Nein Heroez

The Nein Heroez is a ship captained by Fjord in the Menagerie Coast. Originally called the Eden's Horizon, it was built sixty to one hundred years before Campaign 2. It was found by the Mighty Nein at Rumblecusp as one of multiple ships in Vokodo's hoard. They claimed it to replace the Balleater, destroyed shortly after their arrival on the island, and renamed the ship.

The ship retained the Balleater's crew, and like the Balleater, the Nein Heroez was captained by its navigator Orly Skiffback in Fjord's absence until Fjord returned to sea full-time after his adventuring with the Mighty Nein. The Nein Heroez was destroyed six months later, in early 837 PD, by a storm giant in service to Uk'otoa.

Description
The ship is described as massive and much larger than the Balleater, a multi-masted ship that measured 25 feet wide and 90 feet long. It was further described as "the equivalent of between a galley and a sailing ship". It was speculated that the ship could keep pace with or move only slightly slower than the Balleater.

The ship has multiple ballistae in its gun deck. Its original name "Eden's Horizon" was carved into a large piece of wood that was loosely screwed in place. Its new name "Nein Heroez" was painted onto the side.

When the Mighty Nein found the ship, it was in good condition with only minor damage to the sides of the hull, apparently sustained while the ship was maneuvered into the cavern.

Before Campaign 2
The ship was built around sixty to one hundred years before Campaign 2, in about 736 to 776 PD, as estimated by its older ballistae. It was named Eden's Horizon, and Fjord speculated that it belonged to a major shipping company in Port Damali. He additionally believed that it was converted to house ballistae because it carried fine goods.

At some point, it sailed to Rumblecusp, where its crew fell under Vokodo's magical influence. Eden's Horizon was added to Vokodo's hoard of ships and hidden in a cavern behind Heaven Falls. This is believed to have happened before the development of the cannon. It remained there until 836 PD, when it was found.

Campaign 2: The Mighty Nein
The Mighty Nein found the Eden's Horizon behind Heaven Falls, along with the rest of Vokodo's ship hoard. It was the largest of the ships in the hoard, and the party immediately began thinking of it as a potential replacement for the Balleater, destroyed shortly after their arrival at Rumblecusp. Veth suggested renaming the ship Nein Heroez by rearranging its existing name. They camped on the deck of the ship overnight, and Jester Lavorre prepared a Heroes' Feast there. The next morning, Caleb Widogast began burning ships in the hoard in an effort to draw Vokodo from his lair, though the party sought to avoid the Eden's Horizon. They eventually left the cavern to venture into the lair, and the fire spread in their absence. The Eden's Horizon survived the fire.

The Mighty Nein contacted Orly Skiffback, navigator of the Balleater, and informed him to take the crew to the cavern and prepare the Eden's Horizon for departure. Fjord, Jester, and Caduceus Clay were able to use multiple castings of Control Water to part Heavens Falls and allow the surviving ships, including the Eden's Horizon, to sail back out to sea. Jester repainted the name, officially renaming it Nein Heroez. Orly and the crew resupplied the ship and started a voyage back to the Menagerie Coast under the leadership of Orly, who expected that Fjord would eventually assume active captaincy. The Mighty Nein left for Nicodranas via teleportation.

The Nein Heroez was in port in Nicodranas when the Nein returned from Aeor. Fjord wrote a letter of introduction for Kingsley Tealeaf and sent him to Orly to have the ship prepared to sail while Fjord attended other errands. Fjord and Jester shortly returned to Nicodranas to go to sea full-time, and the ship embarked on a ailed for Bisaft Isle to search for the long-shipwrecked Vandran. The search was successful, and Vandran agreed to sail with the crew for a while so that he and Fjord may have time to talk after a year of separation.

After Campaign 2
The Nein Heroez sailed throughout the Lucidian Ocean between the Menagerie Coast and Darktow as a adventuring and shipping vessel for six months, into 837 PD. It operated with Nicodranas as its home port. Because of Fjord's relationship with Melora, goddess of the sea, the ship seemed to never meet the worst of any storm it encountered while it sailed under him.

It was destroyed in Misuthar 837 PD when the storm giant Thoonum and seven deep scions in the service of Uk'otoa attacked the ship in search of the last Cloven Crystal in Fjord's possession. Thoonum demanded that Fjord turn over the Cloven Crystal or the crew would be killed. Fjord did so, but Thoonum still crushed the ship. The crew escaped using Kingsley's folding boat, but Shelda Delles was killed.

Known crew and passengers
At the end of Campaign 2, the Nein Heroez had a known crew of seven people, including its captain. Vandran, a former captain and experienced sailor, observed that this was a sparse crew for the size of the ship. Most of the crew was retained from the Balleater, and their roles are assumed to be the same as on that ship.


 * Fjord, captain
 * Orly Skiffback, navigator, acting captain in Fjord's absence
 * Marius LePual, boatswain
 * Gallan Westman, carpenter
 * Shelda Delles
 * Jester Lavorre
 * Kingsley Tealeaf

Fjord extended a standing offer to Vandran to join the crew. Vandran remained on the ship for one or two trips after Bisaft. He refused to do daily manual labor or other difficult work but was willing to help with repairs or do some cooking.

Behind the scenes
In, the Nein Heroez was initially described as adventuring for a number of years. It was Fjord's ship at the time that Kingsley became captain of the Mollymauk, and the pair of ships were sailed as companions for a month before Kingsley absconded to Darktow to join the Revelry. This was superseded when the cast played out a portion of the post-campaign, resulting in the Nein Heroez being actually destroyed.

The Nein Heroez was erroneously called the Balleater for a portion of. Even after this was corrected, and Ashley Johnson remarked that Dani Carr was informing the table that the Balleater was destroyed, Matthew Mercer still erroneously identified the Balleater as having been renamed Nein Heroez.

Trivia

 * The name "Nein Heroez" is not a true anagram of "Eden's Horizon". Nein Heroez has one more E than Eden's Horizon and additionally leaves an unused D and S. Veth, thus Sam, did not necessarily claim it to be a true anagram ("If we took that wood and chopped it up a bit, rearranged some of the letters.") and pointed out that a D would be leftover.