The Jar-o-dirt

The encoded phrase in hand, Treasure Hunters were told that in order to unlock and claim the treasure, a would-be Pirate Treasure hunter would need to secure themselves a jar-o-dirt.

Not just any old jar-o-dirt will do, but ones rumoured to have a number of mystical qualities aside from it unlocking secrets in the treasure hunt, and those that will bestow upon holders certain privileges.

Artist's impression of the jar-o-dirt

With the missing page and the encoded phrase delivered to the newly established Treasure Hunter’s Guild at Port Royal, at first even the brightest minds within the Guild were at a loss.

Eventually the Guild conceded and turned again to the BlackSpot crew.

The BlackSpot crew, so named due to their renown and prowess in searching for and discovering treasure that the rumour was most of their number had in one way or another fallen foul of the gods and been cursed for their efforts. Superstitious nonsense really.

The BlackSpot crew agreed to take on the task but not before they struck some sort of deal to share in the majority of whatever was to be discovered and also to be included as members in the newly formed Guild. It was understood going forward that the Guild would have access to all of the best information related to treasures kept secret in the Archive.

Unfortunately as events would have it, the Guild and or the BlackSpot crew had sprung a leak and important information was exposed to a visiting crew from another of the cities in the Rayon Passage.

Soon the Port was alive with talk of treasure and many pirate crews set about to decode the cipher, and with each of the Guild and the BlackSpot crew in turn accusing the other of running a leaky ship, all deals were rescinded.

The doors to the Treasure Hunters Guild would for now remain closed to the BlackSpot crew.

Not deterred from the task, the Crew soon determined that the code was a Vigenère Cipher, an old pirate favourite.

Additionally armed with the knowledge from the manuscript that the name of the long-forgotten island was the key to be used to decode the cipher, the path to the jars-o-dirt was soon unlocked.

However, given the loose rum-soaked tongues about the Port, the information was again all too quickly passed around to anyone with a bottle of rum or a spare few pieces of eight and so with the secret unlocked and the jars-o-dirt discovered, they flooded onto the black market by those looking to make a quick few coins.

The jars-o-dirt which initially appeared to be just that, on closer inspection held what seemed to be the key to the crew and ships, all of which would be needed if the Order of the Kraken was to be revived to retrace the Endeavour’s path in a return to the Archive.

Additionally, it has not gone unnoticed that the Guild has suddenly taken on a renewed interest in the jars after their discovery.

While the race to the Archive had begun, neither the Guild nor the BlackSpot crew are any closer to the treasure chest, or so the rumours go.