Duke

Duke is an NPC who previously acted as the Bilge Rats representative in Sea of Thieves. He can currently be found at Old Salts Atoll.

Duke previously kept players up to date on current events on the Sea of Thieves, encouraging players to investigate and take part through his offerings of Bilge Rat Adventures and Mercenary Voyages. He also hosted the Black Market, offering various Time-Limited Items and Cosmetics in exchange for Doubloons or Gold. All of these duties have been taken over by the leader of the Bilge Rats, Larinna.

Lore
Ever since The Hungering Deep, Duke represented the Bilge Rats in the taverns, providing exciting challenges for adventurous pirates through Bilge Rat Adventures and Mercenary Voyages, rewarding doubloons and unique cosmetics.

During Smuggler’s Fortune, Duke took the fortunes he found from inside all the Reaper’s Chests that had been sold to him and set up a Black Market to sell even more cosmetics.

Duke left his post at the taverns during The Seabound Soul, replaced by Stitcher Jim, who claimed that Duke had entrusted the Black Market and Bilge Rat business to him while a note from Duke could be found pinned to Tavern counters, explaining that he had gone off to find Larinna, leader of the Bilge Rats for help against the increased skeleton activity.

He would remain missing through Festival of Giving, until returning during Legends of the Sea, injured and covered in bandages from an attempt to investigate Flameheart's lair, the Heart of Fire. When confronted about his time away, Duke seemed oblivious of any note or mission to find Larinna. With Duke back at his post as Bilge Rat ambassador, healing from his wounds, his "trustworthy" assistant, Stitcher Jim, decided to run off into The Devil's Roar to chase a lead on Flameheart's return.

With Flameheart presumably amassing a fleet, the Pirate Lord enlisted Duke's help to hand out special voyages to prepare pirates for the dangers that would soon sweep the Sea of Thieves in the times to come.

Throughout the following monthly updates, Duke seemed to slowly recover in the Tavern and continue his duties, until Larinna, the leader of the Bilge Rats returned during the September 2020 Vaults of the Ancients Content Update and kicked Duke out of the Tavern. Larinna took over all of Duke's responsibilities, while Duke himself traveled to the Lagoon of Whispers to take a break alongside Umbra, where he learned to write down his thoughts.

Without telling Umbra, he absconded to Mermaid's Hideaway on an investigation into some legends of a certain treasure. After a month of what seemed a fruitless endeavor, he discovered some strange markings at various islands, pondering his finds at Kraken's Fall before fleeing from skeletons to hide at Wanderers Refuge. He is now on the shores of Old Salts Atoll.

Current dialogue
Mid-Season 2 (Patch 2.1.1): Found at Old Salts Atoll on the north-west beach.

Previous Seasonal dialogue
At the start of Season Two (Patch 2.1.0): Found at Wanderers Refuge in the hidden cave.
 * -| Wanderers Refuge=

During Season One (Patch 2.0.23): Formerly found at Kraken's Fall by the island's beacon.
 * -| Kraken's Fall=

During Season One (Patch 2.0.21):
 * -| Mermaid's Hideaway=

During Season One (Patch 2.0.20):
 * -|Start of Season One=

Previous dialogue at Lagoon of Whispers
During Festival of Giving (2020)
 * -|Festival of Giving=

During Fate of the Damned
 * -|Fate of the Damned=

During The Search for Wild, Plentiful Shadows of Fate Voyage

Before Finding Duke's Special Grog

After Finding Duke's Special Grog

During Vaults of the Ancients
 * -|Vaults of the Ancients=

Previous dialogue at Taverns
During Ashen Winds
 * -|Ashen Winds=

During Haunted Shores
 * -|Haunted Shores=

During Lost Treasures
 * -|Lost Treasures=

During Ships of Fortune
 * -|Ships of Fortune=

During Heart of Fire
 * -|Heart of Fire=

During Crews of Rage
 * -|Crews of Rage=

During Legends of the Sea
 * -|Legends of the Sea=

Duke has returned, covered in bandages, with no knowledge of the note supposedly written by him explaining his absence.

Duke remained absent during the Festival of Giving.
 * -|Festival of Giving=

During The Seabound Soul
 * -|The Seabound Soul=

Duke was no where to be found, leaving Stitcher Jim to tend Bilge Rat duties, and only a note hinting to Duke's whereabouts.

During Fort of the Damned
 * -|Fort of the Damned=

During Smuggler's Fortune
 * -|Smuggler's Fortune=

During Dark Relics
 * -|Dark Relics=

During The Reaper's Run of Wanderers Refuge
 * -| The Reaper's Run of Wanderers Refuge=

During The Mercenary Voyage of the Rum Runner
 * -| The Mercenary Voyage of the Rum Runner=

Between Shrouded Spoils and The Mercenary Voyage of the Rum Runner
 * -| January 2019=

During Shrouded Spoils, while Gilded Voyages were available
 * -| Gilded Gifts=

During Shrouded Spoils
 * -| Shrouded Spoils=

During Festival of the Damned
 * -| Festival of the Damned=

During Forsaken Shores
 * -| Forsaken Shores=

During Cursed Sails
 * -|Cursed Sails=

During The Sunken Curse
 * -|The Sunken Curse=

During Gunpowder Skeletons
 * -|Gunpowder Skeletons=

During Skeleton Thrones
 * -|Skeleton Thrones=

During The Hungering Deep
 * -|The Hungering Deep=

Trivia

 * Duke is voiced by Valentine Kozin, Principal Technical Artist at Rare.
 * Duke is featured on the Duke Figurehead as he conveniently shares his name with the original Xbox controller, "The Duke".

Patch history

 * 2.1.1
 * Moved to Old Salts Atoll, on the south-west beach.
 * 2.1.0
 * Moved to Wanderer's Refuge, inside Wanda’s Hideout.
 * 2.0.23
 * Moved to Kraken's Fall, standing next to the Beacon.
 * 2.0.22
 * Moved to Mermaid's Hideaway, standing next to a ladder in the cave central to the island, just above a submerged Mermaid stone statue.
 * 2.0.18
 * Moved to Lagoon of Whispers, standing near Umbra.
 * 2.0.11
 * Returned to Taverns.
 * 2.0.9
 * Replaced by Stitcher Jim in Taverns.
 * 2.0.7
 * Duke's Black Market opens for business.
 * 1.1.2
 * Begins selling items for Doubloons.
 * 1.1.0
 * First introduced.

Duke