NovelAI Scenario: Coffin Boys

Description

Have the setting for a short story I didn't bother finishing. In a setting in which The New World was separated from the Old by an Eldritch fog sometime in the late 18th century, you died at sea. Journey through the underworld in this nautical horror story.

Explore link: https://play.aidungeon.io/main/scenarioView?publicId=36172560-823b-11eb-9a04-e3809765944d

Tags

horror, undead, ocean, sea, sailor, not coomer unless you're into it whatever

Prompt

We sailed out beyond the horizon with avarice in our hearts, too near to those damned and accursed shores of lost Europa afore a terrible wave justly capsized the monument to our hubris. I awoke, storm-tossed, clinging to flotsam amid an impenetrable fog. My hopes that I might be the sole hand to persevere were dashed as I took notice of a grim omen in the idyllic current my raft found itself adrift in: an oaken coffin floating by. Then more. As all rightly superstitious seamen knew, this was the land of the dead and where coffins floated Coffin Boys and their ominous ships would not be far apart. The mist parted to reveal a vast field of coffins. From time to time, one of the unquiet dead within would stir and bang upon the lid of his tomb. I was mightily tempted to grant reprieve to one of these souls so that I might have company for my voyage through the land of the damned, but I recused myself of whatever destiny might've chosen for me had I done so and drifted on alone. Far away, I saw the dreaded ship. She looked the least seaworthy I had ever seen, more fit to be a derelict hulk than upon water. Her rigging was a ruin and her sheets were tattered about mast that listed by strange degrees. She trawled among the coffins, occasionally stopping and hauling one or two at a time aboard. I could see the figures of the crew moving to and fro about the deck. My raft was drifting ever close and closer towards the coffinship... [Click to expand]

We sailed out beyond the horizon with avarice in our hearts, too near to those damned and accursed shores of lost Europa afore a terrible wave justly capsized the monument to our hubris. I awoke, storm-tossed, clinging to flotsam amid an impenetrable fog. My hopes that I might be the sole hand to persevere were dashed as I took notice of a grim omen in the idyllic current my raft found itself adrift in: an oaken coffin floating by. Then more. As all rightly superstitious seamen knew, this was the land of the dead and where coffins floated Coffin Boys and their ominous ships would not be far apart. The mist parted to reveal a vast field of coffins. From time to time, one of the unquiet dead within would stir and bang upon the lid of his tomb. I was mightily tempted to grant reprieve to one of these souls so that I might have company for my voyage through the land of the damned, but I recused myself of whatever destiny might've chosen for me had I done so and drifted on alone.

Far away, I saw the dreaded ship. She looked the least seaworthy I had ever seen, more fit to be a derelict hulk than upon water. Her rigging was a ruin and her sheets were tattered about mast that listed by strange degrees. She trawled among the coffins, occasionally stopping and hauling one or two at a time aboard. I could see the figures of the crew moving to and fro about the deck. My raft was drifting ever close and closer towards the coffinship

Author Notes

The narration is verbose, detailed, horrifying, and full of antiquated seaman's jargon

Memory

You are a dead sailor travelling through the underworld.

World Info

View World Info

Coffinship, Coffinships, bloodworks, blood works
The lower decks of a coffinship are mainly comprised of the bloodworks, an infernal mechanism capable of rendering flesh, sinew, and soul into a black paste of essential essence, chiefly evil, which demons consume. The wood around these areas of the ship seems to sweat, breathe, flex, and even bleed as if it is alive. The spare paste and flesh from their victims which is not traded to demons is used by coffin boys to maintain their ships, although they always seem to be in disarray and ill condition, they remain afloat somehow.
Demon, Demons, Harbor, Harbour, dock, city, town,
The ports of the underworld are bustling demonic cities overrun with all sorts of eldritch monstrosities. Demons have a strict hierarchy and cultured society, but do not interact with those few in the underworld who've kept their humanity except to amuse themselves. The demons consume the black paste made of the essential evils of the dead men's hearts and provision the fleets of Coffin Boys in return. The economy of demons extracting this evil from the dead is comparable to the whaling trade.
Siren, banshee, wail, shriek
Sirens call out through the perpetually foggy seas of the underworld. They swoop with frightening speed and pull prey from their ships, rending them with their sharp talons. The Coffin Boys often decapitate victims and place the undying heads upon pikes at the prow of their ships so that their screams ward off Sirens.
Coffin Boys, Coffin Ships
The Coffin Boys are the mythical crews of drowned sailors who fish the oceans of the underworld for the coffins which float containing people who died upon land. They are bloated and rotten, wearing sodden rags. They are generally blind, but have keen sense of hearing and scent, particularly for blood. They chitter instead of speaking. Their faces are monstrous, with mouths lined with teeth like a lamprey. They pull coffins from the water and either devour the person within or render them inside their foul bloodworks belowdeck into a black paste which is traded to the demons of the underworld.

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Coffinship, Coffinships, bloodworks, blood works

Demon, Demons, Harbor, Harbour, dock, city, town,

Siren, banshee, wail, shriek

Coffin Boys, Coffin Ships