The Cursed Fleet: A Sea of Thieves Story

Chapter 5: Galleon's Grave

       "Thank ye much ma'am" said John. He turned to Les "I've got some leads on a prize worth taking, meet me in your quarters shortly, and we'll go over details. I'll round up the rest of the crew."

       "Of course" replied Les. He turned to walk towards the ship when Scarlet shouted behind him.

       "And what'll ye be naming this ship of yours?" she asked.

       "The Wicked Revenge" Les answered.

       "Aye, that's a fine name. Be sure to talk to Madame Oksana" replied Scarlet "She can assist ye in performin' the ritual for rechristening your ship"

       "Ritual?" asked Les, puzzled. "What ritual?"

       "Ye don't know? It be bad luck to rechristen a ship without performin' the ritual. Her name must be removed from the seas. Failure to do so, could upset the gods of the sea, and trust me mate, ye don't want that." Les nodded and turned towards the shack, belonging to the local Order of Souls mystic.

       The sand on Galleon's Grave was coarse and dry, and every footstep Les took, sounded like someone sawing away at a ship. This was Les' first time venturing out beyond the Shores of Plenty, and he was beginning to see why his father had left The Wilds. The people here looked crooked, and corrupt, the water dark and murky, and the skies always gray. It was a gloomy sight, and felt almost haunting. He approached the shack entrance, and before he could step inside, he heard a lady call to him from within.

       "Who goes there?" she asked. Les stopped outside the door.

       "I'm Les, a new pirate out of Sanctuary Outpost." He answered. "I'm looking for Madame Oksana, I need a rechristening ritual for my ship." The mystic looked up, and peeked out of her shack.

       "I am Madame Oksana, but if you are trying to rechristen that ship, I will not do it" she pointed to Les' ship in the harbor, as the crew was removing the cannons, and changing them out for new ones.

       "What? Why?" asked Les.

       "You sail with Loobe, yes?" she asked.

       "Aye, he's my powder monkey"

       "That man is a snake. He betrayed his last crew. Killed them all, and sent them along with their ship to a watery grave." Anger filled the face of the mystic. "I will not perform a ritual for him, or his crew." Les grew angry.

       "Fine then, it's just some damned ritual, how bad could it be if I don't have it done?" he said, as he turned to leave.

       "Good luck, Captain Paul... Hopefully the sea gods don't smite you and your ship." Said the mystic. Les stopped, he hadn't told her his last name, how did she know? He looked over his shoulder, tempted to turn around, but he thought better of it, and returned to the ship.

       As he climbed back aboard, Chris gave him a large, heavy pouch, filled with coin.

       "What's this?" he asked.

       "Your share! It came out to about ninety-five hundred a piece!" Chris said, smiling. "If you'll excuse me, I've got to be buying meself a new tankard!" he ran down the dock and up the hill to the right, towards the local shops, and Les looked at the deck. New, longer cannons, embellished with gold now graced the ship's deck, and they were in the process off removing the red sails, and replacing them with black. Scarlet approached him.

       "The hull should be finished by early morning t'morrow." She said. "And I've already fitted ye a new figurehead, why don't ye take a look?" Les jumped back down to the dock and walked towards the bow of the ship. As he turned a smile grew on his face. Three skulls side-by-side, wearing red bandanas. The middle skull carried a dagger in its teeth. The figure head screamed 'pirate' and he couldn't be happier.