WORDS OF THE HAND

The more you read, the more you know...

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THE PRISON

... Calico Jack's ship and crew has been trapped and surrended by the corsair forces of Trinsic and Britain. Calico is now waiting for his trial at the jail of Trinsic. The rest of the crew has been judged and executed already. The trial will take place at Port Quint...

THE JUDGEMENT

Inquisitor: "John, you have been found guilty of piracy on the high seas, of being in league with the devil and of having used heathen and forbidden rituals. You will be commited to the purifying fire! So repent of thy unholy sins that thy soul can be saved from eternal hell!"

Calico: "Yer lies can't impress me, cause the truth will come to light!

Aye! I will set a mark for that I will return to reveal the truth and who is the true evil!"

Inquisitor: "So you shall die by the fire! Light up the stake!!"

...And the young pirate was burned at the stake. One charred black hand

was all that was left of him. From that day on the place was called "Black Hand Hill", and was avoided...

...Then it all began...

THE CURSE

...Calico Jack told that he would return...And his thirst for vengeance

is what allowed his spirit to avoid the final rest. In the form of a weak, shapeless ghost, he crossed the port area where his body lies burned, then passed through the woods of Covetous and reached the tent of Aileah, a powerful gipsy woman known by him. As he entered the tent, Aileah was staring at her crystal ball, and sensed that something from the other side was close to her. Using her black magic, she made visual contact with the ghost of John Rackham. She could barely see him, but she could feel he was in great torment and was trying to tell her something desperately... Aileah started to do an ancient kind of gipsy meditation and estabilished an oral connection with the ghost, who told her what had happened to him. Aileah was the sister of Rudolf Bonejaws, a pirate member of Calico's crew. As she heard of the death of her dear brother and became aware of what Calico went through, she started to cry

and her body was shaking with intensity, since she was receiving a part of John's pain and rage directly into her mind...

...That is when John Rackham, yet as a weak ghost, asked her to make an

old, nearly forgotten gipsy ritual of resurrection. Aileah was a skilled

gipsy, but what John asked could be beyond her abilities. John told her that, once among the living again, he would avenge her brother, using once again his pirate name of Calico Jack...

...And then John's curse was almost done, he still had to trust his weak shaped spirit into the black magic of Aileah...

THE CURSE IS ABOUT TO BE COMPLETED

...Aileah closed the tent. She was sweating and her body still shaking while the moon was taking the sky above. She read her grandmother's book

of gipsy rituals to know what she would need to bring John back to life.

She read all procedures and reagents needed, then told John that this ancient ritual could not work if made by her. But John did not care, he only wanted a try, no matter the consequences. Aileah made a small bonfire inside the tent, then threw batwings, dragon scales, spider's silk, and a bit of baby's blood into the fire. The words started to be pronounced as a fog began to surround the bonfire. Aileah undressed herself and covered her body with an oil extracted from the huge trees of Yew. This oil could give the spell a more powerful result. She said all the forbidden words and threw more batwings into the fire and, by midnight, the ritual was alsmost done. She contornated the bonfire twice

and then sit down to ask for the spirits to grant new life to John. A huge fog surrounded the tent and the bonfire turned into a huge fire that reached the tent's roof and spread fire all around. Suddenly, a cold wind started to blow with unseen rage and all the fire ended, creating a huge smoke that started to flow and flew to the direction of John. All the smoke entered him and, by the end of the cold wind, John was no more a weak ghost. Aileah was at the corner of the tent, watching

the whole thing, and was amazed with it. Sadly, her power was not enough

to make this ritual with perfection, and John did not come back to life as a human being, but the turned into a phantom humanshaped. He laughed and thanked Aileah ten times, as he walked around the tent and saw he was able to touch objects and to speak with a low but listenable voice. His skin looked almost solid, thought it looked like a very tight gathering of smoke. His skin was pale, but with a greyish white colour.

THE CURSE IS DONE

...So, John is Calico Jack once again and promised Aileah revenge for her brother's execution. She cried for Rudolf, who maybe did not stand as a spirit for enough time to reach her tent, or who maybe not even turned into a weak ghost. By the next moon, Calico Jack, now shaped as a

phantom, returned to his port and collected the charred black hand to keep it as a symbol of his curse. Then he put a black robe, held a dagger and went stealthly to the inquisitor's house. He never knew where

that man lived, but somehow a kind of sixth sense was guiding Calico towards the right place. He reached Trinsic outside areas and entered the woods. A few minutes later he saw some kind of tower that looked like a holy monastery. As he looked at a window, he saw the room where the inquisitor was sleeping. As a heavy fog surrounded the woods, Calico

looked like the fog itself. He threw the robe away and hit the window's glass with the dagger. Ad it broke, the noise woke up his victim, who could not see Calico in the middle of the fog. He innocently came closer

to the window to see what has broken the glass, and, when he looked at the woods from the window, all he saw was a dagger floating in the air and coming like an arrow to his direction. Then, the old man was on the floor with a dagger pierced into his left eye. Calico left the place and

returned to his port, where he lies now, planning his future as a still not known phantom. The Phantom of Black Hand Hill, with a curse to keep.

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ABOUT PORT QUINT (Northern Territory)

Port Quint is a place embraced in mystery. The pirate captain John Rackham, also known as Calico Jack, gathered his piles of gold and his crew to turn the idea of a pirate port into reality.Many workers were hired and huge amounts of gold were spent for the port to be finished as soon as possible. The reason for such hurry is explained by the fact that such vast area of Northern Territory could be populated by anyone at anytime. Legendary fisherman Quint, who once had Calico Jack as one of his employees, had a castle located exactly at the Port Quint's area (what explains the reason for the name of the port). When Quint died, the castle became empty, lifeless, fated to turn into ruins. Calico Jack felt great pain for the death of his old master, but he noticed Quint's castle was in decay and the area around it would perfectly allow a huge port to be risen.

After months of hard work, Fort Loneskull was ready to shelter Calico's pirates. Later, the customs and the tavern were also finished. The pirates had plans of raising a town there, but not one of them could feel the tragedy which would strike upon their lives: during an afternoon when Calico and his crew were sailing towards Buccaneers' Den to do business with local pirates, two galleons from marine guards of Britain and Trinsic set a trap and destroyed Calico Jack's ship after a long sea battle. After the ship sank, all survivors were taken as prisoners. Calico and his crew were judged and executed. They died without having time to build the most important structure for their port: a dock.

For days, Port Quint was visited by thieves who tried to enter Fort Loneskull by force and steal all gold it could possibly contain. No one was able to break the front door but every furniture placed outside the fort were taken away.

The story could end here, but surprises always come to avoid the closure of the curtains... Strange rumors started to be spread around the towns and roads... Men began to talk about a ghost that was walking the Port Quint's area. All thieves left the place in a short time and whoever had to pass near the port during a travel could swear that someone was giving life to it again...

The rumors now tell men that the ghost of Calico Jack is still connected to the world of the living ones, and that, somehow, evil activities are taking place at Fort Loneskull. A few travellers talk about screams of torture inside the fort, others whisper about a grave which has been made right beside the tavern...

The authorities of Britain declareed that such things are nothing more than a generalized delirium, for Calico Jack was burnt at a huge bonfire and his pirates were hanged one by one, and the bonfire where captain Calico Jack died is still set at the port to be seen as a sign of Jack's death. This is what the keepers of law and order assert, but it does not mean the truth is within their words. People who live close to the port swear that the bonfire has been lit two times in the last days and that constant cackles can be heard coming from the fort. Most exalted and lunatic men say that a ghost appeared at the local woods and led them to the fort, and they swear the ghost opened the front door and allowed them to enter. Some even state that the ghost brought them to a room with a crystal ball where the ghost told them about their future.

As mentioned above, Port Quint is now a lair of mysteryous events, and those who have courage enough to walk at nearby areas might have the chance to see if the rumors are true or not, or even if the rumors are incomplete and there is more to be told about Fort Loneskull...

*** MORE INFO ABOUT BLACK HAND'S CONSOLIDATION ***

HISTORY OF PORT QUINT

This once peaceful and unknown port was risen by pirate Calico Jack at the same

area where his master Quint, a legendary fisherman, once had his castle. John Rackham, also known as Calico Jack, gathered his gold chests and finally realized he was wealthy enough to make his dream become reality.

Jack went back to Northen Territory after a long time, and found Quint's castle in

ruins. He did not think twice before deciding where his port would lie...

With the helping hand of a mysterious man, Jack started to build his port. After the

construction of Fort Loneskull, he began to build the other establishments. Then

came the Port Customs and his own house, the Lion's Den. A bit later, the Tally Ho

inn was almsot ready to be open for visitors.

The last thing Jack needed was a crew to help him keep the port and the flag of

Under Jolly Roger, his piracy group.

DEAD MEN TELL NO TALES... BUT GHOSTS DO...

On a black day to be remembered by all pirates, Jack and his crew were raided and jailed by marine forces. After the trials, the entire crew and Calico Jack himself received sentence of death. The ship's crew was executed one by one in a guillotine, while Captain Calico Jack was sentenced to die by the purifying fire at his own port. Such act proved the strong influence and authority of the local priests. Jack died humiliated, being eaten by the flames of the stake in the front of his den. His rage and thirst for vengeance became so strong that, even with his body turned into ashes, the spirit lived on in the shape of a ghost. After the Moon Ceremony, Calico Jack became a strong ghost, a furious phantom... And he carries his tale with him... If a dead man tells no tales, this is a problem of dead men, Because ghosts... Ghosts tell tales, and they do much more than that as well...

THE HAND OF THE PHANTOM

Jack recovered his charred black hand at the stake, the only part of his body who did not turn into ashes. The phantom kept his hand safe from men in a hidden container. The rumors of Jack's return soon were spread through all the land and sea. Many saw someone very similar to Calico Jack walking around the port days after the pirates' execution. An illusion...? Maybe not... Caravans of mystic people and ships sailed by pirates started to reach Port Quint, in quest for the truth about Jack's destination. Sorcerers, prophets and even gypsies were amazed after feeling the presence of the phantom, who could be seen almost like a human being, and could touch objects with some effort and could speak through frightening echoes from beyond... The humans who set their houses there started to worship the power of the phantom, who were stronger than death itself. His secrets and knowledge became a treasure and then a cult around the pahntom gained full power. Now, the hand of the phantom guides these pirates and cultists towards many mysteries... They are known as the Black Hand Brotherhood, where the world of the living and the world of the dead are connected...

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