[hr][hr][center][img]https://s13.postimg.cc/3lddc59l3/4d9298f4e71b2bcee91e183a71f8cdf3.png[/img][hr][img]https://s13.postimg.cc/879hkg5dz/image.gif[/img][hr][@Nallore][@mnkee][@BlueSky44][hr][h3][color=#0099cc][b]The Caribbean: April 9th, 1719 - 5:06 PM Local Time[/b][/color][/h3][/center][hr][hr]	[i]Once upon a time...[/i]

	There was a group of women, noble and strong, along with two rather deranged men. For one reason or another, these strangers happened to come together in Tortuga, the last true haven for pirates in the Caribbean Sea. Their purposes all differed drastically but it does not matter. They all shared a story in the end. This is the story of the Cursed Flask, a flask thought to give the wielder the power of the gods. 

	Yet it was more than just that. Those who drank from the flask could not contain the power and soon died as a result of their newfound powers. Just as few knew of its existence, even less knew how to safely use its power. Mr. Alucard, a grieving widow, had become obsessed with raising his wife Caroline from the dead after the flask claimed her life. The English wished to weaponize it. La Fraternité du Sang wished to rule with it. Yet none of them held the flask at the end. No, it was a prostitute or assassin (depending on the day) who received its power...who became the new host of Hecate. 

	Now if you think this is where our story ends, you are surely mistaken, for it has just begun. The strange events at Tortuga have brought stranger tides to the Caribbean, changing the world forever. Gods, magic, and monsters are not the stuff of legend - they are real and vibrant, powerful and deadly, merciful and cruel. This is but a chapter in a never ending tale of strange new waters. 

[center][youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Efu8CMyfgSA[/youtube][/center]

	[color=#0099cc][b][i]Sirena Ikaria:[/i][/b][/color] While the flask was destroyed, Sirena was not restored to life. She remained a spirit, adrift yet simultaneously chained to the island of Tortuga. By the year 1909, she had become famous as the Enchantress of Tortuga, rumored to be the ghost of a slain pirate cursed to forever walk the island. The best-selling graphic novel, [i]L'Enchanteresse de l'île de la Tortue[/i], is currently in talks to be produced by Walt Disney Studios in spring of 2019. There's a lot of speculation about who the Enchantress once was, with some suggesting that it could have been the lost Duchess of Albemarle, Harlianne James.  

	[color=#0099cc][b][i]Harlianne James:[/i][/b][/color] For a while, Captain James sailed with Aravis, Margot, Anastasia, and Elissa in her newest stolen vessel, [i]the Syren.[/i] Yet the others eventually moved on, leaving the Caribbean for new adventures. But the Caribbean was in her blood and Harlianne couldn't leave. Instead, she was offered a rare opportunity by the English government - a pardon. She was sanctioned to commit acts of piracy against the Spanish and the French. The alternative was to be executed. 

	[color=#0099cc][b][i]Aravis Zacharia:[/i][/b][/color] Aravis sailed [i]the Syren[/i] with the others, before she began yearning for a new adventure in the Americas. She convinced Elissa to go with her, with the two making their way to the Massachusetts colony. For a while, all was well as they traveled from colony to colony, having grand adventures together and living their best lives. Yet that changed when during inflamed tensions with the native tribes, Aravis was mistaken for a Native American and shot by a drunken colonist. She died from an infection in the wound. 

	[color=#0099cc][b][i]Édouard Riviere:[/i][/b][/color] Édouard remained in the Caribbean for a while, spending a fair amount of time in Havanna. La Fraternité du Sang had disintegrated, collapsing in on itself as a result of Margot's actions. Yet he was still rich and able to live with a certain amount of comfort and luxury. His engagement with Alice Blackwood was called off when his family lost their position of power and in late August, he was nearly murdered in his sleep. All rumors point towards Margot as having been the culprit. 

	[color=#0099cc][b][i]Virginia Crypt, Jean Waverly, and Alice Blackwood:[/i][/b][/color] This unlikely trio made their way back to Europe as soon as ships were available. With her parents deceased, Virginia's brother inherited the family fortune. James Crypt and Alice Blackwood had an unlikely romance, with their being rumors of something coming between Virginia and Jean as well. The four of them are currently off on holiday, doing what Virginia referred to as [i]the world's greatest tour of serial murders and atrocities[/i]. 

	[color=#0099cc][b][i]Margot Riviere:[/i][/b][/color] Margot never returned to France. Her goal hadn't been to gain power in La Fraternité du Sang, but rather to destroy it. With her power mad sister dead, Édouard refusing to leave the Caribbean, and her father's sudden turn of health for the worse, war broke out amongst the various families. The bloodshed continues still but there is no hope of it ever reorganizing to what it once was. As for Margot, she currently works as a mercenary, putting her unique skillset to use. She sleeps without trouble at night. 

	[color=#0099cc][b][i]Anastasia Ridgeway:[/i][/b][/color] After deciding to retire from piracy, Anastasia had booked passage for the New World. With every intention of starting a new life for herself, her pirate brand betrayed her. She was caught by an officer of the East India Trading Company and was sent to prison, where she is currently awaiting execution without trial. Whether or not she manages escape has yet to be seen, but she's Anna Nine Fingers. Anything is possible. 

	[color=#0099cc][b][i]Elissa Isley:[/i][/b][/color] Elissa remained with Aravis, Harlianne, and the others for a little while before heading with Aravis to the Americas. After Aravis' death, she began to make plans to return to Prussia in order to kill her father and exact her revenge. Along the way, she ended up falling in love with a Bulgarian sailor named Petrus. They're planning to murder her father together. True love, right? And to make matters more interesting, she's expecting twins. [hr][center][img]https://s13.postimg.cc/mqgmlvtdz/image.gif[/img][hr][h3][color=#0099cc][b]MI13 Academy: May 28th, 2018 - 9:41 A.M. Local Time[/b][/color][/h3][/center][hr]	Were you wondering what happened to Millicent, my dears? Do not be afraid. It is now time to see what happened to her next in our story. Back outside of the lecture hall at MI13 academy, back where Abney gave a lecture on deviances and the discovery of the wreck of the [i]Bellona[/i], along with the shattered fragments of the glass, sits two individuals in plain clothes. If they are not already familiar to you, they one day will be. 

	[url=https://78.media.tumblr.com/c33f5808f84a12049837e1e374c49183/tumblr_ozv3zr2Kh21qalttgo3_r2_400.gif]The shorter of the pair[/url] glanced up from the pages of a book, shutting it closed. [color=#8c42f4]"They don't have any information on it,"[/color] she explained. [color=#8c42f4]"Even if it was coded, I would know it...They can't hide things from me. You know this."[/color] She then paused, glancing upwards towards the other woman. [color=#8c42f4]"You do have a plan, right? After what happened to Hel...Even I couldn't reverse that."[/color]

	Yet none of this seemed to phase the second woman. Millicent's lips curled slightly as she smiled. She hadn't aged a day since the events in the Caribbean. [color=E97E99]"They are mere puppets, and I, the puppet master,"[/color] Millicent said slyly. She then reached into her pocket, pulling out an old ring. Its stone was missing. [color=E97E99]"That mortal had a knack for finding these treasures - it should only be that much easier for I, a goddess, to accomplish."[/color]

	[color=#8c42f4]"Right...Well, it's not in Odin's treasure room,"[/color] she replied, standing up from her seat. [color=#8c42f4]"The stones are scattered across the galaxy, the cosmos, maybe even the multiverse..."[/color]

	[color=E97E99]"It'll be all the more fun, then. I could use a challenge."[/color]
[hr][center][img]https://s13.postimg.cc/exuk7kkhj/giphy.gif[/img][hr][h3][color=#0099cc][b]Province of Carolina: September 28th, 1719 - 1:29 P.M. Local Time[/b][/color][/h3][/center][hr]	In the Province of Carolina, a newly inhabited home stood not too far from the center of a well to do town. Its occupants were the new surgeon in town, a peculiar man named Mr. Alucard, and his only daughter. While his daughter appeared to be the ideal woman for the era, a strong and healthy schoolteacher who had traveled the Caribbean and much of Europe, Mr. Alucard was a recluse. He was hardly ever seen by the towns folks, with some rumoring that he had been involved the trade and production of illicit substances. 

	But the truth is far stranger than fiction. 

	At the end of the winding halls of the home, Mr. Alucard worked furiously in his study. His first attempts at restoring his dear Caroline to life had been futile. They had caused what pirates were referring to as the Tortuga Paradox - an event where individuals were both dead and brought back to life within weeks. Only a relatively few individuals on Tortuga had actually perished, despite mass reports that they too had gone to their watery graves. 

	[i]"Tillater brukeren å stjele, kontrollere, manipulere og endre levende og døde sjeler. Soul Gem er også inngangsporten til et idyllisk lommunivers. Med fullt potensial, gir Soul Gem brukerkontrollen over alt liv i universet."[/i]

	Mr. Alucard's eyebrows furrowed. His trembling hands reached into his desk drawer, opening it to reveal nothingness. He then carefully removed the false bottom, only to reveal a glowing ring. "Sweet Caroline, I will see you again," Mr. Alucard whispered. He turned the ring over in his hand carefully three times, tears sliding down his face. He glanced at the text once more, reading the Norwegian words. 

	"I've found the Soul Gem, my dear," Mr. Alucard whispered. "With it, I can control all life in this universe...I can raise the dead." He then dropped the ring back into the false drawer, replacing its disguise. "Only five more to go..."
	
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