The Evolving Lore of Fate of the Damned
Fight back the shadows as you learn the source of their arrival
Toss a coin to the boatman and come aboard as we sail the murky waters of Fate of the Damned to discover all the tidbits of lore and story contained within this update.
Previously on Lore of…
For a quick primer on how we’ve ended up here, be sure to check the previous months Lore of posts!
OVERVIEW OF THE DAMNED
Fate of the Damned is slightly different from previous updates in one major way: it aims to tell an ongoing story about the sudden appearance and invasion of the Shadows of Fate across the Sea of Thieves over the duration of its stay until the next update lands. This is most evident in how the Event hub, ‘Fated Fortune’, is laid out, with new challenges and a new voyage from Larinna being giving out weekly from October 28th continuing on to November 4th, November 11th, and November 18th.
What does this mean for our monthly Lore post? It means that for the duration of Fate of the Damned we will be periodically updating this page with the latest findings as they become available!
WEEK ONE: FATE OF THE WILD SHORES
Larinna’s Guidance
The first we hear about a threat is through the Mysterious Note that Larinna is distributing to all pirates who wake up from their groggy slumber in the Taverns.
Speaking to the lady herself reveals a little bit more about the plans she has set into motion to investigate and deal with the Shadows of Fate, mainly in that she has sent crews of Bilge Rat members out to experience the events first-hand and report back to her. The snag is, well, they don’t seem to have returned.
How much stuff has Duke named? Is that a perk of being the face of the Bilge Rats? Larinna here outlines the situation with the Shadows of Fate, and why it is important to track down the cause of their sudden rapid appearance. Accepting her Voyage this week only begins the investigation phase for now, who knows where it may take us?
Checking in with Duke and Umbra
As part of Larinna’s Voyage we are pointed over to the Lagoon of Whispers to speak to Duke about the whereabouts of the missing Bilge Rats. Speaking to him during this will prompt unique dialogue, but there is also dialogue to be had outside of the voyage- and with Umbra as well.
Even away from the Tavern Duke is brewing his own ‘Special’ grog! Maybe he’s not so sober. Finding it for him will continue the conversation;
Talking with Duke whilst not on Larinna’s Voyage gives you the option to shoot the breeze a little more with him.
It’s interesting that Duke claims to have started the tradition of Festival of the Damned, especially given that the Well of Fates wasn’t active or even around on the Ferry of the Damned until the time of the first Festival. Maybe he just saw it as an opportunity to honour the Ferryman and, more importantly, an excuse to drink?
Meanwhile, Umbra has a few words of support for her island flatmate. Er… islandmate?
It is heart-warming to know that Duke has someone in his corner.
The Unlucky Bilge Rats
Following the map that Duke gives the player, we eventually find the remains of two Bilge Rats who left behind notes, a Lantern with a Flame of Fate, and a map leading to the next portion of the Voyage.
Most peculiarly is that they left behind skeletal remains. They can’t have been gone for too long as the Shadows of Fate only recently became active, and if they paid a visit to the Ferry of the Damned then they would surely have been given leave as evidenced by their lanterns with the Flames of Fate. Is there some magic that has prevented them from properly returning to their bodies, leaving their physical form to rot and become a corpse? Something must have happened to them, otherwise they would not be reported missing…
Return of a Foe
Following the footsteps of the Bilge Rat crews active in this region leads to acquiring a Ritual Location Map. On this island we witness what is perhaps the reason for why the Shadows of Fates; the return of Lord Graymarrow. Although it seems the ritual to bring him forth wasn’t performed correctly (or we intrepid pirates possibly interrupted it’s eerie instigation), as it is a spectral form of Graymarrow known as Ghost of Graymarrow. He is able to summon Shadows of Fate himself during this brief encounter.
Of note, one of the Skellies that is seen performing the ritual is holding the Ashen Tome of Resurrection in it’s bony grasp. It confirms that the Tomes do have instructions written in them… but how did this Skellie get it’s undead mitts on it?
These actions however are seemingly pre-meditated and must have been planned by someone. Is Graymarrow able to contact Skellies from beyond the veil? We know he has all sorts of magical understanding to do with curses and bindings, thus it’s not entirely unlikely that he would be able to do so. But a point against it being a plan from Graymarrow himself is this graphic that was shared through Official Sea of Thieves social media platforms;
It reads:
FLAME RITUAL
FLAME FROM PIRATES TO CAMP
SKULL TO FLAME SKELETON LORD RESURRECTION
LORD TO FACE CAPTAIN FLAME TO HEART
CAGE FLAME TO HEART FOR ETERNITY
Unless Graymarrow plans to usurp Flameheart, it feels as though someone else has come up with this makeshift plan to get the two Skeleton Lords to fight, with the latter being ‘caged’. That Graymarrow is part of this plan makes it clear that the author wants Graymarrow to use his binding magic (the same sort he used on Pendragon and the crew of the Morningstar) to get rid of Flameheart. And the Skellies seem okay to go along with this. Are the Skellies not as mindless as they seem? Are they also fed up of “Big Shouty Skeleton Head in the Sky”?
WEEK TWO: FATE OF THE ANCIENT SANDS
The Shadows of Fate head south for the second week of Fate of the Damned, bringing their invasion to the Ancient Isles.
Larinna’s Advice
Larinna points pirates towards the Ancient Isles this week, whilst revealing that she is no closer to figuring out the mystery of the appearance of the Shadows of Fate. It makes sense for activity to be high in this region however, due to the close proximity of the Fort of the Damned. But are these two events linked?
Catching Up With Merrick
As per Larinna’s advice, Merrick is our sea-port of call for second week, taking us neatly to the Ancient Isles. What does this old salt have in store for us?
Upon reuniting this peg-legged pirate with his family heirloom, he gives us clues to the whereabouts of more missing Bilge Rat crews.
All Aboard the Ferry
The Ferryman has some new dialogue for this Event as well. From telling us pirates a little bit more about the Flames of Fates, to weighing in on Festival of the Damned, and maybe even giving pirates a hint as to something behind the scenes…
There is a lot to unpack here, as the Ferryman talks about the nature of the Well of Fates. He describes it as a sort of “conduit between life and death”, but how exactly does that work? And whatever the Flames are, they can pull the Shadows of Fate from their invulnerable state into the physical world of the Sea of Thieves. In a way it hints that the Shadows of Fate, and perhaps Shadow Skellies by extension, exist on a different plane from us pirates. The veil between our world and the Sea of the Damned may always have been weak or allowed certain things through in limited quantities.
At the very end of this dialogue branch with the Ferryman he alludes to another party that has “interest… in your affairs”, an incredibly ominous statement. Could it be that once again we are being manipulated by outside forces? This would work as an explanation as to how the Skellies acquired the Ashen Tome of Ressurection, or even got the idea of resurrecting Graymarrow to fight Flameheart. Is this once again the work of the Masked Stranger, or someone else we have yet to meet?
WEEK THREE: FATE OF THE ROARING SKIES
The third week of Fate of the Damned leads us into the Devil’s Roar, where Shadows of Fate have been sighted. Not only this, but Larinna begins to wrap up her investigation, gaining an understanding as to the fates of her Bilge Rat Crews.
As can be seen above, Larinna has two new dialogue choices as of Week 3.
Larinna confirms something that had been hotly speculated; Graymarrow or his allies are the reason for the deaths of the Bilge Rat Crews and have bound their souls to a cursed object, most likely the lanterns that hold their flames in this case.
Mike Chapman, Creative Director on Sea of Thieves, corroborates this over on his social media
Not only that, but in the same dialogue she confirms that Skellies are trying to bring Graymarrow back from the dead, or wherever his soul may currently reside.
Judging by what we are told here, the Skellies have also managed to get their hands on some Dark Relics, cursed objects of such great power that they’ve been used before to plunge Old Boot Fort into the Sea of the Damned becoming Fort of the Damned, and to release Pendragon from his portrait binding.
A little more understanding of the nature of Shadows of Fate can be gleamed here, as Larinna tells us that as Skellies mess with the Dark Relics they create fissures to the Sea of the Damned allowing the Shadows of Fate to sneak through. The Shadows of Fate in that case must be natural denizens of the Sea of the Damned.
WEEK FOUR: DEFEAT THE DAMNED
The final week of the Fate of the Damned Event, Fated Fortunes, has arrived! Larinna gives us our final orders as we take on the heart of the problem, the Fort of the Damned!
Larinna reiterates that there is a subset of Skellies intent on bringing back Graymarrow and that is what is causing the Shadows of Fate to leak out in the Sea of Thieves. Despite wanting to take the battle to them, she also is keen on pirates acquiring the Ritual Skulls and returning them to her.
The Voyages Larinna has offered throughout the weeks of Fate of the Damned have returned as she points pirates in all directions to stop the spread of the Shadows of Fate.
Although she’d love to join the fight, she unfortunately can’t as she has much to organise. What could she be organising and preparing for?
And will our pirates be able to quell the forces of Graymarrow and those who seek to use his powers? It could be dire times for us indeed if Graymarrow and Flameheart begin a war for dominance over the Sea of Thieves…
Miscellaneous Mysteries
The Canine of K-9
Has anyone lost a dog? A larger than average Inu has been spotted waiting by a campfire on the uncharted island at K-9. It cannot be interacted with, and there are no known clues to it’s owner, or how it ended up here.
The Good Boy is a ship that can be seen on rare occasion competing in Arena matches and is said to be named in honour of DeMarco Singh’s missing pup, Leopoldo. Is there a connection?
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