For a long time, the penalty for Traitors was to be hanged by their necks until dead. Usually, that fate befell those who sought to assassinate or usurp a standing Pirate Lord without going through a proper challenge. However, one particular hanging caused the punishment to be abolished.

It was in the latter years of Lord Blackhook that someone had uncovered a sinister plan to ferry a number of insurgents to the island, that they might mingle with the inhabitants of the town and poison prominent captains and sabotage landing skiffs. Meanwhile, two warships from Berephaunt would sail into the harbor under cover of night. When the cry was to be raised, the captains would be unable to rally their ships to the island’s defense, and sailors would be incapable of reaching the larger ships.

Five conspirators were to be hanged, and while most were solemnly silent when going to meet their judgment, the fifth proclaimed his innocence. He decried the findings of Lord Blackhook and the trial, and said that the other four could testify that he was uninvolved. Neither the crowd nor Lord Blackhook wished to hear any more.

Five bodies hung from the gallows. Moments passed, and the crowd grew eerily silent as they heard all five corpses begin to speak of the innocence of the fifth conspirator. Everyone listened on in horror as the corpses continued their uttering. Finally, Lord Blackhook strode forward and in short moments decapitated all five.

Yet still, their tongues were not silenced. Still, they continued to speak of the innocence of the fifth. The bodies were wrapped in cloth, tied down with rocks, and dropped into the sea out of sight of the island. Some say that the skulls still sit on the bottom of the sea, telling their tale to the fish…