The Christabel

An infamous black hulled galleon with brilliant silver dressings from the bygone golden age of piracy, the Christabel now stalks the still seas of the shadow planes stopping to rest only for a single week each year when it sets anchor upon the unseen riverbed of the glowing pond outside Scholomance for the week of Halloween. Each night it's crew of ghastly specters grow increasingly more corporal until at last under the moonlight of all hallows eve they are made once more of flesh and bone; rotting and blighted by their endless nautical journey. The pirate crew reveals and parties for the seven nights, and sleep silently for the six days between their dusk arrival and dawn departure whereupon they are said to simply vanish into black whisping smoke.

While the crew does not shy from boisterous cat-calls and pawings, they have never been known to make threats nor bring any ill-will to the students of Scholomance. Never the less rumor's spiral each year of flirtations going to far or games gone awry. The worst of the rumors suggests that once a boy from House Wyrmhart even made a bet with the pirates that resulted in his joining of their crew, and each year someone claims to see him swabbing the decks or polishing a cannon before shying away from sight.

Those who are observant however often find that their is no captain to be found among the crew, yet if asked any of the seamen will swear by the merits of the Captain and assure the curious student that the captain simply never leaves the ship, and that they will know when they see him. This latter ominous statement leading more then one student to jump to the conclusion that the singular unblemished man among the crew, a handsome rogue who calls himself James Michael-Egan is indeed the captain. An assumption he is quick to correct, being the first mate.

### Anecdotes

* The crew consists of sixty three members, all of which are male.
* Most of the crewmembers carry several flintlock pistols, however James does not.
* James Michael-Egan is the only non-heterosexual member of the crew as well as the youngest. Identifying as bi-sexual.
* None of the crew claim to of have been members of the arcanist community, yet they often tell of tales to tell of fighting mythical monsters in life.

## Spoilers

The ship's captain is a magician alumni of Scholomance named Albert Alexander. As a student Albert spent much of his free time at the warf simply looking off into the glowing pond. A reluctant member of House Emberwing, Albert dreamt of adventure on the high sea's, and obsessed over meeting the great patron of Abyssilyn, Aboragail. Shortly before graduation they were approached by Professor Holtz while sitting in their favorite spot upon the docks. Holtz then offered the young Albert the opportunity to have what it was he desired most, presenting him with a riddled map to a chasm deep within the unseen caverns which once found contained a great galleon of unmatched beauty, the Christabel. In it's hull was a fortune of silver coins from an unknown land whose material worth alone could pay a crews wages for decades to come. The map to the chasm did not come free however, the price for it's secrets two-fold and undeniable to the sea-bound magician.

First, he would lead his crew to become the greatest seamen to ever sail the seven seas, massing a great wealth, slaying a kraken, and remaining forever undefeated by man or beast beyond. Second, he would die beside his crew and the Christabel in a storm that would take them to a watery grave at the bottom of the sea, forever after serving an unnamed patron in the plane of shadows, and for one week each year, when the vail thinned between worlds, his crew would return to Scholomance to stand vigil over the school and it's students.

Albert struggled to find a crew to join him and for a while feared he would fail to pay his debts to the mysterious Professor Holtz. His luck changed however when he met a young gigolo named James Michael-Egan while drinking at a harbor café. The charming man consoled the introverted Albert and listened to his tale thinking at first that it was a joke before he was shown the ship, which for a year and a day had waited untouched in a neighboring harbor. The two would meet at the same café every week for a month to share stories, as James took an interest in the young would-be captain. On their fourth visit they were confronted by a man who has mistaken them for homosexuals and attempted to assault James only to find themselves disarmed and hexed by the attending Albert. Thankful for the help, and disenchanted by the bigotries of the common lot, James promised to help Albert find the crew he needed under the condition that he get to be first mate and sail the seas as well.

The two gathered a crew and would pick up additional seamen from every stretch of the world as they took on navies, pirates, and monsters alike. Over the years Captain Albert and James grew close and even attempted to be romantic, however Albert found he had little interest in passions outside of the sea itself. After nearly two decades the ship would at last be sunk during a massive storm wherein the crew combated a great world serpent which dragged them to their promised watery grave.