Some days you just want to cruise the open water, soak up the sun and breathe in the fresh sea air. Well today was one of those days. We were in no rush, stopping at the odd island to complete a quest, only cashing in if an Outpost was on route. Life was good!
As I looked aimlessly at the crisp blue sky I could see clouds forming in the distance, one in particularly caught my eye. This cloud formed into the shape of a skull and the eyes glowed bright green. We all stared at it for a short time before deciding to sail over to check it out. Little did we know, our cruisy day was about to take a sharp turn.
The skull was above Shark Fin Camp in The Wilds; a dark, unforgiving region of the world. As we approached the camp we could see two sloops locked in battle with a galleon. And by the time we’d made it to the camp both sloops had been sunk leaving us to take on the galleon ourselves.
Both ships were crewed by seasoned pirates and the battle was long. The two sloops returned to state their claim but were sent to the depths with ease, but unfortunately we were not far behind them.
We licked our wounds, regrouped and, after obtaining a new ship, headed back to the fort. On returning a second galleon had arrived and was trading blows with the first. The sloops had also returned and all hell was unfolding all around us. Even though all the ships were locked in battle, occasionally crew members from each ship would go ashore and tackle the waves of skeletons streaming out of the main building.
Eventually the sound of cannon fire ceased and the smoke began to clear. We scouted the horizon and were relieved to see that we were the last ship still afloat. Knowing it wouldn’t be long before the ships started returning we started laying into the skellies. By the time the skellie captain showed up we could see ships approaching from the south. As the captain fell to his doom we knew there wasn’t enough time to load the booty so returned to our ship with the key and set sail.
The second galleon was the first to return and was soon hot on our tail. While we tried to come up with a strategy to shake them off our discussion was silenced by a loud ear piercing groan. We looked back to see the huge tentacles of the kraken emerging from the sea and wrap around the galleon. We turned our ship around and, while staying out of the krakens reach, opened fire on the ship. It wasn’t long before the ship was be dragged to the depths.
We didn’t have time to celebrate as the first galleon was coming into view and was giving chase. It wasn’t long before a sloop joined the chase and we knew it wouldn’t be easy to shake them both off. We worked tirelessly through the night not wanting the give the chasing ships any opportunity to close the gap.
By day break the sloop had lost interest but the galleon was still on our tail, however we’d managed to put more distance between them. Using the surrounding islands we managed to put even more distance between us to the point we could no longer see them. We decided to use this time wisely and headed to the nearest outpost. We gave our ship a new lick of paint and changed our sails.
We felt it would be good to lay low for a while, do some quests and restock our ship. During this time we never saw the galleon, it was nice to drop our guard for a bit and relax. Several days passed and many quest completed, then we got a quest taking us back to The Wilds. “Well since we’re heading that way we may as well grab the loot from the fort” I remember one of my crew saying. As the fort came into view, so did a silhouette of a galleon. Surely it’s just a ship questing in the area and not the same one that chased us. As it came into view we could confirm it was the same galleon, the first we encounter at the fort.
We decided to continue questing, occasionally sailing close to the fort to see their reaction. Each time they’d sail between us and the fort then turn their cannons on us. This went on for a few days before we decided enough was enough, if we want the loot we’re going to have to fight for it. We sailed over to Dagger Tooth Outpost to cash in the haul we’d accrued from our quests and then headed towards the fort.
As the two ships circled, we unloading volley after volley of cannonballs at each other. Crew members boarded each other’s ships to causing havoc on deck. We lost our rhythm and soon the water was flowing in faster than we could bail. As our ship started slipping below the surface we looked over to see their ship doing the same.
We started searching for the fort key but were interrupted by the other crew and the battle continued in the water. While dodging bullets, and sharks, we continued to look for the key. Then I heard @Pasha-Entreri “guys, I think …” I quickly cut him off so the other crew wouldn’t hear with “you have the squirrel?” A confused Pasha Entreri then replied with “sure yeah, I have the squirrel.”
We were close to Sunken Grove island so Pasha Entreri made his way there while the rest of us took care of the other crew. Not long after they were vanquished we too were heading to the Ferry of the Damned thanks to some hungry sharks. On arrival back to the land of the living we boarded our replacement ship and set sail for Sunken Grove where Pasha Entreri was hiding with the key squirrel.
While sailing to Sunken Grove a new skull cloud formed over the fort signalling the skellies had returned to defend their treasure. As we docked at the island to pick up Pasha Entreri and the squirrel, I looked towards the fort to see two galleons locked in battle. One was the first we had encountered but the other was new.
As we approached Shark Fin Camp both galleons began sinking, finally a bit of luck. Before bringing the squirrel ashore we scouted the island for any stragglers. I found a member of the new galleon hiding in a watchtower waiting for his crew to return. We offered a truce in exchange for some of the loot, the extra pair of hands would be useful when loading our ship. He agreed and with time ticking till the galleons returned, we needed to get things done quickly, I yelled to my crew “were good to go, get the squirrel in the hole!“
We all ran to the treasure room door and when it dropped open the skeleton cloud remained, along with the wave of skellies. We managed to get everything onto our ship just as the first galleon was coming into sight. We dropped sails and headed for Dagger Tooth Outpost along with our extra crew member. Hopefully our new friend’s crew would be able to catch up with us to help dispatch the chasing galleon.
As we pulled into Dagger Tooth we could our friend’s galleon in the distance but it was too far to aid us at the moment. We decided to do a quick drop off and three of the crew grabbed the highest value items (fort skull, fort chest & villainous skull). Our extra crewmate grabbed himself some exotic spices and we headed ashore to cash in. The chasing galleon fired some crew to intercept us but they were too late, we’d managed to deliver our loot before they arrived.
With just the one crewmate manning the ship we quickly headed to the nearby mermaid to return to our ship. As I was about to use the mermaid I stopped, what happened to our new friend and how do we get him back on our ship? As I turned round I saw him chatting to the other crew. I quickly hid in a bush to try’n hear what was going on. As there was no easy way for him to get back on our ship his crew decided to team up with the first galleon to hunt us down. I returned to my ship and informed my crew of the new alliance.
We decided to do another drive by drop off at Galleons Grave before heading south to Ancient Spire. With the two galleons now chasing us I looked over to the west to see a storm approaching. If we could keep the wind in our sails maybe, just maybe, we could get past the storm putting it between us and the galleons. The crew rushed to their roles, three on sails and one at the helm. We skimmed the front of the storm and then watched as it moved between us and our pursuers.
As we pulled into Ancient Spire and started unloading our haul, we kept one eye on the storm waiting for two ships to materialise. However, only one emerged. We presumed the other must have met their fate in the storm. With our loot now cashed in, and the pressure off, we decided to let our ship sail unmanned towards Plunder Outpost.
We headed up to The Unicorn for a well-deserved grog and watched as our ship sailed away. The remaining galleon continued to give chase but with no one at the helm, our ship started to veer off course. They were soon alongside and as they opened fire our ship sailed right into theirs. I’m not sure what actually went on over there but both ships ended up sinking. We couldn’t believe what was happening; did they just get sunk by an unmanned ship?
We celebrated well into the night as I don’t think any of us have ever had to work so hard to claim the rewards from a fort battle. This was one epic adventure that we’ll talk about for a long time and I still refer to the key as the squirrel occasionally.
Two of our crew decided it was time for a break but myself and Pasha Entreri started wondering if we had actually gathered everything. We grabbed a new ship and sailed back to Shark Fin Camp. The skull cloud was still active and the fort full of skellies. We headed straight to the treasure room and discovered we left a couple of trinkets behind. We grabbed them and sailed to Dagger Tooth to cash them in.
On arrival at the Outpost we noticed a galleon had arrived to take on the fort. We thought it would be fun to go and offer our help in taking down the skellies in return we’d only take a small cut of the treasure. Yes we laughed out loud saying this. Unfortunately as we approached the fort we were greeted by the galleon crew and told not to bother. Apparently there was an issue and the treasure room didn’t populate any loot. We both left in different direction but our ship was full of laughter as we knew the real reason the room was bare.
