The Letter of Marque bore the King’s seal.

The cannon aboard the ship had not changed.

Neither had the crew.

STACY:

“So this made piracy legal?”

CAELWYN:

“No.”

“It made it useful.”

She looked at the parchment.

STACY:

“The same captain.”

CAELWYN:

“Yes.”

STACY:

“The same ship.”

CAELWYN:

“Yes.”

STACY:

“The same cannon.”

CAELWYN:

“Yes.”

A long silence.

Stacy folded the document.

STACY:

“So what changed?”

Caelwyn watched a merchant vessel leave the harbor.

A Royal Navy frigate saluted as it passed.

Weeks earlier…

they would have fired at one another.

CAELWYN:

“The King’s enemies.”

Another pause.

CAELWYN:

“Yesterday…”

“…he was paid to burn their ships.”

Stacy looked toward the sea.

STACY:

“And today?”

Caelwyn’s eyes remained on the horizon.

CAELWYN:

“Today…”

“…he hangs for remembering how.”

The tide washed gently against the pier.

Every ship rose with the swell.

Every ship…

except one.

An abandoned sloop remained perfectly still.

Not drifting.

Not rocking.

Simply…

waiting.

Stacy frowned.

STACY:

“Why isn’t it moving?”

Caelwyn never looked away from it.

CAELWYN:

“The sea never needed a signature.”

Far beyond the harbor—

a single dark wave crossed the bay.

Against the tide.

No sailor spoke.

But every sailor watched.

---

🜍 THE PRICE OF INDEPENDENCE

A king’s signature can legalize violence.

A treaty can outlaw the very same act.

The sea accepts neither excuse.

It remembers only what was done.

If you remember what this felt like—

you already know what you’re missing.

Raise the black flag.

Or keep watching from the shore.

👉 https://startplaying.games/gm/dunchan

Want to go deeper?

Then don’t stop at the surface.

The full stories.

The historical research.

The forgotten Letters of Marque.

The truths no empire could rewrite.

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