Stories from the taverns, the quarterdeck and the beach. Rated in doubloons for believability.
Fiction. Legends, reports and most of the crew are invented. The ship and the shanty are real.
Told in every tavern from the galleon to the island
Calico Jack counts his treasure every night and always finds one doubloon missing. The legend says one coin from every haul ends up in Scarface’s boot, and that one day he will have enough to buy the island and evict the captain. Scarface denies everything, from inside a pair of noticeably heavy boots.
Verdict: His boots do clink. The Crew has decided not to ask.
Scarface himself, four different times
Version one: a hammock that snapped in a storm. Version two: a shark that wanted his biscuit. Version three: a kraken that wanted his biscuit more. Version four, told only once and very late: a pineapple, a slippery deck and a long fall. Fans have voted, and the pineapple wins every year.
Verdict: All four are in his journal. None of them agree. The pineapple is the best story.
Lookouts, and Lottie Spyglass in particular
Sailors say that at the moment the sun touches the sea, a flash of green light shows where treasure is buried. Calico Jack has spent years watching for it. Lottie Spyglass has seen it twice, and both times she pointed at the wrong island, on purpose.
Verdict: The green flash is real weather. Lottie’s aim is not to be trusted.
The galleon crew, whispering
Duchess once said “Scarface left it open!” in front of the whole crew. Calico Jack, the legend goes, laughed and said parrots say the funniest things. Scarface gave Duchess a cracker that night, and every night since.
Verdict: Bribery of a parrot is the oldest trick on the high seas.
Fans who miss Dead Man’s Chest
When the third chapter closed, the legend goes, the chest itself was rowed out past the reef and dropped where no diver could reach it, with its curse still inside. Sailors swear they hear it creak on still nights. Madame Coralie says the shells are quiet on the subject.
Verdict: The room is retired. The creaking is probably the galleon.
Islanders, and one very tired first mate
Islanders say the beach shanty went up overnight, as if by magic. Scarface’s journal records that it took him three weeks, two hammers and all of his patience, while the captain supervised from a deckchair.
Verdict: It was Scarface. It is always Scarface.
