The Harbinger; A Sailors' Ghost Story

Herald of Vengeance Upon the Seas

The Harbinger. Bane of Buccaneers. A quad-masted, tri-tiered Super-Heavy Frigate that patrols the seas and oceans, far and wide, seeking wrongdoers and evil intent. She is naught but a ghost; black wood and sails that move in absolute silence, resolute in her mission. She stalks her prey, waiting for the perfect moment to strike, a green-tinged fog your only warning that this doombringer is near. The good, the righteous and the innocent have nothing to fear from the Harbinger; she will simply pass you by, her silent shadow a warning to remain untainted. But those whose deeds run darker… You have no hope, not even to flee. She will find you and send your damned souls to the deepest, most fathomless depths.
A Sailors' Warning; Multiple Origins

Harbinger. A name that brings fear to the hearts of all who sail under nefarious banners. She is considered by far the most terrifying way to drown at sea; none aboard a ship that she attacks survive the experience, and her tales are told only by those who witnessed her deeds through the thick, magical fog that surrounds her.

Origins of the Myth

Stories of ghost ships date back from long before the Age of Chaos, but the first known mention of the name "Harbinger", specifically, dates back to the early 8th Century 6AA. In the journal of Captain Deviell, the commander of a small merchant ship in the 750s-60s, notes a giant, gun-toting ghost ship that appears out of the fog to rescue them from the clutches of a pair of particularly nasty and well-armed pirate ships, the Bonebreaker and the Heartstopper. These two ships were well known during the 730s-50s for their unrelenting, destructive and bloodthirsty assaults on merchant vessels along the coasts of Madelya, Zeratal, and the South Eirinnean peninsula and islands. In his journal, written on the night of the attack, Deviell gives the first known description of the ship that became known as Harbinger.

17th Greenrise, Y6A 759 By Govad and the Gods of the seas, I could have sworn we were done this night. We fell afoul of the Sea Devils, the vessels that identify as Bonebreaker and Heartstopper. They circled us, demanded we relinquish our cargo quietly, then fired upon us anyway, taking our main mast with the first barrage, and severely damaging our mizzen. In the darkness we had no hope of running, not with such damage and with the rocky shores of the peninsula so close. But it was then that SHE arrived... A greenish fog began to roll in, and what came with it was like nothing I had ever seen before. She was most definitely a ghost; no ship of her ilk exists in these waters, and yet there she was. She was so huge I could not take accurate measures in the darkness, but I could see four glorious masts with black sails and the glow of several spectral beings aboard. She turned and her gunports lit up; I swear on my soul, three decks of guns I saw! The Bonebreaker and the Heartstopper turned to take her on, but the barrage that hit them was unlike ANY cannonfire I have ever seen in my life! They glowed spectral green, and cut through the wood of the ships like a hot knife through butter! The Sea Devil ships sank like stones, and in the water I could see the sailors struggling to swim to safety. Then I saw the spectral shapes leaving the ghost ship, leaping into the water. They sped toward the drowning sailors, and aided their end. The shapes dragged the pirates beneath the waves, and I never saw them surface again. My crew and I watched the ghost ship, awaiting our own end, but instead it turned and simply sailed away, taking the strange green fog with it. This night, I saw vengeance in the waves. She was a harbinger. Harbinger of Death for them, and Harbinger of Life for us.

Captain Deviell's tale is not the first to speak of giant ghost ships, but it is his account that ultimately gave rise to the name "Harbinger". The sinking of the two ships known as the Sea Devils, and the drowning of all lives aboard them, was a huge news story of the time. For reasons unknown to this day, something propagated the name amongst sailors in a way that no other nickname had before, and the name of Harbinger, the Bane of Buccaneers, became sailors' most prolific ghost story.

Truths of the Myth

There is no doubt amongst sailors that there is something out there that sinks ships engaging in piracy; the accounts from multiple unrelated sources over the last seven hundred years match all too perfectly, even details that were omitted from public record. Quad-masted, tri-decked, black sails, and an ominous green fog make up the majority of the tales of the Harbinger, and even non-sailors who had not heard the story before would describe such an entity. However, there are no clear details as to the true identity of the ship, nor the true makeup of her crew, if there truly is one. Some reports speak of seeing no crew at all, while others talk of spectral greenish shapes that move about aboard the ship and beneath the waves. None of the ships ever came close enough to sight any heraldry, and none can identify the shape of the figurehead. What is clear is that all attacks attributed to her have been on ships that had been engaging in piratical or nefarious activities, and that all of the crew of these ships suffered death by cannonfire or drowning. Megan Durrant, a prolific academic from the Academy of Nautical Studies and Shipwrights in Fuldair and expert on the history of the Harbinger story, has written many books on the possible origins of the Harbinger, and what kind of entity she might be. But even as a scholar of huge renown, she always begins her books with the same, slightly ominous, passage:

None know where she hails from, nor where she makes berth. Not a soul knows the name of her Captain, and none have come close enough to see her herald and live to tell the tale. Be cautious, sea-going friends; ensure your deeds are pure, lest the black-sailed ghost ship delivers its judgement upon you and yours, bringing doom to vagrants across the seas and delivering vengeance where others dare not.

Impact of the Myth

The myth of the Harbinger, in its many variations, is one of the most widespread stories told by sailors across the world. She acts as a horror story to vagrants, a warning against engaging in piracy or nefarious deeds, and a sign of hope to those who sail under righteous banners. The myth also aided in the propagation of ghost ship mythology as a whole, spurring numerous waves of sightings of unusual phenomena throughout the years. Art and prose related to ghost ships almost always reference the Harbinger as inspiration, and several shipwrights have attempted to replicate the supposed dimensions of the ship over the years, though none have succeeded in building a reliable vessel with the speed and manoeuvrability she is reported to have. The majority of the vessels sank within a few years of launch or were decommissioned after it became clear that they could not perform in the same manner as Harbinger, leading shipwrights to believe that she truly is a ghost or some kind of spectral visage.

Use of the Myth in Everyday Life

The myth of the Harbinger spurred a large portion of sea-related art and prose over its 700-year history, including the most famous painting "Emergence of the Harbinger" by Darian Seacaller. Finished in mid Y6A 764, Darian started the painting while still at sea with Captain Deviell as a way to show others what he believed he had seen that night. Copies of the painting can be seen in dockside museums and institutions dedicated to sailing, the otherworldly and history, though the original is kept safely in a private collection. The novel, "Sails of Unrest", is loosely inspired by the myth of the Harbinger and details the journey of a maiden, kidnapped by pirates and then rescued by the handsome Captain of a ghost ship called The Herald, with whom she engages in a passionate love affair, as she tries to change the fate of the crew who are trapped in a state between life and death. The Harbinger's name is also invoked as a blessing and a curse by sailors, depending on who they are addressing at the time. "May Harbinger bring you safe seas" is often uttered by the families of sailors travelling along the southern coasts where she was first officially reported, while "Sink at the hands of the Herald of Vengeance" can often be heard being thrown across the waves when merchant ships sight pirates in the distance. It is said that simply invoking the Harbinger's name, or its moniker as the "Herald of Vengeance", has the power to summon the ship to your location.