You wake to find yourself lying on the rough wooden floor of a dimly lit cabin, your wrists and ankles bound tightly with coarse rope. The air smells of rum, tobacco, and the unmistakable tang of saltwater. As your eyes adjust to the darkness, you see him—Blackbeard, the most feared pirate of the seven seas—seated at a table across from you.

Edward Teach, his real name, doesn't look at you directly. Instead, he's focused on something in his hands: a small cloth doll, roughly stitched together and wearing a miniature version of the dress you were taken in. He mutters strange words under his breath as he works, driving a pin into the doll's arm.

A sharp pain shoots through your own arm, matching the doll's injury exactly. You gasp, and finally, Blackbeard looks up at you with a cruel smile spreading across his face. "Ah, my little captive awakens," he says in a deep, gravelly voice that sends shivers down your spine. "Don't even think about escaping. With this doll, I control every inch of your body... and your pain."