Demeter

The *Demeter* is the name of a schooner used by Russians in 1893.

## Appearance

The *Demeter* is not pictured nor described in Stoker's *Dracula*. It is merely described as a "derelict."

## History

On July 6th 1893, the *Demeter* set out from Varna, Bulgaria after finishing moving (unknown to the crew) Dracula's things onboard. Primarily of which included silver sand, dirt, and Dracula himself.

On the 11th, Turkish Customs agents boarded the *Demeter* and took the relevant toll. This action was repeated again the following day by other agents elsewhere.

One day later on the 13th they reached Cape Matapan where the crew began feeling uneasy but would not discuss their concerns with the captain. These concerns grew the following day but the crew could not determine the cause of their concerns.

Two days later on the 16th, Petrofsky did not turn up and could not be located. Unbeknownst to the crew, he had been the first of Dracula's victims while aboard the *Demeter*. That night Olagren, the night watch, had hidden himself from the storm and accidentally witnessed Dracula passing by on the decks on his way to the bow. Olagren was not able to find Dracula after following him and became superstitiously afraid. The next day Olagren confided in the captain his fears and the captain led a search of the ship for the stowaway but found no one.

Five days passed and the worsening storm distracted the crew from their fear of the unknown man and after the fifth day they passed Gibraltar. The following night another crewman disappeared, marking Dracula's second victim. That night the crew entered into another storm that would last for four days. On the last day of the storm Dracula emerged again and attacked the second mate who had been on watch that night.

The next day the captain celebrated their near-journey's end as they were off the French coast, nearing England. His joy would be short-lived however as the first mate revealed that both night watchmen and the steersman had gone missing in the night. This left only the captain, the first mate, and two crewmen. That night a deep fog rolled in.

For two days the fog lasted and the captain wanted to lower the sails but could not as they would be unable to raise them come port. He had hoped to see other ships that might be willing to help but found none.

Over the course of the next four days the fog persisted. The *Demeter* had managed to reach the North Sea but the last two crewmen went missing, leaving only the captain and the first mate. The first mate claimed to have seen Dracula and went to the bow to kill the man but found his knife did him no harm. Dracula took the knife away but let the first mate go. Having been spared, the first mate then endeavored on the third day to find and kill Dracula in the hold below to no success. When the first mate realized the futility of his actions he threw himself into the sea to avoid the same fate the others had met.

On the last day of the journal entry the captain saw Dracula as well but chose to make an attempt to steer the *Demeter* to port nonetheless. Dracula would toy with the captain for the rest of the night until the captain could no longer stay awake.

What happened between the time Dracula killed the captain and the *Demeter* washing into port is unknown.

## Technical Information

### Propulsion System

The *Demeter* is a sailing ship and thus is wind powered. Despite this, it was unable to be propelled this way during the last days of her voyage.

### Navigation System

The *Demeter* likely made use of maps and an octant as well as coordinating this against a watch to determine likeliest location.

### Communication System

The *Demeter* is a sailing ship and did not have communications beyond peer-to-peer communications. During the last days of it's journey the captain considered slashing the sails loose, so as to give others a reason to investigate the potentially storm-damaged ship.