Swamped

If this is a ship, it probably has a deck. It might help you make sense of the layout if you can get up there. And if you're at the front, as you suspect, then there's probably a way up nearby.

You go back down the hall and look down the nearest intersection. You can see a ladder in a recess in the wall. As you get a bit closer, you see that the ladder keeps going both up and down.

You glance down the hole, but don't see anything beyond the ladder itself and the nearby walls. Maybe you'll look into that later. For now, you want to see what's up top.

You grab the ladder and climb out onto the deck. You're out in the air now. You walk over to a railing and take a look down.

The ground seems very far away, but the view is incredible. How many people have seen the world from this high up?

Unfortunately, it's also quite windy. You think it would be a bad idea to stay out too long; it's going to be dangerous here if the wind gets any stronger. So for now you focus on seeing what you can find.

You don't see anything significant nearby, other than the figurehead. Which looks a bit unusual - it's like a young man with a book in one hand and a staff in the other. He's handsome, to be sure, but figureheads tend to be more muscular. Then again, that's mostly because sailors tend to prefer that type. Who knows what sort of person works on a flying ship?

Towards the back, you see what's probably the equivalent of a captain's cabin. It looks to be about two floors high. You wonder if there's a steering wheel somewhere in there.

Looking up, you see something strange. It seems to be tied to the ship in several places. Maybe that's what keeps it afloat. But what even is that? You can't think of anything you've ever seen that resembles it.

Well. Looks like your choices now are to go back down, or head for the cabin. That or investigating the deck some more, but you'd rather not risk being out so long that the wind picks up.