The Legend of the Lone Wolf

The Lone Wolf once was a large Darthonian trading ship. Originally it sailed the seas under a different name that has long been lost to time. Today it is only know if under the name it had been given after being ambushed, boarded by pirates, the crew slaughtered, and the ship including its wares stolen - only to sail directly into its demise.
The Lone Wolf today is nothing but a ghost ship, an eerie sight at the hazy horizon in the early morning or evening, announcing a devastating storm or other dangers for those who are unlucky enough to spot it.

Summary

Before becoming The Lone Wolf, the ship sailed from Darthonis to Tiskar, far beyond the Amber Ocean. Onboard, so the legend says, were chest upon chests of gold and jewels, mined straight from Darthonis' icy mountains, as well as handcrafted jewelry, finest clothes and furniture, everything worth a fortune. As the ship left the Darthonian coast at the beginning of its journey, the 70-men-strong crew didn't know yet that they would never see their homeland again. Hiding in plain sight among them, a wolf in sheep's clothing, was a spy. Acting like a young man who just wanted to see the world a pirate had infiltrated the crew months ago, waiting just for the right chance to land the coup of his life. Before leaving the shore he had sent a message to his real crew, informing them that they were on their way, loaded with gold and other treasures.
Blind towards the presence of a traitor in their middle, the sailed into a trap - not far off the coast the pirate ship waited, ready to strike. The attack was quick, swift, and bloody, and every last single one of the original crew were slain - apart from the pirate's accomplice of course. The ship was huge, well-stocked and armoured, equipped with weapons and definitely loaded with enough treasure to settle down to a life of peace and quiet. for the rest of one's life. The pirates wanted more than they had originally bargained for and decided that it was time to upgrade their own ship. Leaving the old ship behind they, everythin was brought onboard of the Lone Wolf. The old name was burned from the wood, and in sloppy handwriting it was replaced by "The Lone Wolf" - written with the blood of the slaughtered merchant's crew.
Victorious and pleased with themselves, the pirates set sail with the Lone Wolf - but when the balance of nature is disturbed, it has to be restored. Not used to a ship of this size the pirates struggled to keep the Lone Wolf under control when the weather turned wilder on the open sea. The main beam was struck by lightning too many times, before eventually bursting in half and setting the entire ship on fire. A part of the crew was killed by the lightning that destroyed the beam itself. The ship started to drift deeper into the storm, completely out of control, before being swallowed by waves and flames alike.
The ship never arrived in Tiskar, and soon people began to investigate. Then the first sightings occured: travelling merchants could have sworn to recognize the silhouette of the ship on the horizon, being struck by lightning several times but completely unfazed and not moving. Usually the ship appears out of nowhere and can disappear within the blink of an eye, sometimes it slowly drifts off into the mist instead or follows a ship over long periods of time in the far distance. Either way though: it is a bad omen and a sight sending shivers down the spine of even the experienced of sailors.
And when listening closely when the ship appears on the horizon, one might be able to hear the alarm bell being rung, just in the moment when the ship falls under attack from the pirates.

Variations & Mutation

The basis of the story is usually very similar: a traitor sells a rich merchant ship to a crew of pirates who board it, kill everyone, and want to leave with the treasure - but then the ship sinks in a massive storm. It still sails the Amber Ocean as a ghost ship and is considered a bad omen when sighted.
There are versions of the story where the traitor was betrayed by the pirates yet again and slain with the rest of the crew - the moral of the story being, that betrayal never pays off and those who deal with traitors will soon find themselves betrayed as well.
In the stories of some sailors the ship won't appear at the horizon as an immovable oject and struck by lightning, but will rather be seen in its final moments, on fire, spinning, drifing out of control until it is swallowed by the ocean. This is considered one of the worst signs and comparable sightings have already lead to ships returning to the harbours they had come from, out of fear of sinking or worse on a longer journey ahead.

In Literature

In the first part of Aman's Teachings, Aman describes in a diary entry how during their first journey across the Amber Ocean they had signed up to work on an explorer's ship. They couldn't afford to pay for the journey across with money, but definitely with labour. It was hard and ungrateful work, but it was and is actually still a common way for young Nyr to travel to other continents even without the financial means. Aman wrote, that after about two weeks at sea some of the elder crew members suddenly came running below deck in the early morning to wake up the captain and warn him about "terrible news". Aman didn't quite understand what the ruckus was about and went upstairs to investigate. On deck some other sailors pointed into the distance eagerly while leading a hasty and nervous conversation. Aman looked into the direction they pointed to - only to see how just in that moment lightning struck a ship in the far distance. Then the captain came running upstairs and immediately ordered to continue on their journey as quickly as possible, to get away from the eerie ship as fast as they could. They ended up reaching Tiskar's coast in record time, and it was only weeks later until Aman heard of the legend of the Lone Wolf and understood what they had witnessed on the ocean. Yet, they added for consideration the following throught at the end of the entry: even if the ghostly sighting was real and warned people of danger and treacherous weather - this didn't always have to end in a bad outcome for the ship and crew wtinessing the sighting, but really just be a warning to either hurry up or turn around to safety.