Skallywags and Picaroons: A Skull & Shackles Campaign (Inactive)

Game Master PirateDevon

Though his village was small, there were many accomplished warriors among the ranks who were capable of both defending against the native tribe of pygymy kech for which the Kaava lands are named. His father, Addae, was one of those accomplished warriors. His mother, Amadi, was one of the tribes shamans, a religious leader of the community. Ajani was the eldest of several children sired by the couple, and as such was expected to follow in his father's footsteps to become a warrior.

Ajani's talents, however, leaned significantly toward the spellcasting abilities of his mother. So, begrudgingly, Addae allowed his son to be trained in the Druidic traditions. The Vanara took well to the lessons and soon developed a clear interest in not just Druid magic, but in the aquatic environment that his tribe took much of their livelihood from.

He became an accomplished swimmer, using his simple magic to help herd fish toward the river and the Vanara's fishing nets that the tribe would use for sustenance as well as trade goods to send to Senghor and trade with those visiting from the large city. As time passed, the settlement became more and more effective at repelling the natives and established a more regular trade route with their (much) larger neighbor to the west.

As Ajani matured, his reverence and respect for the sea grew with him and he began growing more aware of what was going on in the world around him. His parents had warned him many times to stay away from the open water of Desperation Bay, as pirates often sailed through on their way to the Sargava Colony. The more he learned of these people, the more he came to despite them. How dare they?! How dare they take advantage of the bounteous ocean for their own material gain, using the sea as a vehicle for their depravity? Without telling anyone else of his decision, he resolved to do something about it.

On an overnight trading voyage he and several other members of his tribe had made, he heard rumors that one of the ships in port was in reality property of a group of pirates from the Shackles. In the dead of night he managed to sneak aboard the ship, a satchel belted to his waist. The skeleton crew guarding the ship had apparently been celebrating some recent conquest on the southern edge of the Fever Sea, as there were several empty rum bottles littered across the deck. Thankful for their inebriation, since it made sneaking that much easier, he made his way to the hold of the ship. In the back of his mind he recognized a grainy smell in the air, a sense that there was some particulate in the air around him, but he ignored it, finding a place that he thought would serve as a good hiding place for his satchel. Finding one, he checked to make sure he was alone, then planted the satchel, taking the fuse that led out of it and setting it aflame. He then began to sneak off the ship but, unfortunately, a member of the crew happened to be coming down to the hold just as he was leaving. The drunken sailor was more caught off-guard, though, and so Ajani was able to shove past him, quickly making his way off the ship. However, one or two of the crew were sober enough to give chase.

They had chased him to a block or so off the dock when the bomb went off. Instead of just damaging the cargo and maybe putting a few cracks in the hold of the vessel, a loud WHOOM sound echoed through the air, the orange glow of flame surrounding his vision. He whirled, eyes widening in disbelief. The ship was ablaze. How, he didn’t know, but the small bomb he had planted had somehow erupted into a conflagration that was consuming the entire ship.

This wasn’t what he wanted. A little damage. A leak. Some water ruining a bit of cargo. That was all. Destroying the entire ship? No, no that couldn’t happen! How much death had he just caused? Certainly at least the man he’d pushed down on the way out of the hold. How many more? A part of him was screaming at him to run, to flee back to the village and hide. But his calm mind, his rationale, it spoke to him, too, and told him that he couldn’t flee. No less than two of the crew members on that ship had seen him. They knew he was Vanara. It wouldn’t be hard to find out where the Vanara who had just come into town had come from.

Once they knew, the pirates would find him and seek recompense for their lost crewmates from his neighbors and friends and family. He couldn’t allow that to happen, no matter the cost to himself. All actions had consequences…and he would have to live with the results of what he’d done, no matter how much pain they caused him. He fell to his knees on the ground, eyes on the pirates in front of him.

Shouting angrily, they rushed, one of them drawing a weapon from beneath his belt. Ajani closed his eyes. The weapon came down. An explosion of light erupted from his right…and then there was blackness.

History: My father was a soldier, who rose high quickly, and was cast down even faster. The tale my mother told was that he died on his feet, surrounded by the bodies of a hundred attackers. He angered the wrong people, and sold his life dearly.

The night my father died, my mother and I fled Katheer with two camels, whatever valuables we could carry, and our lives. My mother was a good wife, from a good family, but the life of an outlaw was not one she was suited for. Within two turns of the moon what little valuables we had were gone. Within six, so was she. I never knew if she was caught by soldiers, kidnapped and sold into slavery, or simply wandered away in search of a better life.

So that was that. From the age of seven I was a street rat, a gutter rat, a wharf rat... basically any place that you find rats, there was I. But that was not my fate. No son of Fakar could spend all his life as a nobody. Destiny has a way of picking her favorite sons. At the age of twelve my magic began to manifest.

For a while I was a thief, stealing trinkets from fat merchants. Later I worked in a circus. I’ve been a smuggler, a scribe, and even a tax-collector (we all have to take jobs we don’t like, from time to time—have faith, little of the gold I collected made its way into the pockets of the Satrap). Anywhere a tricky spell or a spelling trick could fetch a warm meal and a soft bed, there was I.

I recently found myself in a bit of trouble with the city guards, and so I thought it expedient to take a job on a merchant vessel, ferrying this and that from here to there. A good, honest (mostly) life on the open sea. I’ve put in to every port from Kapatesh to Port Peril. But that was not my fate, either.

Alas, the boat was sunk. Denied the precious cargo they so desired, the pirates who attacked us decided to take a few slaves instead. And thus I find myself before you. Destiny, it seems, is not yet finished with me.

Languages: Common, Osiriani, Kelish
SQ: Seaborn Bloodline (+1 CL when in water),
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SPELLS
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CANTRIPS: Detect Magic, Light, Create Water, Prestidigitation
FIRST LEVEL (4/day): Touch of the Sea, Animate Rope, Air Bubble

Though his village was small, there were many accomplished warriors among the ranks who were capable of both defending against the native tribe of pygymy kech for which the Kaava lands are named. His father, Addae, was one of those accomplished warriors. His mother, Amadi, was one of the tribes shamans, a religious leader of the community. Ajani was the eldest of several children sired by the couple, and as such was expected to follow in his father's footsteps to become a warrior.

Ajani's talents, however, leaned significantly toward the spellcasting abilities of his mother. So, begrudgingly, Addae allowed his son to be trained in the Druidic traditions. The Vanara took well to the lessons and soon developed a clear interest in not just Druid magic, but in the aquatic environment that his tribe took much of their livelihood from.

This isn't to say he was an ideal child however…Ajani was as wont to get into mischief as most Vanara children. The only problem was that Ajani, being the child of a tribe priestess, felt more entitled to getting away with his mischief…and one day that trouble nearly cost him his life. At the age of six, Ajani attempted to take a dugout canoe into Desperation Bay on his own, wanting to commune with the sea as the elders in his tribe did. He was managing well enough on his own when he noticed a large ship flying a pirate flag in the distance fast approaching his small craft, chased by a line of vicious-looking lightning. He knew immediately there was nothing he could do to avoid being caught in the squall; his only hope was to hold on and pray that he survived the frightful storm. And then the first gust of wind and rush of water came and tossed him from the boat as easily as it would've tossed a feather. Ajani called for help from the passing ship, though, knowing the reputation of pirates, his only hope was that the waves swallowed him quickly.
As luck would have it, though, the pirate ship that was about to pass him by was captained by a human man named Elias Saladeen, an anti-pirate if there ever was one. The captain himself risked his own life, snatching up a rope and cork vest from the deck of the ship, diving overboard to recover the young Vanara. The crew had barely gotten them on board and below decks when the squall overtook the ship. They were rocked violently for what seemed like hours, Ajani no less fearful for his life than he was in the water, but eventually the storm passed them by, continuing on its course to Sargava.

Captain Saladeen made sure that Ajani and the rest of his crew was safe and well, followed quickly by making sure his ship was still seaworthy. Fortunately, the vessel had been well prepared for the storm, suffering little damage. Saladeen himself gave Ajani an escort back home, where his tribe had been frantically searching for him, his parents driven nearly insane with worry about the storm that had just passed. They thanked Saladeen profusely, offering him gifts from what little the tribe had. He turned them all down with a laugh and a smile, then before he left, he knelt to wish Ajani farewell, but not before leaving him a parting gift…his worn, brown leather hat. It was a simple thing, but it became Ajani's greatest treasure. In that moment, he knew that he would someday follow in the footsteps of Captain Saladeen…but not without a whole lotta work.

He dedicated himself completely to his duties, becoming an accomplished swimmer, learning the Druidic arts from his mother as well as all he could about the patterns of the wind and waves, the weather cycles, regional climates and countries. He was determined not to be caught off-guard like he was when Captain Saladeen had to come to his rescue. His parents knew, deep down, that he would leave someday. That his encounter with Saladeen had left an indelible mark on their son's spirit, something made all the more clear by the fact that he hardly let Saladeen's old hat out of his sight, taking meticulous care of the headpiece. They didn't approve, of course, but they knew his departure was as inevitable as the spring rains and the summer heat.

Whenever the village sent a party to Senghor, Ajani was the first volunteer. Each time they arrived, the first thing the Vanara did was dash dockside to discover what he could about Captain Saladeen's voyages and accomplishments. Each time he was regaled with new stories of how the benevolent man had rescued shipwreck survivors, had waylaid a murderous captain's rampage, delivered a group of natives from ruthless slavers. Here was a pirate that was totally different from the others, a man who was dedicated to using his skills and talents to do good in the world, not take advantage of and trample over the rights of others. He was the kind of man Ajani wanted to become…seeing the world and becoming a force for good in it.

And so it happened that, one day, he announced that he wasn't going to be returning from the latest trip to Senghor. His parents tried to talk him into staying, knowing they would fail. The boy who had nearly drowned in the storm had grown to a young man who sought his destiny out in the world, wanted to make his mark upon it. When the group arrived in Senghor, he stayed with his tribe-mates, doing what he could to help them fulfill their trading and other reasons for coming to Senghor before he bid them farewell. Donning Captain Saledeen's hat, he went to the docks, offering gold and an extra deckhand to anyone who would provide him passage to the Shackles…and to Port Peril, its de facto capital, seeking what information he could about Captain Saladeen and how best he can begin his dream of following in his footsteps.

Knowing the reputation of Port Peril, he is of course wary, trying to use Saladeen's hat to conceal his features, but it's probably clear to anyone there that he's new blood in the Shackles. He enters the first tavern he can find, some place called the Formidably Maid, intending to discover what he can about Captain Saladeen's most recent exploits.