Storm

Storm was Commander Artemis Ashton's beloved cat. She was found as a stowaway aboard the Stargazer after their departure from Serendale during Stargazer's covert Journey to Lilianth . Only three months old when found, Storm became very quickly the Stargazer's mascot and favorite crew members.

Storm hunted down mice, feet, rope, brooms and every single seagull that dared to invade her ship. Storm was rarely seen far from Artemis—whether perched on her shoulder, curled up in her quarters, or lurking somewhere nearby, always watching. She had an uncanny knack for slipping unnoticed into any room, appearing only when she pleases. Unlike most cats, she had an unusual love for water and often sawm alongside the ship when it docked. and between the piers of Streamrise Cove. More than just a companion, Storm had earned the crew’s respect as an expert rat hunter, much to the delight of Chaplain Samuel "Sams" Carton , the ship’s cook, who rewarded her with the finest treats.

Storm was a striking little creature, her jet-black fur so sleek it shone like oiled velvet under the lanternlight. It made her yellow eyes all the more arresting—two bright golden coins that glimmered with mischief, intelligence, and the faint, regal disdain that only a ship’s cat can muster. In the shadows of the Stargazer’s corridors she was almost invisible, a phantom presence revealed only when those eyes caught the light.

For all the places a cat might choose to rest aboard a vessel, Storm showed distinctly eccentric preferences. Her most beloved spot—much to Artemis Ashton’s exasperation—was the Captain Maximus "Max" Orion Hawkes's hat locker. No matter how carefully Artemis latched it, Storm always found a way inside, curling up atop the hats like a tiny sovereign claiming her rightful throne. When she wasn’t nestled there, she staked out the warm patch behind the astrolabe in the navigation room or the coiled rope stacks on the foredeck, from which she could watch the crew with imperious satisfaction.

Despite her name, Storm met actual storms at sea with remarkable indifference. While the crew braced themselves against roaring winds and the deck pitched underfoot, Storm simply found a comfortable place to curl up—often in a hammock or inside Artemis’s coat—and slept through the chaos as though it were no more troubling than a lullaby. Thunder never stirred her, lightning never frightened her, and the howl of the wind overhead seemed only to deepen her dreams. The crew liked to joke that as long as Storm slept soundly, the Stargazer would weather anything the skies dared to throw at them.

Storm’s legend aboard the Stargazer grew with each passing voyage, but few tales were repeated as often—or as gleefully—as the time she vanished during a routine harbour stop in Streamrise Cove. One moment she was perched on a coil of rope, sunning herself; the next she had slipped between crates and disappeared into the bustle of the docks. Hours later, she reappeared just as silently, dragging behind her a pilfered sailor’s lunch, a crumpled navigation map, and—most scandalous of all—a Eldwell Navy ship’s pennant, proudly clenched between her teeth like a trophy of war. No one ever managed to piece together how she acquired these items, but the crew insisted it was proof that Storm conducted her own covert operations when left unsupervised.

Her reputation for uncanny instincts only deepened over time. A persistent rumour circulated below decks that Storm could sense danger before any lookout or instrument could. More than once, she was seen sitting bolt upright, fur bristling, yellow eyes fixed toward the horizon mere minutes before an enemy vessel appeared or an ambush was sprung from the mist. The crew came to rely on her as an unofficial early-warning system—“Storm’s Watch,” they called it. If the cat grew tense, every sailor on the ship quietly checked the nearest weapon.

Storm was brutally killed by Jacques Distar Beaumont during the attack the Beaumont Winery on Cybelle 8th, 1870. the Stargazer Exploration Company "SEC" fell into a hush unlike anything the crew had ever known. Commander Artemis Ashton did not speak for hours after finding her, her expression carved from grief and fury in equal measure. She buried Storm herself beneath the cypress trees overlooking the cove and kept only a single token: Storm’s worn leather collar, its bell dented and silent. Artemis carried it tucked inside her coat from that day onward, touching it before battles, briefings, and difficult decisions. Those closest to her said that, still days afterward, she sometimes paused mid-stride as if expecting to feel the familiar weight of a small black shadow slipping between her boots.

The Stargazer sailed on—but the absence of its fearless little mascot was felt in every quiet corner of the ship. And whenever the wind howled through the rigging just so, more than one sailor swore they could still hear the faint jingle of Storm’s lost bell.