"The Pirate Queen and the Seafury Buccaneers" (House Item)

Book Text
This book is titled "The Pirate Queen and the Seafury Buccaneers". It is the second book in the five part series starring the Pirate Queen as the hero.

The Pirate Queen Alta had sailed the five seas for nearly her whole life. Preying upon the few ships that dared to sail the violent oceans, her crew was comprised of the vilest of lowlifes and wretched scum. As long as there were ships filled to brim with gold and gems, she would be able to buy their loyalty long enough for her to complete her search.

No matter how many ships that were plundered, vessels that were raided, or schooners that were scuttled, it was never enough for her. Her heart was as cold as ice and there was but only one thing in the entire world that could warm it. No longer sailing the five seas for adventure and excitement, she visited port after port in search of one thing - the Rubicite Heart.

A gem as large as the head of an ogre, the Rubicite Heart was the only thing that the Pirate Queen desired. She had in her possession a book that told of HOW to find the fabled gem, but did not know WHERE to find it. That information was found on an old map no longer in her possession. The only thing she had to go on was a brief passage in the book mentioning a dark jungle island.

Since the oceans were littered with small islands and rock outcroppings, the Pirate Queen had hope that this jungle still might exist. Many seasons would pass as she and her motley crew would sail from island to island, always in search of foreboding trees. Throughout this time, no merchant vessel was safe from her predations. For these ships was her source of paying the endless stream of new deckhands.

As the legend of the Pirate Queen spread all throughout the world, she would begin to find that she would change from being the hunter and turn into the hunted. Pirates from all corners of the map would come looking for her, knowing that her holds were filled with unimaginable bounties. This, however, would not slow her down. If anything, it drove her to keep three sheets to the wind at all times.

Soon enough her luck would run out. One day the Painted Harpy rounded on a merchant vessel, just as it had done to countless others in the past. As her pirates boarded the deck of the newly captured ship, she saw that the sailors onboard were all former crewmembers she had once hired. Trusting her instincts, she ordered all of her man back onto the Harpy at once. But it was too late, for the trap had already been sprung.

At once all of the sailors aboard the merchant vessel dropped their disguises and revealed themselves to be Seafury Buccaneers. By the time all the Painted Harpy's pirates had returned to her deck, the Buccaneers had thrown grappling hooks over the railings, tying the ships together. A great battle on the deck would then ensure!

As the clash of steel on steel rang all over the two decks, many pirates and buccaneers would fall. The Pirate Captain herself slew over twenty men, ultimately engaging in battle with the Buccaneer captain himself. Using all the dirty tricks she could muster, she eventually defeated her formidable adversary.

By the time the battle over, the decks of the two ships were littered with the dead. As the survivors lay dying, she realized she was the only one to have walked away from the trap with only a few scratches. Cutting away the ropes that bound the ships together, she pulled away from merchant vessel and began to sail away.

During the time of the battle, both ships had veered off course enough to the point that the Pirate Queen no longer knew where she was. Her navigator lying dead on the deck was no help to her, either. As she began to despair, not knowing if she'd ever gain her bearings, she spied on the horizon an island she had never seen before - the humid jungles of the long lost Feerrott.