The Island Chronicle

A long time ago there rests an island far away from all known civilization. One day a captain and his crew stumbled upon this isolated island and were amazed by the hospitality from the locals.

They were welcomed with lavish gifts, meals, and parties. The crew celebrated this encounter with the Islanders for an entire month. However, much to their amusement and concern they started to notice odd behaviours among the islanders. Particularly their severe punishments for the smallest offences.

The captain and his crew went about resupplying their ship in preparation for departure, it is after all best not to interfere with the local business. However, shock and disbelief soon engulfed the entire crew as they witness an innocent young girl being whipped to death for simply spilling a cup of water that she was supposed to deliver to the captain.

The crew and the captain can tolerate no more. They asked their guide why the island has such severe punishment, and who made these cruel rules. The guide pointed towards a palace on top of the mountain and told them that it is the island king that enforced such cruel treatments and that no one is allowed to go near the palace, for the punishment would be death.

With their guns and swords, the captain and his crew raced to the palace with the intend to dethrone such a cruel king and give the peaceful islanders the justice they deserve. They entered the palace with little resistance, and at the throne room awaits them a shocking sight. The Island King was long dead. In its place, a skeleton undisturbed for centuries.

The captain and his crew felt a sharp chill running down their spine, they delivered this news to the Islanders and decide to leave quickly. On their way out the local guide begged to go with him but the captain refused. In a hurry, they boarded their ship and set sail.

As the captain and his crew sigh a relief they see the island engulfing in a fire, they hear the sound of men and women crying, and the sound of death.

The first mate stood beside the captain and asked: "Sir, what happened, what could have caused this!?" With a stern and disturbing tone, the captain replied: "They realized that there's no one to blame for their actions anymore."

original story from Brandon Sanderson's Stormlight series.