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Lore: The Kraken Fleet
Posted: 18 Jun 2007 07:29 AM |
They were once the undisputed terror of the seas.
Some call them monsters. Some call them sirens. Some say they're both.
All agree on one thing: all the sea holds nothing which the Kraken fleet will fear.
Serpent's Kiss
* The legend of the Serpent's Kiss
Shiver Me Timbers
But darkly she travels these murderous waters
And her soul, it still reigns the abyss
And the shivering timbers that were once her bones
Sail free into darkening mists
Sail free from the dread Serpent's Kiss
Shiver Me Timbers,
Old sailor's song, origin unknown
Many such songs and tales surround the legend of Serpent's Kiss. Inevitably they are entwined with the dark legends of the Kraken fleet, for they say that the lyrics refer to the fleet unwittingly - or perhaps even willingly - setting the Serpent of Syn free and harvesting her power for themselves.
Origin
It's unknown how long the Kraken fleet have been around, although evidence suggests that they have existed for centuries. Many are the tales that tie them in with Serpent's Kiss or Naillamne; still others link them to The Hungering Maw and The Murdering Sea of the east coast of Vives.
It is only in the past two hundred and fifty years that nautical travel has become truly practical; and therefore only in the past two hundred and fifty years that the fleet was truly active.
The Legends
For over two hundred years the Kraken fleet terrorised the waterways of Vives, especially the Murdering Sea off the north-east coast. During their reign of terror, tales abounded of their vicious cruelty and utter depravity. Mutilated survivors would speak of horrors witnessed and endured. There was no ship that could outrun or outgun them; they had supremacy of the seas, command of the storms, an enthralling power over the beasts of the sea.
Some say they were vampires, spat out from The Hungering Maw.
Some say they were the souls of the damned, eager for company.
Some say they were deadly sirens of the sea, who summoned storms and charmed leviathans to do their bidding.
Some say they were shapeshifters, capable of becoming harpies and sea serpents.
In all the seas there was nothing which the Kraken fleet feared, and nothing could stand up to them. Many wondered why they never assaulted ports. Lighthouses were built out of superstition as much as for practical means, for it was thought they could ward off the devil-women of the deep.
Travelling by sea was a risky and lucrative business - moreso then than now - which only the bravest or most foolhardy dared to undertake.
About forty years ago, that all changed.
Rayinor Liam
An experienced and well-travelled Paladin in his thirties by the name of Rayinor Liam set out one day on his annual journey home for the holy Season of Midoran. The weather mages foretold ill weather and bad fortune, but no one paid any mind to them, since it was all they ever predicted.
The Admiral of the Kraken fleet at the time was Morgana Ravenheart, described as a devil from the deep seas, half-woman and half-dragon, with wings as black as night and long razor claws that could fillet a human effortlessly.
The ship which Liam was travelling upon was intercepted by the fleet.
The battle is described as having been truly epic, and terrible to behold, wherein at least half the legends about the nature of the Kraken fleet were proven true. It ended when Liam, about to deliver the killing blow, instead lifted the curse from the fleet.
...
At this point history goes dark.
After the End
Midor has for centuries known - and wielded - the power of information and propaganda.
The victory was made known, but the details were not. At this point the fleet simply vanished altogether from awareness, leaving many confused and wondering whether the threat had truly ended. But the nautical routes were now safe, and although minor pirates and ne'er-do-wells scrambled to take advantage of the sudden power vacuum, they were little more than petty thieves with dreams of ill-gotten greed who posed the occasional nuisance to travelling ships.
Ten years ago the Kraken fleet - or something resembling it - quietly surfaced again under the command of Admiral Kelyse Anzhad.
They were a marked contrast to the former fleet: just as fearless and just as vicious in battle, but marked by honour where once there had been unthinking cruelty. Many did - and still do - look upon this mysterious, resurrected fleet with suspicion, for their motives are mysterious and they speak to few others.
Their actions speak where their silence does not: the new Kraken fleet pursues pirates and brigands with single-minded ferocity. Some think they simply seek to knock out the competition. Others timidly put forth the theory that perhaps they are seeking redemption.
Time will tell. |
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