Autumn Moon

Autumn Moon was Ser Norman Hightower’s ship and one of the three vessels that set out from Oldtown with Alys Westhill’s expedition. Its destruction in the storms of the Sunset Sea marked the first major loss of the voyage, and was recounted by Norman’s brother, Ser Eustace Hightower, who survived aboard Lady Meredith.

The Expedition

Autumn Moon sailed in company with Alys Westhill’s Sun Chaser and Ser Eustace Hightower’s Lady Meredith. Norman and Eustace, grandsons of Lord Donnel Hightower and experienced mariners in their own right, had first been sent to question Alys and, if they judged it prudent, take her into custody. Instead, both joined her undertaking, bringing their ships and crews. The three vessels departed Oldtown on the twenty-third day of the third moon of 56 AC, heading down Whispering Sound toward the open sea.

Once past the Arbor, Alys steered south by southwest in search of warmer waters and favorable winds. Autumn Moon and Lady Meredith followed, though the faster Sun Chaser could be difficult to keep up with when the wind filled its sails. After twelve days, the ships were calculated to be as far south as the Summer Isles and farther west than any returning ship had reported sailing. The crews marked the distance with drinks: Arbor gold aboard Autumn Moon and Lady Meredith, and spiced honey wine aboard Sun Chaser.

The Storms and the Ship’s Loss

The favorable beginning gave way to nearly a fortnight without a breeze, during which the ships could move only when towed. A dozen casks of meat aboard Autumn Moon were found crawling with maggots. When the wind returned, it was followed by three storms, each worse than the last. In the second, lightning struck Autumn Moon and split its mast from the crow’s nest down to the deck.

By then, the storm had separated the ships: Eustace could no longer see Sun Chaser. Waves swept across the decks, and men were lost overboard. Eustace saw Autumn Moon founder. It remained visible for a moment, broken and burning, before a great wave swallowed it. The crew of Lady Meredith cried out that a kraken had taken the ship; Eustace described the immediate cause as a wave, though he could not persuade his men to abandon their interpretation.

Eustace’s Account

Eustace survived the night aboard the damaged Lady Meredith, which had torn sails, splintered masts, and nine men missing. The next day, Sun Chaser returned after finding land, and its boats helped tow Lady Meredith to safety. Autumn Moon did not return: Eustace’s account identifies its sinking and the loss of its crew as the expedition’s first decisive separation and bereavement. The episode is preserved through the surviving brother’s testimony, so the ship’s fate is rendered not as an independent log but as a witnessed loss within the larger voyage.