Voyage Through the Devil's Wake

The towering silhouette of the Mè Zéklé looms over the port, her white wooden hull gleaming faintly under the dim morning light. A massive ship, crafted from the finest timber and adorned with a figurehead carved in the likeness of an elderly woman, she seems as ancient and wise as the sea itself. Captain Antoine de Tanpèt stands proudly at the bow, bidding farewell to his young daughter, a look of fierce determination in his eyes as he promises her a better life.

Below deck, Longshanks - the towering, tattooed Quartermaster - stocks up on every supply he can fit, his massive frame moving deftly as he barks orders to the crew. Chops, the superstitious Surgeon, checks the rum supply, muttering a prayer under his breath. Lynne, the Navigator, sits quietly at the stern, carefully penning a letter to her father, vowing to return with the treasure that will finally repay her debts - ensuring it reaches him before they leave port. Around them, the crew buzzes with anticipation and unease: Tigger, the two-wooden-legged lookout with arms like oak trees; Ropes, the scarred rope master; Cook, the ever-grumbling chef; and Crab, a gibberish-spouting gunner with wonky legs. A slim, smirking man stands apart from the rest, Two-Finger, the Captain’s shifty First Mate, his eyes sharp and calculating, full of secrets.

As the ship pulls away from Port Blackwater, the Captain addresses the crew, demanding discipline and respect for the mission ahead. Low morale quickly becomes apparent, and Two-Finger, ever watchful, whispers rumours of laziness and dissent to the Captain. Following protocol, Captain Antoine orders Longshanks to whip the crew into shape, reinforcing the discipline that has made the Mè Zéklé feared and respected.

Hours after leaving port, a dense fog settles in. Lynne navigates by the stars, keeping them on course. But in the distance, Tigger spots the shadow of a ship trailing them - a silent, ominous pursuer. The Captain commands the crew to increase speed as a storm brews, waves crashing against the hull. Chops, sensing an unnatural energy in the air, mutters about curses from beyond the veil of reality. As they near the legendary Maw of the Damned, jagged rocks jut up from the sea like teeth waiting to devour the unwary. Suddenly, Lynne’s map begins to glow, the stars aligning above it to reveal a haunting message: “When the sky turns red, and waves won’t settle, the Maw will lead to the Isle of the Devil.” At that very moment, the sky deepens into an eerie red as a blood moon rises, illuminating the storm-tossed seas. With unwavering focus, Lynne steers the ship through the maw, as the world around them twists and shifts.

On the other side of the Maw, the sea feels strangely different, thick and heavy, as if they’ve entered another realm entirely. The sky is a void, void of stars save one bright point hanging directly above what must be Devil’s Isle. Captain Antoine offers the crew a choice to abandon the mission, and with trepidation, a third of them climb into the emergency boats, rowing back toward the maw, leaving the rest to press onward. As the ship sails forward, the water begins to shift to an unnatural blue-green hue, spreading like a stain around the hull. Suddenly, a massive tendril slithers up the side of the ship, and Jynx, Longshanks’s loyal monkey, rings his bell furiously, alerting the crew to the monstrous threat. Two enormous, jellyfish-like creatures emerge, their translucent bodies shimmering as tendrils reach for anything in their path.

Longshanks orders the cannons prepared, waiting for the Captain’s command - but as Antoine gives the command to FIRE, a tendril wraps around him, yanking him overboard and out of sight. The Captain’s hat drifts back down onto the deck, the only sign of him left. The crew stands in stunned silence as Chops, in a frantic attempt to ward off the evil surrounding them, begins painting strange symbols on his arms and face. Lynne fires a well-aimed shot, severing a tendril that was dragging Ropes to his doom. Chops, now donning the Captain’s hat, hacks through the remaining tendrils, forcing the creature to retreat. Ropes’s leg is badly wounded, with a strange glow pulsing through his veins. Chops faces a decision: assume leadership as the new Captain, or attend to Ropes’s injury. Opting to save Ropes, he quickly realises the only solution is drastic - removing the infected crewman from the ship. Longshanks, ever the disciplinarian, offers Ropes a choice between the pain of life or the peace of death. With grim acceptance, Ropes chooses the latter.

More horrors await as a massive sea serpent begins circling the ship. Thinking quickly, Lynne throws over all their meat stores to distract it, buying them time. Two-Finger, feeling his control slipping as the crew defies him, retreats to the Captain’s quarters in paranoid frustration, consulting with a mysterious man named Goldie, who emerges from the shadows with a golden smile as brilliant as the gold they seek. As they approach the island, Lynne realises it’s moving toward them with alarming speed. She expertly manoeuvres the ship to match its pace, but before they can anchor, Goldie begins marking the crew with strange symbols, claiming they offer protection from the island’s curse. Chops, offering his own symbols of protection, finds the crew divided. The Captain’s last command echoes in their minds: they must bring back all the treasure.

They approach the cliffs of Devil’s Isle, finding that the island is teeming with strange, foreboding life. As they prepare landing gear, the pursuing ship closes in, cannons at the ready. Led by Chops, the landing party pushes inland, through dense jungle and bizarre creatures. A fierce encounter with a moss-covered jaguar ends tragically for Longshanks, who misjudges a thrown lantern that explodes, engulfing him in flames. Jynx, his loyal monkey, narrowly escapes, his tiny form disappearing into the trees. Pressing forward, they come upon an ancient stone idol with an embedded gemstone, depicting people in ritual, hands joined around a sacred gem. One of Goldie’s marked men, Jerry, pries the gem loose, and as they move into an overgrown village, they notice strange carvings - amongst the carvings scattered around stands a figure with a golden smile. At the centre of the village, they find a cavernous pit leading to an oasis below.

Descending further, they navigate tight spaces and treacherous drops. Chops, in a moment of misjudgment, loses his hand to a contracting wall, but the pain only steels his resolve. At last, they reach a treasure chamber, with gold piled high and, at the heart, a massive glowing red gemstone embedded in the wall. Reluctantly, with the Captain’s words ringing in their minds, they pull it free, unleashing a piercing wail as the room falls cold. Arguments erupt over the treasure as loyalty fractures. Some of Goldie’s followers turn on Lynne and Chops, leading to a deadly skirmish. Lynne’s shot rings out, striking one, while Chops hurls the other into a bottomless pit. Outside, the island decays, the vibrant greenery withering to ash. Ghostly figures rise from the earth, their eyes fixed on the gemstone. Chops raises his cleaver, inscribed with his protective mark, and splits the gem in two, enraging the spirits with each strike.

Returning to the ship, they find it embroiled in civil war, the crew torn between loyalties. Blood smears the deck and the windows of the Captain’s quarters, where a golden glow pulses ominously. Chops tries carving his mark into the gemstone, invoking his own power, but as he does, a shadowy figure with golden fingers begins to emerge. Jynx scrambles to swap the cleaver with the smaller gemstone, retrieved from Jerry’s body, allowing Chops to complete the mark. One by one, Goldie’s marked men scream as their skin burns, the cursed mark consuming them. The glow from the Captain’s quarters dies, revealing a horrific scene of blood and entrails. The rotting mass pulses, a monstrous creation of torn limbs and agony.

As the island sinks, the ocean fills with ghostly apparitions, reaching for the ship. Lynne and Chops cast the gemstone overboard, watching it dissolve into the water like a cursed bath bomb. But peace is short-lived as the horizon rises, and a whirlpool forms, pulling them down - centred on where the gem had been abandoned. Lynne, desperately clinging to the helm, angles the ship skyward, cannonballs and fire tearing through the chaos below. Chops and a select group of strapping, young, handsome men carefully manoeuvre one of the remaining cannons onto deck. A cannon blast into the Captain’s Quarters reveals a towering feminine figure, her hand reaching from the depths, her voice a haunting siren song of freedom and despair. The crew falls under its spell, each hearing their deepest longing. Chops, overcome, slips overboard, swimming into the darkness, lost forever.

As Lynne struggles to save the remaining crew, a distant light appears - the lamp of those left behind. Racing toward it, the storm and sea fight to consume them, black crabs swarming the deck. Lynne sets fire to the ship, casting the gemstone into the sea, and the giant’s hand releases them at last.

Battered and broken, they row back through the Maw to Port Blackwater. But the town is empty, overgrown with death and decay. Lynne rushes to her father’s house, and finds an upsetting emptiness - a thin layer of dust and ash coats the entire house. Lynne leaves a pile of treasure for her father, repaying her debt, and rows away, her hope faded. As weeks drag on, with no sign of a living soul, she raises her pistol, her journey ending beneath a sky where the stars blink out one by one, leaving only darkness.