The Black Barge

On nights when the moon is full, a ghostly ship with ragged sails can be spotted patroling the surface of Loch Nimue. The ship looks like a twisted version of the nobles' pleasure barges that travel the lake by day, but ancient and decrepit and distinctly unnerving, especially for anyone who sees it close-up enough to get a look at the crew. Though their appearances vary considerably--from still-bloated rotting corpses to walking skeletons with bones bleached white in the sun--the commonality between the various members of the crew is that all are dead, yet still alive.
The ship's master is Captain Crackskull, a skeletal entity named for the large (and presumably fatal) fracture that runs down the middle of his skinless dome. Whether the captain is the risen remains of a once-living person or some supernatural entity that serves the gods is unknown, but according to legend he is charged with collecting the corpses of those who drowned in the lake and therefore were unable to receive the proper death rights. These drowned souls, unable to enter the afterlife, are pressed into becoming member's of Crackskull's crew.

There are only three ways to escape serving on the Black Barge's crew: waste away to dust, fall back to the bottom of the lake, or devour the soul of a living person. This last option is only possible on the night of the Feast of the Dead, when the Black Barge makes landfall and its crew sets off in search of salvation. If a crew member manages to devour the soul of a living person, they gain control of the victim's body (along with their memories) and presumably move onto the afterlife when their new host dies and receives burial rights. This is one of the many reasons that public celebrations of the Feast of the dead end shortly after nightfall.

by Art