(Deleted old post and reposted... something was fishy. Not trying to spam the post.)

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Captains Log - Jan 25, 1467

Cap. Slap of the Maidens Blade.

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I lower the spyglass down to my shirt and vigorously clean the lens. I put it back up to my eye and still nothing. Damn merchant... he said this glass could see through the fog! If I ever see him again, we'll see if he's interested in a Pistol that shoots through lying rats.

Before we left port today, The Order Of Souls was having a seance on the beach. 4 of em in a circle around a campfire humming and chanting in inhuman tones. "The fog masks a far greater evil than can be found in the daylight." I hear in an almost hissing voice. I didn't notice but they all stopped what they were doing to stare at us as we passed by. "Careful Sailor." said Ulma. "Your mark beckons to them." and she points to my hand. That wouldn't have been so bad but, she was holding one of those ritual skulls, and they're just creepy. It wasn't until the fog swallowed up the port as we left that her words really started to sink in... a far greater evil. I looked at my hand where the black mark was and I could feel something dark calling to me.

The Blade is cutting through fog with ease, but shes taking her time as one should in the fog. Bob is at the helm and I'm calling out orders from the bow of the ship. We pass a small Atoll, slowing down and scanning the shoreline for supplies I walk back to Bob.

"Aye, Bobbo. Hows the new guy working out?" I ask.

"Eh, he's fine.. got a ways to go to get his sea legs." Bob responds.

"You think he's got the Plague?" I say.

"WHAT?! I thought you checked him?!" says Bob with a hushed shout.

Jay, the new guy is up front shuffling around storage crates and keeping an eye on the harpoons. He steps to the rail on the starboard side as if he sees something.

"Aye, Cap. A sloop, on the North side of the islands. Looks like shes run into the rocks." Jay interrupts.

Bob and I both look over, and sure enough a sloop with a massive hole punched in her gut taking on water. I tell Bob to circle the island, Jay and I are going to take a look. The fog silences the world in an eerie way, but amplifies the slightest sounds. As Jay and I row over to the sloop all we can hear is the bell on her mast. Ding Ding. Ding Ding. in perfect sync with the waves. 50 meters out and we can hear that damn bell like it's in our very lap. Ding Ding.

"Keep your wits about you Jay.. Somethings not right here." I say as we dock the rowboat to the back of the beached sloop.

Guns drawn we carefully make our way through the sloop, and the girl is empty of all life. Ding Ding. Going through the supplies is a different story though. Completely full, as if this crew was to be on the sea for months. I instruct Jay to start loading up the rowboat as I check the top deck. I notice the bell hasn't rung in a while. I up the stairs and I see a man standing there hand on the ringer. He wasn't there a second ago, I think to myself. I call out to him and get a slow response. He turns to me revealing his disemboweled guts and half his face missing showing most of his skull.

"You shouldn't have come here." They say with an unholy rasp. "The seas belong to the dead today..." Their expression quickly turns to anger and they lunge at me. Gun still drawn, I level it and pull the trigger. The explosion from the pistol and the sound of their body crashing to the deck are amplified in the fog. Jay hurries topside with blunder drawn and sees the remains of the man. He instantly hurls up the contents of his stomach, and makes for the rowboat. We get row back to the Blade, find Bob and tell him what happened. He immediately wraps a bandanna around his mouth and mutters about the plague as he takes the Blade into open water.

I wish I could say that was the last ship we found abandoned, but sadly there were many more. Sloops. Brigs. All drifting about the Sea as if their crew up and vanished. Eerie would have been putting it lightly, and the fog didn't help. Somehow experience shined through no doubt aided heavily by lady luck. We managed to find our destination along with a Reapers haul of loot. The fog kept us on the water all night as we decided it was safer to stay on the boat than to try and find land. We raised sails and dropped anchor and we tried to get some sleep.

Sleep was hard to come by this night as like I said before the fog echoed the slightest sounds of the night. As I begin to drift off I hear it again... Ding Ding. Ding Ding. That damn bell. Determined to silence it I head topside to throw that damn thing into the sea. I grab the bell, yank it off the mast with the anger of 7 hells and toss it into the foggy night. Not a sound is made, from the bell or the water. Curious I look over the edge to make sure we're not accidentally flying, and I see something I've only heard stories about. The eerie green glow below the surface lights up the horrors trapped beneath the water. Hundreds if not thousands, of skeletons, souls, and demons swirling around reaching for the surface. It's as if a portal to hell has opened up below the water and the souls of the damned are desperately trying to find a way into our world. The dead lock eyes with me and one by one they stop what they're doing and look up to me.

For a brief moment I can hear all of them calling to me. The call becomes stronger as I start to straddle the railing and climb the ladder down to the water. Right as I'm about to let go a large, powerful hand grabs me by the collar and pulls me back on deck.

"NO!" I shout. "Let me go! It's the only way..."

I catch hands to the face and it brings me back to reality. Yeah that hurt, but not more than the spot on my hand burns with an intense fire. I look at the mark and see it is glowing green. Rolling over on the deck of the ship I can tell we're moving. I see Bob out cold on the deck too, a green glow emanating from his mark as well. I look up to the Helm to see Jay piloting the Blade.

"We gotta go Cap." Mutters Jay. "The dead want you for something... but I don't intend to be around to find out what. We're heading back to port to see Ulma about your hand."

The searing pain from the mark spikes my adrenaline so much that my vision blurs, then fades to black. The last thing I hear is my head hitting the deck... and that damn bell.

Ding. Ding.

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TL;DR IRL: Dunno if anyone got on Friday night the 25th, but the servers were having some troubles. Me crew finally got in a server and we saw plenty of boats, but not a single crew on any of them. It was really eerie experience, Literally just abandoned boats floating around everywhere. Fun tho... We killed it treasure hunting and had a blast none-the-less.

Thanks for reading my stories and you can find me on the seas - GT: Slaptac.

Shoot me an invite anytime and lets adventure!

Previous stories:

• Vol.1 Booty
• Vol.2 Flying Dutchman
• Vol.3 Fishing
• Vol.4 9/10 robbery
• Vol.5 Reapers Bounty