Any captain foolish enough to dare the frigid waters of the Southern Ocean quickly learn to fear the awful dirge of the Maw Pirates. There is no safe voyage home. The words have inspired dread in thousands of crews over the centuries, though few who hear it live long enough to spread the tale.
Survivors speak of ghastly vessels with ghostly sails, crewed by the rotting corpses of long dead sailors. Even the vessels the Maw Pirates sail upon are filled with malevolent intelligence. Their hatred is palpable as they bear down on any ship foolish enough to cross their paths.
Whispered tales claim that the Maw Pirates hail from the Maw itself, though these stories lack any verifiable evidence. The Maw is a whirling vortex of spiritual energy that roams the Southern Ocean and South Sea, an eternal hurricane that dominates the ocean for hundreds of miles. Little is known about the endless storm, because vessels that sail into the eternal storm do not return.
As if the storm itself weren’t enough the waters around the Maw are thick with the animated corpses of whales, sharks and Faespawn as well as ships crewed by Maw Pirates. Both pirates and beasts attack any vessel they come across, capturing their crews with ruthless efficiency.
The most horrifying aspect of the Maw Pirates isn’t their rotting visage. It isn’t the terrible ships they sail upon. It is the fact that they do not kill their victims. Instead they drag helpless prisoners back to the Maw. No one knows what happens to those unfortunates, though many speculate.
Some say those dragged back to the Maw are sacrificed to dark gods in unspeakable rites. Others claim they are drowned, later rising to swell the ranks of the very pirates who carried them to their awful fate. The truth of these whispers is irrelevant to most sailors.
All that matters is that the Maw Pirates may carry them off to an unknown fate, which is one more reason to avoid the deep ocean where the Maw Pirates are most often found. This precaution used to be enough, but the thin layer of safety has vanished over the last several decades.
The Maw Pirates have begun sailing much shallower waters, and have even begun raiding coastal towns in search of more victims to cart back to the Maw. Fortunately these inland attacks only seem to occur during storms, so locals have learned to flee deeper inland whenever a storm approaches.
No one seems to know why the Maw Pirates have grown more aggressive. They have even begun encroaching on the South Sea, which is hundreds of miles from their traditional waters. Their ever-increasing numbers have seriously impacted trade throughout both the Southern Ocean and the South Sea.
The South Sea
The inlet on the southern part of the continent is known as the south sea. It is well over two hundred miles across at most points, and encompasses an area larger than either Hasra or Olivantia. Dozens of city-states, small kingdoms and towns dot its shores.
These settlements all rely on the South Sea for their livelihoods. Thousands of fishermen, merchants and The Families ply the southern waters each day. Every sailor faces many threats when braving the stormy waves. From the Merfolk to the Maw Pirates to more conventional banditry the south sea carries many dangers.
The Merfolk
At the heart of the south sea lies the corpse of a god, one whose name is unpronounceable to the human tongue. This Catalyst has attracted underwater trolls, who’ve evolved into several species of aquatic life. The younger and less evolved resemble octopi with human features, while their more evolved cousins transform into Merfolk.
These Merfolk are infamous across the South Sea, having inspired hundreds of tales that have grown greatly in the telling. The Merfolk are powerful, aggressive and highly protective of the Catalyst they worship. However, they are also both honorable and intelligent.
Most Merfolk tribes are willing to strike bargains with merchants or fisherman who seek to cross their territory. As long as the humans don’t come too close to their sacred waters they are left in peace.
However, the Merfolk take a very dim view of those who break such bargains. They will hunt an oathbreaker for months, even sending assassins on land to track down the deceitful human.
This is possible because the most highly evolved Merfolk have the ability to grow legs, thus allowing them to navigate on land. They are also able to close their gills and breathe just like any other land dweller. These Merfolk find their visits distasteful and unnatural, but this only reaffirms how egregious a breech they consider oathbreaking.
(Merfolk Looter card from MTG for concept artwork)
Merfolk can be hired as guards or escorts for ships, provided those ships aren’t doing something the Merfolk would find dishonorable. They support trading and fishing, as both are considered honorable. They even go so far as to trade with many of the villages and towns along the coasts, those that are honorable anyway.
Their sacred waters would normally be full of salt since it connects to the ocean, but the Catalyst purifies it. For this reason there are two very distinct types of marine life that dominate the South Sea. Those near the center are fresh water species; those along the edges are salt water based.
Maw Pirates of the South Sea
The Maw Pirates have spread like a cancer through the south sea, and even the mighty Merfolk been pushed back before their black might. Since the Maw Pirates are not confined to the surface they are quite adept at fighting the Merfolk under the waves, taking away an advantage the Merfolk are used to having when they fight humans.
The Merfolk have been steadily pushed back from the mouth of the South Sea, an area they dominated for many centuries. Most of the towns and villages along the mouth are now deserted, either because the people have been taken or because they were smart enough to flee.
The only things you can find with any reliability are Maw Pirates. They infest the area like a swarm of locusts, devouring any foolish enough to enter their path.
Olivantia was able to drive them back briefly, but the Vampyr Binders who were tasked with battling the Maw Pirates were slain during the Purge. The few survivors gave up the endeavor, completely abandoning the sea to the undead.
The Six Families
Centuries ago six pirate families joined forces, bringing a campaign of terror and blood to the south sea. They boarded hundreds of vessels, making trade on the South Sea all but impossible. Unfortunately for them they were too good at their work. They drove all but a few merchants to seek safer waters.
With the sudden dearth of prey the pirates faced a difficult choice. How could they make a living? Eventually they decided to fill the void they themselves had created. The became merchants, albiet dishonest ones. The Families quickly dominated trade across the entire south sea, gaining vast amounts of wealth in a short time.
In the course of their travels they discovered a massive Eldimagus, a ship of incredible design that was obviously from the godswar. Unfortunately this ship was no longer mobile, but it was still of incredible value because of a single power it possessed.
The ship calmed all winds for nearly twenty miles. No storm, not the meanest tempest nor the very Maw itself could stir the waters or darken the sky around The Ship. The families decided to capitalize on this, and seized The Ship as their new base of operations.
The nicknamed it The Flotilla, because of the flotilla of ships that were gathered around it at any time. As years passed ships were decomissioned, broken down and built into floating structurs anchored to The Ship. This provides the families with a virtual island in the middle of the south sea, which has furthered their control over the sea trade.
Unfortunately for the Families they became greedy. They invaded the Merfolk waters in an attempt to seize control of the catalyst under their control. The Merfolk destroyed much of their armada, pushing the families back from their waters.
In the decades since the families have recovered, and they are still the undisputed masters of trade on the open sea. However, they are now very careful to steer clear of the merfolk waters, lest they pay the price for their temerity.
The Canal
When the Elentian Empire first discovered the Heart of Fire they needed a way to ship the Fire Rubies back to the heartland. Their first attempt was by sea. They sailed around the southern coast, up to the very tip of the south sea.
This still required a long overland trek, so they dug an enormous canal between the south sea and the Endless Lake. It shortened their overland trek to just a few hundred easily patrolled miles, and the Elentian’s navy made travel on the oceans safe.
After The Fall the Hasran’s were not powerful enough to maintain control of the canal, so they abandoned it. An enterprising merchant by the name of Ildonis gathered a cadre of mercenaries and seized control of the lochs. Ildonis and his mercenaries cleared the canal of all threats, eventually re-opening it to commercial travel.
He charged a reasonable levy to all vessels wishing to use the canal, and then used the funds to expand his control in the surrounding area. Before long he’d garrisoned all four Elentian keeps, and declared the birth of the kingdom of Ildonis.
His fledgling kingdom depended almost entirely on the canal for revenue, though they were able to build a number of farms and fishing villages along the border of the south sea and endless lake. Ildonis skillfully guided his kingdom to prosperity, striking deals and making alliances with each faction he came into contact with. From the Merfolk to the pirates of the South Sea, everyone he made friends of them all.
(Include notes on Hasra eventually conquering Ildonis)
