I do not know where Captain Isabella leads us, but I am bound to follow under my contract.\n\nIsabella sought me out for my skills as navigator and pilot, and while I do not fully trust them (far from it), they have done much for my family, my sons, and for me. The crew knew not what to make of me at first, but once they came to know my skills, most relented. Many have become my friends.\n\nI do not tell them we sail in search of a fable – if azoth is a fable at all. Isabella believes it is not, and if I must suspend superstition for a time, I shall.\n\n- Chief Pilot Keyes of the San Cristóbal

Pilot Keyes' Journal

The San Cristóbal

We survived, although the San Cristóbal has not. The storm was fierce, perhaps the fiercest I have ever encountered, but the strength of our crew got us through… and perhaps God answered our prayers as well.\n\nThere is no trace of Isabella's ship, the Santa María, or the Santiago, and while I fear they may be lost, I refuse to give up hope – I will send crew out to search for them as soon as we are able: our fellow crew are our first priority. I know Captain Isabella would do the same, and if she is searching for us as much as we are searching for them, it will not be long before we are reunited.\n\nFor now, we are making camp, and we shall see what tomorrow brings.\n\nChief Pilot Keyes of the San Cristóbal

Fate of the San Cristóbal

The scouts have found no sign of Captain Isabella, the Santa María, or the Santiago. I said words to the crew that we should not give up hope, nor should we abandon the search. The Captain would not leave us behind and would not stop looking for us if our positions were reversed.\n\nWe have seen about doing what we could to repair our damaged sails. I have set some of the crew to the task on an isle they've dubbed “Stitcher's Ease,” taunting the men there that patching the sails is easy work (though far from it). The stitchers on the Ease have taken it all in good humor, however, and despite our predicament, the crew's spirits are high. The isle is beautiful, hunting is plentiful, and we have begun to craft spears and even bows to supplement our rifles.\n\nI think we have come to a paradise, were we not trapped here. But I have faith in the crew, as they have faith in me. I think of what Isabella would do, and I shall not let them down.\n\nChief Pilot Keyes of the San Cristóbal

Stitcher's Ease

We have set up a small fortification, dubbed “Consolation”. While the animals on the isle are quite large and aggressive, the walls provide some shelter during the night. Our hunting parties are organized so we take care not to exhaust each area, nor provoke the wolves or bears unduly if we can find hunting easier elsewhere. The crew upon Stitcher's Ease have taken to fashioning fishing poles for the crew, and what we do not hunt in the forests and marsh, we can draw fish from the waters of the isle itself.\n\nThe crew's spirits remain high – while some of them spoke of fears of not being able to return home, those fears are rarely voiced now. The beauty of Aeternum is hard to ignore, and life on its shores… when you respect the isle… is not hard on the crew, and there is plenty of space for all. Some of the crew have asked if they might set up homes or claim parts of land for themselves, and so we have spaced out plots for those who wish to build homes of their own.\n\nThe crew treats me as their governor, even though I do not care for the title. I suspect that is why they trust me with it.\n\nChief Pilot Keyes of the San Cristóbal

Consolation

One of the crew who was part of the party sent in search of the other ships I overheard to say something odd – and I inquired about it with the crew left behind.\n\nThe man had said something on Captain Isabella's character, and said that they would be worse off if she was found. It seems that even though the men search for her, some had a dim view of her efforts before the voyage. One claimed that she had made unhealthy alliances, even gone against the will of the Church by freeing one of its prisoners.\n\nI gathered the men at this, and without identifying the ones who spoke, I spoke highly of Captain Isabella, and reminded them again that if she were stranded upon the isle, she would let nothing stand in the way of searching for us – her first goal would to be reunite with us and work together to find a way off the isle. I reminded them that her ship may have survived, but many of the crew shook their heads at that.\n\n“Her ship was at the devil's mercy before it set sail,” one said. “It's said she had him belowdecks, and it was his guidance that led to their deaths.”\n\nI had no answer to this, because I know of who the man spoke of, for I had seen him. A filthy prisoner, and I could not understand why Isabella had brought him on the voyage. I did not like the ways his eyes darted about, nor the way she seemed to focus on his every word, no matter how strange it sounded… as if she was hearing something else whenever he spoke, something we could not understand.\n\nChief Pilot Keyes of the San Cristóbal

On Isabella

A light from a fire has been spotted upon Weaver's Peak. It is not from one of our crew, perhaps it is someone else who lives upon the isle. We marked the position of the fire, and began to set up an expedition to head there the next day to make contact – to think, we may not be alone on Aeternum's shores!\n\nChief Pilot Keyes of the San Cristóbal

A Light Upon Weaver's Peak

What should have been a joyous reunion has unsettled me. The fire on Weaver's Peak was not anyone native to Aeternum – it was Captain Isabella and her crew. At first, our crew gave cheers and eagerly greeted our missing shipmates… but soon, the mood became hostile. Captain Isabella demanded to know where we had been, the location of our ship, and where we had been on the isle. These questions were not unusual, but the tone she spoke of them was more akin to an accusation.\n\nI asked her what had become of her ship, and the Santiago, but she confessed she knew nothing of the Santiago and had not sought it out… and I realized she had not sought our ship out, either. I took in the health and disposition of her crew, and that made me even more uncomfortable. Many looked gaunt, starved, and were exhausted from what must have been a march of many days with little rest… but their expressions told of greater unpleasantness. Even old friends among the crew seemed unwilling to speak to us.\n\nIt seems few of Isabella's crew survived to reach Aeternum's shores. We have offered to share our bounty and food with them, for I realize we have had better success with hunting than it seems they have had.\n\nChief Pilot Keyes of the San Cristóbal

Weaver's Peak

One of Isabella's crew asked to see me in secret. He seemed terrified of what Isabella would do should she found out… and so I agreed, meeting him with a few men from my crew in case the man meant some harm.\n\nThe tales he told were almost impossible to believe. He listed the men Isabella had executed, and how the crew remained, not out of loyalty, but out of fear of what would happen if Isabella caught them should they try to escape. I said surely he was exaggerating, and he said no, and then recounted the punishments that Isabella had delivered upon the crew she perceived as traitors.\n\nHe then asked if he might join us, and that if we agreed, he would slip away with us tonight. I told him I had not planned on leaving, but inviting Isabella with us – along with the whole crew. He grew frightened at this and warned that we should leave at once and that we were in danger the longer we stayed.\n\nChief Pilot Keyes of the San Cristóbal

Meeting In Secret

The crewman recounted Captain Isabella had been sick on the voyage… but he was more concerned with the prisoner she had brought aboard. “A devil given flesh,” he called him, and he crossed himself as he did. The crew man was convinced the man was a curse, that he had been responsible for the ills that beset the voyage. I pressed him on this, and said the man had been a guide… and had led us to Aeternum at Isabella's request.\n\n“Aye,” the man replied. “I think he knew the way here, but he didn't mean for all of us. He's been here before, that much is true. But he didn't lead us here for azoth or gold or even to help us…  he brought us here for some other cause, and there was no grace in his act.”\n\nChief Pilot Keyes of the San Cristóbal

The Deserter's Tale

It has been two days since encountering Isabella upon Weaver's Peak. After her crewman's disturbing tale, I resolved not to come to any decision without speaking to Isabella first. I found his tale difficult to stomach, but the sincerity and fear in his words were hard for me to ignore.\n\nAs it turned out, I would not get the chance to speak to her. I heard the screams at first – moving quickly in case we had been attacked, I found her in front of a roaring fire… and the crewman who had spoke to me was upon the blaze, screaming. Isabella was shouting at her crew encircling the blaze, that the man was disloyal, that he cared only for himself… he sought to split from the Expedition… and the next words chilled me, for then she added, as the “crew of the San Cristóbal had done, and sought to leave us behind.”\n\nShe had gone truly, completely mad – and I knew then, she meant to harm us for she saw us not as fellow crew, but as traitors, all.\n\nChief Pilot Keyes of the San Cristóbal

The Pyre

Isabella's crew attacked again… they threw themselves against the walls of Consolation as if they knew it meant they would die. I see now how true that was. If there was any doubt, the isle grants life to those who perish… and Isabella uses it like a weapon, hurling the crew against our walls knowing they shall soon be under her command again. It is vile, evil… what drove her to this?\n\nOnly our knowledge of the Fen has kept her at bay – she does not know the marsh as we do, nor how to avoid the animals and other dangers of the swamp. It seems the time we spent in exploring has been our salvation… for now.\n\nMy Captain, my dear Captain, what has become of you? What evil has been whispered in your ear?\n\nChief Pilot Keyes of the San Cristóbal

Day 3

Isabella has brought hell to this paradise. Our days are spent fighting or preparing to fight… we set ambushes, build Forts, and the Fen becomes choked with the wreckage of our battles. It has been months, and there has been no victories on either side… for every inch of ground Isabella gains, she loses it on the morrow. She seems to have thrown patience and caution to the winds, casting aside strategy and negotiations for the hope of a quick victory. Why is she so determined and quick to act?\n\nShe refuses all my attempts to speak to her. I no longer have any name to her other than “traitor”.\n\nSeveral of her crew have fled to my side. They say while they fear her, they fear what will happen if they stand with her. Many of the crew wept when they found themselves safe at Consolation, and the few tales I have heard before are nothing compared to the tales of what Isabella now does to drive the men forward… I do not think she cares for me, she cares for what I might find on the isle. It is madness – I want nothing from this place but peace and a way home.\n\nChief Pilot Keyes of the San Cristóbal

Hell

I am convinced more than ever that Isabella's prisoner, the Heretic, must die. He has somehow placed himself in a position of command, and Isabella treats his words as scripture. I fear he delights… or is at least amused by this conflict, even though he is in chains. The fool has become the king. I do not know what unearthly power he has brought to bear over Isabella, but if she is to be freed, if she is to hear reason, then I must find a way to seize him and if necessary, kill him. He may have guided us here, but whatever his reasons, they were for some other purpose.\n\nChief Pilot Keyes of the San Cristóbal

The Heretic's Shadow

Isabella has vanished with her filthy advisor. After the bloody fighting upon the ridge, it seems she abandoned her remaining crew to be slaughtered – using their deaths to mask her departure. We moved upon her camp where she had slept the night, but found no trace of her, no tracks marking her passing. Five men of her crew are unaccounted for, including the Heretic… we suspect they left with her.\n\nWe did find the Heretic's leg irons – when she left, he accompanied her, of that I am sure. I have sent scouts out to find their trail. I do not believe she headed south, however – she came north along the Ancient road in search of something, and did not expect to find us. Even with all the blood and death, we were nothing more than a distraction for whatever consumed her.\n\nWherever she and the Heretic walk now, I do not think God walks with them. I think they walk toward something else, and I do not know if we will see them again.\n\nWe have pardoned what men remain. Some have refused our offers, and they have fled, or still attack us, still blindly following their Captain's last command. I fear there is little we can do for them – but I hold out hope they will understand that we are friends, and that we should act as allies, not enemies upon this paradise that we have stained with our blood and our hate.\n\nChief Pilot Keyes of the San Cristóbal

Isabella is Gone

The scouts return. There is no sign of Isabella or the crew who left with her. They believe she headed North, but the snows were too heavy and the scouts were not able to go further.\n\nWhat does she seek at the mountain?\n\nThe scouts also told me they found the Heretic's shackles, near a great arch further up the pass, but no sign of the Heretic. If he had passed that way, he had come alone – Isabella had not returned with him.\n\nI wept at this, and I raged at this. And I feared most of all, he had walked to the nearest shore, then into the waves and cast himself once more upon the seas, to be found by a passing crew, who he would promise all the wonders of Aeternum if only they would follow his words wherever they might leave – and that he had been doing the same to others for a long, long time.\n\nWe shall stand watch against those who come, if the isle permits it, even if it should be a hundred years. And should all that remain be the wrecks of our ships and these simple pages, let it be enough of a warning to those who come to Aeternum.\n\nChief Pilot, Keyes of the San Cristóbal\n\n

Report From the North

The San Cristóbal #1

Fate of the San Cristóbal #2

Stitcher's Ease #3

Consolation #4

On Isabella #5

A Light Upon Weaver's Peak #6

Weaver's Peak #7

Meeting In Secret #8

The Deserter's Tale #9

The Pyre #10

Day 3 #11

Hell #12

The Heretic's Shadow #13

Isabella is Gone #14

Report From the North #15

A land of great beauty and mystery where the forces of life and death are in eternal conflict

Journal of Pilot Keyes Chapter - NWGuide Database of Lore

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