Steel War Maiden

Steel War Maiden (鋼の戦乙女) is a undead Ghost Ship that haunted the Katze Plains.
== Appearance ==
The ship was broken down all over, with everything was in tatters. There was a huge hole in the side of the hull and many places planks had been turned up. Steel War Maiden was gigantic, but due to her dilapidated condition she looked more like a pile of scrap wood that would undoubtfully sink in water. 
The ship had three masts, with last of the three masts flying aft sails, while the others had regular square sails. All the sails though were tattered. 
There was a ram, that appeared to have been attached later with a slightly rounded tip. And there were rows of long, thick oars protruding from the sides, that rowed as if actually pushing the vessel through the water.
Despite its derelict appearance, it had an abnormal sharpness to how it plied forth and glowed with a dim, mystical light. At the top of the main mast flew the colors of the Sorcerer Kingdom.
== Personality ==
From an outsider's perspective, it appears that the ship was very proud. 
== Background ==
=== Ghost Ship in the Fog ===
Prior to the establishment of the Sorcerer Kingdom, Steel War Maiden's and her husband's existences were only considered rumors. If there had been a large number of sightings, then even though it was a rumor, its credibility would increase. However, there had only been a single sighting. In fact the information from which the rumor came from, originated from a single eye-witness who had no credibility.
While such a rumor would have probably been declared as a fabricated lie, as ship being on those plains was too preposterous, the witness who claimed to have seen the ship was a veteran adventurer who had since retired from adventuring. Despite having no credibility, the adventurer was trustworthy adventurer in terms of ability and as a person—who was mithril-ranked at the time. If it had come from an adventurer of much lower repute the rumor would have been considered nonsense.
Despite the lack of hard evidence, a follow-up investigation ensued to the place where the Ghost Ship was sighted though the purported vessel was not discovered. 
No detailed information on what sort of ship it was is ever known. Though based on the rumor, it was said that a shadow of a ship had been spotted advancing through the thick fog of the Katze Plains. But because the Katze Plains was an area where the undead frequently spawned, it was called the Ghost Ship in the Fog.Overlord Special Edition 01 Prologue
== Chronology ==
=== The Invaders of the Large Tomb Arc ===
When Heavy Masher encountered an Elder Lich in the Great Tomb of Nazarick, Gringham noted that there were stories about one elder lich who is commanding a ghost ship within the Katze Plains.Overlord Volume 07 Chapter 3: The Large Tomb
=== The Ruler of Conspiracy Arc ===
Whilst discussing with Pluton Ainzach on the Sorcerer Kingdom's intent to nationalize the Adventurer's Guild, Ainz Ooal Gown remembered about the reports of a mysterious ship traveling the Katze Plains. Ainz wanted to investigate the claims, so he could consolidate his control over the region.Overlord Volume 10 Chapter 1: Sorcerer Kingdom of Ainz Ooal Gown
=== The Phantom Ship of Katze Plains Arc ===
 and The Phantom Ship of Katze Plains II Arc
Despite the Ghost Ship in the Katze Plains being only considered a rumor, it was enough to engaged Ainz Ooal Gown's interest, so much so he decided to investigate its supposed existence through Momon and his adventurer team of Darkness. Whereas most would consider the only account of the Ghost Ship as a lie or a work of mischief, rather than dismiss it to be a lie and a work of alcohol, Ainz believed it was too ridiculous for someone to make up. 
Through his logical inductive thinking, Ainz going through what he knew about where the rumor came from, being a veteran mithril adventurer, concluded that a man with such a reputation would not fabricate such a story, given that he voluntarily reported the incident even in the face of possible ridicule. A self-destructive lie such as that would do nothing for the adventurer's reputation. 
From what Ainz gleamed, the thing in which the adventurer saw sounded like a landship, but from the history of the surrounding lands no such construct existed in history.
Ainz believed that the adventurer may have seen something else in the fog like the Brocken spectre phenomena. And while it is possible what the man saw was true to his eyes, the Sorcerer King had a strong suspicion that it is a golem. Though he also considered that it might be a magic item, perhaps a result of the undead and a magic item coming together—a variant of the Ghost Ship where the Flying Ship, a magical item, crashed and with its crew lost and continued to operate after becoming an undead.
The Sorcerer King had never heard of something like a Ghost Ship, even in YGGDRASIL. While the game had a degree of freedom in construction, creating something like the Ghost Ship was an impossibility. Though in the New World, such a creation could be possible given there was a magic spell called [Floating Board] that could levitate an object off the ground and be applied on a greater scale.
What interested Ainz though was the ship's carrying capacity which he saw as its greatest merit. If one could divert the expertise of sailing a normal ship as-is, then it seemed possible to reign in the costs of everything from its piloting and management, to its production and operation. But since such a novelty had not appeared yet, meant either that the world had not come up with the idea yet, there were technological hurdles that prevented it from being produced, or that it had been produced but was a military secret and thus its existence was being concealed.
From this line of thinking, Ainz was of mind to think that the Ghost Ship was an experimental project that was made by a distant country. In that it crashed in the Katze Plains on its maiden voyage, and from its disappearance development and research into the project was frozen. Though in truth Ainz believed that taming aerial monsters would have been more cost effective. 
From his mental musings, Ainz then shared these with his teammate Narberal Gamma. The undead came to four explanations on the Ghost Ship's true identity: a landship that doesn’t require magic power to operate, the magic item Flying Ship, a normal ship turning into an undead, and a ship-shaped golem.
The last explanation was leaned on heavily by Ainz to perhaps be the correct one. Given that after poring over all the local history books didn’t uncover any records of such a vessel. And while he was unsure if a normal ship or inanimate objects could be turned into undead, he could not imagine why a normal ship would be so far inland as there are no nearby lakes or rivers, and no indications that Katze Plains was once an ocean.
Thus by process of elimination it led to the assumption the ship was a golem. From this interpretation by Ainz that it implied the existence of a power capable of the large-scale creation of golems in the vicinity. Such a notion was worrisome to the Sorcerer King.
Hence this is the reason for dispatching his identity of Momon out into the Plains. If this power is hostile towards or feels threatened by the Sorcerer Kingdom, Ainz hopes that they may try to approach Momon and make friendly contact. If they hold a pro-Sorcerer Kingdom position, then they will still reach out to Momon, thus allowing Ainz Ooal Gown to proceed safely through negotiations.
Another possibility Ainz believed the Ghost Ship was the work of a player, having recalled a memory in his past in YGGDRASL, where he once saw a video of a meme equipment maker of a ship flying. If such a player had come to the New World, and made his fantasy a reality, then all the more reason the Overlord had to investigate this himself so that there would be no misunderstandings with the other party. Assuming the Ghost Ship was actually a golem, Ainz wanted to capture it if possible, because it would be expansion of his nation's battle power. Therefore, even he gave Narberal a directive that if they were able to discover it, they would refrain from attacking it immediately.
As for the person who was directing the Ghost Ship, Ainz would come to a decision once he meets them for himself. Though in a state of insufficient data, Ainz planned to release the crew of the Ghost Ship if they manage to capture them. His reasons for this course of action was that he did was wish to create more enemies even if they were a small-scale operation. 
Normally it would be different if it’s another country—as then the Sorcerer Kingdom would move out in force in retaliation for the other nation infringing on their territory. But in a situation where he didn’t have information on the opponent, Ainz believed it would be best to pull back and draw out the negotiations, and investigate during that time which would be handled by Albedo. 
On that note a receptionist from the Adventurer's Guild arrived at the home of the adamantite adventurers, with a summons from Albedo to come to the guild at once. There at the guild, before Guildmater Pluton Ainzach and the receptionist, Albedo under the authority of the Sorcerer King, gave Momon (Ainz) an order to proceed to the Katze Plains and unravel the mystery of the ship within the fog. After a scripted display of refusal and threats before their small audience, the adventurer Momon and Darkness accepted the order.
Darkness would enter the Katze Plains and detected a fight at Broken_Towers where a worker team and their porters were being attacked by three Skeletal Dragons. 
After Momon and Hamsuke dispatched the undead dragons, the workers of Fist thanked the Adamantite adventurers. The two teams then conversed, with the workers surprised by the mission of Datkness in locating the Ghost Ship as they regarded it as nothing more than a rumor. Still the workers wished the adventurers good luck and retreated back to the Free City of Vadis to recuperate.Overlord Special Edition 02 Chapter 3 
Once they were gone, Ainz, dropping his disguise as Momon, summoned several elder liches to assist him in scouting the Katze Plains for the illusive Ghost Ship. WHilst waiting at Broken Tower 1, one of the elder liches managed to locate the Ghost Ship, which to Ainz's surprise his was actually a ship and an undead entity.
Ainz then took Nabe towards the Ghost Ship. The Skeleton Sailors which were manning the deck, spotted them, and sensing the living, Nabe, attacked them with bows and crossbows. The attacks were harmless to Ainz and his partner, who used his magic to eliminate the skeletons.
Upon hearing the commotion on the deck, Greyrune appeared. Upon seeing them he demanded to know what they were doing to his wife's body. At first there was some confusion from Ainz as to what the elder lich was talking about but soon realized that the ship was what Greyrune was referring to. Hostilities emerged after Greyrune caught sight of Ainz, who he was envious of due to his clean skeletal face, and attacked him with [Fireball].
The Sorcerer King was unharmed though did not retaliate as he did not wish to harm the Ghost Ship, given it's rarity. However Greyrune did not appear to wish to talk. To force him to stop, Ainz used [Undead Domination] to take control over the Ghost Ship. A series of misunderstanding occur, with the lich becoming distressed that his wife has been take by another, but he eventually calms down to listen to Ainz less he harm Steel War Maiden.
After the conversation with Greyrune, Ainz directed the Ghost Ship to attack the Undead Crab he found in the plains, the Undead Axe Land Club, to gauge her power. Sadly Steel War Maiden had no direct offensive abilities and replied only on her undead crew to attack which were weak against the crab. The ship suffered some damage from a charge to her bow. 
Before her husband could come to her defense, he was stopped by Ainz who wanted to see her defensive abilities. After getting battered by her opponent for awhile, Ainz decided to step in to fight the crab. The crab was dealt with easily, being no match for the Sorcerer King who then used his magic to make it submit to him. In an odd turn of events the crab joined the undead crew and climbed aboard the ship. From there Greyrune and her were given a choice to either serve Ainz Ooal Gown or die.Overlord Special Edition 02 Chapter 4
Presumably the former offer was accepted as the Ghost Ship then cruised through the Katze Plains heading out of the region towards E-Rantel, the capital of the Sorcerer Kingdom. On the way, the ship pulled the fog with it, passing close by the Vadis, and was witnessed by the dumbstruck members of Fist.Overlord Special Edition 02 Epilogue
=== The Paladin of the Holy Kingdom Arc ===
The Holy Kingdom Liberation Army had an encounter with the Ghost Ship. While traveling to the capital of the Sorcerer Kingdom, the delegation was engulfed by a blanket of fog. Out of the fog came a vast derelict ship that Gustav Montagnés identified as a ghost ship. Despite Remedios Custodio's insisting to attack the vessel, her adjutant convinced her not to do so, as it may warrant consequences from the Sorcerer Kingdom. His advice proved to be wise as it was flying the banner of the Sorcerer Kingdom.Overlord Volume 12 Chapter 2: Seeking Salvation
=== The Half Elf God-kin Arc ===
The Ghost Ship was mentioned by Ainz that the ship was acquired through the aid of himself, Cocytus and Demiurge when they went to the Katze Plains together.Overlord Volume 15 Chapter 2: The Travelling Scenery in Nazarick
=== Mass for the Dead Arc===
In the game timeline, the Ghost Ship was used an example of Ghosts existing in the New World, when a report came to Momonga that the Great Forest of Tob was possibly haunted.Mass for the Dead Special Event: Heteromorph Night Parade
The Elder Lich and the Ghost Ship were sought by Kralgra led by the ambitious Igvarge in an effort to garner a reputation to exceed the protagonist. The adventurer succeeded in annihilating the lich and incapacitating the Ghost Ship, though it was a pyrrhic victory that costed all of the members of Kralgra their lives. 
The ghost ship was later claimed by Momonga and its captain was replaced with a new elder lich. Iguva=41 was created and placed in that role by Momonga in order to infiltrate Six Arms who were seeking to recruit the captain of the ghost ship for a mission with a new client regarding travel through the Katze Plains.Mass for the Dead Special Event: Worker Within The Fog
More details of the previous owner of the Ghost Ship are revealed when Darkness led by the protagonist went searching for the mithril plates belonging to the four man team of Kralgra. Turns out that before the lich was killed, he managed to decapitate three of his attackers, resulting in the mithril plates falling on the ground. Of the three that were left in the Katze Plains, one was picked up by a Skeletal Dragon which became a target of interest for Darkness and New Six Arms for recovery.Mass for the Dead Special Event: Mithril Sleeping In Light Mist
For the Greetings and Victory Festival happening in E-Rantel, Zero decided to go with Regi to participate in the dedication ceremony to impress the emperor and gain a knighthood. The two took the Ghost Ship to the city while Malmvist and Peshurian stayed behind.Mass for the Dead Special Event: E-Rantel In Disguise 
Some time after the Calamity of Cracks, Zero leading New Six Arms, observed a carriage containing former nobles fleeing from the Empire, passing through the Katze Plains. All this was witnessed by the workers from the Ghost Ship hidden in the fog. To the surprise of the team, Zero made no move to pursue the former aristocrats despite them being deemed enemies of the state by the empire. Such an action of allowing them to flee would be seen as treason to the emperor, which Zero counted on it as this was part of the orders from Jircniv.Mass for the Dead Special Event: A Young Lady Casting a Shadow of Ambition 
== Abilities and Powers ==
The Ghost appears to be able to shroud itself in a thick fog. She has the ability to float a meter above the ground, and travel across it.
According to Ainz, since he was able to get Steel War Maiden under control without any problems her level itself isn't that high after all. The ship's speed was not very fast, but is able to move at a leisurely pace. Compared to a player's stats like Ainz, the ship's speed was slow, as the Overlord though it be faster for someone like him to run. 
The ship possesses no offensive capabilities, and isn't very useful in combat. The ship has a special ability to summon Skeleton Sailors for defense. Said skeletons while being stronger than regular skeletons, rely solely on bows and crossbows for attacks. And those undead can be replenished rather quickly after they are defeated. Additionally the vessel was quite durable and completely resistant to fire.
After the ship was placed into the service of the Sorcerer Kingdom, Ainz considered of assigning his Elder Liches to board it or giving better weapons and equipment to the skeletons. 
== Relationships ==
===Greyrune===
Steel War Maiden is the wife of Greyrune, an elder lich. It appears that the lich deeply loves his ship, as he is willing to submit himself into the service of another, to ensure her safety and continued existence.
=== Ainz Ooal Gown ===
Ainz is Steel War Maiden's master, after he used magic to make her submit to him, and as a hostage against her husband to force his compliance. Though despite being forcibly controlled by the Overlord, after being released, Steel War Maiden did not appear to hold it against her new master. Even relaying through her husband that it was her pleasure to serve him. 
== Trivia ==
* Initially it was unclear whether the Ghost Ship was a magic item, a unique undead monster or some kind of special summon. Though later it was confirmed that the Ghost Ship is indeed an undead monsters with a will of its own.
* Steel War Maiden is actually unique among the characters who are summoners as they are all confirmed magic casters. However the Ghost Ship achieves this through a special ability rather than being a magic caster. 
* According to Neia, the ship was even bigger than the Roble Holy Kingdom's flagship "The Hammer of the Holy King."
* In the Mass for the Dead, its left unknown on whether the Ghost Ship is sentient. 
== References==
==Gallery==
== Navigation ==
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