Editing Campaign:Oceans Exalted/Captain Black (section)

=== Background ===
An old man eyes the shining bits of silver laid out on the smoke and beer stained table in front of him, toothless mouth grinning widely. He scoops them all into a pocket, takes a swig of the cheap wine his audience had bought him, and sighs in satisfaction. "So... ye want t'hear th'tale o' one'a th'West's most feared pirates, eh?" he wheezes at a pair of hard-eyed youths, fixing his single, rheumy eye on them with unnerving intensity. "Ye want t'hear th'tale... o'Captain Black?" Thunder crashes outside, drowning out his mad cackle.

"Aye, I'll tell ye all ye'll want t'know 'bout th'Devil o' Dark Seas, an' some more ye didn't." He chuckles again as the thunder rolls by the smoky tavern's roof. He takes a second pull. "He were born in Coral, he were... Born to a bitch of a mother who'd lost her husband t'th'sea. She were a beauty, aye, but cold an' distant an iceberg, and twice as 'arrrrd. She pushed th'boy away from th'sea, telling him it were dangerous, but brine ran in his veins, an' sails filled his ears. Ye couldn'a more kept him away from th'ocean than ye coulda tol' a shark not t'drag men t'their doom." He finishes with a burp.

"He grew int'a fine young man. Upstandin', born of noble blood, smart as a whip, an' possessed o' a natural talent fer leadin' men. But, he were a rogue at times. He followed his own whims an' heart, sailin' where he thought he could find booty an' glory." The old man waves the bottle about like a sword. "An' he found it! He led his men t'great vic'tries... an' doom." He thumps the bottle onto the table, his eye going distant and haunted. "Aye... led his men t'their graves..." He takes another, longer pull, nearly draining the bottle.

"He ran afoul of them Bonies. A whole fleet of 'em. His men quailed an' howled, but Black just shushed 'em all wit' his hand an' began barkin' orders. He tol' his helmsman t'turn around, make fer th'reefs of Stonesea. Silently, they turned, still unnoticed by th'fleet... But then Black climbs up ont'th'gunwale o'his ship and shouts a challenge t'th'Bonies! 'Come an' get me ye lubberly, slack-handed pack o'sharkbait!' He then unfurls his Jolly Roger an' lets it fly in th'wind! They turned, quiet as corpses, an' chased after him! He laughed th'whole way as a storm blew in, drenchin' th'decks. Some of th'Boney ships all but flew, usin' dark magics t'catch up with th'sleek little cutter, but they didn' know Stonesea like Black did, havin' grown up near them treacherous reefs. He let them chase him in, only to find their hulls split open on cruel rock. He dodged them like he was born to it. More of th'Boney's tried t'chase him in, but foundered on th'rocks as well, castin' their unholy crews int'th'drink..."

"Then... cruel fate struck it's blow, shoving a dagger int'th'captain's heart. A rock appeared from nowhere and burst th'hull, rippin' men an' planks open. The captain himself was thrown from his ship and impaled on th'rock. His blood ran down an' pooled... makin' ghastly shapes... All th'men aboard his ship died that day, save fer its captain, Black himself." He sighs and drains the bottle. "No one's sure how. Maybe he was just too tough t'take out that way. Maybe fate spared him. Some say, though, he made a pact with dark powers..." He looks up at the two young men, grim and ashen-faced. "I say he did. For no sooner did he peel himself off that rock and rip the flag from his ship did one of th'Boney ships came fer him..."

The old man coughs wetly and nudges the bottle away. "T'were rumours he was workin' fer th'Prince. More sayin' he gave th'Prince th'slip an' tool off on his own... None know fer sure. But they do know he became a beast afterward..." He snickers. "Yer wonderin' how I know this, aye?" His grin widens. "'Cause I were one o' his crew..."

Laughing, the old man disappears, as if he were never there.