In the middle of the ocean, under the pale glow of a half full moon, a single ship broke through the rippling waves. It was a large wooden ship fit with seven tattered and old sails. The hull seemed to house cannon slots though they were empty.
The front of the ship wasn't in better shape than the deck. It's bowsprit was snapped at the halfway point, and its hull was missing a few substantial chunks. The creature head on the front was a raven with its wings extended and its talons bared. The Birds Eye's glimmered a crimson red when the moonlight shone on them just right.
Along the deck of the ship, pale white figures hovered mindlessly. Each of them occupying a certain task. At the helm, a short pudgy figure manned the wheel. He had a very round face and a long curled and unkept beard. He wore a tricorn and was equipped with a peg leg.
In the crows nest a slender figure sat peering over the railing with a hand to his head scouting for landmarks. His long hair was greasy and patched across his head. He had short pieces, long pieces and even bald patches.
The rest of the crew were assorted men of different shapes and sizes, but all of them shared one common trait; they were all ghosts. None of the ghosts spoke, they simply grumbled softly and moaned while they continued their menial tasks.
The water seemed harsh, crashing tall waves along the hull of the ship, and bobbing it left to right. The wind raged making it nearly impossible to control. The captain spun the helm faster and faster avoiding a capsizing or another sunken ship.
Though the waters were unforgiving the ship seemed to power through. It's bow split the sea like a razor to flesh, the moonlight encapsulating its ominous glowing presence in the otherwise vast and empty sea.
A loud gurgling grunt from atop the crows nest indicated something in the distance. The ghost captain extended a golden telescope and aimed straight over the bow. In the distance, a tornado of thunder clouds roared high into the sky. The flashes of lightning within the storm highlighted the shadows of what looked like jagged rocks behind it.
An affirming grunt from the captain sent two of the other ghosts toward the door that led below deck. The first level of the lower deck housed the resting crew members. Though they didn't need sleep it must've gave them a sense of normalcy to pretend to sleep for a few hours.
The deck below that had a large surplus of fruits and veggitables as well as an assortment of other perishable goods. The lowest deck and the darkest was also the loudest. An uproar of infants screaming filled the cabin like a frail shrieking alarm.
There were already a few ghosts tending to the almost two hundred children, but nothing they could do was soothing their cries. The ship rocked and creaked rolling a few of the children into each other. They were rested nicely on crude beds of hay and cloth in single rows along the floor of the ship.
Each of them had a deep blue hat and were wrapped in a thick black cloth. The ghosts had received their orders and intended to follow them closely. Their employer had explained, if the children are restless to press the corner of the blanket.
Hastily the ghost hovered over one of the screaming children and grabbed at the corner of his blanket. His usually vacant hand was filled with something small but noticeable stitched into the fabric. He pressed it, with a click the blanket tightened around the baby, swaddling it over the ears and rising just under his nose.
Quickly his eyes fluttered and fell into a deep sleep. The other ghosts watched in silent awe before following his lead. Soon all two hundred babies were swaddled tightly and sleeping soundly.
Back above deck, the captain steered the ship through the now calming waves and closed in on the storm in the distance. Although they were steering directly into a massive freak storm, the waters seemingly got calmer the closer they got.
The thunder would boom louder the closer they approached until eventually, the ships deck was illuminated softly by each flash of lightning. The ship whisped through the water and approached the vail of the storm before the beast head's eyes began to glow.
A scarlet red flash of light burst from the front of the ship, like a crude fog light shining over the dangerous sea. A loud metallic creak echoed over the ship as the birds wings began to stretch. The feather spread open and the wings extended flatly along the hull.
Around the bow, the feathers interlocked, covering the ship in a partial metallic shield. Then, just like the ghosts themselves, the ship went translucent. The interior of the ship was completely visible to the outside, aside from the babies on the lowest deck that sat comfortably under water.
The bright red glow shone on the wall of storm clouds as the ships now broke the veil and was quickly swallowed by the storm. The winds inside the vortex howled violently as the crackling boom of thunder followed the crash of lightning.
The ship was swept upward and forced down again. The water rippled underneath them feeling as if it were trying to tear the bottom of the ship outright. Other than the unmistakable shadows of huge jagged rocks it was pitch black. The faint red glow of the ravens eyes flickered as its energy drained.
The crew were moving faster than they had even in life. They secured sails, lightened loads, and protected other cargo. Some of them climbed the rat lines to tie down comprimised sail lines. It felt all but certain, the ship would capsize in this storm.
Then, the broken bowsprit punctured the wall of storm once again. The captain maintained the helm as the rest of the ship slowly emerged on the other side. The hull of the ship exited the storm with a jump and splashed into the calm water below.
The loud metallic creak riddled the quiet shoreline as the raven's wings returned to their original petrified position at the front of the ship. The effect had worn off and the translucence of the boat was now opaque. The large red stones secured in the bird's eye's shattered and trickled into the water with subtle splashes.
Within the large circular wall of clouds, was a large island of tall spires. Each spire was different in size and height and they were all spaced out sporatically within the walls.
In the center of the rocky pillars, was a small bank of sand that spread inward and up into the tallest and largest of the spires. At the peak of the tall rock sat a tall tower. It reached high above the clouds so much that the crew couldn't see the point of the tower from the ship below. Its walls were made of dark cobble and accented with wood and other assorted construction materials
It was lit up on the inside by what seemed to be flickering lanterns, but the outside was almost invisible in the darkness. A loud scraping sound would ring out every few seconds, like the sounds of an inner clock moving around to make the time piece function.
That's when it became apparent that the tower was moving. Not from one place to another but its chambers were rotating. The illuminated windows would shine along the water for a few moments before they would turn and disappear. Every third rotation a loud boom and a shake of the earth would rumble.
All around the tower, ravens. They circled over head thousands of them each chanting its haunting cry. Dense black feathers fluttered from the sky and landed near, on, and around the ship. Then, there was a small flickering light on the beach of the towers spire.
A small flicker in the distance no larger than a single candle caught the attention of the captain. Holding the flame, a dark silhouette shrouded in a cloak and topped with a cylindrical hat that added nearly a foot to the figures height.
The captain spun the helm once more to align the ship with the coast and brought the boat in for docking.