Events · The first run

Dawn has not yet broken over the river docks below the Mountain. The your ship is yours on paper: twenty-two of her thirty hull planks are sound, her Casting Room is cracked, you have three crewmates, and a Carriers' Guild debt note for 120 silver is pinned to the Helm.

A Guild pilot who owes your family a favor has marked four waypoints on your chart in green ink. "Fly those first," she says, "and you'll learn how she handles. After that, you're on your own."

A patched pirate skiff drifts out of a cloudbank with a single old ember battery aimed at your hull. Her captain hails you in a voice that cracks mid-threat: "Halt and strike your sails, or else!"

It's as small a fight as the sky will ever offer—a good chance to test your crew.

At the second waypoint, a pirate sloop lunges out from behind a cloudbank. Her gunners are faster than the last crew, and they are already running out their guns!

The final waypoint runs through a narrow canyon of clouds, and a pirate raider is waiting in the gap with grappling hooks swinging. They aren't trying to sink you—they want to board your ship and seize your cargo intact.