In the year 2101 A.M., a group of disparate travelers seeking a new life or specialized opportunities in the Europan capital of Dresden secured passage aboard the ESS Albacore. Originating from the port of Nunavut in Cascadia, the submersible vessel was one of the few capable of traversing the treacherous Sea of Ghosts. Because the permanent magical Maelstrom renders airship travel over these waters impossible, the journey required descending into the lightless depths of the ocean, a feat for which Captain Isaac Carver had built a stern but fair reputation. The vessel carried not only passengers but high-value cargo destined for the Europan markets, setting an atmosphere of tight security and professional isolation from the moment of disembarkation. The traveling party consisted of individuals from across the globe, each carrying their own history and motivations for the trek to Europa. Among them were the pirate-like Tabaxi Mazaddha Theriska, the unkempt and scent-heavy Tabaxi Muddy Mittens, and the Nepalese dwarf Chegglin Chinbeard. They were joined by a Yuan-Ti man of faith known as Stanley the Seer, an air genasi named Aurora, and a manufactured gnome-like construct designated Lofta. Rounding out the group was Barkevius Frumpymelon, a dwarf returning to his home city of Dresden, and 4032 “Kolg”, an Atlantean warforged veteran of the American Forever War who was among the rare few of his kind to survive that attrition-heavy conflict.

While Captain Carver presented an image of Europan discipline, the rest of the ship’s command structure immediately unsettled the passengers. First Officer Drax Trulia carried an imposing and sinister weight, leaving many with a bad taste in their mouths during the initial boarding process. The engineering deck was overseen by the Europan halfling Sampson Hornblower and the Arctican dwarf Hothad Copperhood, while a human Manchurian named Miyake Harrier and the reclusive researcher Zachary Harrow kept a watchful distance from the group.

Security for the Albacore was provided by a specialized Marine Expeditionary Force of six Atlantean warforged led by a human officer, Arthur Langdon. These sentinels—designated with monikers such as Boss, Boo, Bolo, Bobo, BB, and Bill—were noted for their stoic, personality-free adherence to their duties. They were not a standard part of Carver’s crew, having been hired specifically for their lethality and their absolute obedience to Langdon’s command. As the Albacore submerged and left the Cascadian coastline behind, the pressure of the deep sea began to mirror the growing tension between the crew and their mechanical guardians.

The fragile tranquility of the voyage was shattered during the first night underway. The mangled remains of the warforged guard Bill (8111) were discovered hidden within the ship's structure, the wreckage of his frame serving as a grim indicator that a killer was already aboard. The discovery was a shock to the ship’s equilibrium, as the warforged were considered formidable assets, and the perpetrator had attempted a poor cover-up of the mechanical carnage.

Captain Carver immediately placed the Albacore on high alert and called a mandatory muster on the bridge. What followed was a rigorous and tense interrogation as Carver, Trulia, and Langdon grilled every crew member and passenger to determine how a sentinel could be dismantled without a single alarm being raised. While the initial inquiry yielded no definitive culprit, it successfully sowed the first seeds of profound distrust. Observations of the crew revealed a pervasive nervousness, suggesting that the mystery of Bill’s death was merely a symptom of a much larger, darker conspiracy brewing beneath the waves of the Sea of Ghosts.