Chili let a long, steamy breath leave his lip, the cold air tickling his nose as he walked down the lightly wet dock toward the boat he had acquired for his most recently accepted job. Even though Chili was not a fan of being out on the open sea, he'd never let fear stop him. Especially since this job seemed to be having a lot more going on with it than just what the request said.
He had arrived in Hargeon Town a couple days ago. Where a supposed sea monster was currently attacking the ships that would leave its ports. Though there was no real evidence of that.
Yes, ships had vanished, but no wreckage was found drifting anywhere, just the ship's cargo, which was weird. The townspeople had heard odd noises at night far off the coast, echoing eerily toward the port city when these attacks happened. Later the following morning, scouting crews would find the cargo of the missing ships floating about thirty miles out.
So it could be a creature that takes the whole ship in one go. However, there was something that Chili found odd about it all. Why the lack of wreckage? There was cargo left behind, which meant that pirates were not responsible. They would have taken the cargo goods along with everything else. A monster would have taken the cargo down with the ship.
With this in mind Chili had decided to do more research on the ships and their crews when he first arrived at Hargeon. It was easy to get the records from the local Dock Master. All he had to do was bribe the man for the information. The transaction went smoothly.
Five fishing vessels, three large trade ships, one carnival ship, and from what he could tell, two pirate vessels that had patrolled these waters. Eleven ships had gone missing in total. All crew, their belongings, and the ships all unaccounted for, just the cargo. Digging deeper, Chili figured following up on the ships' crew members would be a waste of time.
The families already convinced their loved ones were gone probably wouldn't want the speculation that something worse could have happened. However, he decided to check if any John Does had been recently added to the local morgue, hospital, or mental ward.
Lo and behold, after two days of cross-referencing dates that the ships had been reported missing, with dates that John Does were found, yielded a single result.
A man had washed ashore, his face horrifically damaged and disfigured by what the local report stated. The man in question had wandered through town, screaming incoherently until the local guards arrived. The man responded violently when approached but was apprehended without any problems. The man was deemed mentally deranged, suffering from hallucinations of a non-magical nature, and was put into the local ward.
Chili had visited John Doe, albeit he didn't get much out of the visit. The man had been in a padded white room, strapped to his bed, straight jacket wrapped around his torso, and rambling to himself. His face was bandaged up, all except for a single hole for his left eye to see out of.
Chili asked the man one question, "So, what happened to the ship you sailed on?"
The reaction he got told Chili enough, almost immediately the man began to flail against his restraints, his one bloodshot eye staring in hysterical fear into Chili's, his quiet rambling turning into screaming laughter.
"Don't let it touch your face! Don't let it touch your face! Hahaha, George let it touch his face, and now George is no longer George. He's swimming with fishies now that he let it touch his face! The thing in the deep stirs, dreamers, dream. We shall all belong to the deep soon! Haha!"
At that point, orderlies came rushing in with medication and promptly pushed Chili out.
That is how Chili came to be walking down the dock early this brisk morning. Hiring a crew to take him out to the open sea and explore some of the locations that left behind cargo had been found.
The ship in question was a standard-sized two-masted Brigitine. As he approached, members of the twenty-two-man crew could be seen scurrying about the ropes and deck, preparing her for departure.
As Chili arrived at the gangplank, he was greeted by the captain, a man of about six foot 2 inches with sleek blond hair beneath his captain's hat. Clad in a worn-out militairy captain's uniform of the Navy of Fiore.
"Ah, you must be Chili. That fiery orb that hangs above your head is distinctive, you know that lad? Well, come on board. We shall be departing soon. Just waiting on one last tag along."
This caused Chili to quirk an eyebrow. Who the hell else would be coming along for such a venture?
He had arrived in Hargeon Town a couple days ago. Where a supposed sea monster was currently attacking the ships that would leave its ports. Though there was no real evidence of that.
Yes, ships had vanished, but no wreckage was found drifting anywhere, just the ship's cargo, which was weird. The townspeople had heard odd noises at night far off the coast, echoing eerily toward the port city when these attacks happened. Later the following morning, scouting crews would find the cargo of the missing ships floating about thirty miles out.
So it could be a creature that takes the whole ship in one go. However, there was something that Chili found odd about it all. Why the lack of wreckage? There was cargo left behind, which meant that pirates were not responsible. They would have taken the cargo goods along with everything else. A monster would have taken the cargo down with the ship.
With this in mind Chili had decided to do more research on the ships and their crews when he first arrived at Hargeon. It was easy to get the records from the local Dock Master. All he had to do was bribe the man for the information. The transaction went smoothly.
Five fishing vessels, three large trade ships, one carnival ship, and from what he could tell, two pirate vessels that had patrolled these waters. Eleven ships had gone missing in total. All crew, their belongings, and the ships all unaccounted for, just the cargo. Digging deeper, Chili figured following up on the ships' crew members would be a waste of time.
The families already convinced their loved ones were gone probably wouldn't want the speculation that something worse could have happened. However, he decided to check if any John Does had been recently added to the local morgue, hospital, or mental ward.
Lo and behold, after two days of cross-referencing dates that the ships had been reported missing, with dates that John Does were found, yielded a single result.
A man had washed ashore, his face horrifically damaged and disfigured by what the local report stated. The man in question had wandered through town, screaming incoherently until the local guards arrived. The man responded violently when approached but was apprehended without any problems. The man was deemed mentally deranged, suffering from hallucinations of a non-magical nature, and was put into the local ward.
Chili had visited John Doe, albeit he didn't get much out of the visit. The man had been in a padded white room, strapped to his bed, straight jacket wrapped around his torso, and rambling to himself. His face was bandaged up, all except for a single hole for his left eye to see out of.
Chili asked the man one question, "So, what happened to the ship you sailed on?"
The reaction he got told Chili enough, almost immediately the man began to flail against his restraints, his one bloodshot eye staring in hysterical fear into Chili's, his quiet rambling turning into screaming laughter.
"Don't let it touch your face! Don't let it touch your face! Hahaha, George let it touch his face, and now George is no longer George. He's swimming with fishies now that he let it touch his face! The thing in the deep stirs, dreamers, dream. We shall all belong to the deep soon! Haha!"
At that point, orderlies came rushing in with medication and promptly pushed Chili out.
That is how Chili came to be walking down the dock early this brisk morning. Hiring a crew to take him out to the open sea and explore some of the locations that left behind cargo had been found.
The ship in question was a standard-sized two-masted Brigitine. As he approached, members of the twenty-two-man crew could be seen scurrying about the ropes and deck, preparing her for departure.
As Chili arrived at the gangplank, he was greeted by the captain, a man of about six foot 2 inches with sleek blond hair beneath his captain's hat. Clad in a worn-out militairy captain's uniform of the Navy of Fiore.
"Ah, you must be Chili. That fiery orb that hangs above your head is distinctive, you know that lad? Well, come on board. We shall be departing soon. Just waiting on one last tag along."
This caused Chili to quirk an eyebrow. Who the hell else would be coming along for such a venture?
