Mercia

This article contains information from canon sources outside of the game.

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This article contains information that may ruin your enjoyment of discovering the game's secrets for yourself.
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Mercia
A journal written by Mercia
Details
Affiliation(s)	Magpie's Wing (crew)
Related	Athena's Fortune (novel)
Status	Deceased

Mercia was a Pirate, Scholar, and close friend of Ramsey Singh active in the early days of the Sea of Thieves as well as one of the first four Pirates to breach the Shroud aboard the Magpie's Wing. She was a main character of the novel Athena's Fortune and is referenced in-game as the author of the five journals found during The Shroudbreaker (Quest) as well as the five journals found within the Shrine of Hungering.

Lore[]

Mercia lead an eventful life aboard the Magpie's Wing and contributed much to the Sea of Thieves even after retiring to a life spent mostly on land. Her most notable contributions include setting the tone for Pirates' current relationship with the Merfolk, casting the magic afflicting many of the Cursed Chests, and studying the Sea of Thieves with an exceptionally critical eye uncommon among pirates.

Aboard the Magpie's Wing[]

Hand-selected by Ramsey to be the navigator aboard the Magpie's Wing, Mercia was responsible for many of the charts used in the early navigation of the Devil's Shroud. Copies of the charts she designed for the passage were distributed by Rathbone and later Stitcher Jim to the pirates who came after.

Possibly Mercia's most critical achievement during this time was her interactions with the Merfolk, with whom she could communicate directly by means of two enchanted pearl earrings found in an ancient meeting place for Mer and Humans. She would facilitate the rescue of two Merfolk captured and imprisoned by captain Douglass, the aftermath of which would lead to the famous arrangement with the Merfolk often credited to the Pirate Lord.

Later Life[]

After the first Battle for Golden Sands, during which the Kraken nearly scuttled the Magpie's Wing, Mercia grew to spend more time on land. She spent her life studying the magical artifacts found by the Pirate Lord and his followers across the Sea of Thieves, such as the Shroudbreaker, and recording her findings in great tomes which she insisted should be locked away until they were needed. On her dying day, Ramsey would find her at her desk, quill still in hand, with an amulet bearing the Reapers Mark accompanied by a note saying "This will suit you well."

Journals[]

Five Journals written by Mercia can be found during the The Shroudbreaker Tall Tale, and another five can be found within the Shrine of Hungering.

The Shroudbreaker[]

What is the Devil's Shroud?[]

Finally, a balmy day, and a chance to document my research before it all spills out of my head and overboard.
Ramsey has been thinking again, and that usually means I'm the one due for a headache. He called for me late last night...
"Mercia. How might we stay safe in the Devil's Shroud?" I just stared at him. We all know how dangerous that fog is.
It surrounds the Sea of Thieves, but it ebbs and flows. Sometimes it swallows whole islands for months or even years at a time.
Sail into that mist, and you'll start to choke. The deck beneath your feet will splinter. The Shroud feasts on ships and sailors alike.
Being me of course, I told Ramsey I'd find a way. I've left my notes tucked away at Ancient Spire. I'll see what I can learn...

An Ancient Clue?[]

Did you ever walk into a room thinking about something so hard, you couldn't see it right in front of you? The truth is like that, sometimes.
While filling my tankard below deck, I happened to glance down at the map table. Ancient Spire. In the Ancient Isles. The truth...
I've asked to set course for Devil's Ridge, nearby. If I'm right, the key to breaching the Shroud has been in front of me all along.
We like to think of ourselves as being the first to find a way of reaching the The Sea of Thieves

Comings and Goings[]

The First Ones. The Lost Tribes. The Ancients. Whatever you call them, they lived here, in what we now know as the Sea of Thieves.
Signs of their civilisation can be found all over the place, even on islands that were once claimed by the Devil's Shroud.
They built temples, altars -- places that were important to them. They couldn't simply pack up and leave when the fog drew in...
I'll need to cross-reference some of my oldest notes, stashed away back at Thieves' Haven. Our first hideout! How nostalgic.

The Shroud Breaker[]

It exists! Proof lies in some of the most obscure places (Ramsey won't let me write down where) but the relic's real enough.
As near as I can tell, they used the artefact like a beacon to protect their homes and places of worship from the Shroud's effects.
At other times, it was taken to a vault to recover its powers. When I told Ramsey, he replied "Ah, so it's a shroud breaker, then!"
All of this seems to have inspired him. We're making for Plunder Outpost on Ramsey's orders, to see a man about a map...

The Shores of Gold?[]

Well. This escalated quickly. Ramsey remembered the drunken ramblings of some old salt who'd sailed too close to the Devil's Shroud.
The old man claimed he'd glimpsed a glittering island... One where the very ground was made of gems and precious metals.
It sounds impossible, but as Ramsey likes to say, that's just another way of describing something we haven't seen yet.
At first light, we'll be setting out to find that Shroudbreaker. If these Shores of Gold are real, it's the only way we'll reach them.
I should get to my bunk and try for sleep. From now on, Ramsey's voyage journal can tell our story...

Shrine of Hungering[]

1. Shrine of Hungering[]

As I sit here writing these words, I still can't quite believe I'm here. And, if I'm totally honest, I still don't fully understand why.
I heard the song of the merfolk from the earring they had gifted me. They said they had important information they wanted to entrust to me. Information I was to share with 'my kind'.
They seemed concerned that if this tale remained untold, then one day, a great evil would be released back into the Sea of Thieves.
So I set off by myself, following the bearing the merfolk gave me, and now here I am, in the Shrine of Hungering.

2. The Warrior[]

As I've travelled from island to island, I've seen images of a warrior holding a spear. He's mostly shown vanquishing animals and sometimes with a bird.
I've often wondered if he was a real person or, a folktale designed to instil virtues into those who saw or heard it.
It was the merfolk who revealed the truth to me: he was an Ancient.
An Ancient who fell in love with the Sea Queen, no less! Not only that, but she returned his love.

3. The Warrior - Unmasked[]

This Warrior is not the hero I first took him for! His love for the Sea Queen was so all-consuming that he was willing to try anything to be by her side.
The Ancients believed that it was paramount to live in harmony with the powerful forces of the Sea of Thieves.
Yet the Warrior was attempting to harness them for his own selfish ends.
It looks like the ruler of the Ancients began began to fear the forces he was dabbling with, and took measures to put a stop to his rituals for good.

4. The High Priest[]

The Ancients lived in harmony with the powerful forces of the Sea of Thieves.
Any member of their society who threatened this harmony had to be removed. So the ruler called upon the High Priest, a man learned in the art of potion and poison brewing.
He created a draught that altered his voice to mimic that of the Sea Queen. With this he lured the Warrior to a remote island.
He hid himself out of sight on a cliff overlooking the sea and, catching the Warrior off-guard, shot him with a poisoned dart.

5. A Great Evil[]

The Warrior was strong, though did not fall. On discovering who shot him, he killed the High Priest and flung him from the cliff top where he had been hiding. This story seems so familiar to me.
But I am at a loss, why did the merfolk want me to come here? What great evil do they fear?
It can't be related to sharks; they seemed to revere them rather than fear them.
Did the Warrior become a merman and somehow upset the balance of the Sea of Thieves?
Or did the Ancients manage to restrain him and the Queen, and it's their return to the Sea of Thieves that the merfolk fear?

Trivia[]

During the first battle for Golden Sands against the Kraken, Mercia briefly sailed with Captain Briggsy aboard the Homeward Dove.
Mercia is responsible for placing many of the curses found on Cursed Chests, including the Chest of a Thousand Grogs and Chest of Sorrow.
It's possible the Tomes she kept locked away are none other than the Ashen Tomes found locked within Ashen Chests.