The Unsinkable II - Captain's log, day 36

  • Shiver my timbers, shiver my bones... The grog holds my madness at bay, for now. Who'd have ever believed a fish, a fish I tells ya, could rattle the minds of hardy pirates!
    How to start such a terrifying tale?

    From the beginning I suppose... For this log entry, where my words fail me, I've enclosed scrimshaw depictions of our adventure.

    The Unsinkable crew, Boson Craig, Helmsman Chris, Quartermaster Bill and myself had spent the night at Plunder Outpost, our preferred destination for some Pirate R&R; Rum and Robbery.

    Upon our entrance into the tavern, a new face greeted us. Duke he called himself, one of them Bilge Rats. Adventurer's less interested in gold and the very concept of personal hygiene.

    After a bit of idle chat, he bestowed upon us; A rumor.
    A rumor about something very old, and very hungry, and an unfortunate pirate bard named Merrick, last seen around Shark Bait Cove; Even today a foreboding place, riddled with the bones of the ancients.

    Our crew be tough n' brave, and I can't recall time where any of my men ever let me down, except failing to replace the grog keg on our ship from time to time or passing out on my bed after depleting said keg, but even so, this rumor stirred a nervousness in me.
    Few pirates today pay heed to the paintings on the islands we so eagerly plunder, most dismiss them as mere fancy tall tales from aeons long past. Even when the Athena's Fortune sailed these waters, the ancients were long gone.

    But I've always had a fascination with them, and their strange artistic depictions of strange beasts not found on any island I've set foot on. This fascination kept my reservations at bay, and so, we weighed anchor and set course for Shark Bait Cove!

    Wasn't hard finding ol' Merrick, drunken fool set up camp on the South West beach, relentlessly playing his drum.
    His words said he was sober, his breath told us otherwise.

    Merrick's an odd fella, two peg legs, 1 hand missing along with an eye. We inquired about his oddly extensive set o' missin' limbs. He was quite forthcoming about his eye, but his legs misadventure he would not reveal.

    At first. After a bit of encouragement, he told us he'd written journals about it, one of which he'd left near the center of Shark Bait Cove. Annoyed but our interests piqued we set off for it.
    'Twas mostly drunken ramblings, but Chris, being an accomplished Helmsman and Navigator, spotted a clue amidst the pages. A clue that would take us North, on the first part of our long journey.

    Tina, a charming redhead on Golden Sands outpost confirmed our suspicions; There was more to Merrick's tale than a mere journal, though she herself was unaware.
    Being the merry band of Pirates we are, we settled Merricks outstanding, and absurdly large bar tab, and set off for our next destination.

    Our travels, though largely uneventful, took us across uncharted islands and outposts. Though at a passing through Dagger Tooth we encountered a galleon, full of pirates like ourselves, who'd been investigating Merrick's tales on their own.
    An honorable and hardy bunch, we decided we should follow this quest through, together.

    The Unsinkable II was chosen as our shared vessel, fitted with fine guns, and enough supplies to accommodate the larger number of crewmen. Though sadly but 1 keg of grog was aboard. Bill and Craig keep telling me adding more would unbalance the whole vessel...
    But our new crew got settled in, and we set off for adventure! If only we knew...

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    As we all pieced the puzzles together from Merricks scattered journals, it became clear; Merrick had unwittingly summoned a hideous beast from the depths of the deepest, darkest seas. A beast far older than man, a hungry monstrosity that has lurked below waves even when the Earth was young, and mankind in its infancy.
    This misfortune had cost him his legs, and his crew.

    But the journals were vague, and quite frankly too drunkenly written to read, we had no choice but to return to Merrick himself.

    Upon our arrival back to Shark Bait Cove, a single sloop approached. They too it seems, had followed Merricks trails, which had led them back to him, same as us.
    10 men strong now, Merrick had little choice but to divulge his dark secret.

    He fashioned drums for us all, and shared with us, the shanty he had used to summon this beast.

    I ordered the men back to the ships, and to prepare for battle.

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    1 sloop, 1 galleon, 10 men, 1 hungry beast. I felt apprehension going in, sure, but my crew, all 7 along with the sloop, remained stalwart throughout, sharing their excitement and readying themselves for the fight of a lifetime.

    I was no fool, I'd seen the monuments and paintings around Shark Bait Cove, and knowing from Merrick himself that these depictions of the monster was not merely the fancy imaginings of primitive tribes, but something tangible and all too real, my deepest fears grew. I remained as sturdy and decisive as possible; For no crew will heed the commands of a cowardly Captain.

    We sailed East, but a short distance from Merrick himself, though the sail seemed to last forever. Until we sighted the Devil's Ridge. As a dark omen sent from the dark depths, the peak of this treacherous island resembled the frightening maw of a terrible beast. We knew we were in the right spot.

    We grabbed our drums, and in unison we played with all our hearts, and we played until the sound of crashing waves and a thundering roar completely drowned out our song.

    All held their breath, hearts dropped, spine chilling fear grasped us all, as the Hungering One rose from the depths.
    It bore the scars of countless battles, no doubt with both beast and man alike. Horrible, eldritch glowing eyes stared us down, impossibly so, for I spied no less than 2 sets of eyes! 4 in total, each one awful, full of malice and an unspeakable intelligence.

    I ordered sails in, guns loaded and angled. The battle began.

    The beast charged, and I called for a full starboard broadside. It did nothing but anger it.

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    As it rammed us, bearing its dreadful, gaping maw, an untold stench befell the ship. The odor of untold aeons worth of decaying corpses devoured escaped its jaws. For a brief moment, time stopped. We'd never faced a threat such as this before.
    To this day, I know not what compelled me to raise my voice; Surely madness and terror was overtaking me every bit as much as the men. But I was still their Captain, 'twas on my shoulders to save us, or die trying.

    "Fire everything!" I cried.

    It worked! For a spell at least, the beast retreated. As we regained our composure, reloaded and patched up the ship as best we could, it set a course for the sloop crew.
    I know not what transpired on that unfortunate ship, only that both men perished, along with their boat during the battle. They lasted longer than most would have, I feel, but sadly, such ancient abominable horrors are not so easily killed.

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    The beasts attention soon turned back to us, circling us, seemingly just to taunt us, as our guns and cannons had little effect on it. As soon as I could order a port broadside, the beast was ramming and biting at our ship from the starboard side! I've never witnessed such speed and ferocity.
    But we fought on! Quartermaster Bill himself braved the beast, completely without fear or sense of self-preservation.

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    Was Quartermaster Bill eaten moments later? Maybe.
    Did that stop him? Never!

    All day we battled, with each strike the beast claimed another victim. Altogether I count 4-5 casualties.
    But alas, as the sun began to set, we prevailed!

    The beasts death rattle shall haunt my nightmares forever more, but the cheers of my intrepid crew shall spur me on in the day.

    We all took time to contemplate, and repair after the beast fell. A few of us dove into the waters, wanting to witness our nemesis up close.
    The crew was spirited to have vanquished such a foe, as they should be, for every man fought valiantly. But my mind only rested on the beast. If such a monster could have evaded the entirety of the Sea of Thieves for so long, what in Three Sheets Neate's name could still be lurking below?
    I still see the eldritch green eyes, with an unholy glow when I close my eyes at night.

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    Not long after, the beasts decrepid, oozing corpse floated down again, to the unfathomable depths from whence it had came. And our voyage back to Merrick began.

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    Merrick was, to say the least, astonished that we'd destroyed this ancient evil. But initial disbelief was soon replaced with joy, elation and a night filled with drunken revelry and merriment!

    And ol' Merrick himself was only too happy to indulge with his countless, drunken bard tales.

    [IMAGE]

    Thus concludes this terrifying tale. Though the crew prevailed, and we all got matching tattoos (along with some matching scars...) my mind still dwells on that ancient abomination, and what other horrors might lurk below the dark waves.
    Grog still keeps my hook n' hand steady, and me crew spurs me on to new adventures, but I fear that one day again, sooner perhaps than later, we again shall have to face and fight untold beings from ages gone by.

    But even with my mind shaken, my faith in my Unsinkable crew and fellow pirates remain!

    Captain Tundra

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  • On behalf of my whole crew (Toni too), and the brave and bold pirates we fought alongside, I'd like to thank those of you who managed to read the entirety of my most ambitious, and lengthiest log to date! I actually expected it to be much longer, and it easily could have been, but I tempered myself and I think in the end we landed on around 1600-1700 words, along with my "scrimshaw" screencaps.

    Unlike the previous Unsinkable II logs, I tried to downplay the comedy and humor for this one. I wanted to try going a bit darker, and scarier as there's already a healthy supply of fun and uplifting tales around based on The Hungering Deep.
    I wanted instead to write a story that'd be more in line with what an actual Sea of Thieves Captain might feel when he's suddenly given command of 10 men and 2 ships, fighting a mighty and horrible beast for the very first time.

    I hope y'all still enjoy it, and hopefully the next log will return a funnier format full of pirate puns!

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