Garrid lasted quite some time at Zee. He lasted so long, in fact, he was able to use his riches to set up a family. Whilst stopping by in Fallen London he returned to spend nights with his sweetheart multiple times until one day she cried out to him just as he was leaving. Leaning over the barrier of his vessel he was left with the information that she, Thistle, was pregnant.
Of course, this news was taken in two minds, firstly, he was overjoyed at the idea of being a father, secondly he realised what an awful life it would be to bring up a child in a small hotel room mostly with only one parent. What if he died at Zee? So his next trip out was a short one. He doubled the money that the urchin boy was to give to his lady upon news of his death, and purchased a nice town house for them all to live in. When Garrid was back in Fallen London, all he did was spend time with his partner and child. He was successful and happy.
That is not to say this his life went entirely smoothly. Plentiful times he met danger whilst out at Zee and his dealings had turned less and less civil as time went on. Running small errands of smuggling back and forth and spending a lot of time in some of the outlying pirate isles for some extra parts of underhanded cash, Garrid was not exactly legal. In order to keep the suspicion off of himself, however, he made sure to keep up the sinking of pirate vessels. This was messy work in itself. The slaughter and ruthless strategic fighting he learned at Zee earned him somewhat of a reputation. His family knew nothing of his life at Zee.
Though that is not to say he was entirely a pirate himself. He also took Zee Ztories back home to his children, enough for his child to decide to wish to be a Zee Captain when he grew up. Garrid allowed this, but only after he was of age. Garrid even wrote a will so that his family could keep his home if he never returned.
One of the stories of curious nature that intrigued Thistle the most was the strange story of Nuncio, the isle of post. For some strange reason, the post at Zee was drawn to the island and washed up there constantly. The Postmen there also seemed unhappy and drawn to the island for reasons beyond their knowing. There was also something in the heart of the island that was unspoken of, something of nightmarish origin so fr down that must have been the cause of all the disturbance, though Garrid was never to find out what it was.
Thistle also learned of some of Garrid's more profitable legal dealings, such as sphinxes from the Salt Lions, and delivering Clay Men from Polythreme. Of course, this is the kind of tale that made Thistle believe she was capable of becoming a Zee Captain herself. One day, when Garrid was out at Zee for a particularly long time, all the returned was news of his having got into one fight too many and was unable to make it back, though there was claim that his last words were of love for his sweetheart in Fallen London.
A day later, a large package of money arrived at Thistle's doorstep and he barely hesitated before raiding Garrid's study for any information she could. She got herself a cheap vessel, she put her growing boy into care with the nanny who helped raise him, and she left for the wide and open Zee.
Thistle's journey was safer and more successful than any who had come before her, because she was prepared and had a lot of strategic information from her partner. She also had a fairly accurate and open chart of Garrid's travels. Thistle, you see, was an old thinker. A Philosopher who had been kicked out of the university fairly quickly for her refusal to work in the way they wanted. She was a wise and clever woman, but also a curious one. Her journey started with exploration. She travelled north and then east and then south, visiting every possible port on the way and staying at Zee for a lengthy time using her spare funds for fuel and supplies to continue her journey.
This was a problem, however, as while money can get her so far, as she travelled she fully begane to realise what Garrid was putting himself through and how terrifying the Zee could be. As she travelled, she could feel her and her crew's sanity slipping away. This was not aided by finding out stories of Garrid and the horrible tales she heard of his brutality. As she went, things got worse until eventually she found Nuncio. She needed to know what it was about that place, so she asked questions and tried to go down the whatever was below the island in the darkness and all she got was more fear in the very pit of her.
She needed to return to Fallen London urgently, but it was a long trip and without being able to justify stopping off many places for fuel, it would be a risky trip. On the way, one of her crewmates went fully mad and tried bludgeoning some of the other folk aboard. They tried to restrain him, though he was fulled with insanity and managed to kill two people before he was taken out. This did not help to calm the crew, everyone now suspicious of everyone. A few leagues more and it is said that everyone watched the attack.
An enormous tentacle rose up from the Zee, wrapped around one crew member and took him below. It is said that the taken crew member was not scared, but she simply accepted death. Though when people looked overboard, there was no sign of the beast. Had there even been an attack? Nobody was certain of anything anymore. What started off as a curiosity voyage became awash of stories of terror and unreliable accounts of incredible luck. With scarcely any crew, fuel, supplies, sanity and the ship itself having taken much in the way of damage it is a miracle any of them survived to see Fallen London. Though they did.
The stay in Fallen London was a long one. The two remaining non-officers retired and Thistle brought on an entirely new crew - for she was not done. After spending two weeks with her child and preparations, she knew she could do this. She travelled South this time and filled in more of the map that Garrid hadn't. She bought and sold information, she spent time at Polythreme to trade Claymen and at the Salt Lions to trade Sphinxes. She spent less time at Zee, picked her battles carefully and visited many places of wonder along the way amassing riches and respect. Needless to say, she was successful.
It was then that the strangest of her stories began...
To Be Continued...
---Howard Sterling, Chronicler of the Fallen London University
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