Document: Partial transcription
Origin: Unknown merchant vessel, mainland Europe
Destination: Unrecorded
Condition: Incomplete

By then there were thirteen of us left. Three days earlier there had been twenty-one. The men complained first of dreams. A woman beneath the deck. Some heard her weeping. Others claimed she knew their names. The Captain forbade entry to the hold after dark. When asked what manner of cargo required an armed watch at sea, he replied:

‘Something that must never arrive.’

Our course turned north until storm and ice forced us towards the Scottish coast. We entered the firth and there found an island of no apparent significance. The coffin was taken ashore and carried into a cave beyond the cliffs. The Captain removed the red stone and the chamber was sealed.

Upon returning to the vessel, he ordered the boats lowered and set fire to his own ship. Only the Captain and I survived. He kept the stone. I kept this account. We agreed never to meet again.

Ellie's Notes

Okay. This is it. Cargo from Europe. Crew dying. Scottish waters. Coffin hidden on an island. Captain deliberately destroys the ship.

And most importantly:

HE TAKES THE STONE WITH HIM. The old charts don't call it anything unusual. The darker local name appears later. So the island wasn't ‘unholy’ before they arrived. Whatever they buried there made it Unholy Island.