cabin / saloon (15x14 ft): Fixed table, bench seats converting to sleeping platforms, six curtained alcoves, fold-down cots. The investigators and Thomas Wyndham share this space with no privacy. It sits between Endicott’s cabin (aft) and the companionway, so anyone moving from the captain’s cabin to the deck or down to the hold must pass through here, stepping over sleepers in the dark. (This is the engine of the Endicott red herring: he is always creeping past the party at night.)
- Cargo hold: Austrian woolens, Venetian glassware, Dalmatian wine, pig iron, and the collector’s crate.
Crew
Fourteen men.
| Role | Name | Origin | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Captain | Niccolo Zanier | Triestine, mid-50s | Twenty-five years on this route. Unflappable until the knocking starts. Speaks Italian, German, trade-Greek, Arabic. |
| Primo (First Mate) | Marko Vukovic | Dalmatian (Split), early 30s | Efficient, humourless. Cruel streak the captain keeps leashed. |
| Nostromo (Bosun) | Petar Boskovic | Ragusan, 40s | Massive hands, missing two fingers. Crew’s real authority. Superstitious (carries wooden St. Elmo). First to say “something’s down there.” |
| Cook | Stavros | Greek (Cephalonia), 60s-80s | Nearly toothless. Boils everything. Knows old sailors’ prayers, including the prayer for the drowned. Murmurs it constantly after the first night. |
| Able Seamen (10) | Luka, Ante, Drago (Dalmatian); Nikos, Giorgos, Spiros (Greek); Tomaso (Triestine); Frano, Ivo (Ragusan); Matteo (Venetian) | Mixed | Luka (16, youngest), Giorgos (knows Orthodox liturgy), Spiros (strongest swimmer), Ivo (ship’s carpenter), Matteo (carries a pistol). |
The Passenger: Jasper Endicott
British antiquarian dealer, late 40s. His crate contains pre-classical shrine artifacts from the island of Saria: stone carvings, bronze figurines, inscribed tablets depicting creatures “not fish, not octopi, not anything in Mediterranean natural history.” Script unknown. Illegally exported from Ottoman territory.
His behaviour escalates suspiciously throughout the voyage: checking “instruments” (Day 2), arguing about ventilation (Day 4), handling a tablet and murmuring in the hold (Day 7), found talking to someone in the hold alone (Day 10).
He is a smuggler, not a cultist. The misdirection works because three chapters of cult-hunting have trained the investigators to see conspiracy where there is only crime.
Notable Features
The Becalming: South of Crete, in early September 1814. The wind dies. The sea becomes a flat mirror. Stars reflected perfectly above and below. The ship is suspended between two skies.
The ship has drifted over an ancient wreck site. The dead are the source. Mediterranean folklore: the sea does not give up its dead. They knock because drowning men hammer on hulls, begging to be let in.
This is folklore horror, not Mythos horror. No Choir involvement. No conspiracy. One session, self-contained.
Thematic Function: The funeral rite solution (acknowledging the dead, speaking to their need for rest) foreshadows the counter-ritual in Calcutta. The answer is not violence. It is understanding what the dead want and speaking to it.
Connections
- Calcutta 1814 — Destination
Appearances
Connections
People
Commanded by
- Capitano Niccolo Zanier NPC neutralTwenty-five years on this route. The ship is his life.2 sessions, The Morning After to Give Rest
Served by
- Nathaniel Holt Player character neutralAssigned as ship's doctor — except he's not a doctor. Begged and pulled strings to get a posting on a ship heading south and east. The crew got an unnecessary officer instead of a surgeon. Technically outranks everyone except the captain.2 sessions, The Morning After to Give Rest
- Petar Boskovic NPC warmBosun and real authority of the working crew.2 sessions, The Morning After to Give Rest
- Drago NPC neutralAble seaman; reliable in fair weather, volatile under sustained pressure.1 session: Give Rest
- Stavros NPC neutralShip's cook; proprietary authority over the galley firebox.1 session: Give Rest
- Luka NPC hostileFirst long voyage; the ship is simultaneously his home and the source of everything that frightens him.
Location of
- Capitano Niccolo Zanier NPC neutralAboard for the Trieste → Alexandria passage2 sessions, The Morning After to Give Rest
- Jasper Endicott NPC hostilePaying passenger. Has the captain's cabin and a crate in the hold he won't stop checking.2 sessions, The Morning After to Give Rest
- Petar Boskovic NPC neutralAboard for the Trieste → Alexandria passage2 sessions, The Morning After to Give Rest
- Drago NPC neutralAboard for the Trieste → Alexandria passage1 session: Give Rest
- Stavros NPC neutralAboard for the Trieste → Alexandria passage1 session: Give Rest
- Luka NPC neutralAboard for the Trieste → Alexandria passage
Places
Borders
- Alexandria Overview Location neutralThe party's landfall after the Adriatic crossing and the becalming
Located at
- Calcutta 1814 Location neutralTrieste-to-Calcutta passage via the Mediterranean, Red Sea, and Indian Ocean
Part of
- Mediterranean Sea / Indian Ocean
Preceded
- Shah Alam Location neutralReplaces La Speranza for the Suez → Calcutta leg after the Egypt overland crossing
Papers
Location of
- Endicott Saria Tablet Document neutralThe crate and notebook are in the hold of the brig.
- The Funeral Rite Clue hostileAll five discovery paths are accessible on or near the ship during the becalming
Creatures
Haunted by
- The Drowned Creature hostileThe ship has drifted over the ancient wreck site; the Drowned knock on its hull and climb its sides1 session: Give Rest
Location of
- The Drowned Creature neutralAboard for the Trieste → Alexandria passage1 session: Give Rest