Dread Pirate Dubloon

Arnol stared at the unmoving man, his captain, wearing a wide grin as he lay on the bed. Ruby, a lovely strumpet of a woman, sat in another room sobbing to half the sailors he had brought with him from the Seacutter. She entranced them by telling them her story of how the captain had expired in glorious rapture while in her arms.   Letting out a weary sigh, he turned to the third mate who had hurried in with a rolled-up carpet. Two other sailors were with him, all of them known for tight lips. Without a word, they got to work packing the captain in the carpet to secretly get him back to the Seacutter before anyone found out.   Returning to the Seacutter, sailors formed around him in a circle. Second Mate Merta joined him in the middle, carrying the captain's tri-corn hat and black long coat. Arnol stared at the blood red trim and gold buttons on the coat but said nothing.   "Dread Pirate Dubloon is dead," Merrik announced in her most formal voice. Two sailors stepped up to her. One took the coat and draped it over Arnol's shoulders while the other took the hat and placed it on his head. "Long live Dread Pirate Dubloon!" Cheers echoed all around the Seacutter.

  The Kar Nodge Fleet has only ever been led by Dread Pirate Dubloon since its formation over one hundred years ago. All pirates of their fleet believe that when Dubloon dies, their essence is passed on to the next captain of the Seacutter. The essence is so strong that this new captain's real name is quickly tossed aside and forgotten, and, thusly, Dread Pirate Dubloon is reborn!   How true this is, only the current Dubloon knows. The fact that the new Dubloon served under the previous Dubloon perhaps lends to this belief, which is so strong amongst the fleet that all the captains within the Kar Nodge Fleet believe their contracts are eternal. There is a rare whisper that drifts over the occasionally shared bottle of rum that Captain Gusty Squall of the Booty Wind is actually one of the restless dead and still under contract!