12. An Unexpected Adventure

My voyage began as a shopping trip by myself at Dagger Tooth Outpost. It ended on a Skeleton Throne atop Marauder's Arch. How did it come to this?

1. A Sovereign Snafu

I had already been playing Sea of Thieves all day, and it was time to get some mundane landlubber work done. The pillaging and plundering would have to continue tomorrow... 

Oh! But then I noticed this interesting question online posed by one Captain Chara: How much gold did your pirate's outfit cost? Intrigued, I logged into Sea of Thieves just to check on this. As you can see below, Jimi's outfit, haircut, and beard were all quite reasonable: a mere 31,425 gold.

Jimi's outfit is simple, inexpensive, and (hopefully) distinctive. I find that the "exclusive" cosmetics in Sea of Thieves tend to be overused. Try to mix in some simple pieces to make your pirate stand out! The shirt and hat were season rewards and are not available at time of writing, but they will likely be made available to all for doubloons in future updates.

In any case, after checking on these prices, Jimi noticed a sloop rolling into port. He set his empty ship sailing off into the west to throw off suspicion, while he remained on the island to see what the intruders might be up to. The ship headed straight for the Sovereigns, and, well... You can see what happened next on YouTube!

A Sovereign Snafu. Always keep an eye on your treasure!

Jimi earned 40,922 gold by helping these fine fellows sell their treasure to the Sovereigns... precisely 9,497 gold more money than what his entire outfit costs! See? According to Xbox Achievement statistics for the Sea of Thieves, only 65.79% of players have ever set sail. This should be a lesson for all: You can get all the money you need just by waiting in port for the treasure to come to you!

Only 65.79% of players have ever set sail in the Sea of Thieves. But that doesn't mean the 34.21% of landlubber pirates are harmless! They might be ruthless rogues just waiting in town to pick the pockets of hardworking pirates pulling into port. Keep your eyes open at all times, especially when treasure is about!

2. Meeting Terrence the Pirate

Anyway, I returned to my ship, which by some miracle had not yet sunk and now was approaching Golden Sands Outpost. A Rank 5 Order of Souls Emissary was anchored at the docks. This was my lucky day!

But when I approached, he did not seem keen on fighting. He owned a captained ship, but for some reason he was not using the Sovereigns. Was he an idealistic pirate who did not want to deal with these shady newcomers? Or was he a newcomer himself who did not yet know the ropes?

I decided to take a nonconfrontational approach and chatted with the pirate. It turns out he had been on the Sea of Thieves for five years, but was a bit of a landlubber and not yet recognized as a "Pirate Legend" by the Pirate Lord. We formed an alliance, and I introduced him to the Sovereigns. He said he wanted to try out the Fort of the Damned, so I bought one of the new Skulls of Destiny and we headed over to that fabled fort.

I never asked the picaroon his name. I suppose we will just call him Terrence.

An enthusiastic representative of the Order of Souls, Terrence the bushy-haired pirate had been sailing the Sea of Thieves for five years, but he still sought recognition as a Pirate Legend. I thought that in itself was quite legendary!

3. Skull of Destiny

To start the Fort of the Damned, you need to collect six different colored flames (each acquired from the Ferry of the Damned after dying in different ways) and a Ritual Skull. In the past, it was a lot of work to get this fort started!

But Season 9 has sped up the process by introducing the amazing Skull of Destiny. Pirate Legends can buy a voyage for this skull from the Pirate Lord (or the Shipwright if you are a captain). You can get all six of the flames from this skull. After lighting all six flames, you can even use it to start the fort in place of the Skull of Ritual.

During the battle, you can even use the Skull of Destiny against the skeletons! Phuzzy Bond has made an amazing tutorial video about how to use this skull in the Fort of the Damned. Check it out!

Before Season 9, I hated doing the Fort of the Damned. It was too tedious! I only enjoyed fighting over it with other players. But I was so impressed by this video that I decided to check out the Fort of the Damned with Terrence.

The fort was a blast. A galleon of newer players constantly harassed us. I kept them busy with fire bombs while Terrence continued to work on the Fort using Phuzzy's strategy with the Skull of Destiny in the video above. The galleon finally gave up and Terrence completed the fort.

I sold the Reaper Chests at the Reaper's Hideout, and then I went to check on Terrence at Daggertooth Outpost. This is what I found:

Oh no! Terrence beached his ship at Daggertooth...

He managed to sell all of the treasure, but his beached ship was unsalvageable and soon disappeared. 😢 But our adventures together were not over! I invited him to ride my ship to Marauder's Arch.

4. Master of Thrones

"Marauder's Arch! Who would go there?" you say? Marauder's Arch is indeed a dreary place in the far northern reaches of the Sea of Thieves. But there is something very special there that requires cooperation between two crews: An enormous skeleton throne.

There are various skeleton thrones hidden around the Sea of Thieves, and there are commendations for sitting in them. Some are small, and you can complete the commendation by sitting in it yourself. Others are large, and you will need to sit with at least one member of another crew in order to complete the commendation.

Over the years, Jimi has discovered all of the skeleton thrones and completed all of the commendations—except one. The final skeleton throne that Jimi had to reach was high atop Marauder's Arch. You can only reach it by a skillful cannon shot. And you have to sit there with another crew.

Even getting one pirate to the throne atop Marauder's Arch is a daunting task. The commendation requires pirates from two different crews to sit upon the throne together. 

I thought this achievement would make it a memorable day for Jimi and his new friend Terrence. As expected, it took a lot of patience and a lot of time, but we finally got there!

Jimi reached the throne first. Here he is enjoying some popcorn while he watches Terrence fire himself out of a cannon!

The two pirates stayed up all night trying to reach the top of Marauder's Arch. Don't they look exhausted?

I logged into the game simply to check on some numbers to respond to someone on Twitter... It turned into a grand adventure! When you log into the Sea of Thieves, you can never guess what kind of adventures await you!