Barbossa

Short summary: The Pirate state of Barbossa was founded by the Silver Captain. Originally settlers from the League of six provinces turned into pirate after an encounter with a mighty sea creature.

The full story

The Story of The Silver Captain and Barbossa

It all started a few months ago after the discovery of a new world was announced to the south. The League of Six Provinces decided it was in their best interest to assemble a host of ships with the finest men to lay claim to the resources of this new land. The leader of this fleet was no other than Sarlician Brewtaker, the feared and cunning admiral well known for his smooth talk and his bright blonde hair. A week after the order was given the fleet was ready to set sail and so it did. With the wind blowing in their sails and the people of the league celebrating their departure they began on this expedition for wealth and glory.

A week had passed and morale on board was dwindling. Food supplies were low which forced for strict rations to be implemented. Fights between the sailors became more frequent by the days and the raven’s kept returning to the ship. There was no land to be seen.

It was almost dusk when the news finally arrived at the admiral. Quartermaster Ernest Sigrun kicked open the door of the captain’s quarters and shouted: “LAND CAPTAIN’, BLOODY LAND!” Sarlician, filled with joy, jumped up from his seat knocking it over in the process. Together they sprinted towards the deck of the flag ship. Once there he grabbed his telescope and looked towards where the crew was pointing. The shape of a small island was visible on the horizon.

With even greater joy than a minute before he began screaming orders with a big smile on his face. “SET SAIL HARD STEERBOARD YA PIGGS, TONIGHT WE WILL FEAST AND GET DRUNK ON THE SHORES OF OUR PROMISED LAND!” The crew cheered hearing his orders and the fleet set course towards the island.

Judging it would take another hour or so before arriving at the island, the admiral decided to return to his quarters and document this historical event. He slammed open his journal and started writing with the fiercest energy he felt in years. Noticing the darkness thickening around him and the sun slowly getting eaten by the waves he lit the candle on his desk. After a few minutes he noticed something strange. The light of the candle started to dim; the little flame started to waver. Then it disappeared. Covered in darkness, he closed his journal and sat down quietly at his desk. The sound of the wind breezing through his window was the only thing left.

Suddenly screams disturbed the silence of the night. The ship began to swing dangerously to the sides and gunshots could be heard coming from the deck. The admiral quickly grabbed his swords and stormed outside his quarters. The hallway was empty, the lights were off, and it was death silent. With his sword still drawn he slowly made his way up the stairs. Once upstairs he looked around the corner to see what was happening on the deck. His men were scattered across the floor, none of them moving, almost like they were asleep of some sort. Filled with rage and disbelief he ran on to the open deck.

His running slowly turned into walking and after a few meters he stood stationary in the middle of the deck. All around him his crew was still laying on the ground without giving a single sign of life. In front of him there were huge purple tentacles crawling over the ship and holding it in its place. The admiral slowly turned his head to the right where the tentacles were coming from. A Kraken of monstrous proportions was looking at him. It had a dark purple skin with strange runic symbols running down on its tentacles. A huge purple eye was visible in the middle of its face. Shocked, the admiral stood there, filled with disbelief eye to eye with the biggest Kraken he had ever seen, his body unable to move. “Finally, you are here, what took you so long?” he heard in a weird demonic voice. “It does not matter; I finally got my minions thanks to you” it said before he could answer. “I do have a reward for you in particular, hihi.” The admiral suddenly got hit by a strange pressure moving through the air. Everything turns dark around him, and the sounds start to fade away. The last thing he sees before dropping to the ground is the ship getting dragged into the depth of the seas by the Kraken’s tentacles.

Water falling from great high, bashing its way through the rocks. It’s strangely hot, he feels the sweat dripping down from his head. He hears footsteps on the sand coming closer and closer. The admiral opens his eyes and sees the most beautiful cave he has ever seen. A waterfall coming down, a sandy beach with trees and his fleet tangled in vines and crashed into the stones of the earth. The crew members already started building houses and mining out the caves for shelter. As thirsty as he is he crawled towards the water of the pool near the waterfall. As he leans in to drink the water he suddenly stops. His face was pale, and his beautiful characteristic blonde hair had turned into silver.

Still confused about what happened he sat down on the sand thinking. “Ah you finally are awake captain” he heard the voice say. He stood up and looked around him, no one else seemed to have heard the voice. “I am no captain, '' he answered, “I am an admiral.” Suddenly he felt a spike of pain coming from his chest and he dropped down on his knees. “You are what I say you are, Captain” the voice answered. Too afraid to answer, Sarlician remained silent. “Now please, head to the waterfall and come meet me.” He quickly stood up, checked if anyone saw him and dived into the pool. The water from the waterfall was bashing down on the pool from great height making it hard to swim close. Yet a sailor of the league was trained in swimming starting from a young age. After a short swim he ended up behind the waterfall. He was out of sight from the beach and decided to climb on one of the few rocks that lay above the water level. The admiral stood up and while investigating his surroundings saw a strange concentration of vegetation. The entire stone wall was just rocking except this one little narrow area. He slowly walked over trying not to fall into the pond and wet himself again. There was a variety of vines and leaves covering something. He drew his sword and started cutting his way through the narrow passage. After a few meters, the vegetation started to lessen, and he ended up in a cave. Except this cave was not natural, it was made by humans. He saw a torch on the wall and decided to take it. With some flint he found on the cave's surface and a rag from his already withered shirt he lit the torch.” Almost there.... Hurry up you” the squeaking voice told him. Sarlician walked for a few more minutes through the cave until he entered a room. It was a cave area covered with vines and leaves. A few old and broken pillars were supporting the ceiling of the cave; it did not look stable at all. In the back of the room was a big old wooden door and in the middle of the room was a small, elevated platform. “Don’t be shy now, come closer” the voice said once more. The scared admiral slowly walked towards the platform. On it was an old stone shaped bin filled with clear water. From the roof a water drop fell into it every now and then. The sound of water dripping echoed through the whole cave as there were no other sounds disturbing it. Suddenly the voice appeared again, “Welcome Captain, to your new home. I see my spells already had their effects on you, but what was it that changed...? Oh, it is the hair! You are a lucky one” it giggled. “The other ones ended up less lucky.” Terrified Sarlician stood still and didn’t answer, he simply couldn’t so feared he was. The voice continued: “Shocked, are you? It does not matter; they all do at the beginning. You do not look so good Captain, is everything alright? It asked in a joking way. “It seems like you are not handling my poison that well, may I recommend drinking from the water in front of you?” It giggled once more. The still terrified admiral had enough of these games and kindly refused the offer. “No thank you, we have got enough rum back on the boat.” he jokingly answered. A sudden pain flashed through his chest once more and he dropped down back on his knees. “Are you playing games with me, you silly human? Do you even know who you are messing with?” the voice now louder and angrily reacted. “I am Sha’naskah, terror of the Windler Seas. And you minion needs to obey your commands!” it shouted. A strange force pushed Sarlician towards the stone bin. And the spikes of pain in his chest became more painful by the second. The admiral had no choice but to drink the water and accepted. A dark drop of fluid dropped down from the ceiling into the water. The water instantly turned into a black liquid substance and another strange force pushed Sarlician even closer to the water. Sarlician closed his eyes and took a sip from the water.

Pain shoots through his already bruised body. He falls down on the ground, his body twitching and shaking. Everything slowly turns black once more.

The admiral slowly regains consciousness, the water dripping down from the cave ceilings echoes once more through the room. He slowly opens his eyes and stands up from the cold cave floor. He does not feel any pain and quickly looks around him. The weird black liquid was gone, and the clear water had returned. Confused, Sarlician looked around him once more. “Welcome back, Captain” the voice said once more. This time it was louder, clearer, and demanding. “What was that all about?” Sarlician asked without hesitation or fear. “That was your submission to me, Captain.” the voice answered. Weird, this time he felt no fear. He did not feel anything. “What have you done to me?” he asked once more.

“Like I said, I made you mine. Now you finally do have the courage to reply to me do you, Captain? The voice said seductively. The words pounded inside the admiral's head, it felt so real, so loud and so …. commanding. “That is because we merged, silly Captain. You drank my fluid and now you are mine!” the voice continued. “The only side effect is that it takes away all of your feelings, but that's none of my concern of course. And don’t think about disobeying, now that we are merged, I can do way worse than those petty chest pains you experienced.”

“I have an order for you, Captain,” the voice continued. “You and your men are tasked to kill. It is your duty to sail the seas and kill as much as possible! Yes, kill for me, kill for me, kill for me!! Send them all to the depths of the ocean to feed my desire and power!” the voice said with great joy. “But what will I name you, I've had so many captains already. But you are special! With your cute little hair. Wait! I have got it! It said with great enthusiasm. I’ll call you The Silver Captain!”

Not that interested about his newly acquired name, Sarlician was still processing everything that had just happened. It only had been a few hours ago that he was on his ship setting course to an island in the distance.

“I see you fell silent. Oh well it is a lot to process” the voice said jokingly. “Now go and kill for me Silver Captain!” And do not return until you have covered the bottom of the ocean with the bodies of your species!

The voice went silent and the dripping of water coming down in the little pool once more filled the room. He slowly turned around and started walking towards the exit of the cave. He stops when he is a few meters from the opening. He looks to the left over his shoulder and asks: “What happened to the others?”

As no reply followed, he continued walking towards the cave. A few minutes later The Silver Captain reaches the waterfall. With no emotions or feelings, he carelessly jumps in the water and swims towards the sandy beach.

Once he reached the beach and stood on the sand a sudden breeze of wind came out of the tunnel he just left. He could distinguish the sound of the wind blowing and the subtle voice that answered his question.

“They failed me, Captain.”