Quoted By:
Doubt, fear, and confusion spreads throughout the crew at this sudden information. Your own allies are rightfully terrified at this and, if not for their own faith in you, they would be losing their minds over it.
"Now, you may ask. Why am I hunting such an entity? Why do I wish to see it bleed? Simple. This is how I wish to die, crew. I do not wish to rot away in that damnable City, I do not wish to be stuck fishing and transporting blood-soaked goods. I wish to die as a MAN." You only now notice there's something hidden under the sleeve of Captain Abraham's jacket. In one smooth motion, a harpoon slides out of his sleeve and into his hand.
"It nearly killed me once already. When I was naught but a greenhorn on the sea. It killed the first, and only prior, crew I was a part of. Ever since, I have heard hundreds of tales of ships being destroyed by it. Thousands, if not tens of thousands, lost to it. Perhaps even hundreds of thousands." Captain Abraham grinds his teeth. "There wasn't even anything left to bury. Only the pieces of driftwood I'm standing on right now. Thousands of good men dead. And for what?"
"Because no one else has the courage to stop that damn beast? This endless, infinite evil that haunts this sea? Nay. I shall not accept that. And I doubt most of you would accept it either. That is why I told you the name of what we were hunting but not it's true nature. Because you too would've been too afraid to stop it."
Captain Abraham points his harpoon to the north. Almost on cue, a lightning bolt strikes the area he's pointing at.
"I wish to see that damn thing bleed. I want it to remember that, I, Captain Abraham..." He smashes the blunt end of the harpoon onto the stage. "will not die a coward. That us humans are more than pawns for it to grind under its heels. I truly apologize for lying to all of you."
The only sound that can be heard is the pitter patter of rain. A violent crack of thunder echoes through the sky as Captain Abraham continues his speech.
"Now! I shall let anyone who wishes to leave this boat disembark at any time before tomorrow evening. I shall not force you to join me in my mission. However! If you stay with me! If you honor my spirit, if you wish to seek glory and riches beyond our understanding, if you wish to be something beyond the corporate drones you were in the City..."
"Cry. Cry out for my final days on this earth. Cry. For Captain Abraham."
<<span class="mu-b">"Perhaps, if I can survive against his assault, he will acknowledge me. To deem me worthy of dying by his own hands. To crush my throat under his infinite hatred."</span>>
A handful of crewmates in the crowd below immediately split from the crowd, more than willing to accept his offer to get the fuck out. The rest of them? A tangible, almost visible air of desperation surrounds the crewmates and his officials. Mad gazes, wide smiles, giddy noises that are half between laughs and cries.
<span class="mu-r">Madness and obsession oozes from their smiles.</span>
