Stavanger Bay we follow the yellow lights

Despite the sore state of her swollen body, Gallows could still determine a fair number of things. One, that the once vibrant blend of colours identified her as a woman he had often seen from a distance, scavenging, as she would have it, and at one time depositing her finds in a peculiar stash of bones that Gallows had later investigated when she'd turned back to the shore. Two, that the generally intact state of her body suggested that she had succumbed to neither to shark nor whale. He imagined if she had been killed by either of those, there would be very little left of her to investigate now. And three, that the torn flesh of her forelegs wove with a pattern he had never seen birds deliver in any run-of-the-mill scavenging - and he leaned in to study this closer as Rosalyn arrived.

He cupped his ears to catch the low notes of her name, and his eyes softened. Hexe. The girl's name meant very little in the scheme of things now, but he appreciated having one to give her. Beyond the bond of crew, even a simple moniker was enough to remind him that this girl had a family, a history, a life, and reminded him that just as in life, his duty remained to her until the very end, when they would cast her corpse to the sea, or would lay her in the ground for her to reach her final rest.

He turned his head at the First Mate's inquiry. "Mhhm. I've ruled out the larger creatures of the sea, or any foul play." There was always poisoning, but he doubted that was the case with her. "The ultimate cause appears to be drowning, and in other cases, I would've suggested she might've simply slipped and struck her head unconscious in the sea. But then - here, come look at her legs,"  he shuffled aside to let Rosalyn take a closer view if she wished, and the medic directed his paw to the area of the greatest swelling. Open wounds interspersed her legs in a tangle - picked at by the seabirds, but to Gallows, he imagined they had been present before the scavengers had even made their descent. "These wounds weren't made by scavengers. I've seen lacerations like this before. Made by stingers, perhaps from a jellyfish. In any case, there's nothing we can do for her now."