Title Pending*

Until I have a better title, this plotline will be referred to "Pirates"

This article is about the plotline. For information about piracy in Felas, see Seafaring and Piracy.

Pirates is the first plotline made for Felas, rather than being adapted from older concepts. It's set in a period roughly between 50-53 G. Today, its primary purpose is giving me an "excuse" to find specific aspects of lore to build upon. The pirate crew is diverse, so I have different states, geographies, etc. to work on.

The story follows Bilaen, a young woman driven from her life in the mountains by a bandit attack. She tries to make a life for herself in civilization, traveling to the capitol where there's an old family friend who could help. She meets a strange crew of vagabonds temporarily stranded in the city until they can buy a new ship. When things don't work out for Bilaen in the city, she agrees to join the crew - not realizing they were pirates, specificially attacking imperial ships.

Summary

Historical Context

Plotline

The story doubles as a biography for Bilaen, who lived in the mountains of Rira west of the Atrían Empire. Her development as a character has been interesting, and if I go into detail I'll link it here (currently, nothing). For Bilaen, life had been slow and simple. She lived in a small community of herders, only knowing the briefest hints of the outside world. Their village square used to run along a trading path, but in recent generations it's been less used.

Everything turns upside down when a camp of bandits attack the village. Houses are plundered, men are killed, women and children are kidnapped. Bilaen's able to escape because of her aunt's quick thinking, given instructions to reach the capitol, Hoberak.

After the Plot

Characters

This plotline is definitely the largest in terms of characters. The primary characters consist of the crew of the Howling Serpent, including Bilaen. The plotline follows her perspective, so her background and fate is described in Plotline.

Howling Serpent

When Bilaen meets the crew, there are 16 other members. Many are sick, and some pass away before they can leave the city. By the end of the plot, there are only 4 survivors.

Anushè is the captain, her brother Farsan acting as first mate. They grew up in Shuka, losing their parents when the Empire took control in 21 G (Anushe 13, Farsan 18). They learned to steal and sail a ship, traveling around the globe to avoid the Empire, while also sailing within imperial water to attack vulnerable ships. They established an official crew in 40 G, bringing aboard Sul (27), an eryla who grew up in the Empire and had indispensible Spymaster skill. At the same time they also made a land connection through a nami named Zokvir (22), who would eventually board the ship as boatswain eight years later.

The three of them sailed for a few years, bringing on a few mates for a job now and then through underground pirate guilds. In 43 G they made a land connection with a shipwright in an imperial port. It was Sul that formed a connection with one of the slave workers, Invor (28). After four years, they convinced Anushè to let them rescue him, and he became the ship's new carpenter.

It was the summer of 46 G the crew earned their name: while out at sea the ship was attacked by a sea dragon. It was Farsan who struck the final blow, impaling the dragon in the throat. The ship got its name, the Howling Serpent, and Farsan earned the nickname "Snakebane".

In 48 G, while harbored in an imperial port, they recruited Denvir (30). They'd been an aspiring smith but struggled due to the discrimination against erylai. On the ship they acted as the ship's quartermaster; they created and maintained the mates' arms, crafted the various metal parts needed for the ship, and even could train basic level fighting with blades.

By 50 G, the Howling Serpent had become one of the biggest names in anti-imperial piracy. They had powerful battlemages "gone rouge" from academies, potion-brewing masters who could create bombs, and plenty of powerful fighters that could overwhelm an unsuspecting imperial ships. Zabeli (51) was the ship's surgeon, from the anti-imperial state Myrnas in the east, and Bakua (19) was his apprentice from Tseraba. Milta (23) was the potionmaster's apprentice, born in a neighboring state of Myrnas, Æmia.

In the winter of 51 G, the crew got caught in a terrible magic-storm and was stranded on an island for over three weeks. Out of a crew of 40-50, 20 make it to Hoberach, the capitol of Rira.

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