Celestina loved the land folk, their stories and their stubbornness. She loved the salt-crusted fishermen who spoke with reverence to the wind and sea. She loved the thick, bitter ale at they would serve her in the tavern while she danced to a bard’s hearty songs and shanties. Disguised in her human form, she’d walk barefoot on the rocky coasts, offering her magical healing remedies in exchange for golden coins and hearty drink. Her beauty and laughter were remembered in every tavern she passed through, though none knew her secret — that she returned to the sea beneath the moon at night, donning her seal skin and diving beneath the waves where her soul felt most at peace.  

The selkies warned her. They watched from the depths, dark-eyed and suspicious. 

“The humans are not as kind as you believe, Celestina. They fear what they do not understand. They love only what they can possess.” 

But Celestina, ever the gentle spirit, ignored their warnings and admonitions. She felt in her heart that there is good to be found in everyone. You only needed to look for it. Her smile was her rebellion, and she continued to visit the land folk she cared for. She made friends wherever she went, but she always returned to the town and port of Belfast, drinking with both fishermen and sailor alike and offering those that needed it her healing services.  

She felt this simple life she led could go on endlessly and she would be happy. She wanted to see more of the land she loved so much, adventure calling her name. Fate had other plans… 

Summer 1573 – Celestina 

At the age of 104, she looked no older than a lady in her early 30s, age having little effect on her physical form. No one would say anything about it though, the townspeople loved her and didn’t question her on her seemingly unageing appearance. 

It was a typical day once again in Belfast Harbor, and she spent it healing wounded local sailors from a skirmish with pirates, her hands soaked in blood and seawater. That night, with her hair still damp from a quick dip in the ocean and her spirits lifted by laughter, she drank and danced among friends in the center of The Thistle and Chain, her favorite tavern of late. Somewhere between the third ale and the lustrous tune of a fiddler’s song, her seal skin was taken. She felt a sharp pain in her chest, and she ran out of the tavern and toward her secret spot on the beach by the docks, and watched in horror as a ship was sailing away with a man staring back at her, his face hardened with resolution, her seal skin in his fist. With a flash of green, the ship disappeared before her very eyes, leaving her with no idea of where they had gone, and an emptiness swallowing her heart.  

3 days prior… – Virgil 

A man familiar with magical objects, always keeping to the shadows, Virgil had heard of a lady of the sea immersing herself in the realm of humans. He had heard tales of the seal folk, the selkies of legend, rumored to heal or inflict upon a sailor any ailment, but had never seen one himself. It was rumored that if one acquired their skin, they had control over the selkie herself.  

He was on watch aboard his ship when he saw her. She sat alone on the beach soaking up the light of the moon, and he couldn’t believe his eyes. A creature of pure legend right in front of him.  

She was beautiful, her long brown hair flowing in the light breeze and a bright smile gracing her face. He watched from the shadows of the mast, completely mesmerized, as she donned her seal skin and leapt into the sea and disappeared, only to return to the same beach a few hours later. He hadn’t seen her breach the surface for breath, and he had no idea where she had gone in the time she was submerged in the oceans murky depths. When she returned, he watched as she ascended from the cresting sea foam waves that kissed the beach, doffed her seal skin, and, after looking around to make sure she was alone, hid it in a concealed crevice in one of the rocks littering the crescent shaped cove. He watched as she moved her hands in a very measured manner, and he guessed she had cast some diversion and illusion spells to keep prying eyes from venturing too close. Somehow, she hadn’t seen or sensed him.  

He continued to watch her as she made her way back up towards the docks and into one of the local seaside taverns. He couldn’t believe his luck. While him and his crew hadn’t come to Belfast this time in search of magical relics, he had discovered something most treasured, and he was no righteous man. Cursed as he was to live out his days aboard the Myriad Fortune, he was in the business of finding and acquiring magical artifacts, and he just landed himself a most prized specimen indeed. This could be his ticket to freedom, he thought.  

He waited, telling none of his fellow crew about his discovery, the promise of freedom too great to share his secret. In the coming days he would watch her return to that same beach, that concealed crevice in the rocks, and learn her routine. He followed her into the tavern too, and although he was taken aback by her smile and beauty, the chance for freedom outweighed whatever good was left in his heart. One night, when he knew she was back at the tavern and surrounded by drink, song, and friends, he acted. He knew where she kept her pelt, and once he acquired it and would present it to his captain, he would gain his freedom. No time wasted, he found it exactly where he had seen her put it, using what he learned of spells from his trade work to his advantage to break the spells she cast to keep it hidden. He fled back to the ship and woke up the crew to leave port post haste, that he would explain once they were away from shore. As they were casting off, he looked back to the docks and saw her, her smile gone, tears streaming down her face. Her fading voice an ominous tone, he heard her cry out a curse upon his ship, that it one day soon find itself in the clutches of Davy Jones’s locker, and for the crew to suffer in hell for eternity. Dread came over him, and as the ship was taken by the magic of the green flash, he wasn’t sure if he was ever to be free after all… 

Summer 1573 – Celestina 

With her skin now gone, the sea rejected Celestina. Her true form was locked within the folds of that stolen pelt, and she was left to live on land with her vengeance and anger bottled like a storm behind her teeth. Every day she feared she would be called to serve whomever had stolen her pelt, worried the curse she had cast upon the ship wouldn’t be enough. She watched the horizon every day for the return of that damned ship, only to be met with that ever-increasing empty feeling inside her chest. The kind smile faded, but it never left completely. It was only replaced by something sharper, her resolve in accepting her new path sound and unwavering. And so, she got to work.  

She had somehow retained her magical healing abilities after losing her treasured pelt, and she used them to her advantage. She had the sailors and merchants she healed teach her the art of fighting and weaponry in exchange for her services, and she practiced relentlessly, eagerly awaiting the day the Myriad Fortune would return to Belfast.  

When she wasn’t healing the wounded or practicing with her daggers, she would take to working a shift in the taverns she frequented to pay off her debts to the establishments from her drink. She would also work to listen to the whispers of the patrons, easier when behind the counter, ever hopeful of hearing anything in regard to her quest to avenge her stolen pelt and destroy that damned ship before it would inevitably destroy her. After she starting becoming proficient with her daggers, her weapon of choice, she took to exchanging coin for mercenary work in addition to information for her healing abilities.  

Summer 1603 – Celestina 

30 more years passed, and the Myriad Fortune had not returned to port in Belfast. Over the years she had heard rumors, while working in the tavern, of the ship that stole magical artifacts to sell in the black market for profit, but no one seemed to ever know where the ship was or where they sold their wares. Even the information she traded from travelers for her healing services didn’t glean anything new: “The Myriad Fortune can transform its appearance in every port it enters, save for its name itched in Brass upon the stern, and it is seen disappearing into the night with a flash of green.”  All of this she already knew. 

One day, ironically on the exact same day her pelt had been stolen 30 years prior, she heard a new whisper, a new voice in the tavern. Many new voices in fact filled the space, and she guessed a new ship had moored in port. She searched the bar for the man she had seen 30 years ago, the man who had sailed away with her pelt. He was not among them… but this rowdy new group seemed of interest to her nonetheless. She heard them swapping stories of their worldly travels, reveling in the drink and friendship. She had been stuck on land too long, she thought to herself, unable to find the right people to help her in her quests to reclaim what was hers. She admired the sight and served them many a drink. She even shared in a few of their toasts, and they seemed to enjoy her partake with them and her company. The tavern was alive with their laughter and stories. It was around the 5th round of drinks when she heard one of them say they had heard tales of a sunken ship full of magical artifacts they were tracking. She heard him say that the last place this ship had been seen was here in Belfast harbor. She couldn’t believe her ears; had she heard wrong? The man who spoke of the ship had a red beard and was in the center of the group at a table playing a game of dice they referred to as Captain’s Bounty.  

Wanting to seem nonchalant, Celestina sauntered over to the table. “Did you just say you were tracking a lost ship?”, she asked.  

Immediately the group surrounding the man with the red beard stood up and surrounded him, creating an impenetrable wall between her and the man. Her eyebrows rose, guessing this man must be important. She gave them all her best winning smile. 

One of the men standing in front of her with a giant shield strapped to his back regarded her with pensive interest. “What does it matter to you?” he said. 

“I don’t mean to be a bother, I was just curious. May I please speak with the man you are all doing a very good job of protecting? I promise I don’t bite.”, she responded as she tried to send a little wave to the red bearded man over their shoulders.  

There was silence for a few heartbeats before the man still sitting down said, “Let her through”. 

The wall of bodies parted for her, and she squeezed past with a happy “thank you” and saluted them all before walking straight up to the man that seemed to hold a lot of importance.  

“What’s your name, darling?”, he asked. 

“My name is Celestina my good sir. Pleased to make your acquaintance. I overheard you say you’re searching for a certain ship.”  

Celestina couldn’t believe it, she had finally found a lead. Now she just needed to convince this man to take her aboard his ship and make it worth the captain’s while to assist her in her revenge and getting her precious pelt back.  

“I have some information that might be valuable to you in regards to that ship. May I speak with your captain?”  

He slowly put his mug to his mouth and drained the last of his ale, not breaking eye contact the whole time, as he said, “Any business you want to discuss with our captain, you can take it up with me.” 

She wasn’t sure what that meant, but figured this was as good of a chance as any regardless of who this man was. She gave him an appraising smirk and, taking her chances with him, she said, “Very well then. I’ll tell you what I know, a show of good faith and all that for your generosity in this audience with you.” 

And so, they shared drink and story well into the night. Celestina learned of the origins of this ship and its crew, a bunch of misfits all on their own personal quests for revenge and treasure, and how they had come to learn about the sunken ship of legend. 

“Because who wouldn’t want to seize a magical ship full of magical and rare artifacts?” he said.  

Redbeard, she mentally referred to the man as, concluded that their search had led them to Belfast. She took it all in with awe and wonder, imagining a life with this group of misfits out at sea on her own revenge story. Celestina in turn told the man of her knowledge of the ship and when she had last seen it. They discovered that they were indeed both referring to the same ship, the Myriad Fortune. She couldn’t explain why, but she had a good feeling about this man, that even though he may be cursed, she felt she could trust him. With this in mind, she deemed this person worthy of her secret and told him of her powers.  

From what she could tell, he took it all in stride, and did not interrupt her once. Once she finished, he asked her, “What would be in it for me to have you join my crew?”  

“Your crew?” Celestina asked, eyes wide. He was the captain after all. Now all the protection made sense… 

All eyes landed upon Celestina. It seemed the whole tavern had gone quiet. She had to think fast. It hadn’t gone unnoticed to her that the captain drank his ale from a special copper mug, a mug adorned with various scraps of cloth and strings of beads along the handle.  

The captain and his crew continued to watch her as she stooped down to the hem of the skirt she was wearing and tore off a piece of the black lace fabric. She proceeded to boldly grab the captains mug out of his hand, walk back to the bar and refill his drink, and wrap the scrap of cloth around the handle among the other adornments.  

She placed the mug back into his hands and said,  

“I see you, Captain. I see you and your crew, the lot of you all on your own journey of revenge. A damned ship with a damned crew. I too seek my own revenge, and I can only promise you that if you have my back, then I will have yours. Take me with you, and I promise you won’t regret it. I will aid in any way I can with my ability to heal, and I have trained in the art of fighting for 30 years for this exact opportunity. Once I get my pelt back, and perhaps a ship full of magical wares to add to your bounty of treasure, I will have the sea back on my side. With my pelt back, I can swim among the waves and dive to the deepest wrecks. However useful that can be is up to you. I seek adventure, and I seek vengeance. I see those traits to be mirrored within your own heart, and I pledge my fealty to you this day. For if I can help you find a way to break your curse after you’ve helped me destroy the man that stole my soul and reclaim what is rightfully mine, then this will be the start of something truly glorious. And if not, then may we burn in the ashes together. What say you, Capi?”  

A smile slowly broke across the Captain’s face as she finished. “Aye, something glorious indeed… welcome aboard, Celestina of Belfast.”