13. Paradox Hunters
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| The Hunter's Call is a trading company based around fishing and cooking... They seem innocuous and neutral enough, but upon closer inspection, they play a major role in the Sea of Thieves story. What does the future hold for the Hunter's Call? |
1. Are the Hunters Neutral, Left Out, or Unsociable?
Starting in Season 8 ("The Sea of Bones" update), Athena's Fortune and Reapers have been openly at war with each other.
The Merchant Alliance, Order of Souls, and Gold Hoarders appear to be neutral in this war, at least outwardly. After all, their emissaries can engage in battle on behalf of either the Guardians of Fortune OR the Servants of Flame faction.
However, I suspect that in the near future they will be aligned even more closely with Ramsey's faction. In the December 2022 official Sea of Thieves holiday stream, we learned that Ramsey is planning to create guilds.
Although we still have no idea what guilds will entail, we can clearly see that Ramsey is planning something that will involve only four trading companies: the Order of Souls, Merchant Alliance, Gold Hoarders, and his own Athena's Fortune.
But there is one friendly trading company on the Sea of Thieves that is not part of this guild scheme: the Hunter's Call. From a lore perspective, is this an oversight, or is it intentional?
Unlike the other trading companies, they do not have a shop on the outposts. Instead, their representatives are found on the tiny trading posts scattered across the Sea of Thieves. Is the fishing better at these locations? Or does the Hunter's Call prefer to keep a bit of distance between themselves and the larger trading companies?
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| While the other trading companies have taken up residence in outposts (or in the Reaper's Hideout), the Hunter's Call representatives dwell on tiny rocks scattered around the Sea of Thieves. |
Another peculiar thing about the Hunter's Call is their relationship with the Sovereigns. As mentioned above, Ramsey is planning to create guilds involving the four trading companies that already have a presence at the outposts: the Gold Hoarders, Merchant Alliance, Order of Souls, and Athena's Fortune.
Starting in Season 7, a fifth faction appeared on each of the outposts: the Sovereigns. The four trading companies willingly accept treasure from the new Sovereigns faction, which has a representative stationed on each trading post. The Sovereigns do not buy anything, nor do they charge you for their services. They simply carry your treasure free of charge to each of the four trading companies at the outpost. (Very suspicious! They are obviously collecting information... but what are they planning to do with that information?) Perhaps the Sovereigns will play a role in the new guilds... Only time will tell!
In Seasons 7 and 8, the only two factions that would not trade with the Sovereigns were the Hunter's Call and the Reaper's Bones, but that recently changed in Season 9. Starting in Season 9, the Sovereigns now deliver fish to the Hunter's Call on behalf of players. This is very convenient! Now pirates can more easily sell any fish they have in their barrels when they end their session at an Outpost.
But does this mean that the Hunter's Call has become just like the four guild-bound trading companies? Have they sold out to the suspicious new Sovereign faction?
Not quite.
The Hunter's Call is more suspicious of this arrangement than the other factions. There is now a notice posted next to all of the Hunter's Call representatives that says they prefer direct deliveries. Other factions pay the same amount of gold whether you sell to them directly or through the sovereigns, but the Hunter's Call rewards pirates who avoid the Sovereigns.
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| The Hunter's Call now accepts goods from the Sovereigns... but they prefer pirates to come and sell to them directly. |
The Reapers do not do business with the Sovereigns at all. The other trading companies will give you the same amount of gold whether you trade with them directly or through the Sovereigns. The Hunter's Call have taken a middle route: they will do business with Sovereigns but pay them less to encourage pirates to come trade with them directly.
Despite their exclusion from guilds and outposts... Despite their ambivalence to the Sovereigns... Many pirates I've talked to insist that the Hunter's Call is quite chummy with Ramsey (the Pirate Lord) and his Athena faction. After all, the founder and leader of the Hunter's Call was Merrick, who has often been at the center of major events in the Sea of Thieves.
Last year, Merrick famously helped Belle to summon and defeat the Shrouded Ghost and recover the Veil of the Ancients. He led the effort to rescue Golden Sands from the devious Reapers. After the Battle for Golden Sands, he was kidnapped by the Dark Brethren... and rescued by the Pirate Lord!
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| For the past year, Merrick has been friendly with the Pirate Lord and Athena's Fortune trading company. Currently, he can be found in ghost form in the Pirate Legend's Tavern, alongside Belle and Ramsey. |
Now taking refuge at the Pirate Lord's home, Ramsey is practically a member of the Athena's Fortune! But will this good relationship last? In yet another scene from the 2022 holiday livestream, we learn that there is an imposter who is working to wreck Athena's Fortune from within.
We should learn more about the imposter and their plans in the upcoming Adventure 12: A Dark Deception.
Who could the unnamed imposter be? I cannot help but wonder if it will have something to do with Merrick, who also appears in the video. The Servant of Flame says, "The Legend you speak of can rot in his prison." Is the ghostly Merrick whom we helped the Pirate Lord rescue actually a fake Merrick? If so, is the real Merrick still imprisoned in the Sea of the Damned? What a twist that would be!
It is also possible that the "Dark Deception" will indeed succeed in tearing apart the pirates of Athena's Fortune, and that Merrick or other major figures will distance themselves from Ramsey.
It is important to keep in mind that the Hunter's Call faction believes Merrick to be lost forever... and he wants them to believe this for their own protection from the Dark Brethren. In his absence, it is entirely possible that Merrick's relatives will take a different path from what Merrick himself might wish them to.
Whatever the case, we should expect the leader of the Hunter's Call and his relationship with Ramsey and Athena's Fortune (for better or worse) to play an important role in upcoming storylines.
Conclusion
Paradoxically, the Hunter's Call is at once aloof and at the center of all conflict in the Sea of Thieves. One minute they are watching the world burn as they patiently wait for some rare trophy fish to bite their line. Moments later they are leading the defense of Golden Sands from the Servant of Flame.
The future of the Hunter's Call is anyone's guess, but next week I will offer some ideas that might encourage more players to give this curious little trading company some attention!
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| Next time you drop off treasure at the Reaper's Hideout, remember that you are inside of Merrick's old ship! |
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