A Sea of Thieves inspired story:

to Dusk from
Dawn

Written by TopDog012
My name is Scarlet "Red" Santorini and this is my story:

Chapter 1 - Crimson Daybreak

I was born and raised on a small island off the mainland of Greece. The island consisted
of only a few scattered villages each only having a couple thousand people or so. All of the
villages had only a single market, a single school and everyone on the island shared one central
port. I never knew my father but was always very close with my mother growing up. I had a fairly
ordinary childhood, going to school, playing with friends at the beach and helping mother with
chores at home.

At the age of 15, however, my mother suddenly dissapeared. I remember the day well, it
began just as any other. It was dawn when we were at our island's port to buy some fresh caught
fish, just as we had always done the same time each week. I spent a couple minutes looking
through the different types of fish brought in by our local fishermen but when I turned back to
look around I noticed my mother was no where to be seen.

I ran from one end of the port across to the docks, pushing through the small crowd that
had gathered, but I had no sight of my mother. A single ship could be seen leaving port at the
time, while it didn't mean anything to me at that moment, I'm now sure my mother was on that
very boat. It was only a moment after I had reached the docks when something extremely
bizarre drew everyone's attention. Despite my internal panick at the moment, I do recall how
calm it was that morning, clear blue skies and not a single cloud in sight. With a sudden rush of
wind from the west, however, the entire sky flashed to a sharp and striking crimson color. While
it only lasted a few seconds, it had everyone at the port talking while I was left alone in my
confusion.

Chapter 2 - A New Hope

Having no way to prepare for such a tragic event I was forced to quickly learn how to
care for myself on my own. For months I searched surrounding villages and neighboring islands
looking for any hint as to where she had vanished. As years passed I never gave up searching for
my mother but things seemed far less hopeful the more time that had passed.

One day, 7 years after my mothers dissapearance (now at the age of 22) I was buying
some fresh fish at the local port just as I had done many times with my mother, when a sailor
delivered to me in passing a note hinting at my mothers location. Being so long after my
mothers dissapearance I normally wouldn't have taken such a random message with much
credibility, but the page was like nothing I had ever seen before! The fringe of the paper was
aglow with a light blue shine, edges of the page were completely disconnected yet they floated
nearby as though they were still atatched through some mystic force.
 The mysterioius note stated only that I could find information about my mother in a
place called the "Sea of Thieves". I immediately caught back up with the sailor who had
delivered me the note. I asked him who sent such a message but the man said that he did not
have a name, and just said that he was offered several thousand gold to deliver such a note to
the girl they called "Red" and that I could find her at this islands port early morning this day. I
couldn't believe that I had heard him right, several THOUSAND gold, just for a simple message
delivery?! I could only think of a handful of people with such gold to spare, and most of which
would be high officials from the mainland cities. I, however, had very little gold and this spoken
of "Sea of Thieves" was very far away from Greece - BUT I had to get there, I had to know more
about my mother's dissapearance. I couldn't afford passage with how little money I had, but
later that very same week I overheard rumor at the local market of a merchant who was
relocating his route to operate from within the Sea of Thieves trade system. I was familiar with
the merchant, a grumpy young man who owned just a simple sloop. I wasn't even sure his ship
was fit for the journey, but it was my only chance.

Chapter 3 - Departure

The merchant was due to depart from our local port in less than a week. I sold what few
belongings I had to gather up just a few hundred gold to bring with me on my unplanned
journey. The night before the merchant was leaving port I was able to sneak aboard his ship and
climb into one of the empty barrels in the lower level cargo hold. It wasn't roomy but it I had to
make it work. Soon enough dawn arrived and I could hear anchor being raised as we started our
journey to the Sea of Thieves.

Weeks had passed and I was living off of a very rich potassium filled diet. My only sense
of relief each day was when I could hear the merchant raising sail. I knew then he would soon be
asleep, allowing me to get out from my cylindrical prison for some time and have a chance to
stretch. I usually stayed within the sloop's cargo hold but every few nights would venture mid-
deck to take a peek at the map table and check our trip's progress. I often found myself doubting
the chances of finding my mother again even if I was ever to reach the Sea of Thieves. Only the
thought of finding her again and getting answers to my nearly limitless questions kept me
motivated to continue.

Several more weeks passed by, I knew we were getting close when the merchant had
stopped off at an island to bring aboard some livestock - presumably his maiden delivery for his
new route within the Sea of Thieves. Of course, the livestock was a handful of pigs of various
coloring and they were my new roommates joining me within the cargo hold. They were smelly
little buggers but I was glad for the company and the pink one was kind of cute, I guess.

Nighttime had come again and having not eaten all day I was getting a tad bit snacky. I
carefully moved out of concealment from within my barrel, waved to my roommates and headed
over to the banana barrel. I was once again curious of our location so I took a peek at the map
table. I couldn't believe it, we were less than a days sail from crossing the Sea of Thieves
northern border! Excitedly, I headed back to the cargo hold for that banana to hold me over this
final day. I was just about mid-cronch when one of the pigs decided they were getting a little
snacky as well. The little guy started whinning and crying so I quickly hurried over to try and shut
up the thing I had once thought to be cute.

It was no use, and soon enough the whole lot of pigs must've gotten snacky as well. The
entire cargo hold started to sound like a badly orchestrated choir group of crying. I quickly
retreated back to my barrel before the merchant would certainly wake up and check on the pigs,
but it was too late. The half asleeep man came down to see just as I had started to climb back
into my spot of hiding. Obviously confused and also angered at the sight of a stowaway; the
merchant quickly charged towards me. Caught off gaurd and in no place to ready my stance for
such an encounter, one forceful shove and my head hitting the back wall were the last things I
remembered. It was lights out for me.

Chapter 4 - Arrival

I started coming back to conciousness. As things slowly faded in, I noticed myself planted
on solid ground, it was the first time in nearly 2 months. The solid footing felt great, I never
wanted to step aboard a ship again! As things began to clear up for me, I felt the warmth of a fire
nearby and could smell the stench of spilled grog in the air. I looked around to see a bar maid
nearby, who seemingly was pouring a buckets worth of water into the newly tapped keg behind
the counter. I approached the woman, she wasn't the most conversational but I was able to
gather that I was at Sanctuary Outpost's tavern. I had indeed made it into the Sea of Thieves!

The bar maid noticed I had been through a lot getting to this point, so she offered me
free access to the bananas in the nearby barrel and a couple rounds of freshly dillutted grog on
the house. It was the perfect cure for my splitting headache that still remained. After taking a
moment to sober up and thank the generous tavern lady I then set out to explore the outpost. It
was a beautiful hub of trade, several different factions offering work and their different wares
and goods for sale. Clothing, weapon and equipment shops scattered the island offering their
best goods for a cost far deeper than my pockets could reach.

I figured I was in need of some sort of weapon and the weapon's shop had a rusty old
cutlass that was just in my price range, it would have to do. I reached over for my coin pouch
that I had kept on my hip only to realize that dirty merchant must have taken every piece of gold
off of me while I was out. I stormed out not sure of how far I could get without any gold but
shortly after I caught sight of the local port. I noticed a ship anchored just at the end of the dock
and as I got closer I realized it was the same ship I had stowed away on! That stupid merchant
must of thought I'd have been knocked out a little longer and was probably napping in the
upstairs tavern room the whole time!

I briskly walked down the dock, nodding to the merchant girl and shipwright in attempt
to look as casual as possible. I jumped aboard and started to raise the ship's achor, hoping the
nearby vendors didn't storm towards me knowing it was not my ship. As soon as I had the
anchor up I quickly dropped sail and I was off. I looked back to see the shipwright and merchant
back on the docks minding their own business. They seemingly did not even care that I had just
stolen the man's sloop, maybe it's just a common sight for them, I thought.

Chapter 5 - The Sea of Thieves

I spent some time learning the ropes on my newly claimed ship. I enjoyed being behind
the wheel and working the sails, it was the first time I had spent any time on the main deck,
afterall. I searched the ships mid-deck and found the previous owner had even left me an
unexpected gift. I sure was glad I didn't buy that rusty old cutlass when I opened up a cabinet to
find an entire selection of weapons. I had myself choices from a cutlass, flintlock, blunderbuss
and an eye of reach! None of which were the most elegant looking weapons, but they would
make do. Although I desperately wanted to search for my mother right away, I also had no gold
and figured that in order to last any time here at all, I would need to earn some funds.

The Sea of Thieves proved to be a very mysterious place, as I quickly found out. I didn't
understand how time worked in this place. Day and Night came and went much faster than it
should. It seemed to me that time must be sped up by some sort of mystic force but after what
should have been years worth of day and night cycles that had passed; I still kept my youth. It
was a strange phenomenom that I wasn't going to complain about.

Many other things seemed off with the sea of thieves as well. Islands are gaurded by a
seemingly endless supply of skeletons which, I kid you not, will climb out of the freaking ground
and start attacking on sight. Some of these skeleton's have very interesting characteristics about
them and after fighting off their captain; their glowing skulls will drop to the ground. The
mysterious Order of Souls seemed very interested in these skulls and would pay fair price for
each one.

I once strayed too far off course and began sailing away from charted waters. The sea
started turning blood red in color, which although I first thought it to be a beautiful sight, I soon
changed my mind as my boat starting violently breaking apart. I barely escaped with my life that
day and it often left me wondering if there was any escape from the Sea of Thieves. Does this
red sea only allow voyagers in but not out?

This strange phenomenom interested me very much, I decided to inquire with the locals
about this sea of red destructive waters. I found out that they call this prison-like border the
"Sea of Blood" or "The Devils Shroud". They said no one has ever broken its lock but ancient
rumors say that the key to escape is located within the blood. How could anyone find such a key
located somewhere in this massive Sea of Blood, I thought. They also told me that every several
hundred years the east border of the Shroud would recede for some time. This recession would
reveal a series of volcanic islands that are rumored to be heavily populated by skeletons. Nothing
too inviting, I thought.

Some time had passed by now and I was really learning the ropes of how to efficiently
operate within these strange waters. I had earned a fair share of gold, more than I ever thought
possible from my little village on my home island. I was building quite a reputation with the local
factions, running different odd jobs for them, sucessfully coming back each time looking for
more work. Of course, I always remembered the main reason I was here, each outpost I would
stop at and every sailor I encountered I would mention my mother. I was very excited to find
several that had heard of her but sadly no one could provide any solid details.

Chapter 6 - Order of Operations

As I worked longer with the three local factions they all entrusted me with more difficult
but also more rewarding work. The merchants and gold hoarders ran a pretty self explanitory
business practice. The third faction called the Order of Souls, however, interested me the most. I
had noticed that the Order of Soul's contracts all appeared to be quite similar to the note that
brought me here, the note that I had received back on my home island, I had to ask them about
it.

I explained that note to the lady operating the Order of Souls tent and while she
admitted it must have some sort of mystic force involved, it was also unlikey the note originated
with them. She explained to me how the Order of Souls was merely a division of "The Order".
They focused their efforts primarily on the research of this world's mystic forces and on
development of different uses for such forces.

She explained to me that the next branch of The Order was called the "Order of
Mercenaries". The Order of Mercenaries were a group of mystic force users who will take on
small contracts to make their share of gold. Whether it be someone hiring a mercenary as a
bodyguard, to collect debts, or even taking on small bounties for individuals some wanted to be
brought in alive, some to be brought in... not so alive. For a fair amount of coin the mercenaries
will accept just about any job that comes along.

She also explained The Order's final branch, the "Assassin's of the Order". Although this
is the smallest group within the order, the Assassins operate world wide based out of Rome.
Each member being a master force user who will only concern themselves with the world's most
wanted, offering them the highest reward for cashing in on these bounties. If an assassin of the
order were to accept a bounty contract they will then commence a "Hunt of 500 Years". It
seemed to me as just a fancy way to say that person will be hunted for the rest of their life.
These assassin's can also command their massive skeleton army to wherever they please, and
considering the amount of the world's most wanted that must be among the Sea of Thieves, it
explained the undead that I had been encountering. I wasn't sure of how much use this
information was to me, but I sure was glad to be dealing with the most peaceful sounding of The
Order's divisions.

Chapter 7 - An Armada of Aspirations

I eventually realized that sailing alone could only get me so far. At this point I wasn't sure
if it had been merely several weeks from when I arrived in these mysterious waters or several
years. I was sure, however, that in order to make it very far in this strange world and to better my
chances of finding what I was looking for, that I would need to form a respectable crew. By now I
had saved up enough gold that I could purchase a freshly built galleon. So I did. It was a beauty
but I had to make it unique, it had to feel like my own. I commisioned a fresh coat of paint to
meet my specified design, had the sails replaced with something a little more colorful, and had a
bold and inspiring figurehead installed.

I then headed to the sea's central hub, a place where sailors or captains could post their
objectives and find like minded crewmen. I got to talking with one sailor that I met at the hub, I
had mentioned my reason for coming here and my objective to find my mother. The sailor
seemed to light up at mention of my mother, then recommended I joined a certain fleet that he
believed to have several of their members had made mention of my mother before. He said they
were a small group claiming to be a bunch of frightening cutthroats. I was more excited than
worried, however, as this was the first real lead that I had since arriving!

I signed on with the fleet that had been recommended to me. They were a small yet
respectable fleet, nothing more than a group of sailors who often went around calling
themselves pirates. On my maiden voyage with the fleet, I found myself in a crew with the fleet
leader; of all people. I figured there would be no one better to ask about my mother than him.
What I found out came of great interest to me, that not only have all members from the fleet
heard of my mother but also several were actively hunting down great treasures rumored to
have been left behind from my mother herself!

At this point, only more questions were being raised about my mother. How could she
have left behind such a great collection of treasure? Did she spend the last 7 years building such
a reputation in the Sea of Thieves? Did she choose to come here to build such a fortune and if so
why did she leave so suddenly? Is she still among these waters? Why didn't I ever hear back from
her? Surely someone with such great wealth could have sent message if nothing else. The
questions were endless but there were no apparent answers, not yet at least.

Chapter 8 - A New Lead

My newly formed crew told me how they had just come back from a secret underground
hideout where ghostly figures danced around and played their favorite shantys. I wasn't going to
let them take me for a fool, however, and told them I wouldn't fall for such a poorly attempted
initiation prank. They tried to assure me the place was real, accessible only to those who hit
some sort of "Legendary" status. I still wasn't buying it, if there was some place on the seas that
allowed only those of "Legendary" status then I would definitely know about it. I would run the
place.

My delusions of grandeur were quickly set aside however when one of my crewmates
took out a voyage that he said is only attainable from within the Legendary Hideout. The
contents of this voyage were encased in a container, the likes of which I had never seen before.
Every other voyage I had seen before was just a single page with a wax seal, a leather strap or a
simple wooden casing. This voyage, however, came encased in full metal, with golden studs all
around it's edges and a blue-ish green colored skull on its front.

My crewmates explained to me that after completing all of the pages to this voyage a
final page would mysteriously appear, leading to the location of one final chest. Now I had
cashed in many chests by this point, the Gold Hoarders found great interest in these chests and
paid fair price for them too, so I wasn't so sure as to why we would go through all the extra effort
for a single chest. I was assured that I would find out why soon enough.

Chapter 9 - Athena

So just like that we we're off, setting sail to our nearest island. From island to island we
sailed completing our objectives, be it a treasure hunt, skeleton captain hunt or chicken run. The
journey was long. We were already a couple days in, at least according to my new perception of
what a day was, but finally the final page materialized right in front of me! It was definitely a
shock to see, and while the page was just a treasure map that looked just as any other, I could
tell there would be something greater beneath the surface than what I was accustomed to
finding on my previous treasure hunts.

My crew charted our path to our final destination. After arriving we all were excited to
reach land, knowing how close we are to the treasure. I was no doubt excited for a reason much
greater than the treasure itself that we would dig up. I carefully studied the landscape and
followed the landmarks to where the map had marked. I arrived to where I knew that final chest
would lay under my very own feet. I plunged my shovel into the ground and struck our final
chest. The crew rushed over to help dig up the chest.

Finally, we had the prized chest out from the ground. I dusted it off and was immediately
reminded of the note I had recieved months back in Greece. The glow put off by the chest was
identical to the blue glow that was around that previous note's periphery. It was
indistinguishable to me that the two were linked. As ran back towards the Galleon anchored just
off shore, I held that life changing chest and knew that I was holding my first clue into finding
more answers to the many questions I had regarding my mother, Athena.

Chapter 10 - The Legendary Hideout

From this point forward, I was focused more than ever to achieve a Legendary status so
that I could gain access into the Hideout myself. I worked with many different crews from my
fleet over the next decade, or so. Many in the fleet truly wanted to help me in my quest to find
my mother, even providing me with the legendary voyages that I hoped would provide further
clues about her. There was one older scallywag in the fleet, he didn't care about my
determination to find Athena and was only were interested in my looks. Yet, I found him just as
useful and figured I'd keep him around for when I needed him to buy me a voyage from the
hideout. It's always Hard to turn down a free voyage, afterall. Plus I figure I'll keep him Locked up
in the brig when I'm done with him anyways.

Some more time had passed but the moment had finally come. I was finally deemed
worthy for the very coveted "Legendary" status. It was a proud moment for me as I got my
approval from the Mysterious Stranger to enter into the long awaited Legendary Hideout. It was
about this point I realized however, I had never asked the Mysterious Stranger about Athena.
Surely a character with such apparent prowess could give me some hint towards my mother's
whereabouts! He does spend all his time sober in a tavern afterall, he must have heard
something if nothing else. So I asked the Mysterious Stranger about Athena... but he said he had
no clue who she even was. In fact, he told me he's just a minimum wage bouncer for the hideout
and wasn't sure how he got such a kickass name.

After that anti-climatic encounter I headed down towards the underground hideout
entrance to see if its build up was all it was told to be. I crossed through a waterfall, crawling in
through a split rock formation, inching through to the other side. I made it! It was a breathtaking
and picturesque sight to finally see in person. It lived up to it's rumors for sure! I took a few
moments to admire the hideout; wondered how a ship possibly wrecked there and spoke with
the shipwright to buy a very fabulous figurehead replacement (straight out of my childhood
fantasies) for my prized galleon that, by some miracle, I still kept floating... some miracle and a
lot of planks. I mean, hundreds of planks. Like pretty sure I've completely rebuilt the galleon
from the inside-out with new planks by this point... But I digress.

I then stumbled upon the chambers where I caught glimpse of the Pirate Lord himself! I
had heard much about this man and knew he was the very one who provided the voyages that
lead to a piece of Athena's Fortune. I knew if there was anyone among the Sea of Thieves who
could give any solid insight on my mother, it would be him. I approached the Pirate Lord with
confidence and after a brief introduction I asked him about Athena. He replied saying that he did
indeed know Athena very well. He said he has known her for a long time now and while he
hadn't seen her for some time, they were close many years ago. He also said that he was
expecting me to show up one day and he was glad to see that I made it!

Chapter 11 - The Pirate Lord

"... Daddy?" I replied. This ensued what was probably the most awkward 5 seconds of
my life. Until the Pirate Lord just started laughing and assured me that he was absoulutely not
my father. He then went on to clarify. He knew Athena very well as they sailed together, for quite
some time. She was first mate on his ship many years ago, sailing the Sea of Thieves, gaining
their notoriety together. He told of his infamous crew which consisted of every single member
within the hideout, along with Athena, and how to this day they are known as the "Crew of
Legends".

This sounded like a Crew of Legends for sure, but the thought had me a little concerned.
I asked the Pirate Lord if my mother was a ghost-like, ethereal figure just as everyone else down
here was. He once again assured me that she was not, as she had departed from the crew
shortly before "the incident", as he called it, that caused such a ghost-like state for everyone.

The Pirate Lord expanded on to say that is when Athena split from the Crew of Legends
to form a crew of her own. He told me how before my mother split from his crew, she made sure
to say one final thing to him and that this is all he knows that might help in my search for her.

With a quote from my mother, The Pirate Lord said "I need to go on my own for a while,
honey, and..." "Wait, did you say honey??" I interjected. "Yea, I was totally hitting that, I thought
you gathered that by now. I mean a woman first mate?? Really?" He said in reply... Okay, I lied
this was now the most awkward 5 seconds of my life. "Whatever, just tell me what she said" I
said, trying to move on.

The Pirate Lord continued: "Right, so she said 'I need to go on my own for a while... and
I'm leaving a hidden fortune for my daughter, who I expect will show up here when she is older.
After she has followed my clues and reached deka-tier one final clue will be revealed to her.'"
The pirate lord said that the last he has heard from her. He wished me good luck and after
picking up a voyage for my own, I was own my way out.

Chapter 12 - Crimson Nightfall

I continued on following the clues left behind from my mother for several more years. At
least in this world's time frame, which still feels like only a few weeks to me. The Pirate Lord said
my mother mentioned reaching Deka-Tier for a final clue. The men in my fleet referred to this
tier before, but to them it just meant the ability to buy a hat. To me it meant so much more. It
meant the final piece, after years of searching, to hopefully finding my mother... and also a hat.

I continued completing voyage after voyage, cashing in another and another blue
glowing chest each time. One time I even stole one off of some unexpecting sailors who claimed
to be of legendary status themselves. The time finally came, when I was on my final voyage
before reaching Deka-Tier. I followed instruction from each page, just as I had done dozens of
times before. Just as always, after completing all the pages, one final map materialized leading to
what I knew could possibly be the last chest I would ever dig.

I arrived at the island from my final map and made quick work of finding this final chest.
I brought it back to my ship and set sail to the south towards the nearest outpost. I was more
excited than ever to cash this chest in, although the direct head wind was seemingly laughing at
my excitement. It was dusk when I was about half way to the outpost with nightfall quickly
approaching when a strange shift in wind came in a strong and sudden gust. A familiar flash
struck as the skies turned crimson, something I had not seen since in Greece. A few moments
later, the skies returned to their previous colors and the wind back to it's non-helpful direction.

I finally returned the outpost, it was Sanctuary Outpost, and as I ran that precious chest
back to the tavern I thought about how the very place that my journey began may be the same
place my journey ended. I reached the Mysterious Stranger and cashed in the final chest unsure
of what to expect, having now reached Deka-Tier myself. The stranger congratulated me on my
achievement and then handed me what looked to be a voyage from The Pirate Lord. The
Mysterious Stranger explained how it actually contained a note from Athena to me. He was
instructed to leave this note with only me, after reaching Deka-Tier. I guess the mysterious
stranger proved more useful to me than just a simple body guard for the hidedout after all.

Part 2

Chapter 13 - Scarlet Red

Well that's my story so far, and so here I am with this note from my mother, talking to
you. The stranger at the tavern said he thought this note would answer all of my questions that
I've had for so long now. Answers to all my questions. Where is my mother? Why did she leave
me so many years ago? Maybe even find out more about the crimson skies after her departure
and just a little while ago. What could those mean? Well, I just needed a moment before
hopefully finding the answers to all these questions, directly from my mother even.
 I opened the metal casing just as I had done many times before. instead of housing many
pages, however, the casing held just one long extended page. The paper looked identical to the
note I had recieved back at the port of my home island, the note that told me to come to the Sea
of Thieves. It's fringes had the same blue glow of my mothers treasures that I had become so
familiar with, the edges of the page were detached yet held floating nearby. I unrolled the page
and here's what it reads:

"My dear Scarlet Red,

I'm sure by now you still have many questions and I will try my best to answer them for you.
First, though, let me ensure you that I never wanted to leave you how I did, all those years ago. It
absolutely crushed me leaving, but I knew you were strong and I knew you could take care of
yourself. I guess that leads into why I had to leave. It all started with the last time I had visited
the mainland, which as you know, was just a couple days before I dissapeared. While I was in
Athens I came across an old friend of mine being brutally beat down in the street, all for some
gold that she didn't even owe, gold that she didn't even have. I shoved the man as hard as I
could, and as he fell back he was impaled on a nearby broken stake and died. I later found this
man was a Mercenary of the Order. Being vaguely familiar with The Order's code, I knew that
murder of a mercenary would sentence me to a hefty bounty and that I would soon be hunted
by the Assassins of the Order. I headed home immediately to see you one last time and to gather
what little I could so that I could make arrangement to take the next ship out as soon as possible.
I couldn't stay home any longer knowing that assassins would soon be on my trail, putting both
you and myself in unnessecary danger. Being that I was unsure of my chances of escaping the
assassin's hunt and for your safety, I thought it would be best to leave without explanation.

I then arranged passage to Valencia where I met with a family friend, the only man I had known
to have ever escaped from the assassin's hunt. He was able to fill me in on my missing details: I
had been listed with a very high bounty and I was indeed being hunted by The Order. He also
told me how the assassin's were very successful in their hunts, only ever letting a few bounties
slip their grasp. The man added that the assassin's had already started on what is called a "Hunt
of 500 Years", which he explained to me is a manhunt over the next literal five centuries, even
though most of their bounties are collected within the first year of the hunt. Of course I was
concerned about being chased for the rest of my life but then the family friend told me of "The
Sea of Thieves"; a mysterious place closed off from the rest of the world. He told how not only
does time pass sixty times faster but also how you will never age while in these waters, all while
the rest of the world continues normally. I knew if I was going to survive this hunt and be able to
see you again, I would need to quickly make it to this unusual sounding place. I immediately
arranged passage out of Valencia and started the long journey to the Sea of Thieves. Now, I'm
sure you have heard some of my story after I arrived to the Sea of Thieves, if you have talked to
Jerry... I mean The Pirate Lord, that is. After splitting from The Pirate Lord's crew I captained my
own crew for some time. It was during this time that I left behind many valuable treasures for
you after your arrival. Although it seems word has gotten out about the hidden fortune that I left
behind for you, I believe I left enough to go around.
It was shortly after I finished hiding my entire acured fortune, however, when the assassin's must
of closed in on my new location. Although I had dealt with the assassin's skeleton army for some
time now, the hunt had intensified tenfold. I couldn't set foot on land without a small army of
skeletons waiting for me, and even a fleet of skeleton ships could be seen pursuing me, at the
edge of spyglass range there were at least eight skeleton ships could be seen! I had made it so
far and was determined to not be easily caught so it was at this time that I took advantage of the
Sea of Blood's currently receeded waters. I was well aware that these newly opened waters had
an even stronger skeleton prescense, but I also planned on them, and The Order's assassins to
never expect someone to take refuge right among the hunters themselves. After some tricky
sailing and use of an efficient crew, I managed to break sight and slip away from the pursuing
skeleton fleet and headed eastward into uncharted waters and towards the forsaken shores
ahead. I sailed past by several volcanic type islands until I approached one that seemed to have a
large cliff face on one side. By use of spyglass I was able to spot what looked to be a small cave
entrance cut into the side of the island, it seemed as it could potentially serve as suitable refuge
for the time.

As I made my way into the cave I could feel damp and cool air that seemed so foreign to this
volcanic climate that surrounded. As I moved farther into the cave I couldn't believe my eyes!
There was nearly enough vegatation to feed a small village. An old hermit then emerged from a
simple wooden structure in the back corner of the cave. He told me he was responsible for
setting up this cave to be a liveable space, he came here searching refuge as well and had been
here since the last recession of the Sea of Blood 300 years ago! The hermit explained that he
was old and tired and only wanted to return home to see his family again. I offered him trade of
my ship and crew to provide safe passage back to his home island while the red sea was still
opened up, in exchange I asked that he delivered to the Mysterious Stranger this very note -
along with my instruction for him. He gladly agreed and I therefore inherrited this cozy bunker to
wait out the rest of my time during my hunt. By the time you are reading this, if my estimations
are correct, not only will my 500 year hunt have just recently concluded but also soon
approaching is another recession of the Sea of Blood's eastern border.

These waters surrounding me are not safe, much more dangerous than you have seen thusfar.
That is why I had to set such high requirements before presenting you this information. I had to
be sure that that you would be ready, that you were prepared for the next recession, not to
mention that you should also be quite decently funded at this pont as well. If you flip this page
around, you will see a map leading to the island I am on, with the cave entrance clearly marked. I
need you to spend what time you have now, before the waters next recession, building a suitable
crew. For when the waters do retreat back, I ask that you do not delay in finding me.

With much love, see you soon."