Community Challenge

Since you asked,

Yesterday as a galleon, we ran across a sloop boasting the same hull as us, but lacking any other adornment. We pull in close, and give them a single warning shot across the sea. Sloop sails right past us, not returning fire.

They sail off a little ways, and since this is our island, we do the pirate-escape landing. (anchor, raise sails, raise anchor, pivot for combat. Just in case.) We see them come about, but they anchor clear on the other side of the island. C*****s on the horizon, or perhaps a friend?

I swim over there, while two of our crew secure the island, and one guards our ship. When in range of their ship, I play a shanty on the concertina. I stay in the water, both as a sign of peace, and because one of the sloop sailors was guarding the ladder, blunderbuss in hand. I use game chat to call out to them, but get nothing. I then use the text-chat radial to shout, "Arr, the feels! All together now!"

The sailor joins in the shanty, for a second. He then pulls out his blunderbuss, and fires into the water. Not at me though, at a shark. I take the hint, and after firing a blast of me own pistol into the shark's flank, I carve up his gills with me sword. Then the second sloop pirate shows up, on the shore.

After a few more tense moments of making sure we're really all friends, and confirming these poor pirates are absolutely broke, we decide to just share the island with the two of them. We have our own quests, and if they need help, to just give a shout. We watch them sail away shortly after, with whatever loot they found, and we give them a friendly wave. They fire a cannon-shot to the air. We aboard the galleon share a laugh at their signal, and return a single-shot into the clouds, before returning to the island to finish up.

Turns out, we're not done with our sloop buddy.

Some time later, the sloop sends out a message in a bottle through the xbox waves, "Help! Some other sloop out here. Just chasing us, won't stop."

I read the message to all aboard, and we took a quick vote. Everybody was happy to play hero, we were going to save our friend!

I relay our coordinates to them, and tell them to turn on their lanterns, so it's super easy to tell who's who. They respond they understand, and give the heads-up they'll be coming in from south.

Aboard the galleon, we grab 10 cannonballs a piece, after loading every iron we've got. We pivot the ship, and wait.

"A ship!" our lookout calls. "She's bright too!"

Then, the second ship appears. She's completely dark. We drop sails, and head once more unto the breach.

We close the distance in record time, thanks to the Wind herself siding with Lady Justice that hour. Our sloop buddy sails to one side, and we cut our galleon between their pursuer like a bouncer and an aggressive drunk. We fire a few shots, and they change course. We're not done though, that sloop had chased our poor buddy from the southern edge of the bloody map mind you, so it’s not like we can't just let them go. We pursue, and teach them how to war!

It doesn't take long, thanks to the blessed wind, and we're right alongside them. A beautiful battle ensues, one that didn't lack in depth-charges or cannon-fire from either side, but it ended with us afloat, and them drowning in the deep.

After the melee concluded, our sloop buddy followed us to our next island. Staying just off shore, they relayed a message of gratitude, and continuing friendship before sailing off to complete more of their own missions.

It's fun to be a Batman boat.