The room was dank, and musky, not at all what Lionel had assumed his first footsteps on the Raving Raider, the biggest pirate ship to ever set sail in all of Thilicia, to be in. A quick glance through the room told him that he was in a storage room of the ship. Lionel cursed his luck, he expected to at least be able to start his hunt for Roger Welch’s famous treasure in the more luxurious part of the ship, where he presumed the treasury was most likely hidden. Everyone knew that in the past few years, Roger had been investing all his time in finding a way to open his grandest treasure chest. Lionel, who happened to chance upon a special key during one of his treasure hunts, decided to test his luck today. Even if the key was wrong, other treasures on the ship would make this journey more than worth it. He ventured out of the storage room and made his way through the halls of the Raving Raider. As it was late, few guards were about and Lionel easily sneaked his way to the middle of the ship. He disposed of the guard guarding the treasury, and went inside.
Between the hoard of riches, a medium sized, extravagant treasure chest stood out to Lionel. Although it was not as big as the rumors suggested, its frontal emblem resembled the key he held on him. But as Lionel approached it, a disturbing thought came to him. There was no mistake that this was the treasure Lionel was after. However, he was also sure that Roger had tried many approaches in opening this particular chest, yet it looked completely unscathed! There were no scratches, no dents, nothing. Still, no matter how suspicious this looked to him, Lionel knew that there was no point in backing out now. He fished the key out of his inner pocket, put it in the keyhole, and turned it. Lionel felt nothing happening, so he decided it did not work. He released the key from the hole, after which the chest suddenly opened, pouring black mist out of it at an insane pace. Lionel, alarmed by this, threw his hand in the chest hoping there was something he could swiftly take with him, but it was to no avail. All he felt was cold air, which started creeping up the rest of his arm. He shook it off, after which Lionel immediately ran for the door, escaping was more important to him than securing any treasure at that point. But as he turned around and ran to the door, the lower half of it was already obscured by the dark fog. He put his hand where the doorknob should have been, but his hand passed only through cold air, even where the door used to be. As Lionel looked around the room again, he noticed that although almost all of the treasure had by now been obscured by the mist, the chest remained visible. He scrambled back to the chest, tried closing it, but it would not. Lionel tried putting the key back in the keyhole, twisted it, but nothing worked. By then, except for the chest, all around him was covered by the black mist. He heard a deep, terrifying voice from in his head, telling him:
“As chest and key doth reunite, so shall the world be veiled by night. For time to reach the break of dawn, thou soon shall need to find a pawn. But do not fret, and do not fear, for soon thine reaper shall appear.”