Quest The Ghost of a Good Thing [Bob Barton]

[Cascade]

The reactions that Bob received from those he asked were varied. Of course, everyone knew who Ceona Whitewave was. She was the leader of the Anchorage—and with that, everyone knew her deceased daughter as well. It had been a tragedy, and the ghosts who made their way through the Anchorage were now common knowledge to its citizens. “Liana drowned during the storm,” was all the reply he got from one person, who refused to say anything further. A few of the people he asked pretended they didn’t speak Common, and they shooed Bob away as if he were just a nuisance. “Oh, yes, the card collector,” said one particular man. “She used to work at the market before she got obsessed with those accursed cards. I say, stay away from her ghost. Nothing good can come off it. Kind girl, but driven mad by her own collection.” If asked about anything else he knew, the man would simply shake his head with a shrug. “If you find the cards, burn them,” muttered the man as Bob walked away. Soon, Bob would happen upon the Antoinette. It was an abandoned casinor, but it was still tied to the Anchorage. If Bob cared to ask anyone around why it remained untouched, they would tell him that there was no point in angering the ghosts. The Svefra race was superstitious, and they did not want to start any more trifling matters with the dead. The casinor had been slightly damaged by the storm, but it still looked usable. Its sails were tied down and there was a staircase leading to an empty cabin.

[Bob Barton]

No surprise why people, like Bob did not like the svefra. The little Zeltivan hatred that was cultivated in him towards their waterbound competitors would not even have played a part at this rate. They were not the most helpful or friendly bunch, heck they did not even know common probably because they think their stupid sea tongue was the only language that mattered. Besides the one who told him what he already knew about Liana drowning in the storm which Bob asked for "anything else?" that got ignored, he gave a final word "useless" to those that acted like they did not know common and told those who tried to shoo him off that "it was not like I wanted to spend anymore time near you" since they were only smelly pirates.

But some of them at least stood out from the rest breaking the stereotype. It was the one that explained to him about the local card collector. Bob nodded at the things he had to say about Liana and then said "thanks for the help friend. You mean the cards were the things that changed her?" The only thing to answer that question was the remark to burn those cards if he found it. "Oooookkkkk..." if everyone was saying that the cards were bad Bob probably should get rid of it. After finding out more about it of course. Why should he do things just because other people that do not know much tell him to right? What this whole experience shows him is that the cards were famous in their own right and a prize unlike any that Bob has been able to lay his hands on.

He will have to figure it all out later but now he was standing in front of the Antoinette. It was obviously the Antoinette since it has the name printed on the ship. Bob stood in the front of it for a while looking over the ship to see if he can find anything but all he could see is that it was just like any other ship docking itself. Grabbing a random person passing by that looked like a svefra to him with all those tattoos he asked "isn't leaving an abandoned ship around dangerous?" knowing that throwing around any of the names like when he was asking around earlier would be no use. The svefra would more likely treat him with hostility instead. At least he got a proper answer this time. Angering the ghost would be more dangerous and Bob can agree having been on the receiving end of one's hostility before just because of some trespassing.

With the answer he got he felt that he should not make the same mistake as he did in the past. As the Flotilla allowed people to walk on any ship's deck freely and the Antoinette was still a part of it Bob stepped in the deck and walked around looking at the damage of the ship. As far as he could tell it did not look that damaged. Was Liana really taken by the storm? Even the sails looked alright and Bob knew that had to be the most fragile part of the ship. Making a round on the deck Bob tried to see if he can spot anything else before stepping in front of the stairs. Now this was the borderline trespassing part... Giving a gulp, Bob leaned towards the empty cabin and shouted loudly hoping to hide his fear "hellooooo? Liana? Liana Whitewave? Are you there?"

[Cascade]

“Why would it be dangerous? It’s tied up perfectly well,” the man told Bob, a clear expression of irritation on his face. Despite Bob’s misunderstanding, most Svefra could understand the Common language—the ones from before had just brushed him away because of their uneasiness in the topic he wanted to speak about. The man practically swat Bob away and went on his way, obviously not wanting to spend any more time around the abandoned ship. As Bob called to the cabin of the ship, he got no answer but stilled silence. It would leave him wondering. However, after some moments, he would feel a gentle push on his back. It was a quick movement, gone in a second, but it caused him to stumble forward and fall to headfirst to the cabin’s ground. “Hello, Mister Barton,” said a soft, sweet voice. And the transparent visage of a young, beautiful girl swept pass by him. Her eyes were bright blue, the mark of a Svefra, and she leaned down to check if Bob was alright. There was mischief in her voice and she continued to giggle, finding the image of Bob face-flat on the floor humorous. “What may I do for you?” The cabin itself remained untouched after the storm. Books and other objects were thrown on the floor as if the ship had sailed through a rough storm. But there was nothing suspicious about the ship. The only suspicious aspect of it was the young ghost of a girl staring right at Bob.

[Bob Barton]

Despite what the svefra said, Bob could tell by how fast he and all the others did their best to either avoid the ship or get past it as fast as possible. A rude gesture behind the man who swatted him away and a remark that "too bad I have better things to do" allowed Bob to at least preserve his dignity, if anyone actually cared about it. He was obviously not making any friends doing this for the Whitewaves except the pod itself if they did not think of this as a purely business arrangement. Quickly he got on to the search to be done with this sooner than later then at least he can ask the people on the Flotilla for other things that will not make him get brushed aside like some sort of pest.

Or getting pushed forward to stumble and fall. So much for gentle. If there was pain he would not even be feeling much of it when he looked closely at the transparent legs passing by him. Great...he probably found who he was looking for and instead of feeling great with the success he was feeling like crap since yet another ghost can be added to those that have hurt him somehow. Taking a few moments to compose himself before looking up from the ground he found himself looking at the ghost that had leaned towards him. Bright blue eyes actually meant nothing when it was one of everything that Bob could see through to also see the reset of the ship and its contents, books, mess and all before he gave a shriek doubling back in shock.

But nothing was as shocking as the ghost mentioning his name first, without him needing to introduce himself. Whatever his suspicions, Bob could not ignore the fact that this girl might already know why he was here and maybe even more than he himself. Acting like there was nothing wrong although somewhere he might be a little bit shaky, Bob got himself up and stood face to face with the ghost. "Liana I presume?" he asked returning the stare as he studied her finding that "you look like your mother" or not. He was only trying to make the connection so that they will have something to relate to, besides the object of his visit. "Doesn't look like you've been living here for a while..." he mentioned after he made it pretty obvious he was looking around the cabin hoping to at least confirm or disprove his suspicions if she wanted to answer it.

An answer that would not really change anything now that he was here. As if the previous statement was only to start a little conversation and not a way Bob was using to get some answers, he got to the subject taking out the card. "They say you know a lot about this?" which was actually what Bob was more interested in before going to say the less interesting thing that "oh, and Ceona is quite worried about you but to me you seem quite high spirited?" he asked chucking which can change into a scream immediately if he finds a reason to run out the door.

[Cascade]

“You have spoken to my mother?” she inquired, slight suspicion showing in her transparent features. She circled around him, looking at him from head to toe just like her own mother had done. Her feet barely touched the ground, and she was floating in the air, as most ghosts chose to do. A thin white smoke enveloped her, following her footsteps. She didn’t make any other replies to his other inquiries, and she stayed silent until he finally explained why he was here. He had one of the cards. A flash of anger swept across the girl’s face, and she looked like she was about to lunge forward and dive for the card. But she kept herself back. “That woman is worried about me?” she replied with a bitter laugh. “She didn’t worry about me before, why would she worry about me now? Didn’t even think of retrieving my body… thought I perished like all the others in the storm.” The ghost adjusted the thick scarf and showed him the gashing line against her throat. It said all that it needed to say: that she had not died through drowning. “Does this look like I drowned? My mother, she loved me, but she doesn’t know a thing,” she said softly and sadly, smiling despite the truth behind it. And after saying that, she moved to the point. “Name your price, mister Barton, you do not want to suffer the same fate as me,” was all she said to him, her eyes transfixed on the card.