I fear the Captain is mad. She scattered Frederico's journal, shredding each page from its spine and casting them to the wind. The poor man, now bound, begged forgiveness, but she shouted over him, claiming he had tried to purposely conceal them from her, and they were full of lies, containing thoughts of mutiny and doubt in our voyage – and worse, she claimed it showed shortcomings in the provisioning of our voyage, and repeated attempts to prevent us from reaching Vitae Aeternum and its wealth.\n\nShe swore such lies would not be part of our history, and the chronicle was rife with lies and half-truths. I did not know whether to believe her… only that I knew I must put up appearances, or else I might face the same fate Frederico has.\n\nR. Velazquez

This letter is faded with age

Frederico's Punishment

…If Isabella had executed the Heretic, we would all be better off, but I fear to give voice to the thought. The crew is already uneasy at our predicament, but others fear what the Captain and her loyalists will do now that we are here. For now, it is easier to go along with her commands than challenge them.\n\nThe Heretic, in a small mercy, has been quiet since our arrival, and seems content to sit and weave rope from hemp on the isle – for what purpose I know not, but if it keeps him occupied and silent, so be it. I have ordered Álvaro and the others on watch to make sure he is secured each night – I do not trust him.\n\nIsabella still has sent no scouts in search of the missing ships and their crews. The Santiago, I am sure, sank beneath the waves, but the San Cristóbal I have more faith in: if anyone could have survived the storms, Keyes would. Perhaps her ship is still intact and can provide a way off this isle.\n\nR. Velazquez

Growing Unease

The men grow restless, and as much as I think more and more of flight, I still find myself trying to restore some measure of order. I think when I leave, “Captain” Isabella shall not be able to bring these men to heel as she has with her filthy prisoner.\n\nThere was unpleasantness with him today. I awoke to find Álvaro and the men had made a joke of the ropes the Heretic had been weaving from the hemp… they had looped a cord around his wrists and were leading him about, as if on a leash. Even the Heretic was chuckling at the antics, and seemed quite delighted by the attention. The men, however, seemed to be taking cruel sport in leading the man about, so I put an end to it.\n\nWhen it came to removing the rope from the Heretic, he suddenly spoke to Álvaro. “It's your turn to wear it now.” Álvaro laughed, shoved the man – but when the Heretic persisted, he struck the man, saying he would do no such thing. The Heretic looked confused at this and said most oddly, “It won't be your choice.”\n\nThe words angered Álvaro, who kicked his water bowl and what remained of the man's food into the muck, out of reach of where the man was lashed to the tree. I reprimanded him, but not as strongly as perhaps I should – as for the Heretic, I thought to burn the ropes he had made for good measure, but I could not bring myself to do so – the thought of even touching them seemed suddenly abhorrent to me.\n\nR. Velazquez

The Leash

My hand is shaking as I write this – I can scarcely believe it. We have been searching for a path to the Guardianes at the insistence of Isabella, but the isle has not been making it easy. Isabella – and strangely, the Heretic – have been accompanying us, as if they want to be the first to reach the Guardianes. I fear Isabella grows more and more frustrated as the isle blocks our progress.\n\nWhat happened the past day, however, has given me new fear of the isle. We were searching for a way south when the Heretic (who tripped on a rock) encountered a path concealed in the brush. We cleared it away, and found our way to a cove – unlike the shore we had departed, the cove had a chill about it, but we thought little of it. Night was approaching, and rather than risk a trek back in the dark, we decided to make camp.\n\nIt was when night fell that we noticed the lights… at first, we thought them perhaps mist, but they had form and a shape about them that resembled that of men – ghosts. Terrified, we fled the camp and were scattered in the forest. I spent the night hidden in a cut in the rock, and when dawn struck, I tried to make out what landmarks I could to find our way back to the camp.\n\nAlong the way, I ran into Captain Isabella and some of the patrol. Three were missing – I had been the fourth, and she lectured me quite angrily about running. I asked about the ghostly shapes we had seen in the dark. She insisted this was why we should remain together and avoid encountering others on the isle. She glanced at the Heretic, who said simply, “Sometimes those who die here do not come back in the flesh. Those are of the Santa María, but they did not claw to shore as we did – their spirits are now… adrift. The island is filled with such phantoms.”\n\nThe men grew pale at this. Captain Isabella said we would avoid the area and continue south. The men secretly have given the place a name: Costa de los Ahogados, and they whispered prayers for the crew who had perished there and hoped they would find their way back to God.\n\nR. Velazquez

Costa de los Ahogados

We came to two great statues on the shore. Isabella seemed angered at the sight of them, and the Heretic barely gave them a glance, as if he had seen many before. They are strange statues… possessing four arms, and cleft down the middle. Yet such a size they are! It must have taken many men to carve such figures, and the work of the craftsmen is fine indeed, for it is hard to see seams where the blocks of the statue were stacked, or even chiselmarks in the stone, if they used such tools. How they managed the spears the figures hold, I do not know, but such skill is impressive.\n\nWe searched the shore for a time – Isabella did seem to find what she sought, though I know not what that might be. Although the men were about to make camp, she told us we would march back that night and not sleep in the shadow of these “idols”. I thought I heard the Heretic chuckle at that, but it might have been my imagining. I long to strangle the man with his own chains.\n\nR. Velazquez

The Guardians

The Heretic was the one who suggested the execution, I'm sure of it. Perhaps he suggested it so that the Captain would not waste gunpowder, but no, I think the reason darker than that. The “mutineers” were brought forth. LaCuran was praying, Montes was apologizing to the Captain, begging for forgiveness. The others, including Álvaro, seemed resolved. Among the crew, we were silent, none of us wanted to join the men on their walk. When he realized his fate, Montes broke into tears.\n\nBy now, we'd known the rumor of the isle's power. Whether it was due to the Azoth or something else we did not know, but any who died on Aeternum seemed to have some divine chance to return, reborn upon the morrow (perhaps sooner). The ghosts of the bay were proof, we had seen it with our own eyes.\n\nAs ghastly as the scene was, it made me wonder if the execution was perhaps some sort of test of the isle's properties, not merely an execution. I thought again of what the madman had said to Álvaro… and I saw Álvaro realized the same.\n\nR. Velazquez

A Fitting Punishment

…the nine men were bound, but not executed… on the contrary, the Captain waited until all nine were secured, and then held her hand up. “There will be no execution this day,” she said – but not to the mutineers, although many of them sighed with relief at the stay of execution. “We will leave them to think upon their crimes and their loyalty and revisit them on the morrow to hear their confessions.”\n\nAnd so… the nine men were left, securely bound, such that escape was impossible. I thought to free them, as I'm sure did others – but Isabella's patience had already been tested, and there was no telling if she might turn on us as well.\n\nBut the Captain's order did not fill me with relief, it made me uneasy… why the change of heart when she had been so furious with them?\n\nAt dawn, I saw the truth of it.\n\nR. Velazquez

Stay of Execution

At dawn, we marched out to where we had left the nine men. They had survived the night, had barely slept, but they had fought against their restraints through the night.\n\nThe Captain, before the assembled soldiers, asked the men if they regretted their actions and repented the crime. She went through each in turn. Montes kept interrupting the others, and his apologies came so quick and fast she had to strike him to silence him.\n\nAs each repented, the Captain nodded… and the Heretic nodded, too, in her shadow. He had a feral grin, as if anticipating what was to come.\n\nAnd then the Captain struck out at each of the men, one by one… their faces frozen in shock at the suddenness of the attack, until the bodies fell still. Nine crewmen, dead.\n\nI asked if we should cut their restraints, and the Captain said no – glancing at the Heretic, who nodded. She said they must remain.\n\nR. Velazquez

Dawn Sentencing

I see the why of it now. In the morning, the men returned… their bodies still bound in the light of dawn. Aeternum granted them new life, for the Captain to once again snuff out.\n\nYet I knew this was not the Captain who conceived of this. I thought again of the Heretic, weaving the ropes in his tent, and now knowing the truth of the evil his hands wrought.\n\nHe had known this would happen. He had always known. He had woven some of his evil into those ropes, enough to damn the crewmen they would someday bind.\n\nIf the isle lends its voice to evil, it is that horrid figure, hunched in the dark. Though leashed like a dog and wearing irons upon his feet, he acts at the isle's behest. He is its servant. As the Captain is his.\n\nR. Velazquez

Eternal Restraint

We spotted a lighthouse in the distance, although it is not lit and is likely abandoned. Captain Isabella has ordered that we march for it, though not with the same fervor as the Guardianes, as if she knows it will not contain whatever she is searching for.\n\nAs with the statues, I wonder who built such structures – and where they live now.\n\nR. Velazquez

The Lighthouse

As we neared the lighthouse we saw that its design was strange. Captain Isabella believes it is a beacon that could signal others approaching the shores… it is encouraging to think that she believes we will not be alone. Perhaps if we find a way to light this beacon, we may be found easier by passing ships. The Captain said we would leave that act until we had explored more of the isle for ourselves, and only after we had secured the isle and made our claim clear, then it would serve to guide others to the shore should she allow it.\n\nThat night, the crew whispered that perhaps they should make use of this beacon if she would not… what they had seen in Costa de los Ahogados still haunted them, and they had no wish to remain and join the spirits if there might be an escape.\n\nI, too, share their fears. But I do not give voice to my thoughts. When I leave, I shall do so without telling anyone – but I must find a place where the Captain will find it difficult to track me first.\n\nR. Velazquez

First Light

We have made camp near the beacon. It is a curious structure, and it seems more like a great obelisk. Whatever fire it once held, if any, does not feel like it was for ships, yet I cannot explain why.\n\nWe have found many caves in the rock surrounding the beacon, and many skeletons as well. Each of them is well-preserved and their bones are intact, still held together into the shape of men, but how we do not know – but we are hesitant to disturb them lest it give them life like the spirits we saw earlier.\n\nR. Velazquez

First Light Camp

As if the shipwrecks were not enough, the caves at the beacon are further proof we were not the first to set foot on the isle. The other ships we saw upon the shore… it looks as if they sought out this “lighthouse” as we did, and stored some of their cargo here. We have found various ancient arms and armor – some unrecognizable, but others were clearly Roman swords and helmets – while another man came across what seemed a Viking shield at the base of one of the caves. Perhaps the statues and the lighthouse were made by these other crews.\n\nI fear, however, all the remains we found are just that: remains. And that these men were cast upon these shores as we were and never escaped.\n\nShall we also rest our helmets and spears here? Will that be all that will remain of our failed expedition?\n\nR. Velazquez

Caves Part 1

We explored some of the caves, but the chill we had felt in the Costa de los Ahogados was thick there, and we feared encountering the same spirits… or more ancient spirits of those who came before us. Captain Isabella got quite angry at this, even calling us weak, but finally relented after a brief word with the Heretic, who seemed to indicate what she sought must lie north of here, and that at least now we knew. I do not know what they seek, but I fear it will drive the Captain to do something rash.\n\nI asked about the crates of cargo – they might contain valuables, or even some clues to elsewhere on the isle. Captain Isabella said we would return for them when we had more of the crew, but the cargo was not of importance now.\n\nR. Velazquez

Caves Part 2

A land of great beauty and mystery where the forces of life and death are in eternal conflict

Chronicle of Ruiz Velazquez Chapter - NWGuide Database of Lore

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