The Hermit of Ship Three

Illus. Vsevolod Ivanov (1885-1953)

There is one, and only one, living humanoid who make their residence on a Ghost Ship of Xois, dangerous colonial beings that seem to wander the Sunken Expanse aimlessly. It is a lonely and foreboding thing known only as the Hermit of Ship Three.

The Ghost Ships of Xois

Named because they were initially thought to be piloted by ghosts, these overgrown, highly mysterious vessels are actually nautical colonies of intelligent, fungal Hecath. Each is assumed to house one Queen due odd temporal phenomena occuring around the ships (e.g. intense feelings of deja vu, the speeding up/slowing down of time, experiencing the same moments repeatedly or completely losing hours or days) ; only the Queens are able to use the Hecath's indigenous time magic. There exists a frightening rumour the Ghost Ships are able to shunt victims out of the timestream entirely, deleting their existences from the past, present and future, presiding over a list of victims that is simultaneously long and empty.

The Hermit

The hermit is only known from two (admittedly separate) attestations to seeing a humanoid silhouette on the ship from afar.

Theories vary on who this individual is. Perhaps the most popular theorized identity is the insane, reclusive god of oceans, Ina'ut, wandering the haunted seas that annihilated his beloved empire. A common rebuttal to this is Ina'ut would have no need to sail above the waters so awkwardly unless he had some reason not to enter them, which would be ridiculous on its face.

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Some First Age historians wonder whether the hermit might be Vierix Clymenikari, the Lichlord and xenobiologist who famously formed a rapport with the Hecath Queen Raggedy Azra.

Still others discount both these theories, believing the hermit to be various local historical figures depending on the region. Another possibility is the figure is no one in particular, some druid or bodhisattva of Ahm who formed a cooperative with a Hecath Queen the same way Clymenikari did.

What is known is the hermit shows no interest in being contacted. The dangerous temporal phenomena around "Ship Three" remain strong as any other; attempts to approach are invariably met with failure if not annihilation, and the hermit has never made any attempt to prevent this.