Tales from the Sea of Thieves: Forsaken Shores

Those Tales from the Sea of Thieves keep coming, as Nura the blossoming scribe listens for rumours on the sea wind that she can embellish with her own fancies and fragments of known lore. In timeliness terms she's done a fine job of getting her thoughts down on paper so far, pre-empting the dramatic events of both The Hungering Deep and Cursed Sails.

The lands beyond The Devil's Shroud are the topic of her most recent musings. While Nura seeks only to spread the wonder of words with an occasional note of warning where necessary, this time she's been coaxed into the role of unreliable narrator by her sole witness. Stitcher Jim, as Nura says, is a man of ill repute, and never one to freely offer the whole story if there's a chance he could sell half of it or employ a couple of chapters for casual blackmail. But with nobody stepping forward to dispute his version of events, it's all any scribe has to go on.

If you didn't see the lore-heavy teaser trailer featuring Jim himself, watch it below – then read Nura's notes on the lure of Forsaken Shores below, with the usual interjections from her mentor Bel. Beyond that you'll find a link to print out the full excerpt, artfully treated to match your Tales book.

THE FORSAKEN SHORES ALLIANCE

It's no secret that the Sea of Thieves is hidden by a thick fog known as The Devil's Shroud. Save for those of us born here, all newcomers must navigate a specific route through the fog, as it eats away at ships and people alike.

But what you may not know is just how deep the Shroud goes. Whole chains of islands are lost inside! The fog moves, sometimes, revealing them or hiding others. Some pirates seek ways through, to uncover these lost lands... or as my friend Jim calls them, Forsaken Shores.

Now, Stitcher Jim is a man of ill repute, but he's keen to share a tale and that makes him okay in my book. Literally, because here he is, going in my book.

(Bel: I see what you did there!)

A long time ago, Stitcher Jim sailed in an alliance of two crews: the Forsaken Shores Alliance! They were dedicated to finding such places, using the magical figurehead of their flagship, Shroudbreaker. With this, they could penetrate the Shroud safely!

The last place they found was called The Devil's Roar, where the very earth tried to shake them off. Jim told me of volcanoes that spit huge rocks and geysers that threw his mates into the air... the place sounds lovely. But it also held plunder, untouched for years, on account of being beyond the Shroud.

Sadly, Jim's now stuck on this side of the fog. The Alliance leader, Captain Sorrow, betrayed everyone. She did them all in, one by one, with Jim barely escaping alive! He reckons she's still in The Devil's Roar, hoarding this rare treasure called a Box of "Wondrous" Secrets.

What kind of secrets? He wouldn't tell me, but he's desperate to find a way back there. Just hearing about it makes me curious, makes me itch to find one. It's already bugging me, not knowing what's inside. No wonder Sorrow went mad with greed... but it seems The Devil's Roar has become her prison for those crimes, as no-one has seen her since.

(Bel: Don't you go trying to find this place, Nura. Some things are better off lost to the fog.)

Considering your own excursion to The Devil's Roar? You may want to stop off at our campaign page first for the lowdown on what there is in that region to anticipate, accomplish or aggressively avoid.

Those book lovers who own a prized copy of Tales from the Sea of Thieves and would like to keep it updated with contemporary adventures may wish to click the link below, which will open up this Forsaken Shores excerpt as a fully formatted bonus page fit for printing and tucking in neatly at the back!

Until next time, when another of Nura's pages finds its way across the sea to us...

Tales from the Sea of Thieves: Forsaken Shores