You know, Moose, at some point you may need to decide if a question is worth answering at this point in time. A matter of priorities, if you will.

The point of me challenging your assumptions was not to try and get you to find a more solid theory, but to point out that there could be multiple theories that could fit any other scenario you needed. It doesn't really matter how Stahlmann was where he was. What matters is that Stahlmann is a commodore with ambition who saw Y'shtola as you did. Your energies may be better spent working around the more topical issues and letting this one remain unsolved for now.

Implicating the Astalicia is not implausible, because if Rostnstalh ended up there later on, it could have been a sympathetic captain who took pity on a talented man who helped save his ship from a storm despite having once been a traitorous commodore. But I wouldn't try digging too far into this, since you could end up asking more questions than you come close to answering. For example, if it is the Astalicia, how did Y'shtola end up aboard?