## Story 1 ![23-1.png](/uploads/23_1_8304120df1.png) It is the Age of Exploration, an era when the most renowned of pirates sail roughshod
across the seven seas.

On one particular ship, a lowly crewmember cares greatly for a stuffed bear.
The creature serves as a good-luck charm for all his voyages, and he is never without it.

Yet his crewmates and captain subject him to endless japes as a result of his companion.
"No weakling who cares so for a stuffed animal can hope to survive a journey across these rough seas!"
they cry.And yet, fortune favors him with unreserved love.

He advances up the ranks with shocking speed. Soon he is put in command of his own crew,
and not long after given the honored title of Grand Pirate Captain.
Passionate subordinates clamor to serve under him as his reputation grows and grows.

His life swells near to bursting with prosperity.Yet he never lets go of his bear. Not once. Not ever.
What a strange sight it is.

Rumors begin to fly among his crew, moving from whisper to certainty before the sun can set
on the day of their creation."That bear's good luck, so it is. Brings endless happiness to the owner."
The fairytale gossip spreads like wildfire.

With each passing from lip to ear it grows in size, gaining embellishments all the while.
Soon, sailors from one side of the sea to the other claim the bear to be the most legendary
of all pirate treasures.

The grand captain, once a mere scalawag of the lowest order, continues his meteoric rise.
He sinks ship after ship, ruthlessly claiming their treasures as he becomes a symbol
of dread among pirates.Naturally, rumors of the bear spread to his rivals.
And one fell day, the captain is attacked by a crew hoping to steal the prize for themselves.

They are a notorious band of pirates; their terrible deeds beyond counting.
And thus begins the greatest, most fabled battle ever warred at sea over the fate of a small stuffed bear. ## Story 2 ![23-2.png](/uploads/23_2_d91791ab13.png) The sea battle of the century turns the beautiful emerald waves to scarlet.

When it is over, the attacking pirate crew has won the day.

But the conflict led to staggering losses on both sides—and all of it over a single stuffed bear.
Even those who never dipped a toe in the ocean now began to take note.

Historians. Alchemists. Generals.
All these and more speculate as to what the stuffed bear might be.

An ancient relic of power. It must be!

I wager the Goddess of Luck herself dropped it one day.

It is a magical, forbidden weapon. There can be no doubt!

Eventually, a great playwright came to learn of the rumor and wove the story into a lengthy drama.
The work received huzzahs from all corners, packing the theater night after night.

With the rumor having become common entertainment for the masses,
multiple spin-offs eventually sprang to life.
In time, the same land-dwellers who had been so willing to laugh at seafaring folk in a tizzy over a stuffed
bear find themselves confronting ill news:

The king of a rapidly expanding country desired the bear,
and is sending his great army across the sea to claim it.

Many are shocked to learn a king believes the rumors, but others are only driven
all the more to find the same good fortune the regent seeks.

One after the other. One after the other. One after the other.

People who would call the bear their own board ships, scheme, and set sail in search of it.
But they know not the bloodshed that awaits them. ## Story 3 ![23-3.png](/uploads/23_3_5ea66365cc.png) As fortune hunters begin filling the seas, the pirate captain who owns the bear is mysteriously assassinated.

The bear's next owner is swarmed by mobs at a port of call and hanged.

That very night, the port is attacked by new pirates and burned before the sunrise.

The bear never stays in one place for long; it is a slippery thing, ever roving.

One owner boldly declares the bear a worthless item in terms of coin.
In response, others claim its value must lie in power of a more mystical nature.
The deliberation continues without cease.
Another owner suggests it contains a hidden mechanism that leads to buried treasure.

The bear holds individual truths for each of its many owners,
yet brings naught but death and tragedy wherever it goes. It is a chain of suffering seemingly without end.
Finally, the admiral of one nation pours all his military resources
into an attack on the pirate ship that serves as the bear's current home.

This armada protects the heart of their nation, and is on par with the greatest of land armies.

A mighty battle is about to begin; one which is certain to change the myth of fortune's bear forever. ## Story 4 ![23-4.png](/uploads/23_4_281bdbab52.png) The admiral commands his troops to board the pirate ship.
They soon encounter the captain covered in blood; breath faint, eyes empty.

The bear sits quietly beside him.
The admiral takes his saber and thrusts it into the captain,
but the other man's eyes remain open and empty."None will believe me," says the captain.
His voice is a whisper's memory.

"The bear is nothing. Truly nothing.
It leads not to treasure, nor blessing, nor protection from the sea. In fact, it grants no aegis whatsoever.
Any who take it for themselves only set their own fate in motion:
To be hounded by others until the day of their miserable death.
This is what the bear offers—and nothing more."

Though the captain is honest with his regrets, the admiral naturally does not believe him.
"A stuffed bear which has attracted so much attention—taken so many lives—is no ordinary thing.
It is simply not possible."

But the captain merely shakes his head.
"I thought the same, once...
But then I claimed the bear as my own."
With those words, he dies.

The admiral, bear in hand, returns to a port in his homeland.
He gleefully presents his prize to the king who has been awaiting his return.
It is then subjected to countless studies by various research institutes.
Why does the bear bring great wealth to its owner?

What manner of power could bring such fortune to a single person?
And so, after much research...

They come to the conclusion that the bear holds no power at all.
No matter how they study it, they find nothing out of the ordinary.
It is a common toy made of common material. That is all.

Yet the country has paid greatly for wasting time and effort on a thing that offers no benefit.
For around this time, powerful neighbors take up arms and march on them.
Rumors of the bear have made their way across the border.

In a panic, the king announces the results of the study.
He screams to all who will listen that the bear is nothing special, nothing blessed.

But the effort is for naught.
None believe his words.
After all, this selfsame king had unleashed his own massive armada out of want for the bear.
Another tragic battle is set to begin.

Even though the bear is truly ordinary.

It has no special qualities. That much I swear.

So rest easy, and take good care of it.

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