[2023] Adventures Ahead: ‘A Dark Deception’

It’s been a while since Sea of Thieves last presented pirates with a time-limited, narrative-focused escapade, and as crews have been busy lately tussling over Chests of Fortune, investigating the intrigue of The Hoarder’s Hunt and acquiring new and shiny trinkets for their Captained ships, it’s entirely possible that the notion of Adventures as a whole is new to you.

If that’s the case, allow us to raise a lantern on Adventures past, present and future, bringing you up to speed in anticipation of ‘A Dark Deception’, the next instalment launching on June 22nd! Be sure to fill your tankard before diving in – you’ll need something to wash down all that lore…

I Have a Favour to Ask! Each Adventure to date has been largely focused on driving the Sea of Thieves story forward – sometimes this has meant events unfolding that pirates were powerless to prevent, while on other occasions it was the decisions of player crews around the world that determined the Adventure’s ultimate outcome.

Generally speaking, it’s {LINK REMOVED}Larinna who serves as the gateway to each new Adventure, beckoning pirates over with her usual blunt approach to life and slipping them a Mysterious Note to springboard players into the story. While many expeditions are a single ship’s business, there have also been Adventures encouraging cooperation with other crews, and a few that pitted pirates head-to-head as they sought to succeed.

Pirates who see an Adventure through to its conclusion will generally be rewarded with a suitable memento – {LINK REMOVED}Stitcher Jim’s jacket and a portrait of {LINK REMOVED}Merrick are two notable examples from past excursions. Additionally, Adventures offer a number of objectives known as Deeds; successfully completing all of these usually involves some extra legwork or sleuthing, and a unique in-game Title is your reward.

Shroud Negotiators Adventures began in earnest with ‘Shrouded Islands’, when – as the name rather implies – an ominous fog began to cloak several prominent locations across the Sea of Thieves. The most significant of these blighted isles was Golden Sands Outpost, whose residents vanished almost overnight.

While beloved luminaries like Cecil and Sharon were eventually rescued from {LINK REMOVED}Captain Flameheart’s prison during the second Adventure ‘Forts of the Forgotten’, Golden Sands itself remained fogbound and abandoned. Pirates were left to mourn the loss of a perfectly good drinking den while wondering if the place would ever be the same.

Grizzled old salt Merrick, meanwhile, was lured out of shark-hunting retirement by a visit from the enigmatic {LINK REMOVED}Belle, a powerful ally with extensive knowledge of the Sea of the Damned. With pirates’ assistance, the pair were able to summon forth the Shrouded Ghost from its otherworldly stomping grounds and, from the belly of the beast, recover the Veil of the Ancients – a relic that can be used to reach the Sea of the Damned.

Baited Brethren All that excitement relit a fight in Merrick’s Meg-filled belly, and he decided to strike out for the Shores of Plenty, taking command of an effort to rebuild Golden Sands and free it from its perpetual miasma. With your help, naturally. In response, the {LINK REMOVED}Servant of the Flame stepped out from the shadows, confirming that elite Reapers had attacked the Outpost on Flameheart’s orders, and entreating pirates to let Golden Sands wither and die.

This dilemma formed the basis for both the ‘Lost Sands’ Adventure and a community-driven choice that saw Golden Sands Outpost not just restored, but ultimately transformed into the prosperous Port Merrick. Unfortunately, the town’s namesake had attracted too much of the wrong kind of attention, and soon a blade flashed in the night…

Though they had been trapped in the Sea of the Damned since their last attempt to disrupt all things piratical, the Dark Brethren had not been idle. Having lured {LINK REMOVED}Amaranta to their cause, the group first claimed Merrick’s life and then his immortal soul in ‘The Forsaken Hunter’, spiriting his spirit away to their headquarters for interrogation. Though crews were successful in rescuing the defiant Merrick during ‘A Hunter’s Cry’, he remains under the protection of the {LINK REMOVED}Pirate Lord until the day the Dark Brethren are dealt with once and for all.

Relight My Fire Still smarting from the Reapers’ defeat at Golden Sands, the Servant of the Flame turned to a prophecy that spoke of a nearing Time of Resurrection. This fated event was one that Belle was keen to nip in the bud by acquiring Ancient allies in ‘The Sirens’ Prize’. Thanks to pirate crews’ strenuous efforts, the remains of the Ancients’ Great Warrior were recovered from Siren strongholds, securing some much-needed kinship against a growing roster of foes.

Nonetheless, having sensed the opportunity to save his father from eternity as a meme and establish Captain Flameheart as the destructive force he was destined to be, the Servant pressed on with his scheme and went to great pains to regain the loyalty of Stitcher Jim – or more accurately, if the prophecy was to be believed, the Herald of the Flame…

Jim, however, found himself seriously stitched up when {LINK REMOVED}Pendragon intervened, eager to settle a score after the events of ‘Heart of Fire’. (That’s the Tall Tale, not the novel, do try and keep up at the back.) Sir Arthur led a successful charge against the Herald at Molten Sands Fortress, and it looked as though Team Ramsey had finally ended the threat of Flameheart once and for all.

For about five minutes, anyway. With Flameheart’s body finally restored and ready to accept his essence, ‘Return of the Damned’ saw the beleaguered Pendragon wager his soul directly against Flameheart’s own.

Regrettably for Blackwyche enthusiasts, with a second community-driven choice deciding the outcome of the struggle, the Reapers refused to lose two-nil and the way was opened for Flameheart to return to the living world in all his fuming, fiery glory. This tumultuous turn of events immediately caused conflict to arise between two new Factional forces, the Guardians of Fortune and the Servants of the Flame, with Flameheart himself bestowing a skeletal ‘reward’ upon his faithful followers.

Out of Memory With bloodthirsty battles underway all across the waves, it would have been easy to overlook the wellbeing of one individual. That’s why Tasha, suddenly cursed with an unwanted skeletal makeover (despite a total disinterest in PvP diving), had no choice but to confide in {LINK REMOVED}Madame Olivia and sympathetic pirate crews, thus beginning ‘The Rogue’s Legacy’.

Through a supernatural set of circumstances, pirates seeking Tasha’s cure not only instigated the return of {LINK REMOVED}Captain Briggsy at the end of subsequent Adventure ‘The Secret Wilds’, but also the re-emergence of the Dark Brethren and the formation of an uneasy alliance between them – as if the seas weren’t chaotic enough already. For now, the whereabouts of Briggsy and the Brethren remain unknown, and curious crews will have to wait a while longer to learn more about the Ancient Temple they’re seeking.

All of which which brings us to ‘A Dark Deception’, and a new top-secret mission bequeathed by Larinna. It seems as though an individual who wishes to keep their identity and movements a secret for now (but no prizes for guessing) is seeking assistance at an island chain so remote it doesn’t even have a name. All Larinna knows for sure is that something of significance is no longer where it should be…

And so, a quest to recover a powerful and dangerous treasure is about to unfold as you seek out the lair of the villains who’ve absconded with a prize belonging to the Pirate Lord. To do that you’ll need to acquire an enchanted compass, and such a thing will have to be crafted, somewhat reluctantly, by the Order of Souls.

Now, if all that sounds like a walk in the pirate park compared to the likes of Megalodon summoning and Ancient prophecies, be warned – there’s a reason this upcoming Adventure isn’t called ‘A Straightforward Sail’. Needless to say, all is not as meets the eye…

Storied Times Ahead Well, there we have it: a potted history of all the ways the Sea of Thieves world has been transformed by Adventures so far. And as for the future? Well, Adventures themselves are soon due to undergo a metamorphosis of their own, as teased by Lead Designer Chris Davies in a recent episode of SoT News giving a little more context to the slowed-down schedule.

Here and now, though, you’ll be able to enjoy the twists and turns of ‘A Dark Deception’ for yourself when the Adventure launches on June 22nd. And if it stokes your appetite for even more story-centric shenanigans, remember that the first of three Tall Tales comprising Sea of Thieves: The Legend of Monkey Island, our recent {LINK REMOVED}Xbox Showcase reveal and upcoming collaboration with Lucasfilm Games, is mere weeks away…

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