Tales From The Sunless Sea: The Clayman Chronicles

First Zee-Captain --- Previous Zee-Captain --- Next Zee-Captain

The clayman had a successful run at being a captain, much longer than many of his predecessors. This was mostly owing to its agelessness and cautiousness. With most of the crew being immune to things such as religion, illness, and curiosity, it was an ideal situation for the ocean. They were also cautious, as most civilised places would not take too kindly to a ship of sentient claymen, so they covered themselves in shadow and spent little time roaming the cities.

Due to the difficulty mingling with city-folk, the claymen dealt mostly in some of the forbidden trading - finding themselves doing runs for underground organisations in London, dealing with the Khantae, and even finding themselves spending great lengths of time working with those on the Isle of Cats. Before they did all this, however, they did need to recruit more people to help run such a large cruiser. The people who joined were... odd. It takes a certain kind of individual to join a crew of claymen, thus a certain kind of individual they were.

To carry on to more specifics, the clayment sought improvements to their life at zee. As they had no intention of retiring to London - improving their state at zee was significantly beneficial to them. So they sought out legends and tales of special ship parts, and engines. They needed to keep their money, up of course, so they traded in coffee beans and wine as well as gaining the trust of some of the more disreputable trade markets. They gained trade with the Khan himself, and sought out some of the harder to find markets in the Iron Republic. The admiral of London also cared not for who brought information and shipments of red honey to him, so this was useful for income.

It seemed all set and useful, with these trade routes, but then pieces started to fit together. The plan was to recruit a co-captain who was human, set up a trustworthy set of officers and hunt down the Fulgent Impeller - an engine that can efficiently power the most grand of vessels. The clayman also heard of some powerful weapons he might seek out in due time, as if he had any aspiration, it was either to find peace or to hunt the most dangerous of zee-creatures. Whichever came first.

With these careful goals, trade routes were planned and success came in great swathes. His crewmates were helpful, also - bringing in all kind of outsider information as well as some of the stories and information gathered from those who had come before.

The shadow clayman, whilst hunting information of the Fulgent Impeller, happened upon an island named 'Aestival', which had the rarest of resources blasting down upon it. Sunlight. The clayman was said to have stood on that island in awe, overstaying his welcome at the peril of his human crewmates.

Though he never spoke of it, there are some who claim that finding the little island changed the clayman. As if he was reinvigorated. Perhaps, he had just found a new goal in life. Whilst visiting the Grand Geode, there was one who claimed to have overheard the clayman talking about a way of making the island habitable. There also happens to be a book upon the shelves of his quarters that is entitled 'Aestival' - though none have ever seen inside of it.

All this being said, the one thing that is known for sure is that it gave the captain an idea. An idea to go to the surface. Which he did. Many of his human crewmates never made it back alive, whether dying from the harsh sunlight (as direct sun is fatal to us Neath Dwellers), or those who could withstand it were said to have stayed. Nevertheless, it did not affect those clay-crew on board. So with plenty of fuel and supplies, they sought out the surface and traded in Naples to make some money. Few stories have ever reached back to us about Naples. Would that I could say more about the place.

The captain, upon his return was particularly sneaky, however, as it is said, that secretly even to some of his crew, he had filled up a few suntrap boxes of sunlight for some underground dealings in London. This was the financial boost that was necessary to set the Clayman on his path. After some long discussions with engineers, he finally found a man who thought he may be capable of creating the Fulgent Impeller - and thus outlines the resources he would need.

Next on the agenda, then, was to ransom a particular prisoner out of the prison on the lilypads of Wisdom - and it would not be easy...

To Be Continued...
---Howard Sterling, Chronicler of the Fallen London University

Tales From The Sunless Sea - The Seventh Zee-Captain

 First Zee-Captain                                   Previous Zee-Captain                              Next Zee Captain

     The seventh Zee-Captain was doomed for failure. Well, actually he was very much one of the most capable Zee-Captains the Unterzee has seen, however, luck was not on his side. By which I mean the Gods did not favour him. Zeraphya stole a perfect cruiser and had the experience of years of dealing with Zee-Captains doing the bidding of The Cheery Man. The problem being, work for the cheery man didn't always go in favour of Salt, Stone, or Storm.

     With money and a boat and the ability to fight as well as knowledge of the Zee let Zeraphya immediately boost himself into success. He traded cargo back and forth, took out some Zee threats and everything seemed well. His main problem was recruiting new members for his crew, and of which there were two reasons why he kept his crew count low. Firstly, he was a talented man who neither needed much help, nor wanted much help. Even though most of his work was illegal or against the authorities of Fallen London, he still made enemies of pirates and he still treated the residents of Kahn as if they were not friends. Secondly, people took a disliking to him. His face was known to Zee-Captains, no most of them avoided dealings where possible, and many religious folk saw his general appearance, with the scars and tattoos, to be a bad omen for travel.

     So, Zeraphya's crew was considerably low. The reason I mention this is because it wasn't long before this became his undoing. He had been dealing with unstamped human souls, when his voyage was blocked by some kind of hideous crustacean, as described in the journal of one crew member.

"It were a crab, monstrous one, to be sure, yet it had one claw too many! With the flailing it were hard to know where be limbs coming from on its body. It glowed red with anger as it came for us! It were the work of Storm, I tell you - and I wanted nothing of a Storm's curse. I understand why Zeraphya fought, but I just wanted off the ship. Once we landed on the nearby Polythreme, I stayed behind. Polythreme ain't a nice place to stay, but it were clear to me that Zeraphya's vessel was one not looked kindly upon by the cavern above!"

     After felling the beast, Zeraphya apparently took no heed of religious omens floating around the crew. Few were happy as they all felt an unearthly gaze upon them, though most kept a steadfast faith in Zeraphya. It was then that they took a shipment of Claymen. Three to help on the ship, and another six to trade in Fallen London. He had seen a hundred Zee-Captains ferry Claymen here or there and although he heard rumors of the things that have gone wrong - he had seen no evidence that Claymen were dangerous at all. That is unless they were ordered to be by whoever makes them act.

     Naturally, then, this shipment seemed like good money to Zeraphya, though it was on the return journey - somewhere near the Khan's shadow where the first of the woke up. In a blind panic, it killed two men before giving pause. Zeraphya, as soon as he was aware of the commotion ordered the Clayman dead - and so his crew threw themselves at it in the hopes of taking down the beast. It took down three more men before being dismembered to uselessness and each limb cast off into the Zee.

     With so few men left to a cruiser, the ship moved particularly slowly. Morale was down, fear was high, and grief was weaved into their actions. They were so far away from Fallen London, but it was the only direction they could afford to go. It was at that point they were spotted by a Khanate Warship. Zeraphya knew he didn't have the crew to outrun them, so he needed to outwit them. He turned off all lights and drifted in the dark for some time, praying.

     Zeraphya did escape, just. Not before a struggle, however, as just before he was able to get his ship out of view around the side of an island the Warship fired one heavy shot which hit the cruiser right by the cannons - killing the two men manning them. Zeraphya cursed, set the boat to drift, set his crew mates to nightly watch and went to sleep off the problems and wait for London. Which, of course, allowed the second Clayman the perfect opportunity to attack.

     The second Clayman woke at the same time as the first, though did not attack like the other did - instead he simply watched. When Zeraphya went down below to be, the Clayman decided he needed to take control of the ship as Zeraphya was clearly incapable of manning such a vessel, so thought the Clayman. He managed to kill three men before drawing attention to himself. The men attacked, not sure what else to do, and when Zeraphya emerged from his quarters to find out what the noise was there was only Claymen left. Eight of them, to be precise.

     Zeraphya tried to hide when he realised what had happened - he had no idea which of the Claymen was the woken one and which were just doing as they were told. They followed him. He was able to grab a cutlass and remove the arm of one and the head of another before they got him, but in the end they did get him. When they did, they put him in a coffin, nailed it shut and dropped him into the Zee.

     Thus began the adventures of the first Clayman Zee-Captain. First, however, he needed to organise his boat - and Fallen London was on the horizon.

---Howard Sterling, Chronicler of the Fallen London University

Tales from the Sunless Sea - The Second Zee Captain

 The First Zee-Captain ----- The Third Zee-Captain

     The second Zee-Captain was a wise one and a foolish one. They were certainly more cautious about their trip than Ylvanna, and they definitely made sure to pass on more information about their journey than Ylvanna. However, they failed to take into account an ability for combat whilst at Zee and that for combat one might need a fully intact boat. They also refused to give away their identity; those who claim to have spoken to them claim they were female so I shall continue with that. She bore a particularly interesting story.

     The reason for the second Zee-Captain to become a Zee-Captain was a direct result of the death of Ylvanna, for she was an acquaintance. Her first mission at Zee, then, was clear – sail to where Ylvanna's first crash happened and seek out the boat. Sailing directly east of Fallen London, she searched for two days without finding anything on the nearby islands – so decided to pick one and get rations. When she landed on Pigmote Island, the entire place looked desolate save there stood two folk seemingly awaiting her arrival at a distance. When she and her crew approached, she noticed that one of the figures was a chief-engineer rat and the other a Seneschal guinea-pig clad in armour. Many folk cease to believe her stories at this point – though much stranger things have happened out at Zee.

The rodents proceeded to tell their quarrel to the second Zee-Captain. A most recent dispute that appeared to have no peace to garner and thus she was forced to make a choice. Pick a side or depart. 

     The side she chose was that of the Seneschal who then lead her to where the rest of the oversized Cavies were – Cavia. The central building of Cavia was a grounded Zee vessel where the guinea-pigs corralled nearby. There, she noted the situation by speaking to different folk and she reportedly noticed how utterly incompetent they appear to have been as a species. Due to the incompetence and not wanting to lose any of her own crew to a rodent war, she decided to advise only and went to meet the king of the Cavies who put her plan into action – a full scale attack to steal back something precious to the Cavies and then gain control over the island while the rats were weak.

     The plan was mostly successful though the population took a significant decline, but with control over the island, the king thanked the second Zee-Captain who stayed for some of the celebrations and departed. Not, however, before recruiting one of the Cavies as her mascott on-board her vessel, thus following Ylvanna's example of having a 'pet' on board. Having left, though, she felt somewhat important to the island and reportedly made multiple return trips over the next few months.

      Her tale follows with some difficulty, a scarcity in fuel and rations a scuffle with some Zee creatures. Not wanting any hostility, her main focus was to run – at first – and escape she did, only after taking some damage to her hull. She retreated south-west to the Shepherd Isles where she found some stories to trade and recruited a first mate and, shortly after, a doctor. At Abbey Rock, further south, her difficulties subsided as she struck a significant fortune.

     As she neared Abbey Rock, with every intention of just passing by, her lookout on her crew shouted that there was something interesting by the rocks – a wreckage. The Captain, hoping it to be Ylvanna's Wreckage and that there might have been some clue as to what happened to her, decided to dock and search the crashed ship. It was not the wreckage of Ylvanna, though it was that of a previous Zee-Captain who had grounded and left behind a large amount of fuel and food. The ship has strange markings on it showing signs of worrying struggle – however, the Zee-Captain's worries of returning to Fallen London were over for now. This tale is also surprising to myself as I believed there not to have been many Zee-Captains of this kind previous to Ylvanna - sorely we must accept that there are many unknowns out at Zee.

     As the second Zee-Captain neared to Fallen London again, she decided to stop and make an enquiry at the Hunter's Lodge, for she too had heard that one of the sisters was a friend to Ylvanna. Over the next week she managed to sit down for lunch with all three sisters, which was either a blessing or a curse. While none of them wished to discuss Ylvanna, they all had their odd stories to tell that had different effects on the crew. Some crew claimed they were being watched by Storm. Other crew claimed that Salt was aware of the and they just knew. One man claimed they should be weary of the attention of Stone. The three Gods – if they exist – had some part of their gaze on the second Zee-Captain. There were tests that support this claim.

     One of the crew told the story that while at Zee, some of the crew looked up at the shining on the ceiling of the Unterzee, spread out like stars over the cavernous expanse. With permission to gaze at them, they were rewarded with calmness and reduced fear for the rest of their voyage. Another time a crew-mate told the story that the Zee-Captain was eating a biscuit when a hard crunch had her picking some kind of stone from her mouth. It was a diamond. The crew warned her that diamonds are a sign of Stone – the God of home, hearth and healing - and should be cast into the Zee. The Captain refused, however, and sold it in Fallen London, instead.

     The next of her voyages had her with much food and ration so lasted a long time out at Zee – she learned many things such as sometimes it is better to fight. She took more damage to her ship but refused, still, to get any repairs until it was “absolutely necessary”. She also stopped by the port to the Surface and enquired what it was like up there and she learned that many neath-dwellers fail to survive in the heat above. The surface is not a safe option for us, either.

     Over the next days, little of the second Zee-Captain's story trickled back to Fallen London, though it was said she was seen heading too far North into some dangerous mists. After more visits to the Hunter's Lodge and finally Cavia, she met her match just off of Pigmote Island where she encountered a threat that did not take long to sink her damaged vessel. The cavies watched and wept at the coast as they saw their 'hairless advisor' and crew get picked off as food. That same evening, the Cavies got a raft together and found a passer-by to send a package containing what they found at the wreckage back to Fallen London that it might be useful to another.

     Thus begins the tale of the third Zee-Captain.

--- Howard Sterling, Chronicler Of The Fallen London University

Tales from the Sunless Sea - The First Zee Captain

     Deep below the earth of where Queen Victoria's London used to lie, there exists a cavernous ocean named the Unterzee. The Zee there holds many mysteries and dangers, so what draws people here, below the depths, is known only to themselves. For those of us neath-dwellers who were born here already, we have little choice but to make do. Within the Unterzee, riddled with disease and the unknown lurking beneath every ripple, it is ill advised to venture far from what can scarcely be called civilisation. The largest and most prosperous 'civilised' territory inhabiting the Unterzee is that of Fallen London. Life there is not as it is on the surface and it is from this sunken City that all Zee-Captains begin their journey.

     These folk, foolish as they may be, see the Zee as an opportunity. Whether it be for fame, riches, knowledge or some personal quest, there are those who will risk a life at Zee. These folks are known as the Zee Captains and it is I who makes the claim that they ought be remembered, lest their deaths be in vein. Through one cause or another, Zee Captain after Zee Captain find themselves in Fallen London and proceed to venture out; dedicating the rest of their lives to the Zee.

      The first Zee Captain was a philosopher by the name of Ylvanna. She sought knowledge and a life in Fallen London. She was naive. Not much is known of Ylvanna, save some tales of what she found at Zee, but she set forth a path that many were to follow in her wake. Of course, she was not the first, but she was the first of interest. Life in the Unterzee has been going on for many years, there are tales of colonies that sailed the entire Zee and settled far away, there are those who sail and stick to the safest waters for trade, and there are those who have sought isolation on one of the many islands. There are also the pirates and rogues who live off the Zee to varying degrees of success. Ylvanna, though, was the first to actively seek exploration. She was the first to be heard in the stories. She was the first that deserves a name in the history books.

      What follows is the story of Ylvanna to the best of our knowledge.

     Ylvanna set trends on her journey that other captains would follow, such as keeping a journal, working in towns, trading information and setting out with a pet; she had a ferret. She was able to plan how she would survive the Zee, but her naivety was her downfall. Many say she had family on the surface that drove her down below, others claim she was struggling too much as a philosopher on the surface to make a name. Whatever her reasons, her goal, it is said, was to explore, map and discover the Zee and get her research in the history books.

     The course of her journey is little known, though she was seen within the first month gathering information in London, and some of the local colonies. She recruited a first mate very quickly and a gunner soon after. In that first month, all seemed promising. The first of her mistakes was visiting the Hunter's Lodge without invitation. Though she was allowed in and drank tea with the ladies there, her curiosity at how questionable the building was got the better of her she was seen taking multiple return journeys over the next few months. Rumours say she made friends with Phoebe at the Hunter's Lodge. By her third month, she was said to have hunted and collected research on giant crustaceans, bats and ceased the activities of multiple pirate gangs. This was an early mistake, however, as her aggressive activities towards Zee-life caught the attention of the unending anger we call: 'Storm'.

     Her trading consisted mainly with scholars and men willing to tell tales. Over the next two months she began making mistakes. Upon a return visit to Fallen London, she had garnered the attention of an underground group who decided to send her a present for her loyalty. As she had no desire to meddle with such groups, taking the present under the impression that it was purely a generous present was testament to her nativity. Later that same week, she allowed a hermit on an outlier beach island to tell her a story, in the hope she might trade it. The story, however, was more of a hex and when she woke, she woke with stolen rations and coin. The tales she told quickly became tales of madness and fear, tales enough to frighten those in the Iron Republic, south of Fallen London. These were tales she claimed to have gathered from dead folk. Eventually, she struggled to keep the crew of her boat calm in the darker waters.

     There are those who claim to have experienced the change in sanity of Ylvanna's crew over time. An obsessive scholar who had many dealings with Ylvanna for he was a collector of Zee tales stated:

"...when taken port I was excited; my greatly valuable source of new theory material as she was - something was changed. She stank like one of those Northerners. A once-jolly telling-style was replaced with that of a stare over my shoulder and monotone - I was fascinated to see how crazy she could get, so I encouraged her to head out and find me more to learn. Alas, I never saw her again!"

      On her next trip out, trading for information seemed not to pay off when her management of fuel and rations wore thin, so they say. With madness and hunger, sailing became tough. One misjudged trip ran them empty of fuel before they could return to Fallen London the following week or so. There was little to be done. It is told, then, that she did not take long to make a deal with the anger god, Storm. She sacrificed her own crew members in the hope that it may deliver them from imminent demise. Storm answered the call, but not in the way she wanted. She was granted strength to fight, she was granted fortitude of ship, she was not granted fuel nor food. She and all remaining crew abandoned ship.

     Somehow, with scarce many of her crew remaining, she survived and landed afloat near the town around the entrance to the surface. Those there knew who she was and immediately stocked her with a new boat, rations and food only enough so that she may survive the trip back to Fallen London. Favour was on her side and her storytelling benefited her in this. When setting off with too much, stuff however, her ambition is what killed her. Rather than sailing north to Fallen London and safety, she sailed south. Those at the docks claim to have heard her utter something about trading a stolen barrel of salt for prosperity. If this was the case, it was her last mistake. Her boat was found abandoned two weeks later.

     There exists one survivor of her first abandoned vessel, though as a latecomer of the crew they held a crazed demeanor and a lack of willingness to talk openly about her travelling with Ylvanna. What information has been garnered from her is present in the rest of this written here. However, with no other known survivors of her downfall there is little we can do to pry for any more information.

     A week further was the last sight of Ylvanna's existence. A sodden mostly ruined journal tied to a bottle with Ylvanna's map of the Zee bobbed into the harbour of Fallen London. It was found by someone Ylvanna had dealings with, and who went on to become the second Zee Captain...

 --- Howard Sterling, Chronicler Of The Fallen London University

To Be Continued...