Diablo III: Deciphering the Black Rock Ledger

If you've been playing Diablo 3 for awhile, you might've come across a ship in the middle of the Stinging Winds area in Act 2. A prospector warns you not to disturb the spirits, but ends up triggering a group of explosive beasts who promptly turn him into a mess of gristle and bone. The poor bastard. 

Killing these critters causes an item to drop—a numbered page from the Black Rock Ledger. Now, you might have one, or maybe even several of these in your inventory but you may not have the slightest clue as to what they do.

At the present, they do not do anything, and there's no telling if Blizzard plans to turn them into a quest in the future or if they'll simply remain as items to clog your inventory space. 

In any case, you're probably wondering what they do. So here's what I've managed to come up with so far. 

There are six pages, each of which correspond to the "LOST Numbers": 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, and 42—all of which are found in the Stinging Winds. The first letter on each of the pages spells out the word DHARMA when put together. Likewise, the Black Rock is the 19th century ship which the cast of LOST find in the first season of the show. After recovering unstable dynamite from the ship, one of the characters accidentally blows himself up—not unlike the prospector who gets blown up by the demons which spawn at the location. 

In case you haven't the time nor the inclination to look for each of the pages, here's what they contain:

Page 4
Damn, I always thought that being a first mate would be more exciting. I guess I shouldn't expect much from a mining expedition. Ever since we set off from Kingsport, all I've done is sit out on deck and watch the deckhands argue.

Page 8
Haven't been able to get much sleep these past few days. Apparently my sea legs aren't as sturdy as I thought they'd be. I've vomited more times than I can count, and every time Captain Hanso offers me some ale, I have to come up with some excuse to decline.

Page 15
After three straight days of this storm, I'm almost convinced that this ship has some sort of curse on it. Each week brings some new trouble that I have to deal with. I'm not sure what will give out first, the ship... or me.

Page 16
Reyes tells me that it was some colossal wave that did the ship in. I was down below when it all happened. Several of us survived the wreck. The rest of them have gone off to try and figure out where the hell we are, as if any of that matters.

Page 23
Madness, complete bloody madness. The captain has disappeared into the desert somewhere, and the rest of the survivors are convinced there's some sort of monster after us. I'm starting to think the crewmen that died in the wreck got the easy way out, lucky bastards.

Page 42
All the rest of them are dead now... I'm the only one left. Strange deformed creatures attacked the wreck, where most of us were sleeping. I managed to get away safely... but I don't imagine it will be that way for long. I can hear... giggling in the shadows, like this is some kind of game. -- First Mate McMahon

I'll be keeping track of this little easter egg in case Blizzard decides to do anything more with it.