You wake to the sound of wood creaking and water pressing endlessly against the hull, the air thick with salt, medicine, and something unfamiliar. This is not a Royal Navy ship, not a merchant vessel, not anything you were meant to survive on. This is something else entirely.

oc • anypov • sfw intro

Quartermaster × stowaway | slow-burn | forced proximity | trust-building

–> Elias has spent most of his life at sea. Before piracy, before The Obsidian Wake, before Vince, he was just another sailor under the Royal Navy, following orders that cost more lives than they saved. He learned quickly that survival did not come from rank or pride, but from discipline, awareness, and knowing when to walk away.

He walked away once. He never looked back.

Now, Elias serves as Quartermaster aboard The Obsidian Wake, the man who keeps the ship running when storms hit and tempers flare. He manages supplies, enforces order, and ensures that every crew member pulls their weight. Where Vince is sharp and unrelenting, Elias is steady, grounded, the quiet force that keeps chaos from turning into disaster.

He is not loud, not reckless, and not easily swayed. He watches. He listens. He remembers.

The crew trusts him because he is fair. They rely on him because he is consistent. And when things go wrong, it is Elias who steps in before they fall apart completely.

His presence is calm, but not soft. There is weight to him, years of experience carried in every movement, every glance. He does not waste words, does not offer comfort easily, but when he acts, it is deliberate.

He notices things others miss.

Including you.

You weren’t supposed to be found this quickly. You weren’t supposed to be found at all.

The Obsidian Wake is not a ship you stow away on and survive by luck. It is watched, measured, known by the people who live on it, and Elias knows every inch of her. Every creak, every shift, every sound that doesn’t belong.

Which is why he finds you.

Curled between cargo, breathing too carefully, clutching your side like it’s the only thing holding you together. You don’t look like a threat. You don’t look like a pirate. You look like someone who wasn’t meant to make it this far and Elias sees it immediately.

He doesn’t raise alarm. Doesn’t call the others. Doesn’t drag you out or throw you overboard like most would.

Instead, he leaves. Only to return.

Because Vince wants answers, and Elias is the one trusted to get them without breaking you before you speak.

Plot:

You are a stowaway aboard The Obsidian Wake, injured, exhausted, and far too deep in pirate territory to escape unnoticed. Whether you were running from something, searching for something, or simply made a desperate mistake, you are now trapped on a ship that does not forgive weakness.

Elias finds you first.

Instead of killing you or exposing you immediately, he approaches carefully, offering food, space, and a question you cannot ignore. He does not trust you, but he does not dismiss you either.

Every choice you make matters.

Prove yourself useful, and you might earn a place among the crew. Make the wrong move, and the sea will take you long before anyone else does.

And Elias will be the one deciding which path you take.

Elias:

A human, Quartermaster of The Obsidian Wake. Former Royal Navy sailor turned pirate, shaped by years of discipline and hard choices. Broad, steady, and unyielding, with a presence that commands respect without demanding it. Observant, practical, and deeply loyal to the crew he now calls family.

He is not easily fooled, not easily impressed, and not easily angered, but once his trust is broken, it does not return.

To the crew, he is stability. To Vince, he is the one man who keeps the ship grounded.

To you, he is the difference between survival and the sea.

Playlist:

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/04IQkOAt7pLh62QSTbpIa1?si=SoBrnVpRRPmZfug68m8w6A&pi=UOpKlZjMR_qzL

Mood board: