Genvieve 1, 1806: The Seraph Takes Flight

From the Journal of M. Maelstorme Smythe
Captain of the Signet Ship "Seraph"
Captain's Log: Official Log the First
Date: Genvieve 1, 1806, Year of the Drake

We are finally underway after an extensive celebration commemorating the christening & launch of the S.S. Seraph, as well as the New Year. Though I am not normally an enthusiastic party goer, I accompanied Augustus following his solemn promise that our stay would be politely brief, and as painless as humanly possible.

We ended up staying for the majority of the celebration (much to my antisocial surprise - I shall endeavor in the future to count how many "dark & stormy" drinks the good doctor hands me during parties) at which point I announced that the crew should begin to make ready to board the Seraph, lest the finale of the party be delayed for the good people who had gathered to see us off. As a note, It was nice to see the crew of the Seraph celebrating together. They seem to all genuinely enjoy each other's company; this is likely due to the fact that a decent percentage of this crew was chosen from my previous crew, and the rest were hand-picked by myself and my ship's officers.

One glowing example of both carousing and a fine crewman is my ship's engineer, Mister Scott "Aul" DuBreens. Aul is a brilliant engineer, following in the footsteps of his father, the infamous Scythian inventor, Dr. James DuBreens, and an equally brilliant Kellsian aetheric physicist, Dr. Edith Oryl. Aul has been briefing me daily on some new gadget or other that amazes me; truly, this ship will be an adventure to serve on. The new technologies alone make the Seraph an adventurer's (and engineer's) dream.

We are currently sailing at an altitude of 3,000 feet and a calm, steady blimp-propelled speed of 20 knots. The Seraph is a magnificent ship; powered by the very aether that makes up the waters spanning Axiom's formed universe. Now even aether needs a bit of encouragement, so we are equipped with a wide variety of sails, "sailwings", blimps and propellant devices which feed upon the aether as a base fuel.

The Seraph can sail upon the sea, dive under the sea, and fly through air - a true S.V.T. ("Ship of Varying Terrain".) She is large, but not gargantuan in size like the "Archon" class ships which make up a floating fortress of the Black Signet protectorate.

The Seraph is the seventh of the formidable "Archangel" class S.V.T. exploratory/battle vessels, measuring roughly 125 feet in length from bow to stern. She is equipped with hydraulic harpoon crossbows, rail guns, aether cannons...if I didn't know something of the dangers that await us on our adventures, I would feel a twinge of pity for our enemies. However, having experienced some of these horrors, I feel neither pity nor remorse for anything that would attack us.

In any event, the skies are calm tonight, and it has been a safe, if busy, day for all of us. I dare not call it uneventful, however. We launched without fail and felt the sailwings catch smoothly; the champagne smashed against the rear hull as we separated from the cluster of Archons and sailed off on our first exploratory mission. The aetheric generators whirred to life - emitting a soft, ghostly moan that seems like a soothing sea nymph at this point (the men have already begun calling them "The Sirens".) The blimps remain steady. We were all busy the entire day; forcing the bugs and kinks out of the Seraph's inner workings, with endless checking here and there all day long. I dare say that the crew shall welcome their beds tonight.

As for myself, I sit in the crow's nest and watch the stars, my raven familiar Morrigan perched upon my shoulder. At some point - perhaps in my lifetime - we shall be sailing among them. I find it peaceful here, perched among the heights of the Seraph's sails. Perhaps even spiritual. In any event, I think that this shall be a regular place of contemplation for myself and Morrigan in the future.

There I go again, rambling on...I shall write more on another day. I must say that I look forward to some adventure, as long as my crew is not harmed in the process. I do miss a good battle. Fighting certainly beats spending two hours reviewing and approving Chef Gregoe's meal plans and Augustus' daily medical schedule for the next six months, anyway...not that I'm complaining. Merely observing. Until next I pen, I remain...

- Mael