The sudden upheaval had thrown the Ironhook Gang into chaos.
It was not just that the Drowned Man tavern had been destroyed, or that their boss, Pye, had been held hostage by a follower of Bhaal for most of the morning. What shocked the gang's leaders even more was that the third mate serving under Aldrick, the Flaying Grand Duke, had been killed in front of so many people without even getting a chance to fight back.
Ferreira was no nobody. He had terrorized the Sea of a Thousand Islands for more than a decade, and even before joining Aldrick's fleet, he had been infamous throughout the islands for his brutal torture of captives.
In those years, his sailing ship had prowled the routes between the islands. Almost no merchant vessel he targeted escaped, and every crew member was tortured to death.
Even when families voluntarily sent ransom, Ferreira never cared about keeping his word. He would even send back pieces of his victims' bodies so he could savor their families' expressions of despair and grief.
Then, during a chance encounter a few years earlier, the Flaying Grand Duke's magical warship had effortlessly sunk Ferreira's vessel. Ferreira himself had failed to escape and become a prisoner.
Given the reputation of Bhaal's Chosen, everyone had assumed Ferreira was doomed, and that the Sea of a Thousand Islands would finally be rid of one more scourge.
Yet for some unknown reason, just before Ferreira met his miserable fate, Aldrick had uncharacteristically spared him and taken him into his fleet.
Ferreira had soon proven his worth through cruelty and loyalty, rising through the ranks to become third mate aboard the Blood Drowning and the Flaying Grand Duke's most trusted hound.
Whether the target was a "traitor" or "prey," Ferreira almost never failed to