Dreadreef Pirate Battle
The seven secrets of Dreadreef
The sea hides more than the chart shows. Seven secrets, each with three clues that open one at a time: first the atmosphere, then the place, finally a riddle to solve with pen, paper and a bit of pirate cunning.
Before you begin
The clues are hidden: open them only when you are ready, because finding a secret on your own is half the treasure. You will never find the rewards here, only the way to go looking for them.
How to read the riddles
For secrets tied to a spot at sea you will need the game’s premium compass, which shows latitude and longitude in degrees and minutes with one decimal (for example 5°30.0′).
The third clues never give you the spot: they give you the numbers hidden in a riddle. Do the sums, then look for the direction among the lines.
- North: toward the North Star. South: with the Star at your back.
- East: where the sun is born. West: where the sun drowns.
- Degrees and minutes: one riddle gives the degrees, the next the minutes. When it does not mention them, the minutes are zero.
- The compass writes degrees, minutes with one decimal (with a point) and the hemisphere: N or S for latitude, E or W for longitude.
Secret 01
The smuggler cat
Open one clue at a time.
First clue · The mood
Every harbour has an animal that knows more than the innkeeper. This one wears fur and silence, and sits on what should not be seen.
Second clue · The place
Look in Vespera Harbour, among the crates on the quay: the cat guards goods that never paid duty.
Third clue · The riddle
The smuggler dislikes long gestures; he likes quick, few ones. Tap the cat in a row as many times as a lateen sail has sides.
Secret 02
The thirteenth ship
Open one clue at a time.
First clue · The mood
On foggy nights sailors swear they have seen a sail with no flag and no name, gone with a tide nobody remembers.
Second clue · The place
Look in the Spectral Mists, from mission 17 onward. The ship does not stand still: it drifts where the haze is thickest. An extra line in the Harbour Register will tell you that you found it.
Third clue · The riddle
How many captains does it take to sail a ghost ship? Tap the ship that many times, and not once more.
Secret 03
The maddened compass
Open one clue at a time.
First clue · The mood
A needle that does not trust north: poke it enough and it discovers it has an opinion of its own.
Second clue · The place
No need to look far: it is the compass you always carry, at the centre of the bottom bar.
Third clue · The riddle
How many secrets are in this guide? Tap the compass that many quick times, without stopping to breathe.
Secret 04
The castaway’s five messages
Open one clue at a time.
Bottle 1 · Dreadreef Shallows
First clue · The mood
A bottle bobs on the clearest water of the sea, with a message sealed inside. It is the first of five, and carries a fragment of a larger story.
Second clue · The place
In the Dreadreef Shallows, from mission 3: the bottle floats in open water and is picked up by sailing over it.
Third clue · The riddle
The castaway counted his days on the island: seven. Four went to fishing, two to lashing a raft: the days left over are the degrees of latitude. He wanted nothing to do with minutes: the flask was empty, and empty is zero. For longitude, count the bottles still missing to make five, now that he has thrown three; again, no minutes. Steer toward the North Star and toward where the sun drowns.
Bottle 2 · Lost Currents
First clue · The mood
The second bottle has been carried far: the currents here go round and round, and like to keep what they find.
Second clue · The place
In the Lost Currents, from mission 10, among basalt spires and glowing water.
Third clue · The riddle
Three buoys mark the currents and five winds push them: add them up, those are the degrees of latitude. The minutes are born of the calm: six days becalmed, eight bottles of rum a day, and the captain counted every one. For longitude, take half the degrees of latitude; its minutes, this time, sleep. Toward the North Star and toward where the sun drowns.
Bottle 3 · Spectral Mists
First clue · The mood
The third bobs in the fog, and to whoever searches it seems the fog itself does not want it found.
Second clue · The place
In the Spectral Mists, from mission 18: the bottle bobs between grey fog and rain.
Third clue · The riddle
As many as the factions of the sea, so many the degrees of latitude. The minutes are a gift from the fog: six weeks without seeing the sun, one minute for every day. For longitude, split twelve gold coins among three pirates: those are the degrees. How many copper coins is a gold coin worth? Six: those are the minutes. Toward the North Star and toward where the sun is born.
Bottle 4 · Frost Seas
First clue · The mood
The fourth floats where the air is sharp and the water dark as ink: the cold preserves everything, even words.
Second clue · The place
In the Frost Seas, from mission 26: the bottle floats in open water among the ice.
Third clue · The riddle
How many cardinal points are on the compass rose? That many degrees of latitude. The minutes are the twelve strokes of noon, repeated four times. Longitude starts at zero degrees, the meridian of departure; its minutes are the same as the latitude’s. Toward the North Star and toward where the sun is born.
Bottle 5 · Velmara
First clue · The mood
The last one waits where the sea keeps its ruins. Whoever gets this far already holds almost the whole story.
Second clue · The place
At Velmara, from mission 34: the bottle floats in open water, among the ruins of the biome.
Third clue · The riddle
Three strokes announce the tide, one warns that it is late: add them up, those are the degrees of latitude. The bronze is silent between one stroke and the next: minutes zero. For longitude, a single beat after the silence; again no minutes. Toward the North Star and toward where the sun is born.
Secret 05
The mysterious parrot
Open one clue at a time.
First clue · The mood
A bird too brightly coloured for this sea, repeating everything it has heard sailors say. It seems to know a name that is not its own.
Second clue · The place
In the Dreadreef Shallows, on the Landing pier. It watches you from above, so look carefully from above yourself. It does not answer the first lines: keep at it.
Third clue · The riddle
How many fingers does a pirate’s hand have, if the rum has stolen none? Tap the parrot that many times in a row: a whole hand, not one finger short.
Secret 06
The Off Quantum constellation
Open one clue at a time.
First clue · The mood
Where the sky is coldest, the stars seem to mirror themselves in the sea. But only if the water is still, and the ship with it.
Second clue · The place
In the Frost Seas, on the pack ice. There is a star on the Chart: it is there for you. Reach the right spot, bring the ship to a complete stop and wait a few breaths.
Third clue · The riddle
A night has three watches, and each watch lasts six hours: the degrees of latitude are the watches, its minutes the hours of three watches laid end to end. Longitude has no degrees, the sky lies just past the meridian; its minutes are the hours of four watches. Toward the North Star and toward where the sun drowns.
Secret 07
The three chimes
Open one clue at a time.
First clue · The mood
At Velmara even the bronze has something to say, but in a whisper, and only to those who call it with respect.
Second clue · The place
Among the ruins of Velmara, the minor bell: not the great tower everyone looks at, but the small one nobody deigns to glance at.
Third clue · The riddle
How many times does a good sailor knock before entering another’s house? Tap the bell that many times, without haste and without long pauses.