"I saw something, briefly. I can't describe it, it was almost like a God. Then a flash of lightning and it disappeared.
Half of my men could not go to sleep after that."
He stood upon the deck, looking out towards the sea. The waves were violent and rough, an intense storm was quietly brewing in the background. He knew he was here for a reason, but didn't know what for. The man went below deck, almost falling into the sea. There was no one there. Panic shook him, why was he there? He knew he had to get out of here as soon he could, for God had forsaken this place. Then another man suddenly appeared out of nowhere that he faintly recognized, was that his grandfather? And then more people started appearing, all from his family, stretching back centuries.
Then he knew what happened. He quickly rushed back above deck, and at this point the boat was shaking so quickly, it was unstable. There he saw it. A towering heavenly being, almost incomprehensible to the human mind, standing there watching him. It was furious at him. It said the words "Your ancestor's mistakes have lead you here." and threw him into the cold, dark ocean.
Then Arnaldo Braganza woke up.
Dr Quim Eleutério also looked at the sea from his office in Salvador, Brazil. It was clam, like always. But he liked it that way. There was always something that mesmerised him about the sea, maybe it was the huge size of it.
Suddenly, a message came up on his phone from Arnaldo Braganza.
The Braganza family were well known as they were the former ruling house of the Portuguese Empire, United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and Algarves and the Brazilian Empire.
However they had a curse on them ever since the 17th Century, caused by the death of a heir, eventually resulting in one city on the coastline of a Portuguese territory vanishing. There had been multiple investigations into the cause of the curse, but nothing has been found.
"Strange. What could it be?" He thought.
"I had a dream relating to the curse yesterday. I need to tell you ASAP, set up an interview. We may be closer to solving this"
Quim was intrigued, but he was also hesitant. He had seen multiple other members of the Braganza family claim they had the solution to the curse, yet they all had turned to be false. But he decided to take a chance on it.
The interview was set up a few hours later, in some forgotten corner of Site PT20.
Arnaldo walked into the room, looking hurried. Quim was already there, staring at the wall.
"Ah. Hello there Arnaldo. I have to say, I was quite surprised when you messaged me. I assume this is something to do with the curse."
"Sorry for notifying you on such short notice but I believe something extraordinary happened."
"Are you sure? I just don't want to waste all these Foundation resources on something that will not produce results. I've seen this before."
Arnaldo pleaded "I know, but do you really want one city on the coast of Portugal to disappear, what if it seriously affects a big city like Porto or even Lisbon? Do you want to risk all these people, for what? Some extra money? This curse has been affecting my family for hundreds of years and I want to be the one to change it".
"Fine. Tell me more."
"Have you ever heard of Adamastor?"
"The storm god from Os Lusíadas, that Portuguese epic? "
"Exactly. I think it may be the cause of the curse."
"Hmm. Explain." Quim was interested now.
"I had a dream last night. I was on my ancestor's most prized ship, the St Lucia and I was somewhere in the South Atlantic Ocean. The waves were rough and the weather was so stormy I was almost thrown overboard. This was a place abandoned by God. And picked up by another one. I saw a large, unearthly sight, something unable to be comprehended by the human mind."
"So what? It's a dream. People have strange dreams every day."
"I know but I looked through the archives and I found that each of the members of the Braganza family have had the same dream, all the way back to the 1600s. I promise you I know Adamastor is in some way connected to this."
"Interesting. We may have something here."
"Listen. We have to figure this out, for my family, for peace. I urge you, please. We cannot risk more innocent lives dying for nothing."
"We'll investigate this further. I can't promise you anything but we will try solve this, once and for all."
They then both left the room, and a sense of determination washed over Arnaldo.
A few days after this, PT:2387, the group dedicated to investigating Portuguese anomalies, officially started researching if Adamastor was real. What they found were documents from all across history detailing the fates of those who encountered Adamastor.
Document 1 - Vasco de Gama encountering Adamastor.
Today we were sailing around the Cape of Good Hope. Unfortunately, was neither good or contained hope, for I had feared this day from the moment we had set sail. But I knew we had to persevere as we would be rewarded with much gold once we reached Mozambique.
The cape was always rough, especially around this time. But something was different. I felt it within me. The sea was choppier and the sky had turned grey.
I saw something, briefly. I can't describe it, it was almost like a God. Then a flash of lightning and it disappeared.
Half of my men could not go to sleep after that.
Document 2 - Log from an unknown sailor.
I have heard many stories of a godly being located near the cape. I wanted to test this and see if it had any motive so I could be the greatest sailor of all time.
I gathered my men and we sailed towards it. We could immediately sense its overwhelming presence as soon as we got there, creating a violent storm. The rest of my men wanted to turn away back to shore, but I wasn't ready to give up just yet. This was my one and only chance to prove myself to the world.
As he drew nearer, the being from hell finally appeared. I almost just died from shock there, it was extremely large and had red, bloodthirsty eyes. But I asked "Why do you make storms?"
"I must. You foolish sailors. " he replied in a voice similar to thunder.
"That doesn't answer my question."
"Get out of here, now!"
We had to abandon the mission then with no answers, unfortunately. I don't think our men will want to go around that cape anymore after that traumatic experience. If only there was a shorter way to sail between Asia and Europe.
Document 3 - Record from the House of Braganza, dated 1620.
There is a deep desire within my heart, for something great, for power. Sure I am the ruler of the great Portuguese empire, but I am still just a normal human, no greater than the peasants you see walking the streets of Lisbon.
I know God has bestowed this role upon me and I want to prove it.
Legends tell of a Storm God by the name of Adamastor located somewhere around the Cape of Good Hope. I want this power for myself. To forever rule over Portugal with godly powers, no one would be able to stop me. Not even the Spanish.
I will set sail there in a few days and steal this power from him so I can rule over the world using fear.
Document 4 - Record from the House of Braganza
I made a mistake. This was my fault. I tried to acquire Adamastor's powers by killing him, but I vastly understimated his power. Most of my slaves died and a good majority of my men are dead. I have seen nothing like it.
Worse still, I feel sick and I constantly vomit sea water. I fear a curse may have been put on me. I do not want this to continue, for this may have serious repercussions later.
Following this, PT:2387 launched an official expedition to discover Adamastor. They set off the coast of Cape Town, South Africa headed to find it.
They began searching around the cape but could not find it anywhere, no matter how much searching took place. They then had to turn back to the shore. But one man was adamant on finding him, Arnaldo.
He muttered to himself "If they can't find it, then I'll just do it myself. I will put an end to this curse, no matter what. "
He broke Foundation protocol and stole a small rowboat, despite being chased by a group of armed guards. And even though the large Foundation vessel attempted to capture him, he persevered through the cold, violent weather. Eventually, he went out of sight and the expedition had to be called off.
Arnaldo Braganza was never found again.