“Madam Elisha, and guests....” A Resident Bosun named Greeves overseeing the hauling of boxes of equipment onto the ship greeted Schulia, Khiafin, Elisha, and Forsythe. A few others were also trailing behind, though the Bosun simply ignored them. It was a polite sort of ignoring though, with grunts and noncommittal hand gestures.

They had planned their travel and departed just in time, moving from the Square before things got too hectic. Taking side-streets and moving quickly had been to their advantage. A few people had taken potshots at them as they ran, but for the most part the Rebels had been all corralled toward the Square. There was no point in fighting a group of Imperials that were fleeing the scene and everyone was in a hurry to reap the good rewards from the actual bigger fight. It was lucky that no one had noticed who they were or there might have been more of a concerted effort to at least harry them. Luck in spades because the only people that were thinking about jumping the group were solo players, and taking one look at the number of big names was enough to discourage unpartied opposition.

The ship the ramp was attached to floated serenely off one of the private piers in the dimming light of the aptly named Dock District. Commercial ships were generally prohibited in this area, many of the paths from the main continent instead focusing areas north and south of Blutonsi. These ships, for the most part, were being funded and built for seafare by, and for, larger guilds and groups that had met certain conditions both financial and fame related. Once they were set out to sea they wouldn’t be allowed to return, to make way for new ships and monthly ocean questing events.

“Nice boat,” Khiafin commented, surprise overtaking his features. He looked around and realized that no one else looked astonished, his look souring. “Oh, I see. Not anyone elses’ first time.”

“It’s a ship,” Forsythe said quietly after a moment.

“Are we talking now?” Khiafin looked relieved, running a hand through his hair with a bit of a laugh. “Once again, I am sorry. Very sorry. So sorry.”

“I don’t believe you,” Forsythe said after a moment. “I only spoke to you because you should call it a ship.”

Khiafin’s face fell. To be fair, Khiafin wasn’t actually sorry.

“Okay, shut up.” Elisha smiled at Khiafin and turned back to the Resident by the ramp. “Are preparations complete?”

“No?” The man sort of grinned painfully, like he was suggesting ‘of course they aren’t’ complete.

“That’s too bad, we’re out of time. We’ll make do.” Elisha started to head up the ramp, calling over her shoulder at the Resident who stared blankly after. “Assuming it will at least float out of the harbor?”

“Aye, madam? Float, madam. Very good, madam.” He chuckled darkly showing rotted yellow teeth in addition to several gold and silver ones. “Float!” He laughed again and it was contagious with the other Residents that hastened the boxes up the ramp now in between the people following Elisha.

Khiafin gave the ship another look, feeling like he was missing out on something. A long arm of wood was attached to the side they were boarding on, a lot of rolled canvas hanging and held taut with rope. Thirty-eight shuttered gun ports, which Khiafin felt like were a lot for a bo-- ship. There were probably thirty-eight more gun ports on the opposite side, and possibly another long wooden arm hanging next to that side like this one. He wasn’t exactly sure what purpose they had. Did the ship require sails hanging from the sides in order to float?

Khiafin looked at the huge main main mast that towered over the rest of the ship as well as two large masts located fore and aft. Khiafin smiled widely, nodding once or twice as he walked up the gangway. Yep. Indeed. He had no idea if this ship was awesome or not, but he was suitably impressed.

If the size of the ship and the number of gun ports hadn’t impressed him, the crew certainly did. His eyes widened when he saw that the deck was filled with people. In addition to a Transient Captain named Keller standing near the great wheel, elevated above the main deck, there were nearly fifty Transients on deck wearing robes and talking in excited whispers mixed in with Resident crew. The Transients looked they were all gearing up for some sort of quest or event, and the Residents looked to be preparing the ship for launch. Every player name was a brilliant and angry red for him, Imperials all.

“I’ll be the first to admit I’m not sure what we’re doing here.” Khiafin said.

“No one needed you to admit you don’t know what’s going on,” Forsythe told him calmly. “Since no one was instructed to tell you, we all know you’re clueless.”

Khiafin was about to shoot his mouth off when he noticed the look of trepidation on Forsythe’s face. There was a certain tremble in his hands. Khiafin paused, standing still on the deck for a moment trying to remember if people who had never been on ships in the game got sea sick. His first time had been so long ago that he couldn’t remember. Also, hadn’t Forsythe horsed around with Raven on the open seas for quite a while. Still, he couldn’t help but ask, “do you get motion sick?”

“No. I don’t get motion sick.” There was a grim finality in the words, and the dark look in his eyes deepened. “I shall be in the galley, making muffins.” He turned to Elisha and patted her on the shoulder as he passed her. “Be good.”

Elisha had been motioning for Captain Keller to come down for a moment and turned, seemingly remembering something when she saw Forsythe’s face. “Oh. Right! Err, good idea.”

Schulia, standing next to Elisha, leaned in quietly. “Do we have a galley?”

Elisha pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes in confusion. “Of course?”

“Why isn’t Raven here?” Khiafin’s eyes were following Keller as he approached. Keller had the title Captain and looked the part. The sound of his footsteps echoed on the wooden deck from his long, folded over thigh boots, worn over trousers. Complementing a button-up longsleeve white shirt was one blue longtail coat. The hat he wore on his head was magnificent, with a really big feather. He checked a pocket watch as he eyed Elisha.

Closing the distance he opened his arms wide after a second giving a half-smile. “Boss, it’s good to see you. What do you want?” His eyes flickered over the deck and the entourage as well as the retreating Forsythe. Despite his question his tone suggested he knew exactly what she wanted, and didn’t like it.

“I would have liked to wait longer but I honestly don’t know if the Imperials will last the night. Start the vote.” Elisha grinned at him and turned away.

Keller lowered his arms and then sighed. After a moment he put his head back and shotued, “start the vote! Aye!”

“Aye,” one after another all the Transients on deck started shouting out ayes. When they had neared completion Keller shouted aye, and then Elisha, the last, also shouted it out.

“The Aye’s have it.” Keller shouted out. Cheers rang out across the deck. “Well, I guess it’s now or never. What a waste of a perfectly good ship.” He didn’t sound sad at all as he started his way back toward the big wheel, walking up a few steps to reach the proper deck.

Khiafin looked around, noting that everyone was standing still now, watching Keller. “What’s happening now? Is this a pirate thing? Are we going to float about and shoot into the city?”

No one responded, though Schulia gave him a nervous look like she still couldn’t believe her was here.

Keller put his hands on the wheel and smiled out at the crew. Without warning he started barking orders. “Group A, report to Starboard and prepare to unfurl. Standby for orders. Group B, report to Port Arm and prepare to unfurl. Standby for orders. Group C, to the main deck and hoist sails. Mr. Harbig, weigh anchor.”

Everyone on deck moved with purpose. Khiafin watched, mystified as three groups of players separated to different portions of the deck. The main group with the largest number was working on raising the main center sails. Two groups stood to the left and right of the deck with heavy rope in their hands putting pressure on the pulleys on either side. If Khiafin was understanding correctly, they would pull at some point and the wooden poles on either side of the ship would swing out. Presumably the thickly rolled white cloth under those arms were more sails. Side-sails? Wouldn’t they be in the way of the gun ports?

“Anchor Aweigh, Captain!” A man called from the rear that Khiafin couldn’t see. He swung around. Everyone the deck looked like they had a job, save for himself, Elisha, Schulia, and a few others that did their best to stay near the railing and out of the way.

“Hoist color!” Keller called. Several people repeated him from further down the deck and a flag was swiftly raised.

Half-expecting that it would be a pirate flag or something related to a raven, Khiafin wasn’t all that disappointed when his guesses were wrong. A solid blue background with a white fluffy cloud. Bisect the cloud was a sword.

“What’s that supposed to be?” He asked, mystified.

“Group A and B, unfurl side-sails!” Keller turned his head slightly, listening for calls of confirmation before nodding. The groups on either side began pulling frantically and the wide wooden arms swung out over the water. The sails attached to the arms dropped down closer and closer to the water until they started dragging in the water slightly. The wind caught the main sails, and the side-sails to some degree, and the ship began to groan and lurch forward in the grey turbulent waters.

“It’s the symbol of the ship name,” Elisha said casually.

Keller turned the wheel, pointing the nose of the ship out to sea. “Groups A, B, C -- Wizards and Mages, standby.”

“Ask what the name is,” Schulia said softly, eyes looking out over the railing with quiet excitement.

“Mr. Porter, uncap the cursed flask!” Keller called out. There was a hint of uncertainty in this command, and everyone looked to the front of the ship as a man called out his acknowledgement and leaned over the bow of the ship.

[Local Announcement: Flask of Drowned World’s Uncapped. {Cursed}

Effect: Water will stream endlessly at an ever increasing rate for 45 minutes.

Effect: A Holy Dispel of Legend Necessary to Stop Torrent Before Duration End. 00:00:01]

Khiafin had no idea what that meant but already he could see a burst of backspray from the front of the ship that almost knocked the man identified as Mr. Porter off his feet. He stumbled backward and turned around with a grin, wiping his eyes clean and flashing everyone a thumbs up. The ship began to rise and fall from front to back in greater motions, riding an artificial wave.

“Okay!” Khiafin said after a moment. “What’s it called?”

“A, B, C, goGoGOGOGOGO.” Keller turned the wheel slightly and the bow of the ship started to rise. All the mages and wizards on board the ship cheered and started casting spells a the sails.

Khiafin’s brain broke for a moment. Was every damn person on this boat, err, ship, a caster? He stepped near the railing looking intrigued for the first time. From the side looking forward he could see an enormous amount of water being produced from something a the front of the ship attached to the hull. The huge volume of water was slamming into the front of the boat and lifting the nose almost four meters out of the water now. As the wind spells hit the main sails and the side sails the entire boat shudder and rose higher out of the water.

Elisha wrapped her arms around the railing as the boat began to rise and fall even more dramatically. Salt spray rose above the railing and splashed them all before the boat sank back down. She looked at Khiafin and shrugged nonchalantly as another wave crashed behind her against the ship.

“MoreMore!” Keller was screaming.

“The ship,” Elisha started calmly as the front of the ship started to go up, “is called the Cloudkill.” Khiafin’s stomach rolled over momentarily when the expected drop didn’t occur. The ships started to ride a river of magic water into the air, buoyed and pressed forward by both natural and magical wind.

The cheers on the deck rose in fervor as Keller began barking course orders. The mages on the starboard side began shooting higher tiers of wind magic into their side-sails and the ship began to turn back toward the city and away from the open ocean as it continued to rise into the air.

Khiafin leaned over the railing carefully and looked down as the waterline receded. “This… isn’t how… Why does it..? Hmm.” He stared blankly for a moment out over the open air. His skill, danger sense, was chiming constantly now. So much so that he had to turn it off.

Cloudkill. It’s a good name.

Elisha rolled her eyes when Khiafin didn’t seem like he was going to recover. His mouth was slackjawed and the way his eyes kept squinting, she could tell he had no idea how this was working.

“Typically, flying doesn’t work.” Elisha prompted, trying to get his attention so she didn’t have to answer questions later. “Technology and flying don’t mix. There are plenty of people smart enough to make hot air balloons, parasails, or even engineless byplanes with the materials and crafting jobs in the game.”

He reluctantly tore his gaze away and looked at her quizzically and asked. “There’s even a name for the phenomenon right?”

“Yeah. It’s unimportant to the discussion(mostly because she forgot what it was), but it basically describes the world’s rejection of Transient attempts at flight. The game doesn’t want us flying, is the conventional wisdom.” Elisha lifted a finger and then moved it back and forth, trying to keep his attention. His eyes were already starting to wander back to the railing.

“Of course, we know it’s the Transients they don’t want flying. It’s assumed because there are all types of creatures that fly. There are even events where you can make floating lanterns, and they don’t get dropped out of the sky. It all comes down to travel. The game doesn’t want us to fly, at least not now. That’s the running theory.”

“Mhmm,” Khiafin’s attention started to wander and elisha half-turned to Schulia.

Schulia knew all this but at least she had the good grace to listen to her. Elisha smiled and made a batting motion. Schulia nodded and backed up on the deck, taking out a large stick from her inventory.

Elisha tossed up a rock in front of Schulia and said, “swing!”

Schulia hit the small rock sending it careening off into the ocean.

“Of course, it’s such a lazy explanation. The game doesn’t want us to do it. That being said, there are still people that still try.” Elisha threw up another rock and said, “swing.”

Schulia missed this rock and made a sad face. Elisha just shrugged and started fishing another rock out.

“But it’s so lazy. There’s no reason behind the mechanic other than the fact the game doesn’t want us to do it, can that be right?” Elisha threw another rock for Schulia. Schulia got this one and the both stopped, watching it zoom off. She’d really gotten a piece of that stone. Khiafin grumbled but didn’t move, also watching the rock fly off into the distance.

“So, I figured there had to be some reason. People on kites and other apparatus actually do fly, for a short time.” Elisha paused with a rock in her hand, tossing it up and down a few times like she was considering something. “It’s like, each time someone tries some new way to fly, the game takes a while to catch it. Like it’s feeling it out. Then, no matter how physics works in the real world, that way becomes unusable in game. Kites just fall out of the sky like stones. People shot from cannons with high and weird stats and armor just drop straight down, etc, etc. Each attempt making for a shorter duration. Hence, the flying ship. No one’s tried a flying ship yet, though Uncle Aidan has plenty to say on the matter. Too bad, this flying ship of ours, well, it’ll probably also fall down pretty soon. Because of the formation.”

“Formation?” Khiafin looked over, a frown crossing his face. “What’s that?”

“The entire continent is shaped by natural lines that you can see from the air. If you look down you can see similar overlapping patterns. Mountain lines, rivers, even treelines. Even though they shift they form loose patterns. Same here as on the other continent. I’d bet they’re even carved into the ocean floor. It’s just a theory I can’t prove, though. A story I tell myself for the next time we try this. I think I can probably find a way to circumvent it, given enough time. Alas, Cloudkill is doomed to drop right out of the sky. This dumb war started and we just couldn’t resist voting on whether to use it or not. It cost a lot of money, and time, and crafting. Especially for a ship that is going to nosedive when the world catches wise. But, not yet.” She grinned. “Not yet.”

“Oh. We’re going to crash.” Khiafin finally sounded like he understood. “I see now, why I’m here. Well done.”

“Yeah. Sorry.”

“No worries. It’s… pretty neat.”

“Thanks. We would have liked to have Uncle Aidan and Raven here. This was going to be a surprise for them. Doesn’t seem right though, since we’re going to bust it on purpose. I sorta forgot dad has a problem with heights, but I might need him.” Elisha sighed and motioned for Khiafin to joined her at the railing. She leaned over and pointed down. “See the water?”

“Yeah?” Khiafin did notice that as they started to fly inland the huge sheets of water were crashing down on the streets below. That had to be unpleasant for… His gaze sharpened, and he quickly turned.

Elisha just grinned, like she could sense he was looking. She called out. “I think it’s about that time Mr. Keller!”

“Aye, Boss!” Keller turned slightly and put the ocean horizon behind them. “Group D, prepare freeze.”

Preparing freeze, voices shouted out from the deck.

Khiafin turned to watch as many of the mages started casting at the deck. He frowned, wondering what they were doing. Elisha pulled on his sleeve and directed his attention below.

“See?” She asked. There was pure murder in her gleeful tone.

Khiafin’s eyes widened, watching the water that was running under the ship and falling due to natural gravity… turn into panes of cracking ice. Thousands of pounds, perhaps even tons of ice. As the mages continued to freeze the volume that was falling increased. The sound of ice breaking against the ground was like listening icecubes getting crunched underfoot, multiplied by a factor of horrifying. The sudden scream and cries from below were immediately drowned out by the cacophony of the ice hitting the ground.

The Cloudkill wasn’t just for fun, it was a murder barge.

Khiafin’s jaw dropped again, making Elisha’s smile widen.

Then her eyes narrowed slightly. She sighed dramatically like she was already bored and took a step away from the railing. She moved around Khiafin and held up the rock for Schulia. They repeated their game several times in a row. She would throw the rock, and Schulia would hit it.

Elisha was doing her best to ignore all the ‘kill’ announcements and contribution gains she was getting spammed with. She imagined Schulia was doing the same. That was why they were playing the game, after all. She knew that Schulia didn’t really like to kill people. Elisha almost felt bad for what was coming next.

“Anyway,” Elisha pointed over Schulia’s shoulder.

Schulia frowned and turned around. Khiafin, of course, was still staring downward at the death and carnage all that ice was creating. Satisfied, Elisha took a step back, bent down, grabbed Khiafin’s ankles, and in one swift motion lifted him over the railing and pushed -- like he was a loose sack. She grunted once at his minor weight and then staggered to grab the railing as she stumbled. He twisted as he fell, his eyes widened in shock as he started to get smaller. His eyes still managed to meet hers and he mouthed something. She didn’t know what it actually was but she hoped it was et tu?

Elisha panted for a moment, grinning madly, and then backed up from the railing. She turned her back on Schulia and counted in her head.

If only that was all it took. 3…2…1… Sorry! Elisha closed her eyes, “Schulia! Think fast! Swing!”

Schulia turned around swiftly, already swinging awkwardly with a cheesy grin on her face. A grin that immediately turned to horror as Khiafin appeared in Elisha’s shadow looking like he would put out the sun. His dagger raised, eyes wide, there was only a second look of shock on his face when Schulia’s stick whacked him across the nose and spun him around…and he might have not fallen over, so Elisha reached down, grabbed his ankles, and dumped him again.

“Nooooooo!” Schulia dropped the stick and started to dance in place, terror on her face. “I didn’t do that! I didn’t do that Elisha! Elisha what did you dooohoohohoooo…”

Elisha turned back to the railing and looked over. There was just streets being destroyed by ice below. Khiafin was gone. Eyes cold, she opened her mouth and calmly called out, “Ok, we’re even now.”

Elisha was exhausted all of a sudden. She turned to see that there were numerous eyes staring. She let out a sigh and gave a half-wave. “Get on with it!”

Forsythe had walked out of the narrow doorway that lead to the below decks and the galley at this moment. His timing, Elisha decided, was amazing. He did his best to avoid the sides of the ship, reigning in his terror of heights, and came toward her with a muffin. He knew that the mood was off, but still offered her a muffin. “Lemon.”

“You are the best,” Elisha said sweetly. She cast a careful look behind her and everyone found something to do. They all had jobs didn’t they?!

Forsythe turned around and stared. Schulia was crouching near a corner of the deck making little strangled panic noises. “What’s wrong with her?”

“Sailing isn’t for everybody,” Elisha said carefully. She felt bad, but wasn’t going to confess just now.

“I feel that,” Forsythe walked over to Schulia and bent down kindly. “Lemon Muffin?”

A hand darted out and grabbed one even as she let out another sob.

Elisha looked out over the railing and muttered. “Just crashing was too cool for you.”