I had raised my reaper emissary flag on my sloop, The Naughty Poodle, and was ready to do Flameheart's will. I was almost at grade V, and was readying myself to show those trading companies who owns the seas, when I noticed that there was a quest for the siren skull. Thinking that the chest and key would bring by emissary flag value up to V, I set out to acquire both. I picked up the key without a hitch, and took what I assumed would be a short delay to retrieve a reaper's bounty from a shipwreck. There was some nearby fog, but I trusted in the power of Flameheart to protect my ship. However, Flameheart must have been rather displeased with me for some reason, since when I returned to the surface, I found another sloop sending my ship down to the shipwreck I had come from.
I climbed up their ladder as fast as a desperate reaper, and found that there were two of them. I fought like a true reaper, attacking the pirate manning the cannon, who was the more vulnerable of the two. Alas, his comrade had recovered his wits, and sent me to the ferry with a blunderbuss, after my throwing knife flew just a little too high.
My ship may have been scuttled, my emissary flag lost, and my key stolen, but I still had one thing left: a plan. I intended to retrieve the chest, then take the key from my adversaries. However, as I was dueling my opponents, I found that I could not get an advantage over them. I decided to do what I do best, and try to outwit, rather than outfight, my opponent.
I sailed to a nearby fortress, hoping to acquire a gunpowder barrel, by which I might sink the opposing sloop. Unfortunately, an inconvenient rock forced me to adjust my course, bringing me too far away from the tower I intended to search. In a risky gamble, I abandoned my ship, and made my way up a different tower, hoping that I could acquire a gunpowder barrel, and that my opponents would be foolish enough to pass close to the tower. While I did find a gunpowder barrel, my opponents kept their distance, firing on my sloop from afar, and I lost my ship a second time.
My opponents now had the skull of siren song, and were heading to the turn in island. I returned to the fort for a gunpowder barrel as they fled (I still needed a decisive advantage), thinking that I could outpace them. While I could have outpaced them in normal circumstances, I found that the seas had turned against me. There was a storm between ourselves and the island. If they chose to turn and fight in the storm, I would have no chance of winning, as I would be too busy trying to keep the wheel straight, a disadvantage they did not have, since they were a duo sloop. As a result, I was forced to follow them indirectly, and could only watch helplessly as they approached the island ahead of me. However, all was not lost, as another sloop had decided to wait at the island, giving me one last glimmer of hope.
To my delight, the two sloops clashed, giving me time to sail to the island. I sent my ship to circle the island, ensuring that it would pass by the sloop with the skull. I hoped that, for at least a few minutes, my adversaries would think I was still in it. I also hoped to scare them into moving the skull, as I knew they would not try to defend their sloop if they thought two ships were attacking them. Meanwhile, I laid in wait with four blunderbombs and a firebomb, hoping to disorient and damage whoever came by, before finishing them off with my throwing knives.
Sure enough, my opponents brought the skull onto the island. I had hoped to find Captain Briggsy before my opponents did, and lay a trap. However, one of my opponents (the other must have perished to the second crew), who was carrying the skull, found me instead. It was the same pirate who had defeated me before, and I was determined not to make the same mistake twice. Instead of rushing at me with his blunderbuss, he tried to dodge both my knives and some pursing skeletons, firing at me quickly from a moderate range. This time, I did not miss the deciding blow.
I raced around, desperately trying to find Briggsy. A pirate from the second crew found me first. Fortunately, I managed to dispatch him with the skull a moment before he would have dispatched me with his trident. I finally found Briggsy (I had been running around her in circles), and triumphantly handed in the skull. With the power of Flameheart, I had achieved victory the reaper way: engaging in fights that put me at an advantage, and using other pirates treasure to further my own ambitions. Unfortunately, the goodwill of Flameheart did not extend to my ship, which had sunk once more. Fortunately, the ship belonging to my initial opponents had joined mine in a watery grave.
I attempted to serenade my way onto the remaining sloop, now that all the treasure seemed to be gone. However, my first opponents had left some treasure behind, which the members of the remaining sloop were more than happy to shoot at me for. Naturally, there was the additional fact that I had sent one of them to the ferry. I wanted to see if their ship would hold together longer than my own, and snuck onto their boarding ladder as they were preparing to sail away. I hoped (correctly) that they would mistake the sound of my boarding for the sound of their anchor raising, or water splashing against the hull of their ship. In the true spirit of Flameheart, I had commandeered another ship (despite the fact that I had no control over where it was going), recruited a crew (who would shoot me just as soon as they would look at me, like true pirates), and waited to see what opportunities would arise.
We sailed to a skeleton fleet world event, and I fervently hoped that the skeleton ship would not appear on the side of the ship I was on. However, Flameheart must have been displeased that I had not attacked them, as that is exactly what happened. I was (literally) blown away, and attempted to sneak back onto one of the ships circling around, determined to continue my hitchhiking crusade. I managed to board the skeleton ship, and was forced to take refuge in the bottom deck, once the pirates prepared to bombard the side I was on.
One of the pirates boarded the skeleton ship as well, and started to attack me with a cutlass. I attempted to declare a truce, but I pressed the wrong button on my chat wheel. I attempted to exit the chat wheel and defend myself, but I pressed the wrong buttons once again, and my hitchhiking crusade was cut short.
In conclusion, when Flameheart returns, I humbly request that he conjure up a shipwright, as I feel that some of us reapers tire of having to crawl to the outposts, and fill the coffers of our adversaries every time we want to repair our vessels. My vessel currently resembles swiss cheese with a sail, much to the probable delight of those greedy trading companies.
P.S. On an honest note, this was probably one of the most interesting Sea of Thieves adventures I have had.
