Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Silver Moon" data-source="post: 529134" data-attributes="member: 8530">Black Mark PiratesThe Black Mark Pirates are an organized group of seafarers that have been around for over 200 years.   Their home base, built upon a crescent-shaped reef, is located approximately 500 miles southeast of the continent of Phlooredah.   In fact, it was partially for mutual defense against this pirate group that the Lordholdings joined into their present confederacy 116 years ago.   The continent’s first king, Phlooredah of the East Lordholding, used his navy to make life difficult on the prates.   The next king, Aldorn, negotiated a treaty with the pirates 80 years earlier.   Since that time the pirates have avoided the continent and all ships bearing the Phlooredah flag.The home of the pirates is an elaborate man-made city, built atop the reef using ships that are no longer seaworthy.   Their community now numbers approximately 900 people, and they currently have 28 seaworthy ships in their fleet.   Their leader is a charismatic human who is known as Captain Blackwell.  He has been with the pirates since birth, and has now led them for 12 years.    He has also tried to “legitimize” their group.   While they will still capture and plunder any vessel that sails within 200 miles of their home, which they consider their ‘Sovereign Territorial Waters’, they no longer raid ships outside of that range.    Most of their present income comes from providing ‘Naval Services’ to various island kingdoms, which is essentially a protection racket. The have retained their name of ‘Black Mark Pirates’ for the history and reputation of the group, but Blackwell will be quick to point out that they “are no longer in that line of work”.For the first 70 years of their treaty with Phlooredah the Black Mark ships avoided the continent.   Under Blackwell’s leadership (and during the lax reign of King Matthan) they have now been making regular trade stops at several of Phlooredah’s coastal cities.   They have been careful to never send more than one ship at a time, so as not to be perceived as a threat, and have also avoided making any contact with the Aldorn Lordholding. Three years earlier an athletic competition was held on Phlooredah, and it was announced that all competitors would be welcomed.   Blackwell sailed his flagship to the festivities, and led a team of eight from his ship into the competitions (the Silver Moon also competed).   They did well, actually leading the competition for the first week, and several of them made it into the finals.   Blackwell feels that this ‘very public’ event has now given his group legitimacy in the eyes of Phlooredah.His flagship will sail into Jawltorn to attend the auction.   While they are not invited guests, Blackwell will try to negotiate an invitation out of Lord Kindor.   Blackwell will always be accompanied by his three senior officers and advisors, humans by the names of Mr. Palentree, Mr. Hawthorne, and Mr. Barnakee.  He is also accompanied by his bodyguard, a reef giant known simply as Reef.   All five of these were part of the eight-person team in the earlier competition, so will be known by others present from then.**NOTE:  The true motivations of this group are not yet known.   Blackwell will probably want to engage Queen Jennifer in conversation to come to some type of arrangement regarding future relations between his group and the continent.   He will also probably want to avoid Lord Aldorn.    Given their ‘pirate’ nature, and not having been invited, they will be prime suspects for being part of the ILA but that may or may not be true.</blockquote>

Verification