Redmane stands on the treasure vessel’s quarterdeck with cutlass drawn and the master’s keys clenched in hand. Beneath her coat, one rib throbs where the musket butt struck.
Mateo brings her below through the crowded passage, leaving the privateer above to watch the captured sailors and keep their unease from becoming a scramble.
Mateo Vargas
The master’s keys opened the officers’ quarter, but not this hold. There is a second lock behind the casks.
He shifts three water casks aside and reveals a narrow iron plate set into the bulkhead. Redmane’s key turns; stale air exhales from the concealed compartment.
Inside lies a waxed route ledger, its pages naming hidden anchorages, trusted pilots, and supply agents along waters the convoy believed secure.
Mateo Vargas
This is worth more than the silver. With these names, we can provision beyond Tortuga and choose where the next convoy must fear us.
Above, boots shift and voices murmur under the privateer’s watch. Below, the ledger waits in the lamplight, offering a map of influence as dangerous as any broadside.
✓ Quest Accepted
Secure the waxed route ledger
✓ Quest Accepted
Discover the hidden harbor at the end of the route
+ New Item Acquired
Waxed route ledger
“Can Mateo guard the passage while I study the ledger?”
YES, BUT (VeryLikely, rolled 74)
Mateo Vargas
I will hold this passage. No one reaches you without crossing me, and no surrendered sailor leaves the upper deck without my word.
Mateo braces himself beside the concealed compartment, one hand near his sword as boots and murmurs pass above. Redmane lowers the route ledger into the lamplight and begins its careful study.
Captain Redmane
The ledger is written for use at sea, not display.
The entries yield hidden anchorages, trusted pilots, and supply agents arranged by tide and season. Each notation turns distant waters into provisions, refuge, and leverage for Ballantyne ships.
Then the sequence breaks. The ledger’s final leaves have been cleanly cut away, removing the concluding route and whatever master’s mark identified its destination.
Mateo Vargas
Someone wanted the last harbor hidden. The rest is still enough to carry us beyond Tortuga, but we will have to learn where this road ends.
Above, Mateo’s order holds the passage quiet. Below, Redmane has secured the ledger’s network, though its most valuable destination remains absent from the book.
“I order the capture of the entire convey and their crews while the privateer and I question the captured officers individually about the ledger's final destination.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Intrigue, rolled -1)
Captain Redmane
Capture the entire convoy and its crews. The privateer and I will question the officers individually about the ledger’s final destination.
Above, Mateo carries the order across every deck. The surrendered crews stack their weapons, lash the vessels together, and submit to Ballantyne custody while the privateer gathers the officers below.
The wanted poster slips from Redmane’s coat as she enters the officers’ passage, exposing her likeness and sharpening their suspicion. She pins it beneath the command ledger, then raises the master’s keys as proof that resistance is finished.
The Privateer
Master Rojas first. The others will hear his answer, then choose whether silence serves them better than a share and continued life.
Redmane questions Esteban alone, then the escort officer separately. Her Silver Tongue turns missing pages into a bargain, while Inspiring Presence keeps each man speaking beneath the privateer’s measured stare.
Esteban Rojas
The final destination is Puerto de las Sombras, beyond the western shoals. The ledger’s last leaves named its pilot and agents, but the harbor master kept the route secret.
The privateer confirms the account against the Admiralty chart. With every vessel secured, every crew surrendered, and the missing destination recovered, Redmane now holds the convoy and its next hidden harbor.
Quest Complete
Secure the waxed route ledger
Quest Complete
Discover the hidden harbor at the end of the route