Snippet #2439170

Barbarus Stroud

Barbarus scratched his beard absentmindedly as he wandered back through the bowels of the ship, his small crate of tools clutched in his hand. The days seemed to be going quickly these days, suns rose earlier and then they set again within what felt like moments, perhaps it was just the extra work, then again it could just as easily be his age finally catching up with him.

He peered in towards the engine room balefully; he wasn’t one for all this metal machinery. It just didn’t have the life that a good piece of timber did, there was no grain to decipher and certainly no nails involved. Anything that couldn’t be fixed with a few good nails was really quite questionable in his opinion.

His hand moved from his beard to his small pendant as he stepped inside, he had been tasked with repairing the door again, the heat from the boiler had been warping the entire room and despite his best efforts he couldn’t rescue the door from the steam’s onslaught although at least it was now possible to walk above the room without sinking slowly downwards.

Placing his tool box on the floor Barbarus wiped his brow; his expert eye surveying his task before him. He was about to bend down to collect the necessary implements before a very noticeable shift in tones from the monstrosity behind him shifted his attention. “Hello?” He questioned after some moments of staring out his adversary.

Creeping closer he held a large hammer defensively, the machine couldn’t harm him of course. But he’d seen weirder things in his life so nothing could be ruled out. There were stories of ships turning on their crews after all. Standing almost half a yard back Barbarus tapped the machine lightly with his hammer. “Hello?” he asked again, this time slightly more audibly. “Anybody in there?”