Engine Eberhardt/IF-1667
Rumor / Community LoreThis article contains lore created collaboratively by the Blaseball community. It is just one of many Rumors that we've found in the Interdimensional Rumor Mill. You can find more Rumors about Engine Eberhardt at their Rumor Registry.
The waters beyond this point are uncharted, tales from distant shores echoed back into our reality.
Background
The following accounts can be traced to a single leather-bound journal originally found in a locked wooden chest alongside a sextant-like device of indeterminate origin and a shell that matches no known species of mollusc. The chest was located in a storage room in the Legscraper’s lower levels that was described as “smelling faintly of the sea”. Subsequent attempts to locate and navigate to said room have been unsuccessful thus far. The journal details the exploits of the crew of a large sailing vessel, The Tokyo Adrift, descriptions of which are largely consistent with mid-17th century galleons.
With The Tokyo Adrift
Following a particular harrowing voyage in which large swathes of the ship’s timber was damaged by wood eating organisms, Engine Eberhardt was recruited to The Tokyo Adrift. Initially intended to be a temporary hire contracted to quickly patch up the damage, he was employed full time by the captain, both due to his expertise in outfitting vessels to sustain the adverse conditions of the Immateria Seas and at his own insistence after becoming enamoured with the three-mast ship. Over the next leg of the Adrift’s journey, Eberhardt displayed a startling proficiency at ship repair, even while said ship was still on the move. By the time the Adrift was ready to leave the next harbour, Eberhardt had: fully repaired the wood damage, replaced the kelp ridden rudder, fitted the ship with a small trawling net that allowed the water dwelling crew to ride along with the ship, refitted the fore and mizzen masts with sails of his own design, made several accessibility changes to the main and lower decks and given the ship a fresh paint job (claims that the stripes painted on its side “made it go faster” are unsupported by empirical evidence). Captain Strongbody promptly appointed him as the full-time boatswain for the Adrift.
Eberhardt’s modifications would turn out to be pivotal in assisting the crew weather the events of 1667. The improved sails and rudder gave the ship a much needed speed boost and bought the crew enough time to escape the [REDACTED] at least until Captain Strongbody was able to [REDACTED]. The last page of the journal is smeared with some form of pitch, likely used in the waterproofing of seafaring vessels, obscuring the ultimate fate of the redesigned ship and its crew.
