With the passing of the Summer Solstice and the conclusion of the Solstice Festival, the population of the town of Skull River Bay has fallen dramatically and quickly. Ship after ship takes leave of the pirate haven, merchants return home, pirates and privateers resume their occupations. The town seems almost lazy and quiet compared to the earlier frenzy, at least as lazy and quiet as a pirate port can ever be.
The Lady Jezebel is one of the last ships to leave, due to the extensive repair and refit operations that are being performed on her. The tricky operation of the Parliamentary Heel is performed with skill and speed, and a lack of major incidents, a testament to the shipwrights.
The copper sheathing of her hull below water was quite the revelation to the dockworkers and shipwrights of the Skull River, as it was revealed once the algae and marine growth of a hundred years was scraped away. Their opinion was the copper sheathing and the colder northern waters where she had been moored, were the only reason her hull had not succumbed to the myriad of sea life that had attempted to consume it.
How to repair the copper sheathe had proven to be quite the topic of conversation for a day or two. The sheeting was considered a minor miracle of design by the shipwrights, and well beyond their expertise or experience. Marvelous as it was however, the years have taken their toll, tearing and rending it in places, methods of repair were not obvious. However, on the third day, as shipwrights and metalworkers still debated repair techniques, the sun rose to reveal the sheathing had mysteriously healed itself, gleaming shiny and like new, in the rays a and gear re-stowed, and she was warped out of the river mouth, ready at last to set sail.
The winds this time of year were still primarily the westerly trades, but as the season moved deeper into summer, they were dying and becoming less reliable. Not the easiest time of year to undertake a voyage that was predominantly on a north western heading.
Still, the winds were not likely to shift for months, so there was nothing to be gained by waiting.
Despite the excitement of impending adventure and new horizons, each member of the party was a bit sad to see the port drop below the horizon over the stern, they had all made some friends there and some memories. Except for Freddy that is. Bella Bell had taken the news of Freddy's impending departure surprisingly hard, her moods becoming even more erratic then normal. This had finally culminated in a huge fight that had found Freddy sleeping on the ship. So, despite the affection he felt, out of all of them, he was the most eager to set sail
And so, with the wind in her sails, fair weather, well provisioned and supplied the HMS Lady Jezebel weighed anchor and set off for the wilds of the depths of the Northern Re0ach.