During the Age of Discovery, some unlucky sailor—or perhaps an outright cultist—brought the book The Water God K'thaya aboard a ship and tested one of its spells during the voyage.
The spell brought disaster upon the fleet, causing it to encounter a terrible storm and be completely wiped out.
Later, a shipwreck salvage company set its sights on the destroyed fleet. After surveying the site, it salvaged part of the wreckage, including a diary written by one of the sailors and that dreadful book of calamity.
They regarded these items as valuable collectibles and sold them off. They eventually fell into the hands of private collectors, only to later be looted by the British, who loaded the collection onto a ship.
Around World War II, someone aboard a convoy transporting artifacts to Britain organized a betting game to pass the time. Gambler Jeff could not resist the temptation and lost nearly everything he owned, perhaps even ending up in debt.
To deal with his creditors, he had no choice but to steal cargo from the ship. The other artifacts were difficult to carry and too hard to steal, so he set his sights on the books and successfully stole Sailor Pick's Diary.
But the theft had not been flawless, and the first mate soon noticed. To determine exactly what had gone missing, he ordered a sailor to inspect all the books.
While flipping through the volumes, the sailor found The Water God K'thaya and learned a spell from it.
Fearing that his crime would be exposed, Jeff tried to frame the sailor for the theft. He successfully provoked the sailor's resentment, leading him to use the spell and bring about disaster. The fleet Jeff was on was completely destroyed, with Jeff as the only survivor.
Jeff was considered an ill