Dutchman

The Dutchman is described as an eerie ship that emerged slowly from the fog, revealing itself as a massive silhouette moving within the mist. Although not as titanic as the Night Garden, it was still enormous, towering over the sea like a fortress built of rotten wood. Its tattered sails swayed in ghostly winds, and an eerie glow emanated from its broken, deserted deck. The ship appeared almost translucent, as if it was there and not there at the same time, moving along the edge of the mist as though it were guiding it.^[2]

The soldiers aboard the Night Garden called it the "Dutchman" a name taken from an old tale from before the Dark Times, and they used it to refer to the flagship of the ghostly fleet. The Dutchman was accompanied by smaller ghostly vessels that appeared behind it, drawn by the same ethereal winds that carried it.^[2]

The Dutchman is depicted as the commander of a vast and terrifying wraith armada composed of ghostly, rotting ships and spectral sailors.^[3]

The Dutchman's army was so enigmatic that even the Nightmare Spell could not fully process or articulate what they were, faltering whenever Jet killed one of the spectral sailors. The Spell stuttered mid-announcement, as if unable to comprehend the nature of the Dutchman’s wraiths. This implied that their existence was beyond the Spell’s understanding or classification.^[3]

When Jet finally confronted the captain of one of the ships—described as far more powerful than his subordinates—he too dissolved into ghostly green light within moments. The true core of the ship's power, however, appeared to lie in its soul, which Jet destroyed by driving her scythe into the deck. The resulting torrent of essence and the release of a swarm of tortured souls suggested that the ship itself, and by extension the Dutchman's vessels, were monstrous entities bound by some dark, spiritual force.^[3]

The captain of the Dutchman is described as a nebulous wraith who commands a spectral fleet. When he gives the order for his ghostly armada to sail forth, the winds vanish, plunging the world into a dead calm.^[4]

The captain's armada is made up of bloodthirsty ghosts and restless souls, both spectral in nature, making them resistant to physical attacks.^[4]

In Chapter 2613, the captain of the Dutchman is described as an ethereal and imposing figure standing at the ship's bridge, shrouded in a torn cloak. From a distance, his form appeared tall, with broad shoulders and an imposing posture. His presence was elusive and ghostly, giving the impression of being both there and not at the same time. His face could not be clearly seen, but Jet thought she glimpsed his eerie eyes — two piercing, sea-colored flames burning in the pale shadow of his ghastly face. These eyes regarded her with a chilling calmness as the sea subtly shifted around them.

The wraith armada was a ghostly fleet commanded by the captain of the Dutchman. The ethereal vessels moved swiftly across the motionless sea, their ghostly sails swelling and dimly glowing decks igniting with ghostly fires as they advanced toward the Night Garden. The armada approached from the south, emerging from a rolling wall of mist that seemed to devour the world, their presence heralded by unnatural stillness.^[4]

The armada itself was described as immense and seemingly endless, filled with lost souls inhabiting ethereal vessels. These wraiths posed a deadly threat to most Awakened, as they were otherworldly entities with phantasmal bodies, ancient armor, and eyes burning with ethereal green flames. Unlike typical Nightmare Creatures, their gazes held no hunger or madness, only torment.^[3]

The wraith armada was described as an insidious enemy, for both the ships and the bloodthirsty ghosts populating them were spectral in nature. This made them resistant to physical attacks — only assaults that targeted the intangible could truly harm them. When struck by the radiant cannonballs of the Night Garden's siege weapons, some of the ghostly vessels were damaged or dispelled into halos of ghastly, ephemeral light, though many endured. The soul essence infused in the cannonballs managed to wreak havoc among the spectral ships, slowing and weakening them, but not utterly destroying them.^[4]

Behind the fleet loomed the Dutchman, a vast and terrifying presence towering in the mist, suggesting that the armada itself might be an extension of its master's will.^[4]

• The Night Garden had previously encountered the fleet from afar and once clashed with it, though until now, the Dutchman had not fully committed his forces to battle. As the wraith armada descended in full force, the spectral fleet of restless souls surged forward to attack. Their ghostly nature was tied to the dead sailors bound to their sunken ships, doomed to serve eternally under the Dutchman's command.^[4]
• The particular crew Jet faced was more powerful than the scouts who had attacked before, and that among the ghosts the Dutchman commanded were far more dreadful beings, including Demons, Devils, and abominations of the Great Rank.^[3]
• In Chapter 2611, the captain of one of the ships was described as being far more powerful than his subordinates, distinguishing him from the rest of the spectral crew. The captain was akin to a Monster, while most of his crew were comparable to Beasts.
  • The captain is strong enough to have been a Great abomination.^[6]
• Dutchman and its ghost fleet reminded of Jet of the Heart of Kanakht.^[7]
• In Chapter 2624, it was mentioned that the wraiths of the Dutchman were battling countless powerful beings in Eternal City.
• According to Cassie's observations, the Dutchman's battle with the Flesh of Kanakht had significant consequences — it may have provided the fuel or catalyst that allowed the Flesh of Kanakht to begin evolving from a Great Terror into a Great Titan.^[8]
• Jet doubted the version of the origin of the Dutchman which was tied to a story about a lovesick captain and a cursed treasure, believing instead that the captain is motivated by a malignant hunger for power and had sacrificed his soul to achieve it. The captain of the Dutchman is a sinister and commanding figure, who had once looked Jet in the eye, revealing his nature as someone driven by callous, corrupt ambition.^[9]