This is a short story I wrote for a contest in the forums of the up coming game: Chronicles of Elyria. The contest had to do with graves and gravestones! The link to the original post, as well as the contest is: https://chroniclesofelyria.com/forum/topic/26352/headstone-story-contest.

The dark cloaked the cemetery nicely. The old To’resk gravekeeper, Sajoaçar, liked it this way. The port town was a rough place, and he didn’t like to stand out. He managed the cemetery, and his carpenter’s shop, and that was it. It turned out that most of his work was related to two things: Boat repairs, and coffins. This naturally lead to him becoming the keeper of the Bastards Bay cemetery. Sajoaçar was sitting on the back porch of the shop, looking out over the graves. He thought it was ironically funny that the cemetery started behind the ruins of an old church, but quickly grew and expanded to end up right in his backyard. It wasn’t like the ruffians of the town cared about any churches though, so no one really cared. It also made it easier for Sajoaçar to bury the bodies of those who ran afoul of the pirates in the town. 

As he sat there, smoking an old pipe, he noticed a dim light in the far distance. The cemetery itself was rather large, and housed more bodies than the town itself. So he quietly watched. The light grew bigger, and seemed to have stopped at a particular grave. Sajoaçar squinted his eyes and peered at the light. It was a lantern. He got up and slowly walked over to the rows of gravestones, and quietly maneuvered between them to get a better look. He grumbled quietly to himself, thinking some street urchins were trying to camp out in his cemetery. He was going to tell them to scram. He eventually came upon the light, and like a phantom, stayed just out of sight.    

What Sajoaçar saw was quite interesting. A pirate with a shovel, was digging the grave up! Sajoaçar grew red with anger, but seeing the cutlass on the brigand’s belt, he stayed quiet for now. Grave Robbers in his cemetery! How crude, he fumed. He would go to Mayor Adiranovic Von Hagemeister and complain in the morning. For now, he just watched.    

The Pirate, who Sajoaçar did not know, was busy digging furiously. It was as if there was treasure in that very grave! The old Gravekeeper knew there wasn’t anything of value in any of these graves. Pirates never left valuables on the dead! He continued to watch. The To’resk Pirate hit the coffin with a loud thud. He tossed the shovel over his shoulder and awkwardly began using his hands to scoop out the loose dirt. He then, having cleared the dirt off the top, used the shovel to smash open a hole in the coffin. The Pirate stood up, and removed his hat to wipe some sweat off his brow. He then leaned down and pulled out a sea chest! Sajoaçar was stunned. There was treasure in that grave! Or so he thought. Why else would the Pirate be here, digging up an old grave? The Pirate grinned and tucked the chest under his arm. He grabbed his shovel, put his hat back on, and hurried off. Once the Pirate was gone, Sajoaçar moved to the grave, and read the stone.It belonged to Joris Mullica, or Whaleback, as he was known in life. Mullica had died defending Bastards Bay, then called Gull’s Rest, from the invading army of the Mad King, many many years ago. Sajoaçar recalled an old tale he heard in the tavern once. It was said that old Whaleback had, in the course of his journeys, found a map to long lost treasure. A map to an unknown island, with so much treasure no ship could return with all of it. Of course, such tales are regarded as fake when told by old sea salts with to much rum in their blood. No one had ever given it thought. Besides, Whaleback’s grave was dug up by the town years ago, and nothing was found inside. What changed? Sajoaçar couldn’t say. He had never believed the tales in the tavern.    

Sajoaçar went back to his shop, and headed upstairs for the night. Morning came, and as he promised, he went to the Mayor to complain. Mayor Adiranovic Von Hagemeister was in his office, inside the manor. The manor was the only nice building in the entire shanty town. He described the scene of last night’s events to the Mayor. Von Hagemeister furrowed his brow for a moment. He grumbled something under his breath. He then looked at Sajoaçar and told him he would send some menn over to help repair the grave, and not to worry about it further. Sajoaçar sighed, shrugged his shoulders, thanked the Mayor for his time, and headed back to his house.

    Adrianovic scowled as Sajoaçar left. He wasn’t mad at the old Gravekeeper. He was mad at the Pirate who wasn’t stealthy enough to conceal his activities from the old To’resk. He left his office in a huff, and charged down to the docks. Seabirds cried as they fluttered overhead. The sun was rising higher in the sky, as mid morning took over from dawn. The wind was still, and the air was hot. Adrianovic stomped on the docks, and stopped infront of a Cutter. It was an old ship, with some splintered wood on her deck, and patchy dark sails. The name on the bow read “Belligerent Bivalve”. Adrianovic scoffed, then, boarded the ship. Onboard a few sailors were milling about. A large Janoa was high in the rigging, patching a fresh hole in the sail. He brushed past a Kypiq that was swabbing the deck, and went right up to the wheel, where a To’resk in fancy, yet weathered, attire was standing. He was holding a map up to the sky, and squinting. Adrianovic grabbed the To’resk Captain by the collar and pulled him closer. He whispered in his ear. The To’resk Captain looked at Adrianovic for a moment, blank faced. Then, with a wily smile, he showed him the map.

    Adrianovic looked the map over. His jaw dropped for a split second before he ragained his composure. He clapped the To’resk Captain on the back, nodded at him, then disembarked the ship. 

   “Right boys, hop to! We’re shovin’ off by noon!” The Captain shouted. He looked at the map again. It wasn’t a map in the traditional sense. It did not have features found on land, nor islands, nor shorelines. It was a jumbled mess of lines and shapes. The Captain smiled though. He knew how to read it.    

“Captain, did we retrieve the item?” A Neran asked. He was the First Mate, and privy to the knowledge which was kept secret from most of the crew.    

“Indeed, Chickle. We did. Have a look.” The Captain showed the map to Chickle. Chickle gasped.    

“Sir! The curse! Whaleback’s Curse! Did you do the proper ritual!?” He squeaked, quite distraught.    

“I did some sort of ritual. I mean, I got the map didn’t I?” The Captain smiled, although Chickle did not look convinced.    

“Sir, if you left out any small part, the map will still appear, but so will the curse! The Dras Shaman was explicit in his instructions! I hope for all our sake you did it right.” Chickle said, as he walked away from the Captain. The Captain raised a brow and went through his memory. Did he do it right? Now that Chickle mentioned it, he could recall!    

“I’m sure it's fine.” He mused, as he rolled the map up, and tucked it into his coat. The ship set sail, and the journey was underway! The Captain couldn’t stop thinking about the grave of Joris “Whaleback” Mullica though. The voyage wasn’t across the deep ocean, and no one expected there to be any problems. The “Belligerent Bivalve” sailed smoothly through the afternoon. Over the horizon, dark clouds were gathering though…    

The menn that the Mayor promised to send help Sajoaçar never showed up. The old Gravekeeper was out there, fixing the broken coffin, and refilling the grave with dirt. It was back breaking work. Sajoaçar sighed, as he stopped for a breath. The gravestone looked odd. It was as if it were reflecting the sun’s light, but there was a storm out at sea, obscuring the sun from view. Sajoaçar shrugged, and thought there must be an explanation for it. He continued his work and was finished well after dark. The gravestone never stopped gleaming the entire time. Sajoaçar didn’t care. He finished the work, and went inside for some well deserved rest.    

The next morning, Sajoaçar was at the docks, repairing a boat when he overheard some news. A ship named the Belligerent Bivalve was sunk overnight during the squall. Apparently, no one survived. The ship hit the rocks just off the Lighthouse, and the Keeper witnessed the entire thing. Sajoaçar wondered if the Pirate who had stolen the chest was on that ship. He recalled how the gravestone glimmered in the dark. Huffing, he brushed the thoughts aside, and continued his work. It wasn’t any of his business, and he didn’t want any curses, bad luck, or other superstitious stuff happening to him! He, after all, kept the graveyard!