Being bored with VRChat lately, waiting for my new right controller, Blender being sick with a cold (yet still hardly talking to me in Discord), a written/visual walkthough of Riven saying “use this from this” (when ‘this’ isn’t where it’s supposed to be and how in the fuck do you know how to decipher ‘this’ without knowing the language first)… and finally watching some Youtube videos that re-sparked my interest in Sea of Thieves, I decided to dive into doing my first Tall Tale (that isn’t part of A Pirate’s Life). It’s called ‘The Shroudbreaker’.
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WARNING: This post will have spoilers of the Tall Tale. Do not read if you haven’t done it yet.
Started off at the Northwest outpost. Ran to the tavern and spoke to the Mysterious Stranger. He told me “only the most brave and skilled pirates may return alive”.. hmm. And this is only Chapter 1 of 8, so I felt confident in my abilities. I didn’t even gather supplies, as what Orion had told me.
My destination was to reach a shipwreck between two islands, according to the journal I was given. Instead I headed East to another outpost (which took me a lot
more Northeast than I should had). The reason was to avoid a towering supercell thunderstorm blocking my way. Was trying to go around the core, and end
up ‘scraping’ the side of it anyway with my compass going berserk and it being hard to steer.
Tried turning away from the storm. Finally out-boated it and regained control. Made it to the outpost, with only a small hole in my sail. A shame there’s no way to repair it. As I was about ready to dock, I got that message that more players are joining the server.
Now I must make my way SSE to nearly due South to reach the shipwreck. Left the island by swinging around it.. scraped the side as I departed and had to make repairs.
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I see a small island cluster infront of me, not on the map. The hell is this thing doing here? Where’s the shipwreck? Stop at the island. No enemies, but there are some barrels with supplies. Nice.
I go underwater and notice a rather large shipwreck. Hmmm. Could this be the ship mentioned in the journal? Go over the journal again, and sure enough it is. NICE! I found it! Now to find the ship’s ‘blackbox’. And as I was looking, took damage. Quickly got back on my boat and saw this happy little fucker snarling at me, as if it was saying “GET DOWN FROM THERE (so I can bite you)!!!”
He brought a friend too, but with how dark it was I never got a picture. So I healed up and waited for the playful man-eating assholes to fuck off. They did and I headed back
down, now with more light to see below. Made it to the Captain’s Quarters and found the log laying on a chair. My log got updated.
Back on my ship I went over the log of The Magpie’s Wing, it mentions leaving Discovery Ridge, being attacked by The Burning Blade and fleeing SE to ESE, and then dumping a treasure chest “North of a small island”. Came to the assumption I need to follow the journey of this once proud vessel, starting south of Discovery Ridge. Only then will I find the treasure that contains a ‘key’ of sorts and more notes to lead me to the Shroudbreaker’s location. But what on Earth does it mean by “a large tangled nest of islands” on its starboard side?
Looked up a walkthrough and they said it refers to Shark Bait Cove. Set sail for Discovery Ridge. Approaching it, was in a very thick fog bank. So thick I didn’t see the shoreline rapidly approaching the front of my ship. Fortunately was able to recover from this and repaired the damage quickly. Then I got that message (again) about more players are joining the server. Didn’t take long for the fog to clear.
Now on the south side of the island, I went over the notes that would take me passing Shark Bait Cove on my starboard (right) side. Looking at the map more carefully by cross referencing it to the Magpie’s log, it seemed the chest was dropped North of Lookout Point. Just how far North, I didn’t know.
Made it to Lookout Point. Discovered I needed to get in closer, going by how deep the bottom of the ocean is. After dealing with an enemy I saw something glimmering underwater! HELL YEAH I found it! Go me with my excellent navigation skills!
Grabbed the chest and brought it onboard my ship. Opened it up and found papers and some sort of totem.
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Looking at the new notes, it mentions a Scarab. ..Huh. This time I had to refer to the walkthrough, and it pointed NE to Crook’s Hollow. But again I had a thunderstorm blocking my way. However, looks can be deceiving and it was further north than it looked.
Made it to Crook’s Hollow, but as I was prepping to park in a way where I would be ready to get the hell out of there quickly, I noticed a ship on the horizon. Looked through my seeing eye glass and saw a Galleon on fire, being attacked by the Kraken.
From this perspective I can’t tell if it was a player ship or a skeleton ship, but it was definitely on fire and definitely being attacked by the Kraken.
Anyway, the walkthrough said to look for a temple of sorts. Instead I found some good stuff like a skeleton captain cursed skull, a Captain’s Chest, and a Merchant Alliance flag. Good shit. Can’t wait to sell these, but I also felt I was “pushing it”.
Went through this really large cave, and found what looks like a switch and said ‘Key Required’. Hmm.. I wonder. Could the totem be used as a ‘key’? Went back to my ship and grabbed the Scarab Totem. As I was walking to the cave I heard something strange behind me. Turned around and.. I saw someone walking around on my ship. They spot me and attempt to steal my ship from me.
HEY, DON’T GTA MY SHIP!!
Put the totem down and try to run after them, but it’s too late. Wait for the mermaid to show up, pull out my sword and told myself to be ready for combat. But when I got back onboard my ship.. the person was gone. Smacked every single inch of the ship with my sword, thinking they’re hiding in a barrel somewhere.
But nothing, as if my ship had a mind of its own.
When I looked at my treasures, everything was still there as I left them. Like all they wanted was my ship. ..The fuck? Could it had been one of the crew from that Galleon I saw earlier? Anyway, was thankful they left. They could had done a lot worse to me. Took control and went back to the island. Found the totem and made my way to that spot I saw earlier.
Looks like I was right. It IS the key! I FOUND IT! Nice! Placed it and a door
opened, revealing a temple of sorts. There’s an altar infront of me with four blazers. Not knowing what this is, I lit them and hit the button. Water began to fill the chamber. I didn’t realize this until later on when I saw the water level was rising. OSHI– I need to solve this puzzle before I drown!! The solution is in the journal – four symbols – four switches, and I had to do this three times.
After the 3rd time, the water rushed out of the room within a split second. Now I had another puzzle to solve. On the altar was a darkened image of a rock with a scarab on it. Looking at the walkthrough, I need to find these and dig at a specific place to find a medallion.
I searched and searched all over the island. Couldn’t find this rock with a scarab on it. And then Orion suddenly joins me without warning. I join the call and he’s all “seems you might need help”. Boy, do I. Your timing is perfect, Orion. He knew exactly where to look for the three medallions, and ‘showed’ me I’d be dealing with skeletons I’ve never seen before.
Heading to the third, he found an Ashen Lord and got another cursed skull for me to sell. Made my way back to the ship as he went to get the Shroudbreaker. Now we gotta get back to the Mysterious Stranger and give him it. Both Orion and I are checking the map, when suddenly he yells out “Reaper! REAPER!!” There is a ship with a red flag on the
map, enroute right for us. Oh shit, we need to get out of here NOW! He tells me there’s an outpost with a volcano. Let’s go then! I let him drive for now on.
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Nearly there, Orion spots a Galleon and tells me to raise the sail. I say “maybe they’re friendly? I dealt with a friendly Galleon crew before.” He checks and says “Nope, they’re not friendly. They got the Jolly Roger flag.” But we proceed on course. The ship never followed us thankfully, but we did have two Megalodon encounters (one of them attacking us once). When the second one was attacking, Orion yelled “JUMP!!” and I started jumping in place. This actually helps to avoid being knocked around like a pinball, that I can see. Quite nice.
With the holes repaired, I’m checking the map as Orion’s telling me and see a red skull marker that we’re heading straight toward. I remember seeing this when I was first starting this adventure, and remembering Wolfdog telling me to avoid it at all costs. This one isn’t moving though. Orion tells me it’s a Reaper Chest. Ohhh, so that’s what that marker means.
Make it to the outpost, sell the stuff and complete the Tall Tale. Very nice. Yet I’m unsure if that Merchant Alliance flag ever was sold. ..Ehh, matters not. But I did get an achievement from selling that Captain’s Chest. Apparently, it belonged to another player crew. Yet what was it doing floating with other debris at the island, for anyone to pick up?
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That was definitely a fun adventure, and I’m glad I was able to solo most of it.