Wrecked Ship: Below Deck
Most cabins within an abandoned vessel offer little of interest, but occasionally something unusual can be found within.
Silvery wind chimes hanging in the doorway give way to reveal an officer’s cabin. Cold, damp uniforms hang mouldering on the walls, and a well-read book lies on the unmade bed. A quick read reveals the book tells the epic story of Vilimzair Aralivar the World’s Greatest Ever Bard and Legendary Pirate Captain.
A communal cabin has six perfectly made bunks on two walls. Clothing and a small number of personal items neatly fill the lockers at the end of each bed (in stark contrast to the condition of the rest of the ship).
The interior of this room is burnt and blackened, leaving the paint blistered and peeling away from the walls. Vaguely shaped piles of charcoal and ash are all that remains of the contents of this room.
The door to this room is jammed shut, the twisted timbers of the ship prevents easy access. If forced open, the room beyond is missing; a gaping hole in the side of the ship reveals only the sea beyond. The carcass of a shark or whale floats nearby and is already a source of food for a variety of other sea-life.
Flickering orange and purple glyphs glow in the darkness, offering glimpses of a wizard’s jumbled quarters. Debris is strewn across the floor; a variety of spell components such as bat guano and spider webs are mixed in amongst the chaos.
Two hammocks are twisted up amongst the remains of broken furniture that has pulled free from its fittings. A leather pouch still hanging on a hook contains an extensive collection of pristine seashells.
An enormous rock has staved in the side of the ship, allowing water to pour into the cabin. An examination of the rock reveals strange etchings and runes over much of its surface.
An oaken writing desk has survived whatever destroyed the rest of the furniture in this room. An unsigned letter is pinned to it, addressed to someone's fiancee. The address indicates a home in a nearby city.
This cabin has been ruined by whatever damaged the ship. Anything of value has been shattered, crushed or is saturated by seawater, though a portrait of a family hanging on a wall is intact and dry.
Relatively untouched by the disaster that has befallen the ship, a small shrine lies on the floor surrounded by roughly carved wooden figurines scattered around it. A decomposing corpse, its face covered by a wet sheet, lies in a bed adjacent to the shrine.
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The material in this article appears in 20 Things #48: Wrecked Ship by Rikh Hart and Steve Hood.
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