Captains Log - Jan 22, 1467

Cap. Slap of the Maidens Blade.

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"Look, Duke. The longer I hold onto this, the more danger I'm in. Take it. Nobody bothers you with it, just do...Whatever it is you do with em... give me the money and be done with this. I want to be gone, you want me gone, if Lizzy behind the bar sees me I'll be gone either way. Comeon, The money." I say with one hand on the lid of the Reapers chest.

The Mysterious boxes are relics of a war between heaven and hell that erupted on these seas centuries ago. They say that the Mystics and Occultists were able to harness the demons energy and capture it into these chests. Doing so weakened the Devils armies and banished them back to Hell. Once it was over, no one knew what to do with the Chests, so they tossed them into the seas. Only recently have they emerged again, and someone very powerful is collecting all of them. Some say if one was to open a Reaper chest, a portal to Hell would open on the spot and cause a great bit of trouble. Every time I hear that I roll my eyes and then the box will go and do something devilish, glow red... or puff out some foul, sulfur smelling smoke... and then the "What ifs" come pouring back in.

"I'm cold..." Replies Duke.

"Oh for... again with this cold nonsense... Duke... " and he cuts me off mid sentence.

"Masked lady is the only one that can accept them now. My buyer cut me off." He scoffs with a shake in his voice. "Slap, don't trust the lady. There is something about her that doesn't sit right, and the people that had a talk with me.. well..." Duke trails off and cowers behind whatever is close to him as if he's seen a ghost.

I can't get another word out of Duke and finally I head outside toting the Chest. I see Bob at a cart around the corner and we load the chest onto it. "No dice. They did a real Number on Duke. Changed him they did." I say to Bob.

"Aye, the rumors be true then huh?" says Bob.

"Appears so Bobbo. Prepare the ship... To the Reapers Hideout it is." I say as we tote the cart down to the docks.

Dis-spite being close to the hideout, the wind was against us, fitting with the devils own treasure on board. To make matters worse, these chests draw people that are close to it. I can't explain it myself, but when you get in the region of one... it beckons to you. Calls for you to have it. Evil it is... but also very, very valuable. When you have one, you best expect others to come looking.

It seemed like an eternity on the water until the island came into view. A treacherous little patch of land, the shallows all around it have hullbreaker rocks just under the surface of the water. If you don't know exactly where your going, your ship will suffer from your ignorance.

We raise sails to come in slow to navigate the dangerous shallows. Once in range I take out the spyglass and scan the Island. Nothing of interest, some makeshift campgrounds, the start of minor defenses, remains of old shipwrecks scattered about, the usual stuff. And then I see it. A strange red glow emits from what looks like an excavation site, and there she is. The Masked Lady. Dressed in all black, she appears to be taking notes on items, no doubt, dug up from the site. As if she knew we were there all along, she looks up from her work and straight at me. The mask revealed as an emotionless porcelain face, stared straight into my very soul. For a brief moment, I feel like she spoke to me saying but one word, "Careful." I drop the spyglass look at Bob and say "We're not alone."

Again, Bob and I go over the plan. He's to go first with an empty chest to draw off anyone that might be lying in wait, and I'll make for the Lady and sell the Reaper. On paper it's flawless, in practice... we make sure Bob has enough money to pay the Ferryman.

"I still don't see why I can't carry the reaper." Complains Bob one last time.

"For the last time, YOU'RE NOT THE CAPTAIN! Plus your faster than me" As I knock on my pegleg.

"Oh with the pegleg again huh? Don't lie to me.. I've seen you run from your wife... and your girlfriend... at the same time!" Bob rebuttals.

"Enough!" I snap. "Now get ready. It's time."

We hurtle the boat ledge into the water, me the reaper and Bob with the dummy chest. We keep a moderate distance between us as we hop from cover to cover. When it's time to move Bob whistles like a Bluetail parrot. Quietly we reconnect in the bushes and scan the clearing. We see nothing but the Masked lady going about her business. I nudge Bob and give him the signal, it's time.

With a breath and a prayer, Bob stands up and approaches the Masked Lady. When he gets within earshot, they emerge. 2 of the slimiest pirates one has ever laid eyes on, the kinda pirates that give us good pirates a bad name. Cutlass drawn the two approach Bob, and in a moment he bolts. In no time Bob is off to the races, the other two in pursuit. I wait til they round the boulder and I come out of the bushes and approach the Lady.

"Welp... that was fun. Do I leave this here?" Motioning where to place the chest. Nothing from the Lady. "This works I guess." As I drop the reaper it lands solid on the ground, no movement whatsoever. The stoic Lady flinches a bit when I drop it, and regains their composure. "I'll take my payment and if you'll excuse me, I need to go save my friend."

The lady says nothing, and points to the bag on her desk.

"This?" I say pointing to the bag "This, for me?"

Not entirely sure but I think I see her nod, and I pick up the heaviest sack of gold I've ever laid hands on. "Wow..." I say. "This... has been. Well, it's been a pleasure. Imagine we'll be seeing you again." I say as I hoist the sack of Gold over my shoulder.

Bob appears from out of the bushes, splattered in blood, out of breath, and pissed as ever. "Now before you say anything... here." I chuck the sack of gold to him and it knocks him flat on his back. I run over and he's chuckling underneath the pile of spilled gold.

"That'll do Cap." he says.

"Lets get you to the ship Bobbo. You need the rest." I say as I hoist Bob and the Gold up.

"Aye Cap. You can drive for once so I can sleep." says Bob.

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TL;DR-IRL: Buddy and I went to sell a reapers chest and we knew there were guys hiding on the island. he went in with an empty collectors chest right in front of me and I behind with the reapers. They jumped on the first guy they saw which was him. By the time they figured it out, I'd already sold the reaper. It was awesome!

As always, thanks for reading my stories!

Look forward to more adventures on the Seas!

• Vol.1 Booty
• Vol.2 Flying Dutchman
• Vol.3 Fishing
• Vol.4 9/10 robbery

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