Ghostly Encounters (Lore)

Captain Cromwell was a decent man and able sailor. He’d spent most of his life transporting cargo back and forth from Europe to the wild waters of the Caribbean. As Cromwell worked his way through life, he watched as others adopted a life of piracy and seemingly overnight acquire fortune and fame. Cromwell struggled with thoughts of piracy to cover his mounting debts but, never considered it until one fateful night.

Cromwell was on his way to the Caribbean with another cargo – a single crate – he’d been sworn to deliver in secret. One night at sea the good captain grew curious so he made his way down to the ship’s hold and forced the crate open. What he found inside would change his life, forever. For inside the crate was a jeweled box filled with a king’s ransom in gold! At that very moment, Cromwell swore himself to piracy and set a course for Padres del Fuego to plot his next crime.

The next day when the box of gold did not arrive in Port Royal, the Navy sent two warships to bring Cromwell and his crew to justice. What Cromwell didn’t know was the gold was meant to free an innocent man named John Moses, from the hangman’s noose. When the gold never arrived John Moses was hung. Now Captain Cromwell’s soul is cursed to roam the earth, never having peace, until he gives away all the gold he stole to people ‘worthy’ of it.

Constance Sorrow haunts the beaches and swamps of Tortuga. Before her untimely death, she was known as Constance Moses – the widow of Innocent John. Months after they married, John was snatched away in the middle of the night after being falsely accused of stealing a neighbor’s livestock. Constance was beside herself with grief and pled with the Navy men and town Mayor to free John – but her pleas fell on deaf ears. The crooked men that held John did mention that, for a price, the charges against her husband could be dropped.

Constance remembered John’s Aunt in England had some wealth, so Constance wrote to her for help. The Aunt wrote back that she would “sell her inheritance for her nephew’s release.” Constance was relieved and waited for the ransom to arrive, but when she learned the gold had been stolen, Constance fell ill. Innocent John, as he would come to be known, died by the hangman’s noose shortly after. Captain Cromwell was convicted and hung for stealing the gold but Constance never recovered from the loss of her husband and died of a broken heart. But that wasn’t the end of it. Jolly Roger reanimated John Moses and he now serves in the Undead Army. Still haunted by these events Constance now roams the earth, looking for brave Pirates to defeat Jolly so she and John can be together and rest in peace for all eternity. Because of her constant grief, the townsfolk gave her ghost the name – Constance Sorrow.

Old Soot was the nickname given to Phillip Stallworth. Phillip was known far and wide as an excellent cannoneer and expert ammunitions man. But as the years wore on, the constant exposure to firearms and explosions had a harsh affect on Phil’s mind, which would wander as Phil talked for hours about the insignificant details of cannons. Phil signed on to sail with Captain Cromwell just a year before they both lost their lives. Phil never liked Cromwell much but cared for the Captain’s cannons like they were Phil’s children. After a few months aboard, his shipmates noticed that Phil never washed the cannon soot off his face so they took to calling him, Old Soot.

Old Soot and Captain Cromwell never got on very well and one day as they argued a pair of Navy warships appeared on the horizon. Cromwell commanded they fire on the Navy vessels but Old Soot refused. Cromwell then commanded his first mate execute the order, but the cannons were Phil’s to fire. He angrily accepted the order, rather than have anyone fire his precious guns. In the commotion a chain shot meant to disable one of the Navy warships was tangled around Phil’s leg. In the heat of battle, the chain shot was fired – and Old Soot was sent flying into the water, carrying him to Davy Jones locker. In the afterlife, Jolly Roger tried to enlist Soot into his Undead Army, but legend has it, he was so daft and chatty that Jolly couldn’t stand him and sent Sooty back to haunt the living. Now Old Soot wanders land and sea in limbo, looking for Captain Cromwell and talking the ears off anyone who might listen to his tales.