Message in a Bottle Sixth Edition
PAGES
- Front Page - Message from the Editor
Page 2 - Portside Perusal - Global Events Round Up
Page 3 - Achievements & Historical Lookback 1
Page 4 - PG Advisor & Historical Lookback 1 cont.
Page 5 - Meet The Crew - SilverShadow
Page 6 - Historical Lookback 2
Page 7 - SLACK News
Meet The Crew - SilverShadow:
THIS MONTHS GUEST :
SILVERSHADOW -THE SKIRMISH KING (VUDU). PIRATES
So with everything prepared, their bellies full and the rum flowing freely, they sit together to chat about Silvers' life and how he came to be.
Argo smiles at her friend, 'the SKIRMISH KING'.. she giggles.
That familiar crooked smile spread across SilverShadow's scarred yet still somehow handsome face.
"So... where would you like to start? Tell me, how did SilverShadow come to be?"
What was his early life like? Where and when did he become a pirate and what motivated him ?
What did he do b4 he was a pirate? Was he always a pirate? What life had he?
For a moment the expression on his face made Argo think he wasnt going to answer. But then he began...
"Holland was birthplace. My folks were good honest people. They were Dutch traders and headed to sea on a journey to make their way to the new world to start a new and exciting life."
He pauses for a moment and shrugs. "I come from solid trading stock but the irony is that now I actually steal from traders most days. Argh!"
He went on to explain that around the age of 9, an only child, he was shipwrecked with his parents on their journey to the new world. Along with another ship of wrecked survivors, they found themselves stranded on a remote island somewhere near Avonmora..
"That's about says it. No special heritage. We made our home and settled in one of the large caves high up on the hillside southside on the reef where there was plenty of fishing to be had.
No shortage of water here either with a freshwater lake a short daily walk away.
One day, not long before harvest, Pirates arrived and raided our village.
Seems our cave was in fact an old pirate den and a great deal of treaure had been cached there many years before.
They had come in search of legendary pirate tales.
They brutally killed my family but spared me for some reason and took me in...."
For a brief moment he seems far away..
He sits silent. Argo dare not speak.
After some silence he sighs and looks up at his friend in the firelight and notices the shadows dancing on the walls behind her.
Then he quietly speaks, "Mistreated and abused as every cabin boy was I had a fight in me that longed to be free - and that only made me stronger as I began to move up in the ranks. I wanted my own command. I was going to have it very much sooner than later.'
Argo sees why he is so full of heart. He will always have the heart of a lion in her eyes. The fire pops and crackles....
Almost to himself he barely whispers, "Dont like mistreatment. Only enjoy a fair fight and I will punish those that feel otherwise..or hurt those I care about.. "
He seems to come back to the present and the tone in his voice shifts once again..
'Thinking back we were doing alright. When we washed up on the island the only thing we found were bags of seeds and spices. We had to work together and be resourceful to survive. Caught and ate a lot of rabbits on that island... fish too of course..
There were about 10 families living on the island at the time. All of us shipwrecked at different times. I cant even tell you what the name of the island is or was..." he chuckles in his deep raspy tone.
Argo's eyes widen as he goes on to explain It was the infamous Charles Vane that took him in eventually.
' That was later when I was gunning for Quarter Master on my own ship.
I was still young but I was determined to make Mate and Quartermaster and Captain as fast as possible.
I would have been in my mid teens when we had a run in with Charles Vane and his crew not far from the Spanish Main.
I knew it was futile, but my captain was determined to send Vane to his death. He said Vane was a psychopath and deserved to rot in Davy Jones' Locker.
Of course, that didn't happen. Argo, you well know what its like when Vane wants to recruit ya..
Those lives that Vane spared on that day, like myself, joined his crew.'
Argo reaches over and refills both their tankards from the barrells tap.
She measures a good 3 fingers and then decides to just freehand the rest of the rum in and fill them.. These 2 litre ceramic tankards hold a great deal of rum indeed!!
She hands Silver his as he stokes the fire and returns to his chair - his replenished drinking vessel held firm looking like a miniature tea cup in his big hand ..
SilverShadow smiles and nods as he remembers fondly, "Vane knew very quickly that I would make a good captain and that I needed my own ship and crew.
With all the plundering we did early on it didn't take long. I still have the first ship."(He really chuckles heavily at the thought of this)
'It's in my marina
I take her out once in a while.
She's one of my "hounds. 'Er name is Cujo '.. he smiles that big skewed grin as they laugh out loud.
Shaking his head after slapping his knee he said,
'Vane taught me to work on my piracy tech first and foremost. Best advice I got and can give.
Once I had my hideout I worked on pirate and skirmish tech equally.
Then maxed skirmish tech. When they increased the max level on skirmish. I got on that right away.
Slowly working on the pirate tech along the way. Learning the ways of piracy seemed to take a bit more out of me.. I liked the skirmishing straight away... ' He frowns and a big smile splits his face -
"I just remembered. I borrowed money from Vane to build my hideout. Haha. He had some other deal going shortly after and I had to pay him back right away. So we got to do a lot of plundering together. Good times." Again, he laughs heartily.
SilverShadows scarred and heavy brows knit as he thinks out loud "These days I get 36 skirmishes every day. And can save up to 222 before I lose 'em. So I try hard to use them and not lose them.
That has been the key."
He grins, " As long as I do that, no one will catch me."
Argo laughs:
Do you want that public knowledge? lol
SilverShadow
Ya! But I don't want anyone not trying. Who knows? I might retire one day.
Argo
yeh but nah.. the ghost of SS will still skirmish the seas of avonmora forever regardless of the numbers - very few have the dedication to skirmish - there wont be another you..
SilverShadow
A lot of traders know when I've had a few days off. I make up for it. And they get pelted more than normal. Hehe.
Argo
Lol.. yes Ive heard some comments
A spy netwk from SS causes shudders apparently
SilverShadow
Yes intel is key as well. I've got a pretty good idea who I can skirmish now. So an SN from SS doesn't happen much these days.
Argo
So as I raid I also have a fair knowledge of who I can hit and who I cant. Until suddenly they change their fleets and add a sneaky escort. Has the increase in escorts in trade fleets affected your plunder from skirmish totals?
So is this a key to your success?... Some players skirmish blindly..
I do sometimes..sometimes cutters and sloops will easily do the job, but I tend to skirmish often with much bigger ships these days to get a feed ...
SilverShadow
Skirmishing with sloops is possible, but very difficult and would require SN's. I have a lot of respect for a pirate that can have that kind of dedication. I skirmish with heavy guns. It's necessary for my kind of skirmishing. The increase in escorts had definitely affected my skirmish totals. I'm slowly working up the ranks of skirmish loses. Haha. I'll be number one in that category one day as well.
Argo
hAHA I have you well beat there for now ... Although...." She checks herself once again - actually thinks AB may have claim there..
Argo notices a slight change in Silver. He leans forward and perches enthusiastically on the edge of his seat. His eyes light up when he begins to speak of his beloved ships.
SilverShadow
I've had to increase the strength of my fleets as my regulars have increased theirs. I started with SOW/Sloop fleets a few years back. Now I'm LF/FG/FG/Sloop and slowly working towards SOTL/LF/FG/Sloop. I have to. But I think it's great. It's nice seeing the traders being successful and building their fleets. I need targets.
Argo Can you see the day when mows will be normal fodder for your skirmishes?
It's risky running those big ships. Risk vs reward. So far reward has been winning. I make an average 2-3 mil a day just skirmishing. With the odd raid that comes up I've been able to hit a billion plundered in less than a year consistently
Could you imagine MOWs everywhere. That would be crazy. But now that you bring it up. Who knows? Maybe.
A lvl 60 FG maxed tech is a ship to be reckoned with. A lvl 40 FG even. And not such a big loss as a LG or SOTL. That's part of the strategy for that. But times are changing.
My maxed out FGs are barely getting me by right now. Traders are using FG's like crazy now. I had to go with LFs and SOTLs (so I could beat Meliva's fleets for example.)
Like I said. It's still possible for pirates to run SOWs, but with a tons of intel. And you would be playing with the small fish. In the deep water with the big fish it's gonna take the big ships. Our veteran pirates probably have more to say on the smaller stuff. But for a guy like me that hops on every day or so and uses up his skirmishes I have to have the big guns to make profits.
I don't mind it the way it is. I would like to see something pirate specific. I wish it wasn't so difficult to implement.
I would love to have one fleet that had one ship that was actually feared by merchants and other pirates. We had some good ideas in the past. (like not being able to steal it) I can't remember the specifics. I thought it was going somewhere then it didn't. I gave up on the hopes a long time ago.
**Argo notes again the enthusiasm with which SS speaks of his beloved ships.
"So.. any romance for the infamous SilverShadow? " She laughs out loud because she knows the answer and what he will likely say.
He matches her smile - it is a conversation they have had fun with many times.
"Not really. I has my wife like every good pirate does in Avonmora. Mine's in Tortuga of course and while I is fond of her i does like to sail with me good friends The Argonaut and Ms Anne Bonny when I can instead. They be me ladies...more than I can handle..."
He chuckles heartily.
A familiar sound interrupts Argo's thoughts. She looks up and quickly checks the Guild Log as the alarm sounds .. She laughs as she says -
"Oh ... And... Silver ... tell me what you think about Voodoo ... being...cast... on you... so much..."
The rum is clearly affecting ARGO and she is having trouble stopping the giggles...and staying focussed on her questions.
All attempted formalities seem to be launching themselves into the fire!
Silver laughs - "I'm good. Those voodoo's don't bother me at all. Slows down the profits a little sometimes but meh... Waste of voodoo's for my foes as far as I'm concerned. But it helps the Avonmora economy. If they want to blast them at me go ahead.
ARGO: Soo come on you can tell me... Is it true you have more than one wife in Avonmora..?
SILVER: "No comment on family. Private pirate. " Together they laugh.
Argo
haha... well ofc like all good crooks..
SilverShadow
Ya. hehe ..
Argo - how do you spend your spare time?
SilverShadow
I seems to spend me free time at the den .. I loved the quiet at Ocracoke but the golden halls of Vudu are very charming indeed I mean, mostly the only time I am away from you and Anne is when I am skirmishing so maybe I may or may not have other things going on in that regard ... but a pirates gotta keep some secrets, no?
Argo
haha... well ofc like all good crooks...lmao
SilverShadow
yup
SilverShadow
Oh. I should make mention something about the move back to VUDU. I haven't been very active in the guild, but I am happy to be back. But Im happy where-ever the three of us are as long as we are together.
Argo curls up in her chair.. her face warm and flushed from both the fire and the rum.
Silver continues: "Not sure if you knew me back in the day I went by QuikSilver and QuickSilver. I had a couple of other names (affiliated with guild), but not for long. QuikSilver was my original name when I first sailed into Avonmora.
SilverShadow was a name I used in a online game called Shakes & Fidget.
Before I found Pirates Glory. Shakes & Fidget was another low bandwidth online game based on World of Warcraft. Developed by some guys in Germany. I played it with my kids when I worked in the USA.SilverShadow.
I was a big QuikSilver fan until I heard how bad they were treating their athletes, models and staff. I stopped supporting their brand after that. Hence the change to QuickSilver and then SilverShadow.
I want to mention as well that Caladin, El Draque, Wally, Meliva and a few others were my inspiration to the change to a larger force. El Draque is probably the biggest influence. I increased my force to beat El D only to have him change his escorts.
Now I can't beat him with his addition of SOTL escorts to his fleets. Hence my goal to have SOTLs in my future fleets. Meliva's 4XFG's had been impossible to beat, so SOTL's were added to my fleets that sail the same ports as Meliva.
I can only get two skirmishes with her. She has her fleets set up so she gets a 2 skirmish limit per day. And often I get missed skirmishes.
For me the fun really is skirmishing. I found my niche and it fits my schedule very well. I am satisfied with 2-3 mil a day. Not huge, but it's enough to keep building up my marina. I'm at lvl 24 for my marina right now. It will be good to have lvl 30 for times when I have to take extended leave again.
Even though it's 15k gold and 8+ mil per lvl increase plus resources, I'll keep working on that.
Don't get me wrong though. I love a good raid every chance I get. What pirate doesn't. If I could raid every day I would.
Ask Anne about her memories of me. I attacked her once and got kicked back hard and I had a lot of respect for her and became a bit of a fan. Might have got a bit of a crush " He drops his eyes briefly a little shyly.
Having a chance to be in the same guild for a while was awesome, but like other exploits we didn't really get a chance to play a lot together. Not really sure how we grew such a strong bond. We just did. It's been great being a part of her life in Avonmora and sharing the den with her and you.
And then there's you. You have been my biggest influence. You have always been encouraging me to hit those billion markers and have always been the first to congratulate me in my milestones. This last bit has been a lot milestones for me. Thanks for everything this last couple of years. You've been a great friend. You've definitely have been the wind in my sails.
It was too bad the timing was off for our try at our guild again. One day way in a more relaxed future I hope we can try again.
I'm still at 49+K for hostility with Spain. And I haven't attacked a Spaniard forever. Haha. I wish we had a leaderboard for those stats.I'm over 80K hostility with USA. I'm gonna go on a haul one of these days and try to get over 100K.
That would be a milestone!"
Silver gets up from his big chair and steps over to Argo. She has fallen asleep. He leaves the room and returns a moment later with a blanket. He gently throws it over her, checks the fire and leaves her knowing she feels protected and at ease.
As he closes the door behind him he chuckles to himself as he remembers " I was choked initially when Anne took over number one pirate position. But very quickly became super excited for Anne and was knew she deserved the spot. When she's in pirate mode everyone watch out. I will always be a huge AB fan."
SilverShadow
If I lived in the Golden Age of Piracy ... I would like to think that I would do what I'm doing in Avonmora. I would be attracted to the pirate life. In reality... I would never survive. HaHaHa. I wouldn't last a full day. I wouldn't be a coward. I would just run into the end of someone else's sword or something like that. LOL. If I could pick who I was in the Golden Age of Piracy. It would be SilverShadow. And I'd love it.
SILVER'S DEN - THE PIRATES OCRACOKE -FU (FRIGATE UNION) AT OCRACOKE ISLAND - In the past shared with Anne Bonny and the editor.
Infamous and fearsome yet well respected in Avonmora, SILVERSHADOW is currently happily based at VUDU.
