---

Name
King Willum Ayrshire Cordathion, The Endless Reign

Race/Faction
The Kingdom of Cordath

Age
47

Description
An extremely tall and broad man, King Willum is 6' 5" and weighs about 260 lbs. He has light brown hair, and brown eyes. On top of that there is a sense of power around him. An imposing nose, and full lips surrounded by a goatee gives him a traditionally masculine appearance. Considered to be handsome by a vast majority of his kingdom, this king feels very self assured in his appearance.

Class
King of Cordath, Ruler of All

Motivation
King Willum isn't entirely certain what motivates him anymore. Other than a sense of superiority and a need to destroy that which denies him, he is mostly apathetic in life. Though growing his children into the most powerful leaders of their time has become a near obsession for the man, despite not knowing why.

History
Cordath's complicated history and lore will unfold as IC progresses.

---

Strengths
A long time King is skilled in a silver tongue. Whether to be a sharp razor or a sweet treat, this man knows his way around words. Educated from an early age, there are few people who are as knowledgeable about the world as the King, and even fewer still who have his knowledge regarding magic and its various uses, he was a prodigy with blade and spell growing up, despite the prejudice his title saved him from open hostility about it. Lastly, this King seems to have some unnatural ability to be good at just about anything he picks up, no one is sure why, but it seems to be a trait of all of the Kings of Cordath, as the Right To Rule is shown, they rule over even the most inconsequential of things.

Weaknesses
King Willum is said to be without flaw or weakness, at least if anyone can hear you that is what you say. The man truly has a quick temper, and is incapable of "letting things go." He is impatient, and cares little for his people, you could even say that he is openly hostile towards them. Most importantly there is a hidden madness eating away at him slowly.

---

What is the most important thing to know about your character?
Most importantly King of Cordath, Willum Ayrshire Cordathian, the Endless Reign, is the most important thing to know.

What is your character's greatest flaw?
There is nothing that stops Willum from destroying everything that stands in his way. even if that is his family...or himself.

Why should your character be in a position to influence an entire country?
King Willum is in the most important position to influence an entire country. To question this power is to invite death to your household for tea.

---

---

Name
King's Consort, Queen Erissabette Cordathian, The Beautiful

Race/Faction
The Kingdom of Cordath

Age
It is impolite to ask a lady her age!

Description
Slender and delicate in appearance, it is unknown why but the Queen has adopted a more traditional appearance since ascending to her position, though she has worked hard to encourage the ladies of her court to wear more pleasing attire, stating that she chooses the appearance for personal reasons.

Class
Queen of Cordath, King's Consort

Motivation
Queen Eris is publicly motivated to provide the best for her children. her personal motivations are a secret she holds tight to her chest.

History
Cordath's complicated history and lore will unfold as IC progresses.

---

Strengths
A diplomat naturally, the Queen has spent years learning how to walk among people of all types and make more friends than enemies along her path, though at times she chooses to antagonize and get the same results, she seems wise beyond her years, and is is unknown how good she is at divining the truth and information she shouldn't know, but tends to have an eclectic mix of knowledge that most couldn't keep up even when they have trained for it.

Weaknesses
Queen Eris loves her children to the ends of the world, unfortunately this blinds her to any faults they might have. She is also easily manipulated through them. She is trapped in a loveless marriage that was once the world to her, leading to a depression she struggles with at times, going so far as to force herself to face her husband and try to get the feeling for him back but cannot. This stays her hands when she knows the truth.

---

What is the most important thing to know about your character?
Queen Eris cares for the people, but is hampered by her husband.

What is your character's greatest flaw?
Queen Eris' secrets hold her in a tightly clenched fist.

Why should your character be in a position to influence an entire country?
Queen Eris is the Queen of her country and is the closest advisor to the Queen. While she does not agree with his plans, she does help him despite her misgivings.

---

Name
Unknown to outsiders

Race/Faction
The Ouroboros

Age
Born 267 years ago.

Description
Unknown

Class
Magic Worker

Motivation
Revenge is both the source of her strength, and her last remaining motivation in life is to see the throne fall.

History
Unknown

---

Strengths
Unknown

Weakness
Unknown

---

What is the most important thing to know about your character?
Her identity

What is your character's greatest flaw?
Revenge is the only thing she can think about, she is driven to find it no matter the cost.

Why should your character be in a position to influence an entire country?
She has been influencing this country for over 200 years. She knows what she is doing to some extent.

---

Name
The Vanguard

Race/Faction
Soldiers tasked with protecting the throne

Age
Founded 356 years ago

Motivation
To protect the royal throne and the country as a whole.

History
The Vanguard has been around for several hundred years, and to do their history justice would take more time than available to describe. Some of the most important events however are these:
In the beginning, the Vanguard was a small guild devoted to being highly skilled mercenaries who worked out of Cordath, however in their 15th year of founding the then King, King Byron Reise Cordathian, hired them to act as bodyguards to his daughter Princess Ameliadae, who was considered the most beautiful woman in her time, from being kidnapped by a group of renegades during a rebellion. After protecting her for 16 years faithfully, King Byron rehired them as the personal bodyguards for the entire royal family.
20 years later, and the group had grown into the military during the war with Corridia. Their abilities on the battlefield had thrown everyone into madness. After destroying the front lines they began to give Cordath the upper hand leading to the first signing of the peace with Corridia and Cordath, Queen Ameliadae being extremely proud of her warriors and bestowing on them lands and influence above most of the present forces and guilds. After being elevated in such a way they began recruiting people directly from the military and the provost's (to clarify, the police.) and rotating them between whatever war front (if applicable) and patrolling the streets. Unlike most elite groups they did not prevent commoners from entering their group, however the prejudice did exist and the majority of individuals remained nobles' second sons or the lower houses.
For the next 200 years the Vanguard held up as the strongest force on Shadrech (the continent this takes place in) and have only increased the rigor of training and expectation. At this time, there is no known force that is more powerful.

---

Strengths
The Vanguard are an elite force of swordsmen and shield-bearers, experienced fighters who know both the front lines of war, and patrol in the mean streets of the poorest neighborhoods. On top of that, they are trained in disaster relief and first aid, they are the first teams sent out in reaction to national emergencies. A select few are trained in counter measures of magic work and know most of the common ways of preventing or subverting magic.

Weaknesses
The Vanguard tends to follow the King blindly, however upon General Fenros' induction into a leadership role he shook that foundation some leading to split among the member. Some are steadfastly loyal and unquestioning towards the king, some are more aware of the consequences of that mindset. They are also prejudiced against magic users on a more general level, which pits them against most magical groups and guilds.

---

What is the most important thing to know about your Faction?
The Vanguard is the King's personal bodyguards and attack dogs. They do not hesitate when involving their duty. Each one of these men (and their lone woman) are extremely capable powerhouses in their own regard.

What is your Faction's greatest flaw?
They follow the King without hesitation or question. While the people who are a part of the Vanguard are not evil, they commit acts that would be recognized as such if not for their protection from moral questioning by those who are dead.

Why should this Faction be in a position to influence an entire country?
The Vanguard is the elite force belonging directly to the throne. They influence the country through defense of their king and domination of their enemies through their king's commands.

---

Name
The Veiled Ones

Race/Faction
Shrikanti/Mistos

Age
Unknown, but it has lasted much longer than Cordath.

Motivation
To remove Cordath's control from the deserts of their homeland and more specifically out of Caella the Pearl by the Ocean.

Description
A race of people currently living in the Desert to the West of the Kingdom, with the majority of their people living in Cealla The Pearl by the Ocean. They're a mostly nomadic tribe, however, they have 3 major cities. They are traders with an unknown amount of wealth. Sometimes an over-abundance. Sometimes they cannot feed their children. They travel throughout the Lands and trade with different peoples. Their weaving is considered extremely valuable and the Court Ladies in Cordath compete to have the cloth. However, they have their own fighting and magic systems. They use a curved sword and a form of martial arts that is based on dance movements to strike the enemy down. They are fast and graceful. Men become warriors. Their women become witches. their magic is curses, minor healings, and drawing water up from the ground or out of the air. They work in groups, no single Witch will attempt to take a group of enemies down, however, they could. (If you want to play a male who uses magic or female who uses a sword that is not forbidden but they'd be kind of an outcast to society at large).
They worship Sol, the Life Giver and Death Bringer. Shrikant, tDesert wind. Macea, the lady of the Oasis. Basic religious ideology is that Sol is neither male nor female, but the creator of Shrikant and Macea who came together and gave birth to the world at large.
There is some sexism within their culture however, they have female tribal leaders and the Witch covens have power throughout their people.

History
Unknown, as they have little to no written history.

---

Strengths
A hardy people who know suffering, but have not fallen to it. They are warriors who know how to go days in the worst of conditions, without food or water, and still fight at the end of it. Mothers who can feed their children with nothing but sand to see for miles. But they are also merchants and traders, knowing the value of things in an almost intrinsic way. They also have a rich oral tradition, though they do have writing even if not everyone knows how to write.

Weaknesses
They are extremely insular, and have an us versus them mentality. Anyone who does not fit the mold is considered an enemy and will be held at arms length. They are poor more often than rich, so their city is literally built from canvas and twine, their people hunger and knowledge is scarce and is considered a valuable commodity to the point that individuals do horde it at the cost of others' loss.

---

What is the most important thing to know about your Faction?
The Veiled ones are a under-estimated group because of their poor conditions, most do not know the exact power they hold. Very few enemies have survived angering these people, and they will show everyone how they can bite back harder than they were bit.

What is your Faction's greatest flaw?
Their insular nature makes trade, their livelihood, much more difficult than it needs to be. Unlike most groups that deal with barter and goods they can't open their arms to new peoples and short themselves in the long run. To survive this mentality must change.

Why should this Faction be in a position to influence an entire country?
They are not quite in the most prime position to influence anyone outside of their own lands. However their interests in Cordath are purely related to getting Cordath OUT of their lands, and they can do that with a vengeance.

---

Name
The Ouroboros

Race/Faction
Mystic cannibalistic wizards

Age
Founded 290 years ago.

Description
An organization that is held to be myth by most, few believe in their existence, and of those who do believe they exist even fewer believe the stories about cannibalism and leader who has lived for the entirety of it's existence. Even fewer believe that they are capable of instigating a war between Cordath and them thinking they are to weak to do such a thing. They are shrouded in mystery and speculation, but what is known about them rivals expectations. The Ouroboros have a hierarchical order.

Scales = Outer defense/first layer of security. Generally weak or non magic users who aren't aware they are part of Ouroboros. Bandits, thieves, and small gangs that act as the footsoldiers and scouts.

Bones = the support. Healers, or merchants who support the organization through various actions.

Liver = The individuals tasked with the dirty work. THey clean up the messes and deal with internal conflicts. The cleaners and internal affairs for the operation

Heart = The instinct and emotional driven members. Some of the most powerful are located here. However, they are young or inexperienced. Some have been driven insane by the abilities of the Ouroboros.

Throat = The orators, and "voices" of the group. They strike the deals, they instigate war, they know what to say when to say it, and who to say it to.

The Teeth = 32 members of offensive powerhouses who's positions can only be lost through death. Even if they betray the organization (which wouldn't happen.) They would remain as a Tooth of the Ouroboros, however....the liver might just have a nice little meal later that evening.

The Eyes and The Ears = A four-member team acting as the knowledge gatherers. They are the greatest diviners and spies. Each takes the right or left position one eye and one ear. One skilled in the physical, one in the magical. However, do not underestimate any of them. They're all powerful by themselves.

The Brain = The defacto leader of the organization. She holds all knowledge and controls all actions. She is immortal in thought and deed. Infallible and perfect. However, she is endlessly hungry and incapable of self-control. She is held in check by the Head (The combined power of The Teeth and The Eyes and Ears.) and tempered by the Heart.

The Tail is a core knowledge in the Ouroboros in the ranks from Liver up through Brain. We consume ourselves until the end of time, to be reborn anew in shapes we never knew. All can rise, and All can fall.
Not one member can remain where they are indefinitely, and more importantly...The Head's duty is to watch over the rest of the Ouroboros util the end of time. Not one member is without value, all will take their turn in the Stomach.

The Stomach = A group removed from the hierarchy of the organization. They prepare the individuals so that specific skills, knowledge, or mental states can be drawn out of the flesh and be imbued into the bodies of those to take their place. A member of the Ouroboros will eventually become the meal of Ouroboros, and the Brain is one who has devoured each and every position and has grown to know all of the Ouroboros and lived the lives of a Thousand Men. But even she will fall to the blades of the Stomach.

Motivation
To get revenge on Cordath and their throne in particular, to bring Cordath into a state of chaos

History
The Ouroboros are a very mysterious and isolated people. More will be revealed as IC develops.

---

Strengths
As powerful magic users they have collected, through various means, one of the most vast collections of magical and historical knowledge. On top of that, while specific individuals within the order are not immortal their knowledge and skills are not lost, just passed on to the next to take their place. With some of the best information gathering techniques currently available to them, they are more aware of movements by their enemies than those enemies could expect.

Weaknesses
On the downside, as powerful magic users, they are weak when it comes to physical actions. While they can use their magic to sort most of these types of problems, magic does have its limits and they can't reach beyond those limits. ON top of that they've learned to value the life of humans lowly, including their own, believing that their "reincarnation" is a path to eternal life, which leads to them taking risky steps they otherwise shouldn't. Most importantly, they can not find common ground with the people and without that, they'll only ever be half successful in their endeavors.

---

What is the most important thing to know about your faction?
Not only are most of the stories about them true, some are not deep enough to really explain the situation clear enough.

What is your faction's greatest flaw?
They are monsters in thought and deed however they do believe that if Cordath loses power they can place a new power into the throne and "fix" everything that was done wrong by the Cordathian kings.

Why should your faction be in a position to influence an entire country?
They have been scheming, plotting, and infiltrating the kingdom for a long time. They worked for the position to influence that kingdom.

---

Name:
Fox Delta

Race/Faction:
Human
Ouroboros

Age:
26

Description:
Copper hair and pale skin, typical ginger.
Dirt brown eyes.
Short - 5'7"


"Class":
Fire Mage

Motivation:
Fox is trying to make up for his family sins. He wants to clear their name, even if that means not being quite clean himself. He also wants to make a name for himself.

History:
Fox's father has never been a good man. His father was abusive, a drunkard, but one Hell of a guard. That was the case anyway. Until his father was accused of murder and his name was dragged through the dirt. Throwing him in jail wasn't good enough, they had to make it so where ever his family went, they were looked down upon. Delta has spent his entire life since his father's jailing to make the family name shine again since his mother certainly wouldn't. His mother never did anything. She was a pushover, and Delta didn't want to be like her, nor did he want to be like his father. He wanted to not only clean up his family name, but he wants to make a name for himself. Fox would hate to always be known as "Gerald's Son."

Strengths:
-Strategy & Puzzle Solving (Delta was raised on puzzles and strategy games and has gained a passion for them, which has never gone away.)
-Loyal
-Resilient
-Speech
-Manipulation

Weakness:
-Paranoid (He doesn't trust anyone. Everyone is out to get him in some way or another, but he'll play along, for now.)
-Physically weak (He does not lift)
-Can't Catch (Do not throw anything to this man. He'll either dodge it or it'll hit him in the face.)
-Manipulative

What is the most important thing to know about your character?
Delta is very good at talking, and manipulation comes at a bonus. He doesn't trust you, and it's not always the smartest to trust him.

What is your character's greatest flaw?
His paranoia.

Why should your character be in a position to influence an entire country?
Delta has pretty impressive speech skills, even though it might not look that way at first. He could definitely convince others to help or hurt each other. It's a very good skill to have, especially in a position of power, that way he can get what his people need or want.

Writing Example:
(Interaction)
Fox thought she looked pretty. No, more than pretty, she was beautiful. Beautiful in the sense that if she touched you, your skin would tingle. When she talked, your mind went numb. Fox thought for a moment he was in love, but then realized it was just a trick. She could easily be used against him if Delta let her. But those lips...
Fox shook his head. He couldn't afford to be distracted, let alone by someone who could easily get him to spill his guts. He had things to do, places to be.
But there was something about her. He couldn't look away. Her hazel eyes trapped him like a fly in honey. She was sweet, but deadly. Delta didn't want to drown in her. He had to say hello.
Fox realized he had awkwardly been standing there as he admired Elizabeth. After he realized that, the world came back into focus. He could finally hear what she was saying.

"Hey, are you alright?"

"Better than that," Fox mumbled to himself before removing himself from the conversation. He would not get stuck in her honey trap, as tempting as it was.

"Hey!" Elizabeth ran up to him and put a hand on his shoulder. Fox immediately froze. That did it. He was stuck. He never wanted her to let go. She turned Fox to face her.

"You never answered my question."

"What?"

(Combat)
Fox knew exactly how he got into this situation. He shouldn't have said yes to Elizabeth, he should've known that she would get him in some sort of trouble. This wasn't the first time he had been charmed into a deadly situation, and by his guess, it wouldn't be the last. Delta hated that his will compared to clay after he was touched by a pretty girl.
Delta stood at the top of a tour, exactly where Elizabeth had told him to wait. She said she needed him for something. Something that wasn't exactly the safest. She was right in that sense. Fox stood on the roof of a tower, being shot at by archers. He wouldn't call that a riskless job.
An arrow whizzed past his head, close enough that Delta could hear it. He had wanted to be peaceful and let Elizabeth do her job. If he didn't kill someone, there would be fewer negative ramifications on his end. Alas, it was too late now. He had been fired upon. It was only fair he did the same. (6 Archers)
Delta conjured a fireball and threw it at the nearest discernible target. (Rolls dice. 14.)
The fireball hit the wall next to the archer. The fire attached itself to the wall, burning furiously. That archer now couldn't see. That was good enough in Fox's book.
He spotted another archer, this one farther away. He sent out a firebolt, a smaller and agiler version of the fireball, towards the archer. (Rolls dice. 3.) Fox didn't expect to hit, but he did think he could at least get it close. The firebolt went far left, missing completely. The fire he just threw couldn't hit the broad side of a barn. It was pathetic.

Name: Anna May Smith

Race/Faction: Human

Age: 25

Description: Anna May is a firm and fit young woman standing at 5'4" and a 120 lbs soaking wet. She has long, light to medium brown hair that she usually has twisted into a loose braid. Depending on the sun's position her eyes appear to be dark brown or lighter with honey colored highlights on the irises. Working at her father's Ale House she often is seen wearing long boots with pants and a long sleeved shirt and corset or vest over top of that. Although considered to be pretty she is often overlooked by the regular male patrons because she is not a whore and they are looking for immediate companionship.

Class: Regular Citizen and Ale House Owner

Motivation: Anna May wants to see the hierarchy changed because the King caused her mother's death.

History: Anna May grew up in her parent's Ale House. Her father had run it when she was little. As more people moved into the area her mother started helping out with the bar more. She had taught Anna to read and write as well as Arithmetic. She pulled her into the bar to work on her studies when she needed to. Some of the patrons had come to know the young girl and would often help her or watch her as she did her math or reading. Anna's family was considered to be very normal.

As was common for the royals the King had stopped in one day on his way back from a hunt. The king had laughed at the girl's mother for her second hand dress and worn shoes. Then he said something about the lower classes being too poor to care about. It had taken all of her mother's strength to keep her quiet but she did. When Anna's mother served the drinks to the table the king made a rude suggestion to how she might make more money. Her mother reacted without thinking and slapped the sovereign across the face hard. The worst moment of Anna's life happened next as the head of the guard at that time pulled her mother away from the king and shoved her to her knees. The guard slit her throat, killing her mother instantly and her father had had to grab the screaming child and hold her back. That was the defining moment in Anna's life.

After that Anna grew up staying far from the royal family and learning to defend herself. Some of the patrons taught her how to keep the rowdier crowd from getting too close and what to do if they did. She slowly watched her father's will to live ebb away from his broken heart. When Anna was twenty her father went to bed one night and never woke up.

Strengths: Honest, caring, intelligent, she can fight and she excels at knife throwing from years of practice at the bar.

Weakness: Anna holds grudges. She can sometimes be a little naive. She is small physically so if her opponent is large she may take quite the beating or need help.

What is the most important thing to know about your character? Anna is all heart. She loves people and animals and will always defend the innocent even if it means she pays for it herself.

What is your character's greatest flaw? Others can be used against her as a way to get her to do what she doesn't want to.

Why should your character be in a position to influence an entire country? Anna can convince people to follow her and she is fair and honest.

Name: Alexander Markos

Race/Faction: Kingdom (kinda)

Age: 24

Description: Alexander has tanned skin from his days spent in the sun at sea. He has black hair cut short and slight stubble on his jaw. Alexander's eyes are Hazel, with a glint of mischief. He stands at a respectable 5'10", and weighs about 170 lbs. During the average day he wears soft boots, and leather pants. While at sea he typically copies the other sailors and wears no shirt, that does not mean he can't dress respectably. For political functions he typically wears decorative leather armor with silver accents.

Alexander after being at sea for a while. (closest to what I was thinking.)
"Class": Baron of a southern province

Motivation: Alexander believes that the people of the kingdom are the true heart of the nation. While he doesn't want a bloody rebellion to rip apart the nation he so dearly loves, he believes changes must be made. He wants to pass peaceful reforms to control the monarchs and even believes that a council of lords should be organized to deal with the day to day business of the kingdom. While not truly believing in democracy he thinks that the people need more of a voice since they are the ones that know the struggles they are going through.

History: Alexanders father had been a successful military leader and believed that all men in an army had equal importance, including the commander. He had drilled this in to Alexander at a very young age and the boy believed it fanatically. His father would find him helping the maid clean dishes and the gardener rake the leaves. His father's city loved him, and he was like the cities son. He was never afraid to talk to a new person no matter what they looked like. He wrestled with the city boys, getting just as filthy as the rest of them.

When he was about 15 his father was called on to lead troops to deal with a small peasant uprising. That was the first time Alexander saw battle. No it wasn't a battle, it was a massacre. The peasants were not prepared for the highly professional army his father maintained, or the ruthlessness they showed. The peasants had charged the army with in a frenzy. It was obvious who would win but they refused to disarm and surrender. It was over within 10 minutes, with very few deaths on his fathers side. The peasants were an entirely different story, the villages they came from were put to the torch and families split up. They were sent to all different corners of the kingdom never to see their loved ones again.

After the campaign Alexander began to take up the hobby of sailing. He would be gone for weeks at a time only stopping home to gather crew and supplies. He couldn't be near his father or that dammed city. Those people who were okay with what was happening in the kingdom, to their nation. Three years ago Alexander returned to the news that his father was dead, and he was the new lord of the fief. He immediately became racked with guilt for abandoning his father, for not being there when he died. He became determined to fix the kingdom, but not through death. He decided he would lead by example and began implementing policies to improve the life of his citizens. He has created a council of citizens to run his city, while he focuses on running the country side. Even though he hates the death of innocent peasants he has no qualms about killing those who hurt people.

Strengths:
Tactician: While he hates to admit it he is a brilliant military commander much like his father.
Sailor: Still spending much time at sea he is a great sailor and competent navigator.
Inspires Loyalty: His soldiers are fanatically loyal, because he stands and fights on the front lines with them and wont make them do anything he wouldn't do himself.
Soldier: To call him a duelist would hurt the feelings of any real sword master. What Alexander does is best for the dirty confusing mess that is a battlefield. He uses a collection of dirty tricks and brute force attacks.

Weakness:
Terrible Liar: Alexander is a terrible liar and politician. He would rather punch a manipulative lord than talk with him.
Merciful: While he is an intelligent commander he has fears of repeating what his father did, so he takes unnecessary risks to let the enemy surrender.

What is the most important thing to know about your character?
Alexander believes that an open rebellion is a stupid idea and will fight against it if civilians are caught in the crossfire. He is fiercely loyal to his country, and wants to improve it, not destroy it.

What is your character's greatest flaw?
He does everything he can to avoid the massacre at his father's hands. He will avoid death even at risk to himself, unless the enemy has harmed innocent civilians and done wrong according to him.

Why should your character be in a position to influence an entire country?
He is powerful man in control of one of the largest ports in the Kingdom and maintains one of the few professional armies.

"HEAVE, HEAVE, HEAVE" For the last three hours that had been the only noise that any of the sailors could hear. That and the sound of their oars hitting the water of course. Alexander was rowing along with the rest of his crew, straining with every pull of the oar. It had been his mistake that had caused them to stray off course in the first place. They had been planning to rendezvous with some of the other ships from the harbor for a race. Alexander was sure he had aligned his map correctly, but his first mate had picked up on his mistake....after they had been sailing for 4 hours. The mistake was small, but even one such as this put them leagues away from their meeting point. Even worse is that the wind was now blowing into the bow of the ship causing the sail to be useless. Alexander had felt terrible, because now his crew would have hours of hard rowing ahead of them. He had walked over to one of the oarsman and told him he would row for him for an hour. Ever since then he had been switching with a different rower on the turn of the hour. It was his mistake, so he had to pay for it just like his crew had to even though they didn't make the mistake. He heard his skipper call rest and glanced behind him and saw the masts of the ships they were to meet.

Alexander jumped over the railing of the ship the captains had decided to gather on. They were all in a circle getting drunk from a cask of ale in the center of them. From the looks of things this wasn't the first cask either, and probably wont be the last. Alexander nudged one of the men aside and sat down between two of the captains. He grabbed a mug and filled it with the rum and took a long drink from it, almost emptying it.
"About time you got here, we almost thought you had gone and gotten yourself sunk or something." The man speaking to Alexander was Old Gibbs, he was a smuggler and perhaps the most loved person on the coastline. He was a kind man and kept his prices low, and even payed his taxes. Alexander had met the man when he first began sailing, and though of him as an Uncle more than anything.

"Just got a little off course, nothing we couldn't handle. I am just hurt you boys began drinking without me."

"Aye, and we almost started the race without you. We were just worried you would put us in the stockades for slighting you my Lord."

As Gibbs said those last words he grinned and performed a clumsy bow, almost falling over because how drunk he was. Everyone on the boat knew Alexander would do such thing, they all just enjoyed messing with the Baron because he knew how to take a joke.

"I would have done it too you dirty crimi-."

Alexander tried to sound menacing, but broke up into a laughing fit before he could finish the sentence. He was old friends with all the men on the ship, no with all the men in their little fleet. Alexander rose from his position and stretched out.

"We better begin getting ready for the race, my steward probably is buying poison to kill me this instant."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The race had been fairly successful, but not as much as he would have liked. His ship had come in third, and it was all because of his mistake. The last stretch of the race had been against the wind and his already tired crew couldn't keep up with the fresh me on the other ships. They had all said their farewells to each other cheerily. Alexander's ship began their slow journey back to port just after nightfall. Everyone on the ship was exhausted, so Alexander was taking the long way back to the port so he had the wind at his sails for a longer amount of time.

As she glided over the water she looked nothing like the warship she truly was. The ram was barely visible below the waterline only producing a slight ripple in the water a few feet ahead of the ship. Alexander had modified her over the years to fit his own needs. That meant taking much of the armor off and making her waterline higher, so she was faster. This probably what made the pirates confident enough to attack a ship flying the barons flag. Normally the Hawk and Spear were enough to frighten off any raiders planning to attack a ship flying it. Alexander was notorious for his crusade against pirates. This included building 20 ships from an older design from the south he had learned of while on one of his trips. They seemed to be knives cutting through they water, utilizing 40 oars to achieve incredible speed. They had been crushing the pirates and ruining their business. Most pirates had left Alexander's waters, but some still remained.

The pirates had crept up on their "prey" seemingly unnoticed hoping to catch it unawares. As they drew up next to the ship they threw up grappling hooks then waited quietly for a second if an alarm would be sent up. They began climbing and became more confident, believing they were about to capture an easy prize. As they pulled themselves up onto the deck they were met with a site they had not been expecting. A young man was standing right in front of them with a naked sword in his hand, ready and prepared. What was more terrifying was that about twenty heavily armed men were right behind them wearing the armor of naval marines. The young man looked towards the man who had led the climb up the ladder and gave him a determined look.

"Surrender now and you will be tried fairly in court."

The pirates looked at each other confused at what to do till one of them shouted,"I am not rotting in a jail cell!!" The man charged the young man sword swinging wildly. As he came close Alexander tossed the sword towards the enemies face. His opponent dodged the throw easily glancing at it as it passed by him. That was his biggest mistake, Alexander closed the distance between him and the man lightning fast and gripped the pirates sword arm, while headbutting the man in the nose. The pirate fell backwards tears crawling into his vision as Alexander rushed forward keeping near the falling man. The pirate stumbled to regain his footing, but Alexander swiped at one of the man's legs knocking it out from under him. He twisted the pirates arm until he dropped his sword. Alexander quickly grabbed it and held it to the man's throat.

"I'll ask you one more time. Surrender."

The pirate's hands shot up and he nodded. The engagement had lasted all of 7 seconds, and the pirates knew they were out matched. The pirates dropped their swords and raised their hands in surrender. Not a single man resisted the entire trip back to port.