Editing The Devil's Due (section)

=The Setup=

The Western isles of Creation are a lush paradise of tropical forests, crystal blue seas, and seemingly endless strands of white sand beaches. Their people are bold and strong- they dare to plunder the unforgiving sea for the richness of its bounty and emerge from the foam with treasures of pearl and scale. But there is one name that strikes fear into the hearts of men, from the bravest warrior to the richest pirate prince. It is a name only whispered in darkness, a tale told around driftwood fires to rob children of their sleep.<br>

''“The Reaver.”''<br>

Five years ago, the phantom ship ''Risen Hunger'' was first sighted by a Realm trireme investigating the bloody ruins of a Ragara sugarcane plantation. Later that year, a dead man was found floating in the harbor of Azure. Nailed to the broken remains of a ship’s prow like a grotesque figurehead, his cold, bloated lips spoke in hushed whispers of a reckoning to come, of a Reaver who would reap the souls of men like wheat before the scythe.<br>

All over the West, dark rumors grew and festered. Ships sunk in seas red with the blood of their crews, entire towns dead of black rot in the span of days- one after another, tales flooded in of acts of savagery too obscene or eerie to have been committed by the hand of man. One and all, each bore the Reaver’s stamp sealed in blood and fire. <br>

They say that the captain of the ''Hunger'' is a giant of a man with corpse-grey skin and eyes as black as the Void. They say that he has a wife that he keeps locked away deep beneath the waves, and that her cries on their wedding night could be heard as far away as the Blessed Isle. They say the Reaver preys upon his own crew, that he must raid for damned souls to replace those who have fallen to his hunger. Whatever the truth, it is fact that the Reaver’s depredations have fallen upon prince and pauper alike, and that no one, not even the dark nation of Skullstone, has been spared his wrath.<br>

Since the Reaver appeared, many have attempted to bring him down, to stop him. All have failed. Not one week ago, one of the wealthiest men in Coral - a Guild factor known as Lock-and-Key - placed an unprecedented prize on the Reaver’s head. In place of the promises of jade that have thus far failed, Lock has offered the location of an ancient pleasure palace of the Anathema to the first to present him with the Reaver’s head on a silver dish. The best pirates and privateers in Coral are abuzz at this news. The youngest and brashest boast of their prowess and buy elaborate platters in anticipation of victory, while the oldest and wisest shake their heads, their feet firmly planted on solid soil.<br>

So far, the only ship in port that truly has a chance of victory in this deadly competition is yours. Home to a circle of powerful Exalted, you have all jumped on this chance to put an end to the spectre that plagues the nightmares of the West...and to win a prize worthy of your station. Word has just reached Coral of another attack, this time targeting a black jade mine tended by reclusive and peaceful People of the Sea. Heavy and slow with jade and sated with blood, the ''Hunger'' must still be close to the site of its latest atrocity...<br>