xyalon-writing: Babel Babel is a pirate, through and through. If everything he says is to believed,

xyalon-writing: Babel Babel is a pirate, through and through. If everything he says is to believed, he can trace piracy through his family back to the Pirate Kings of the ancient Asterian civilisation. He was born in Port Muana, the only city on the island of Aster. His parents were both pirate Captains; powerful, respected and feared and generally regarded as the unofficial leaders of the corsairs that made berth in Muana.Growing up in Muana was a constant adventure. He revelled in the stories that his parents told him of his ancestors, the Asterians who once ruled the Ocean and surrounding seas, of the Pirate Queens and Kings of old. While he knew from an early age that he would follow in his parent’s footstep and assume his place as the leader, he did as he was told and paid attention to his lessons in lore, navigation and weapon practice from those employed to look after him while his parents were away. On his days off he would run through the jungle with his best friend Thérese, a cat with silver and black stripes, exploring, searching for hidden temples and buried treasure. Sometimes they would even in the rigging of the old sailing ship kept in the harbour for special occasions, sitting in the crows nest as they watched the newer ships glide past, their engines leaving a white, churning mess in the blue green of the sea.He knew very little of what went on outside the island nation, beyond the stories that were brought back by sailors and told in taverns. Tales of sprawling cities, technological marvels, magical feats and ongoing wars. Most of these were taken with a pinch of salt, since it was well known that any sailor would exaggerate his story if it mean the possibility of more drink. Ships went, ships came back with all manner of exciting things, through either theft or trade. As far as he was concerned, that was just the way of the world.As he got older, one or other of his parents would start to take him out with them to explain the maintenance of the ship, their role as captain, and other important things he would need when he had his own ship. He watched as his parents would trade with merchant vessels or ports, or hide below decks and stare through a porthole as the crew boarded and looted other ships. Soon he learned which ships were to be left alone and which could be taken with relative impunity and so learned the somewhat mercurial diplomacy of the ocean.Shortly after the turned 21 he felt that was ready to have his own ship and crew, and had been hoping to broach the subject with his father who was due to return soon. He had hoped to speak with both of them at the same time but his mother was not due to come back from a trading mission for another week. On the evening of his father’s return, he stood on a cliff with Rese, to whom he had promised the position of first mate ever since they had been children. Together they watched the ship draw steadily closer when they saw an explosion close to the waterline, followed by another and another. A closer explosion, this time from the harbour, drew their attention and they watched in horror as the sea seemed to boil with strange, metallic snake-like creatures. They writhed around the various ships in the bay, some exploding against the hulls, others leaping out at crew members on the piers. Screams echoed all around. As Rese looked on in horror, Babel glanced back out to sea, only to see his father’s ship tip up and start to sink before disappearing in a ball of light. A few moments later, the roar of an explosion washed over him.Unable to believe what he had seen, he stood, rooted to the spot, until a slap across the face brought him back. He stared at Rese, trying to make out what she was saying. She was gesturing out to the sea, but not a the ocean itself but at the sky. In the dying light of the sun, hundreds of dots seemed to be approaching the island. While he still couldn’t understand what Rese was saying, Babel felt the threat and together they ran down into Muana.It was chaos, people were running and screaming, trying to rescue those in the water only to be attacked and pulled in themselves. The first wave of dots had arrived and seemed to be some sort of flying robot, buzzing around and shooting any anyone. Panicking, completely unsure of what to do, still in shock at witnessing his father’s certain death from afar, Babel ran home with Rese behind him. The locked the doors and went down into the cellar where they spent the night, shaking and crying, holding on to each other for comfort as they listened to the slaughter that raged on outside.Even after the noise died down and the hellish buzzing had ceased to fill the air, they did not dare leave the house, but instead snuck up to the house to grab blankets and food. They stayed down there for four days before venturing out into the ruins of their city.What greeted them was a nightmare. Friends and family lay strewn about, left to lie as they had died, the ground soaked with blood. More corpses, some horrifically mangled, were washed up on the beach that they had used to play on, and floated in the harbour that they once swam in. The occasional snake-like robot swam through the water, seemingly haphazardly.Over the next few days, other survivors appeared from hideaways and basements. Many were in shock, none understood, but all seemed to look to Babel for guidance. At first, he didn’t know what to do, and hoped that his mother had somehow survived, would be coming back, but as the date of her return came and went, he realised that he was truly on his own.He did what he could, with Rese’s help, to get the survivors organised. The city had been large, but barely a handful of people had survived the sudden and vicious attack, so at least they were not short of provisions. Scavenging parties were organised, an in-land hierarchy was established and Babel became the Pirate King of Aster. This didn’t sit well with everyone at first, some captains who had been ashore at the time and had survived the assault argued against it, but Babel’s support among the survivors was strong. Satisfied that his people would be able to fend for themselves, he looked to continue his legacy and venture out to the sea. Noticing that the only vessels in the harbour that had not been destroyed were rowing and sailing boats, he hand-picked a crew of volunteers and set out for the old galleon that lay at anchor in the middle of the bay using some of the row boats. As he had hoped, the strange robots ignored the wooden boats and soon he and his crew were busying themselves on the ship, making her ready for her first proper voyage in centuries. When supplies were loaded, Babel christened her the Spear of Selchis - after the patron Sea Goddess of the Asterian civilisation - and set forth with Rese by his side as First Mate.Not long after they set sail, Babel was confronted with a mutiny. One of the volunteers, a former captain himself, had witnessed Babel’s support in Port Muana and had waited until they were out in the open sea to challenge his authority. Some of the volunteers, mostly sailors that Babel did not know well, sided with the older captain, but most of the crew stood firmly with Babel as it was he who had gotten them out to sea once more. The captain challenged Babel to single combat in order to stake his claim, hoping cow the young squirrel into submission, but Babel accepted. The captain was fast and had the skill that only years of experience could afford, but Babel was faster and was able to hold off his opponent until there was an opening. There was, and Babel took it without a second thought. Barely two days into his first adventure and he had already killed one of his crew. Oddly enough, however, he felt nothing at all - he had done what needed to be done to protect his captaincy, his ship and his crew.Over the next three years, Babel and the crew of the Spear of Selchis traversed the Asterian ocean. For the most part there was little to do beyond salvage wrecks that they came across, or loot long abandoned coastal towns, then returning to Port Muana to unload what they had acquired and take on new provisions, along with checking on how his people were faring. It was on these visits that he took to spending his time and wealth in taverns, on drink and company. Sometimes he would spend almost all his time there, carousing into the small hours of the morning. He drank to the memory of his parents, to the memory of his nation, and to forget them all.There were few other sailing ships in the water - trade had all but ground to a halt with the infestation of the waters. Still, the area around Cloudfall kept some traffic, and he was able to prey on the occasional trading vessel making its way to or from the Dragon Kingdom. Since he was inclined to leave the crews of these ships alive, he soon gained notoriety, as well as a price on his head. Since, however, he needed to visit Cloudfall in order to trade goods both legitimate and ill-gotten, he took to wearing a disguise whenever he was in port. Since there was no way for the Spear to pass through the entrance to Cloudfall, and would be recognised anyway, they hid the ship in a small cove further up the coast and took a smaller vessel to the docks, where he could act the part of an honest trader without fear of being caught by the port authorities. There were other vessels besides merchants that he encountered on the ocean too; some were sailors turned pirate, others survivors of his own people. To all he offered the same option - to join him and rebuild the Asterian civilisation under his rule, or to be boarded and plundered. Most refused and paid the price with their cargo, but some joined him gladly, much to his delight.As the years went by, things became harder. Their third winter was a tough one, in fact the year itself had been much more difficult than the previous two. There were fewer wrecks to salvage, fewer viable supplies to scavenge from abandoned towns. And, with extra mouths to feed and a dwindling amount of available supplies for trade in Muana, the crew had been feeling the pinch.He had returned from an somewhat unsuccessful trading run in Cloudfall only to be confronted by Rese, backed by most of the extra crew that he had taken on board from a battered old schooner some months earlier. She accused him of leading them poorly, of squandering their resources on finery and personal enjoyment when they went hungry. This was not the first time she had mentioned it; over the years, his captain’s share of everything had been increasing but it wasn’t like it was a problem. He wasn’t taking that much, surely. After all, he was Babel, Pirate King of Aster, the leader who would usher in a new age of plenty for the Asterian Nation, to bring back the days of glory that he had read tales of, back when the civilisation was in its heyday.Babel tried to argue with her, but Rese stood firm as the crew watched on; he recognise the look in her eyes, that she believed everything she said. He couldn’t understand her betrayal, after all these years and it hurt him deeply. Then, one of the crew that stood with her drew a knife. Babel didn’t know how to reason with Rese, but he knew how to act in the face of a threat.This time, there was no single combat. Calling his crew to arms, he threw himself at the mutineers. As his crew turned on each other, fighting was bitter and harsh - the built up strains of the difficult year were let loose. Babel found himself facing Rese, her sword drawn. He could not believe that she was willing to fight him, had he really let things get to this state? Why else would she be willing to face him down? He had no desire to fight his friend, but she left him little choice. Rese was better than he was with a sword, but his spear gave him the advantage of reach and, in the chaos on deck, he was able to knock her down with the butt of his spear, but not before she managed to score a deep cut on his forearm. At the end, Babel and his crew stood victorious but at a terrible cost. Many of his crew-mates from the beginning had been lost, and, worst of all, Rese was now his prisoner awaiting his verdict. Once he was sure that the mutiny had been quashed, and the ship’s surgeon had bandaged his arm, he went below decks to confront her with what she had done, to ask her why. Rese was furious. She shouted at him, explaining to him how she had tried to confront him about his increasing tendency to spend what was meant for his crew on himself, how it had grown over the years to the point that it was damaging morale. She reminded him how every time she had told him, he had laughed it off and told her how the crew was fine, how he was leading them all to greatness. Then, she had happened upon the new crew-members who were voicing their grievances to each other. Hoping to stop a mutiny and show him how much his behaviour was damaging his place as captain, she had joined them. She had thought that if enough people voiced the same concerns, he would listen and fix it to the benefit of all, the fight had never meant to happen.Hearing it in the wake of the battle, he could see the truth of it. It was hard to swallow, and he hated the fact that he had failed so badly at his goals. He apologised to her, begging her forgiveness. He told her that he would make amends, and his first action would be to set her free as a show of gratitude - together they could make things right again, but Rese stopped him. Releasing her, flouting the law that they followed purely because she was his friend, was merely going down the same route he had been taking. There could not be one law for him, another for the rest of them. Letting her go would merely prove her point and weaken his position. Despite everything, Rese believed in Babel, believed that he could lead their people to greatness once more. He would just have to do it without her. With tears in his eyes, Babel realised his mistake again.The penalty for leading a mutiny was a choice of either fight to the death, or ritual banishment. She did not want to fight Babel, she had no desire to kill him, and so she chose banishment. She was to be branded on the face, given pistol and sword, food and water, and set loose on the open sea in a row-boat. With the Quicksilvers still infesting the ocean, it was as good as death but at least her destiny was in her own hands.The banishment of Thérese took place at dawn. Babel branded her face himself, fighting back the desire to cry again. She stood before him, proud and sure. Catching her eyes, he took strength from her determination. As he helped her down into the boat, she caught his neck and pulled his ear down to her mouth, “Lead our people well, my King,” she whispered, “honour me this way and never stray from the path again.” She released him and set off into the vast expanse of ocean, Babel held her gaze until he could no longer, and turned away. He had kept his ship, but had lost the truest friend he could have hoped for. To date, her loss is the only thing in his life that he has regretted. Since then he has continued on as before, though his crew have noticed that he is a little colder to them, a little more distant. He is reluctant to form particularly close ties with anyone, and while he still spends time in taverns when on shore, seeking solace away from sobriety and solitude, he has not strayed from the path Rese set him on. Loot is apportioned fairly and equally among all crew-members, and he strives to lead them better than he did before. Among the crew, the consensus is that none could hope for a better captain or king.While her death was almost certain, he still harbours the hope that she made it safely to shore, that she is out there somewhere, doing well. Sometimes he catches a glimpse of silver fur at the docks and wonders if she is there, hoping to hear her voice calling out to him. Late at night, alone in his cabin, he takes out a portrait of them together as children, and tells her how proud she would be of him and how he is doing.Recently, there has been an increase in traffic on the open seas, due to an unexplained drop in Quicksilver activity. Engined boats are once again returning to the waters and trade routes are reopening.With all this happening, the hope to bring the Asterian nation back to its former glory is ever present on his mind. -- source link

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