Okay, so you won’t find out much about them at Outposts. And yes, fine, they’re not a Trading Company in the traditional sense and really wouldn’t like me telling you they are. In fact, the hard-hearted pirates of The Reaper’s Bones would like nothing better than to see the other Companies crushed beneath their heel, for pirates to prove themselves as treasure-stealing titans of the seas – particularly those who represent their own cause. And that vendetta brings with it the chance to turn a tidy profit.

Put simply, the masked Reapers (via their spokesperson, the Servant of the Flame) will reward you for turning over any treasure coveted by the other Companies to them instead. Chests, cargo, skulls – they’re not fussy as long as it leaves their rivals empty-handed, and if you proved your dominance by taking that treasure directly from another crew, even better.

If that sounds too good to be true, I should add that this heavy-handed approach to business means The Reaper’s Bones aren’t exactly welcome at Outposts. While in recent times, the Companies have consented to allow an Emissary Table – and one very carefully restrained representative – to occupy their own little patch at each Outpost, the cages tend to get in the way of actually handing in any loot. Instead, you’ll have to venture to the foreboding Reaper’s Hideout to hand over your plunder, which means you’re a lot more likely to bump into another crew of Reapers with itchy trigger fingers while your hold is full of valuables.

There are certain treasures out in the world that mean very little to the Trading Companies but are worth a great deal to The Reaper’s Bones, although carrying them aboard your ship tends to make you a visible target on the maps of other crews: Reaper’s Chests and Reaper’s Bounties are found inside shipwrecks, while mysterious Gifts might well be looted from the vault of a Skeleton Fort.

What the Reapers desire most, though, is the broken remains of flags flown by Trading Company Emissaries. Yes, even their own, if it shows the attackers to be a truly superior crew…