In 2018, the Sea of Thieves website launched the "Athena's Fortune" writing contest. This was the premise:

What we're asking for

From October 25th to December 6th, we want you to write a short story set in the world of Sea of Thieves. We want to hear the tales of adventure that you and your crew have embarked upon. If writing isn't your thing, fear not, you can still get involved as we're also inviting all the artists out there to take part!

Why are we looking for stories and fan art, we hear you ask? Well, we're aiming to put together a very special physical book comprised of short stories (all non-canon of course) that tell tales of our community’s time at sea – and a community-led book wouldn't be complete without some awesome artwork for the front cover, right? Yes, your short story and fan art could feature in a Sea of Thieves book that we're calling… Mariners’ Myths!

The Rules

Members of the Sea of Thieves team will be judging your written and artistic submissions based on the following criteria: Creativity and Originality.

There are a few rules you must stick to for this competition:

1. Written submissions must be a minimum of 2,000 words and a maximum of 3,500.
   Please keep your written entries within the word limit.

2. Submission must be family-friendly.
   Please keep your written submissions free from bad language and sexual content. Your art submissions should also be free from bad language and sexual content.

3. Submissions must have been created by you.
   Please only submit pieces of work that you yourself have created.

The Prizes

There will be three main prize winners from the fan fiction submission pool. Each main prize includes the Athena's Fortune novel signed by Chris Allcock, a Sea of Thieves Limited Edition Controller, 20 Bilge Rat Doubloons, your work included in Mariners’ Myths and a copy for yourself.

There will be two runner-up prize winners from the fan fiction submission pool. Each runner-up prize includes the Athena's Fortune novel signed by Chris Allcock, 10 Bilge Rat Doubloons, your work included in Mariners’ Myths and a copy for yourself.

There will be one main prize winner from the fan art submission pool. This main prize includes the Athena's Fortune novel signed by Chris Allcock, a Sea of Thieves Limited Edition Controller, 20 Bilge Rat Doubloons, your artwork included in Mariners’ Myths and a copy for yourself.

There will be two runner-up prize winners from the fan art submission pool. This runner-up prize includes the Athena's Fortune novel signed by Chris Allcock, 10 Bilge Rat Doubloons and a copy of Mariners’ Myths.

Captain Morgan's Revenge

Although I had already bought a copy of the "Athena's Fortune" novel signed by Chris Allcock, I decided to write a tale that could be in a bigger fan-book, if people liked it. Everyone ignored it.
It uses knowledge from the Sea of Thieves Wiki.
It's a comedy of 2448 words.
The protagonist's and his antagonist's names are put together by me, and the coincidence to real people's or other players' names is purely accidental.

Athena's Misfortune

<<Full!>>, shouted Captain Armando Morgan. He was stranded from an entire moon on a little island east of Shipwrecked Bay. <<Of baloney! Like yer stories!>>, replied one of his poker adversaries. <<Come, now, King Bob, don’t be such a salty Susie, or yer face will turn purple! Give me that plate o’ bananas, before they rot!>>. King Bob’s skinny and pale hands passed his anti-scurvy win to him. <<And then what happened, when yer lifelong rival, Captain Angelo Montevideo, fooled ya again?>>, asked King Bob, while chattering his teeth. <<After he sent his baby Kraken after me, I’ve decided to send HIM on a fool’s errand!!>>. <<AGAIN!?>>. <<Yes, again! But this time, I’ve sent good ol’ George himself to give him a fake Shanty o’ Legends for a fake Athena’s Fortune Voyage!>> <<Is that even possible?>> <<I don’t know and I don’t care, but he managed to! Had to pay him with a golden ship...>> <<Just tell the tale, or I’ll crush yer skull!!>> <<Fine, but I’ll warn ya: it’s a tale of mischief, mistrust, misdirection and mysteries… A real… Athena’s misfortune!>>:

It all started when me and me crew shipwrecked on Galleon’s Grave Outpost. We were beaten and bitter, so we went to the Broken Tusk to lift our spirits up with some… spirit. Suddenly, two green glowing lights came from a corner of the tavern: it was the mysterious... George! He said to me: <<Ye’re a worthy Captain, ready to become a Legend! Take this, and play yer hurdy-gurdy to the end!>> He gave me the most desirable song in the whole Sea of Thieves area: the Shanty o’ Legends! We met the Pirate Lord, who gave us a series of quests, and Blind Bob, who delighted us with his pirate puns, like: <<How much did the pirate pay for his peg and hook? An arm and a leg!>>. Then, the most mischievous idea came into mind: the fake Voyage for Captain Montevideo! After completing all the quests, and after George confirmed he never gave the Shanty to Montevideo, we had enough to buy a golden ship on Golden Sands Outpost and corrupt good ol’ Georgie. We arranged everything: we corrupted everyone on Galleon’s Grave Outpost, we sent specific instructions to the other Outposts, we bought shiny clothes to disguise ourselves as the Pirate Lord and Blind Bob, we prepared quests and arranged treasures on various islands. The trap was ready. One day, at last, Montevideo arrived on Galleon’s Grave Outpost and entered the Broken Tusk to drink some grog while his crew was resting on his ship. The Tavernkeep and George looked at each other, and the act started to play. “Greetings, Legend! Through many voyages upon the sea, you searched to find the Legends Key. Now one last step to pass the tests, to find where Athena's Fortune rests. My name is George and I may hold the Key, through stories untold upon the sea. Take this tune and make a sound, the secret lies near in the ground”. Amazed by his encounter, Montevideo took his Royal Sovereign Concertina and started to play this awful tune, attracting the booing and shame of a few drunken cabin’s boys. We came out of our hiding hole and greeted Montevideo as a hero. I, as the Pirate Lord, cheerfully slapped his back and pushed him on a chair. We introduced each other and my first mate began spouting bad dad’s jokes like: <<Ya know when a Legend is wooden? When he’s a peg leg-end!>>. Then, while repeatedly slapping his back, I started me speech: <<Ahoy, captain! Are ye supposed to be a captain? Ye’re dressed like a cabin’s boy... And ya smell like a walrus who just drunk ten barrels of grog! Blind Bob, are ye sure this is the right guy? Nevertheless, I’m the Pirate Lord, and ye’re one of those “aspiring” Legends that endlessly roam the Sea of Thieves, even if it looks like ye bought yer fame, right? Well, well… If ya want to become a TRUE LEGEND, ya have to do some quests for me, to prove me that yer worth! (loud whisper) He’s gonna fail at the chicken’s quest, Bob! (mighty voice) Come on, young lad, don’t be so afraid! If yer fame is earned, these quests should be a breeze for ya!>>. Then I gently dropped my quests on his feet. <<Sorry, lad! I help ya get ‘em!>>. Bam! Right on his face! Ponf! On the table: spilled all his grog on his clothes! We left him to study those treacherous maps and riddles and we watched him leave the Broken Tusk in a hurry, like he was suddenly pushed by the pointy horn of a manatee! Me trusted and silent spy in his crew told me what happened next.

Montevideo arrived with his clothes full of grog, leaves and sand, his hands full of unofficial maps, his beard, his hair and his hat full of branches, and his face incredibly red and sweaty. <<Captain, what happened?>> <<Anf… uff… I met the Pirate Lord… at the tavern… he gave me… us… these… to become Legends… Puff… pant… I ran through the vegetation to arrive… as soon as I could...>> The quests were no less than eight! Two trade goods requests, two X-marks-the-spot maps, two riddle maps and two bounty maps: they needed to find eight goodies, ten treasures and eight Skeleton Captains! The two trade good requests led them specifically on Fools Lagoon. They needed to capture just a couple o’ pigs, but the island was full of holes created for the pig’s joy. When they boarded their ship with the pigs, they were covered in mud and tar. Soon, the entire ship, the sails, the mast, the quarters were covered in mud and tar. The second island on the list was the Isle of Last Words. They needed six snakes, but, little did they know, we preemptively trapped all the snakes on top of the rocks at the South end of the Isle. They uselessly wandered through the vegetation in the North end, guided by contradictory signs, ‘til Montevideo looked through his Ceremonial Admiral Spyglass, and noticed the snake trap. When he reached the rocks and cut the trap’s rope, all the Isle snakes rained all over him. They weren’t venomous, but he jumped right out of his skin and ran to the ship, screaming like a little girl, and covered with mud, tar and snake’s skin. The third island was a little Atoll called Old Salts Atoll. The requests asked a chicken for every little island of the Atoll. These four chickens were trained by me first mate to fight against any hostile. Montevideo smartly sent every member of his crew and himself on a different island. The pecks were hurtful and the chickens covered the pirate’s bodies with feathers. The fourth and last island of these goodies requests was Keel Haul Fort. Oh, they found all the barrels they needed… and more! Me first mate was disguised as a big ape, and he rolled down those barrels onto Montevideo’s crew, while eating some bananas. When the four unfortunate fools came back on Galleon’s Grave Outpost, they were covered of mud, tar, branches, leaves, sand, gunpowder, sea salt, feathers and blood. The other crews that saw them laughed hysterically at ‘em, and when they reached Senior Trader Meg, she dropped this pearl at them: <<Ah, guys, I know ye’re “Legends”, but for the items of these maps, I can give ya only these two special “Legend Tokens”!>>. Back on the ship, while the crew was scrubbing everything and Montevideo was taking a bath, strange suspicions were starting to raise. That evening, during dinner, they started to discuss the odd situation they found themselves in: <<Angelo, those quests were filled with traps!>>, <<Aye! And Trade Goods Maps never specified certain islands!>>, <<And those “Legend Tokens” really are strange...>>, <<Do ya think we’re being set up by someone?>>, <<Aye! It’s been a long time since we heard of Armando!>>, <<I think he died from our Kraken, guys!>>. <<Alright, crew, listen up! Y’all have good concerns, and even if the Pirate Lord reminded me of someone, I can guarantee ya: there is nothing to worry about! These quests are supposed to be more challenging, to prove I’m worth… we’re worth of becoming TRUE LEGENDS! The Tokens will probably be our Rare proof of mightiness: the Lord will probably need eight Tokens to declare me… us Legends! So rest now, me mighty pirates! The next days will be hard! I mean: what could possibly go wrong?>>.

The next day, the first X-marks-the-spot Map sent Montevideo’s crew on Sailor’s Bounty. Pretty easy maps to use, especially with an Admiral Compass like Montevideo’s, but we took the liberty to rearrange a few of the landmarks. They spent half of their day to recognize the island, uncover some landmarks hidden in vegetation, rocks and sand, and re-rearrange everything. When they finally found the right spots, they took their Kraken Shovels and dug four Chests of Sorrows up. They could barely reach the second island, ‘cause of all the water produced by me Chests. Montevideo’s crew arrived on Cannon Cove with a semi-sunk ship. The Cove has a really famous painting of a red Kraken. Sadly, only my spy found it and saw what we painted over. He scratched it. He said it was “very distasteful and unfunny”, whatever that means. In our thirst for revenge, we had a lot of fun with this island: red Xs marked everywhere, destroyed vegetation, moved rocks, skeletons pointing at Xs formed with their own bones, animals enclosed in little fences shaped like Xs! It was already midnight when they dug four Chests of a Thousand Grogs up and wobbled to their ship. They quickly shipped to Golden Sand Outpost, to sell the Chests to Hugh the Hoarder. Good ol’ Hugh fulfilled his part perfectly: <<Sorry, “Legends”, but ya can sell these particular Chests only to me colleague Henry, on Galleon’s Grave Outpost!>>. The drunk and tired Montevideo had to set camp up on the North side of the Eastern island and guard the Chests himself to not let the ship sink! On his ship, his crew was beaten and bitter, and me spy helped raise the discontent. They took another day just to go back on Galleon’s Grave Outpost and sell the Chests to Henry: <<It’s about time, “Legends”! Hugh told me ya tried to cheat the Pirate Lord himself by trying to sell these precious and peculiar chests on another Outpost!>> <<But we...>> <<Shut up, “Captain”, if ya really are the captain, and take these two special “Legend Tokens”, even if I think ya don’t deserve it! Now, go rest and take a bath: ya look and smell horrible!>>.

The third day they risen, rested and cleaned, to the search of the Riddle’s island, now prepared for the worst. “On Old Faithful Isle the first Chest is, but first ya need the Entwined Trees. Just hug the trees and don’t be fool, now go South to the High Murky Pool. Take a deep dip into the water, and light the Lantern on the Skull Pile altar. The beautiful anchor on the beach rest, take to the South thirteen steps at best”. Those were odd instructions, right? Well, they did everything: hugged those dirty trees and got new cuts on their skin, alongside with the chickens’ pecks; took a filthy bath in the Murky Pool; re awoke the skull on the altar with Montevideo’s Sailor Lantern; all for another Chest of Sorrow, an always active one, this time. The second riddle recited: “On Shark Bait Cove ya will find a Statue to climb, don’t pick the wrong one or something will come to mind. Now find the Fisherman’s Grave, and prepare thyselves to be brave. Grab the Shovel and start to dig, because ya have to fill thy brig. Now that the Fisherman’s out, find the Barnacled Chests and go thirteen step South”. Needless to say, they climbed onto the wrong Statue… twice! And their Kraken Shovels angered the Fisherman, who trapped ‘em with his fishing line. They got into a fight when they discovered the fifth Chest of a Thousand Grogs. On Galleon’s Grave Outpost, they were embittered and furious, and Henry gave them a threatening look and two more Tokens.

The fourth day was Captain’s Skulls hunting day. The first four Skeleton Captains were on Kraken’s Fall. Montevideo almost cried when he read the names of his former successful crew, but his current crew wanted to get this over so quickly, that the Skulls were gathered only in an hour. During the voyage to Kraken Watchtower, Montevideo reminded his former crew: <<I missed ya, guys! Look, these are… were the Spaghetti Brothers! They were always chanting “Don’t forget yer spaghet”! I never knew what they meant… Wait, did ya hear that? The Spaghet said “They’re deceiving ya”?>>. On Kraken Watchtower, the battle was longer: the four captains were Montevideo’s enemies, still angry and hungry for revenge. Finally back on Galleon’s Grave Outpost, they suspiciously gave the eight Skulls to Madame Oksana. She cheerfully gave them two Tokens, chuckling to herself, when, suddenly, her fury erupted: <<Do not tempt yer fate! Trust the Pirate Lord, non-believers!>> <<I wasn’t...>> <<I can read yer minds, Angelo Montevideo! Ya were about to ask about the “Legends Tokens”! Give them to the Pirate Lord, and follow his instructions!>>. They ran into the Broken Tusk, like pigs pecked by chickens! In the tavern, they found yers truly, dressed as the Lord and always full of cheerful slaps: <<Well done, lads! Now, bring the Chest of Legends! It’s on Paradise Spring, in the lake at the center of the island!>>.

They reluctantly sailed to Paradise Spring, while I dangerously sneaked on their ship. On Paradise Spring, they spent hours and hours diving into the lake, searching a Chest that wasn’t there, until Montevideo himself saw me and captured me. After a voyage where I was proudly bragging of how I fooled him, he made me walk the plank and left me on a random Uncharted Island! Can ya believe that!?

<<NO, I CAN’T!>>, replied King Bob, tired of Morgan’s stories. He was about to get up and attack him, when Morgan’s ship arrived on shore. <<Captain, we finally found ya! Come on board!>> <<Wait a second, guys! Ahoy, King Bob! I’ll come back to tell ya more stories! Let’s go, guys!>>. While Morgan jumped on board, his crew looked on the island to see King Bob, but all they saw were two half buried skeletons and a plate of rotten bananas.