Pirate Kings

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/37995/37995-h/37995-h.htmOn the shores of the Ocean of Bitter Regrets are five staggeringly tall mountain peaks, perpetually shrouded by a thick red mist (00.02. Each mountain is the domain of a different cloud giant clan - collectively known in human lands as the Pirate Kings.

Periodically, floating cloud fortresses break from the mist of the mountains and head southward. The sight of one of these crimson Thunderheads elicits panic from any seagoing vessel that spots one. The cloud fortresses sink down and simply scoop up entire frigates. The ships are then dismantled by ogres, valuables and slave-worthy men captured, and everything not taken is rained back down.

From time to time a Pirate Thunderhead will raid a coastal village or even an overland caravan, but they generally remain over the sea. The Pirate Kings are a persistent, albeit rarely encountered, nuisance for the shipping lanes of the Twelve Nations (and the distant lands of the western continent). The Thunderheads can’t move too far inland, sparing vast swaths of the Twelve from cloud giant raids. In addition, The Freeholders, the Court at Kingswood, the City of Shuttered Windows, and the Burning Lands are all too far inland to be subjected to a raid. The coastal areas of the Westmarches are not, but their people are too scattered and poor to be worth raiding, with the exception of the Cross (02.11).

The treasure hordes of the five Pirate Kingdoms are known to be vast beyond belief, and there are always would-be treasure seekers plotting to steal their share. These plots rarely go past the stage of wistful dreaming, because really…? Who’s crazy enough to anger an entire clan of giants?

In the distant past, trade and diplomatic missions have been attempted, but the giants simply take what they want and crush the envoys. To the Pirate Kings, men are insects, not worth talking to and barely worth enslaving. They do make trade with the civilization of dragons that roost far beyond World’s Edge, as well as elemental envoys, and even gods - but such things are practically unknown in the mortal world.

Pirate Kings

Features of the Pirate Kings

Subhexes:

Connections:

The Traveller’s Journal

Hex 00.02.03

Connects to: 25.04.02 and 39.23.01.

I awoke on the beaches of a strange land, with no memory of my life before this moment, a white feather (25.04.02) clutched in my hand and a name on my lips: ‘Lisbet’ (39.12.01).

My clothes were sodden, but I couldn’t tell if they were wet from the sea or the rain. A storm raged over my head, so I got to my feet and walked inland.

A crude path was cut through the wiry grass. I traveled upon it for some time: it was cut into the mountains. I head voices ahead, but had nowhere to hide: the side of the mountain was to one side and a sheer drop on the other.

Around the corner came two giants, easily four or five times my height. Their hair crackled like a summer storm, but they passed by without seeming to notice me. They were not so much larger than me that I should have been impossible to see—but maybe they have big minds that cannot even process the existence of one as insignificant as me.

I had gained some ground by this time and when the path looped back along the mountain I ignored the turn and scrambled along the rocks. Sure enough, I came to a point where I could see the sea.

I simultaneously noticed two strangenesses. The mountain was just half a mountain and the sea lapped at its base along a straight line. It was almost as if the gods had cut away half the mountain to make room for the sea.

In addition, atop the storm clouds that had plagued me down on the beach was a huge castle in basalt.

The cutting away of the mountain had left a network of caves exposed to the elements. I crawled into one of them, and found a nest with large white eggs in it. I was about to fall upon them and suck them out when a small figure struck me in the knee and I fell.

She looked like a woman, though she was a child’s size. She called in a strange, squawking tongue and a flock of birds of many kinds appeared at the cave face. They swooped and pecked me and I ran from the cave.

Tomorrow I shall try to reach the summit of the mountain.

Hook:

The Stormhead

Why do the Pirate Kings so restlessly patrol the Ocean of Bitter Regrets? By now, their coffers must overflow with spices, gemstones and all other riches of the world. Indeed, the Pirate Kings have been seen to jettison treasures just minutes after looting them.

While it is true that the Pirate Kings are madly covetous, their raiding serves another purpose. Each cloud giant searches for their ‘spark’, something that reveals to them the tremendous beauty of the world. One King wept over an altar of the Green Lady, another sniffed deeply from a bottle of Narosi perfume resting on the tip of his finger.

When a cloud giant is ignited in this way, he or she must craft a wooden ship and sail or row it to the Stormhead (01.04), a perpetual storm that rages at the edge of the Ocean of Bitter Regrets. As soon as he or she casts the spark into the sea, he or she is struck by a single bolt of lightning that transforms the cloud giant into a storm giant.

The boat then burns beneath the giant and he or she must swim away from the storm. Most will stop at the islands that lie off the coast west of here, some staying for good, although it is said that the King of Salt and Brine—before his infection—swam straight back to the Shrouded Lands (00.06).

Hooks

Categories: Creatures , Peoples , Bitter Coast , Ocean of Bitter Regrets

Pages in this category


Original: https://shrouded-lands.fandom.com/wiki/Pirate_Kings