Per 
London, England, May 12th, 1588
On these streets of cobble and brick were many dockworkers that finished, their jobs, avoiding the gangs that roamed the streets, looking for a target to mug, steal, or just looking for a fight. Most either went back to their homes and slept, with or without a family. Some though, went to a pub to drink their hard-earned wages away. A pub, however, also attracts
the scum and bottom of the barrel of society.
One such man walked in and chose a corner away from the front, but also not too far from the bar. As he sat down, a bit of commotion was caused outside the pub. A horse-drawn carriage soon came around to the front. That, in itself, wouldn't have caused a commotion, except a fist
fight was occurring outside, causing him to look outside as so many other people in the bar did
also. The fight was soon broken up by the Navy recruiters, and as they pushed and shoved the combatants apart, the man took a long pull from his pint of brown.
He finished his drink and placed the glass back on the table, and he looked up to see a gentleman in black sitting down in front of him. He placed a thin piece of card on the table before him - black with a white P on it. The gentleman smiled as the rough man took the card, confused.
"Pardon my intrusion," spoke the gentleman in the top hat in an accent that belonged to in his His Majesty's ballroom. "But I'm looking for a Rogers. I have a job for him."
"If I be Rogers," said the man with an eye-patch, his one good eye staring at the smartly dressed man who looked like a noble from the upper class of London. "Then who might you be? A posh bloke like you don't belong here with the rest of us."
"Apologies, I am Percival, from the King's Navy. I have a matter that requires a more hard-hitting approach. It’s a rather unique deal from a seller that we can't have on the Black Market. It is a private matter."
"Then how come the street corners aren't making a racket about it? Hows come I don't hear about it from my… informant in the black market?"
"The seller deals in high value rarities," Percival said, as he took a sip from a glass that seemed to appear as if from nowhere. "Says he wants this to be secret, and only a select few people are allowed to partake in the auction. Surely you know of secrecy, Mister Rogers?"
Rogers downed his pint of beer. The bitter taste warmed him despite the chill in the pub. He banged the glass on the table and signaled for at the barmaid to come over. She grunted and brought over a fresh glass of beer for Rogers and another for the gentleman in black. As Rogers started to down this next pint, Percival pulled out a book with several pictures and a pendant of several small, golden objects hanging from a string.
"This," the gentleman pulls pulled out a drawing of a scantily clad woman sitting on a clam from underneath his dark cloak. "Is what the seller is offering to the highest bidder."
Rogers picked up the drawing and inspected it for closer detail. As he did so, he made out what was on it. The picture of the scantily clad woman had no legs but instead a fish's tail. The hands from far away wouldn't have attracted that much attention but upon closer inspection, they were razor sharp talons. The woman's smile was small in the drawing but the few details he could make out were fanged teeth and little to no lips. An alien to those who weren't aware of what this is.
"It cannot be…" Rogers stared in pure silence. He was stunned by the beauty of this seafaring predator. "If what you say is true, then… then this is-"
"Mermaid. This seller has caught a mermaid from the seas. He says he found this by the Greek/Hellenic Peninsula."
Rogers looked at the pendant, whilst each piece on it was gold, they were a peculiar shape. He counted each piece as they passed his fingers. Each of these teeth were the same as a shark's - sharp to the touch but slick from the gold covering. He kept staring, as if he was mesmerised by the uniqueness of the shape.
The pendent was then snatched from his hands as the gentleman placed it back in the book. Rogers looked up frowning at the man before him. "That is proof that what I speak is the truth: that the seller has a mermaid. These were pulled from her mouth and an agent sent it to me as proof of this creature."
"So what do you want me to do? If a man can capture a mermaid, then he has to be pretty strong not to have lost his ship on the way."
"I represent his Majesty's Royal Navy," Percival presented a ring with the symbol of the British Crown on the surface of the ring and small words on the outside of the ring in Latin can be made out in the dim light of the bar. "If the Navy opens fire and takes the reward, there would be scandals and horrible repercussions. If you bring us the mermaid then the king will reward you handsomely. The King's top doctors simply must have this."
He nods for a few minutes, his brain working out his options and favouring the one that suits him greatly. "I see, and would that go for all the men here as well? Anyone who helps get this mermaid intact?"
"If a scratch is on her skin, the Navy will hunt you to the ends of the earth and a high bounty will be placed on all of your men's heads. You have been warned."
The gentleman stood up and dusted his top hat. "I will leave this piece of paper here; they are co-ordinates for your men to be in position while the fleet moves back to the ocean. I trust you can perform this action successfully?"
Rogers nods eagerly, studying the piece as the gentleman disappeared, cloaked by the night and exited the bar. As he enters the carriage, the bar's happy tunes changed to uproars and cheers as Rogers spoke of the reward that can come from this. They all yelled that they will be the ones to bring the mermaid to the Crown before the seller makes it to the shores and sells her off to the black markets. Percival, the gentleman, merely nods and smiles, tapping on the glass to let the driver take them away from the area.
If anyone who paid any attention on that night, they would have noticed that the carriage made a turn into a dark alleyway that suddenly lit up with a blinding light and suddenly no more carriage. If any did, they simply chalked it up to either madness or they had one drink too many and decided to leave for their home and spend the rest of the evening in their home.
A week after the agreement, in the English channel, May 1588
The fleet sat in the waters like predators awaiting their prey. Sure a frigate or two would have been enough to loot and plunder, but if this man can was able to leave with a grand prize such as a mermaid, then a few more ships with a greater prize was all they needed to do the job right. When word got around London of a high-risk high pay job, every Tom, Dick, and Harry grabbed whatever they could for a boat and sailed out to prepare for the job.
Every man worth his weight in salt knows that tensions between France and the British were raising, meaning double boat patrols from both countries. This meant the horde of pirates gathered down towards the Spanish waters, awaiting for word of the ship carrying their prize to be crossing the channel. Each breath of the men on the ships made its way to join the fog that was making its way up to their position.
"Captain?" spoke a man approaching Rogers, who was on lookout. "We been here for a few days now, some are already considering just going back home. We are sitting here, doing nothing!"
Rogers looked down at him, anger in his eyes. "We have the reward of a lifetime! Do not screw this up for me, boy!"
"But captain, it was a promise! You were drunk! For all we know, it could have been a thing you made up in your dream! We already lost captains Haggard and Jonas!"
"Shut up, or I swear I will -" Rogers stopped before a shout was heard from a fellow man in the crow's nest. They all turned to where he was shouting to see a lone ship crossing the channel. Now was the chance for them to move. Shouts and yells can be heard around the group of pirate ships, each one giving out co-ordinates and directions, ensuring they were able to get around each other. The fleet moved as one within the fog.
What they wouldn't see is the flag of the ship that they thought they saw, nor will they have noticed the other ships bearing the English flag moving down towards Spain to combat the Spanish Armada. Soon, flashes and booms can be heard within the fog. Pieces of timber and blown bodies from both fleets soon left the fog and floated towards a small, lone ship.
The merchant's ship weighed anchor and sailed smoothly around the fog of war. The crew on board noticed the battle but their captain simply ignored it, instead having a chair on the deck to watch the booms. Next to the chair was a tank big enough to fit a man inside, angled so the occupant inside can see the carnage her existence has caused. Captain Percival smiled slyly, moving to have a glass of wine he procured from a French vessel who refused a protection tax with his security vessels.
"Look," the captain spoke after taking a sip from his glass. "The marauders fell for a hopeful promise. Much like you, my dear."
The mermaid looked at the fog and for a moment the captain assumed she was sad. He shook his head and smiled, for the battle was already decided long before the first shot was fired. The mermaid looked over to a man in purple robes, his eyes glowing as he made incantations and movements to influence the surrounding air to make the fog. He stopped uttering and fell to the floor; a surgeon soon came out and took him inside for medical treatment.
A light cough behind Percival drew his attention and a man in servant's clothes was behind him, with a piece of parchment in his hands sealed by the King's insignia. The captain already knew what it was going to say but he shook his head - he wanted to enjoy the moment of victory before continuing his day of being the "Dark Seller". He laughed at this name given to him because some of the people he met didn't have the education to understand the comma, so instead he goes by the "Dark Seller" as a way to boost his credibility
On this day, the English armada soon returned to tell of pirates hiding within a sudden appearance of fog. They told stories of how the prisoners were after a mermaid and wished to have the crown jewels for themselves. Each prisoner was either tried and executed for treason and piracy, or sent to work for the colonies, possibly never seen again. When the English armada received word of possible Spanish movement, their fleet was smaller but were reinforced with extra men, survivors from the battle and knew what to expect from big numbers.
Rogers, who had survived the battle, proclaimed that a gentleman in darkness proposed a deal of the lifetime that would make him a rich man - to even have the Crown Jewels. During the court hearing, he noticed Percival watching from the back and he proclaimed that was the face of the guy that started it all but alas no one would take his word for it. He was sentenced to execution by beheading for leading the pirate fleet.
All the while the man they called Percival Dark, seller of unusual wares and the shaper of the black market, soon had an extra accolade to his name. One that made uttering the name send shivers down to their soul. The rumours whispered in secret soon got twisted to give Percival Dark his name without evidence which soon became fact to those who do not ask many questions.
He became the Pirate King of London. If anyone asks Dark about the name, he will laugh at you with smile on his face and simply state the following in a light tone: "Nothing but a silly title belonging to a guy with a similar name. In fact, there is a book about it in the Wanderer's Library, I suggest you look it up."
5. Mermaid teeth fetch high prices on black markets.
17. The plunder was strange this time. In the depths of the ruined ship, they found a glowing, pitch black statue shaped like a half-human god.
