It was a black night over the Austan Ocean. Ominous clouds swirled together, blotting out the stars and thundering with the promise of more rain. All around, the air was still, silent, except for the lapping of the black waves. A small fishing boat bobbed on the water, on its nightly route back to the shores of Mugroba. The fishermen onboard pulled their nets out of the water, saying quiet prayers to their beloved Hulali as they scanned the water for signs of danger - either from beneath the abyss or on it. One man stopped his movements, cocking his head. There was a sound on the wind, soft but slowly getting louder. A creaking, a whirring...a loud whoosh...whoosh. It seemed to come directly overhead, passing slowly like some great shark, silent but deadly. The fisherman looked to the sky, but all he could see was the darkness. Instinct told him something else was there, and one by one, the other men looked up...watching nothing, following the sound with their eyes as it slowly passed over them. As it faded into the distance, towards Anaxas, the mugrobi uttered another prayer as a cold chill rolled down his spine.

High above the boat, thousands of feet in the air, a black mass moved along. There were no lights, no voices, no signs of life - save for the gentle whirring of the propellers and whoosh of fans as it swam through the air. It was huge, longer than it was tall. An aeroship of devils and tyrants. Sailing through the night sky like some apocolyptic zepplin. Beneath the huge inflated giant, a windowed deck hung. It was the size of a sailing ship with the masts removed. Massive windows lined the bow of the deck - the control room.

A darkened shape stood behind one of the glass panes, staring into the darkness. A bright orange light flared as the figure puffed on a pipe, lighting up his features briefly. Old, scarred...a patch covering a hideous injury. The light dissapeared. Behind the figure, light footsteps approached, stopping a few feet behind the smoker.

"Three hours till sunrise Captain." A female voice said softly. Well spoken and young. The dark figure puffed his pipe again, before moving to tap it out in a small depression on the control board.

"Very good Eliysse, very good. Take us into the clouds till sunset." A male voice rasped, hoarse and deep - more a growl than a voice. There was a quality to the voice, something different. As the woman behind retreated, the figure leaned on the control board, looking down at the black ocean below. Soon...soon he would return to Anaxas. Soon he would have the harbour in his grasp. The Rose had not known terror, not yet. But they would.

Soon.