Back in 2010 a fellow by the name of Swexy came up with the idea, inspired by the Elder Scrolls, of creating a map. This map would be of a place called The Elder Blogs Land in which the cities would be named after any blogger that wanted to participate in this feature. If they wanted to have their name on the map then they would have to write up a post about the history of their city or create a story revolving around their land’s name.
Suffice to say it was a huge success with a lot of the old bloggers participating. And, after some time had passed, I decided to participate in this community project. But instead of writing up the history of my city, my story took on a more sinister approach. I was able to incorporate many of the other blogger’s stories into my own and it grew.
I’ll be re-posting the chapters I wrote, though I don’t plan to finish the story unless there is a demand for it, for your reading pleasure and to show you my skills from back then (constructive criticism is always welcome). If you are interested, then you can read some of the stories from the rest of the participating bloggers. Unfortunately, the list doesn’t have everyone’s stories and I know that I missed quite a few (If you guys still want me to add your stories to the list then just leave the link in the comments section and I will add it.)
So without further ado, I give you the first story of the Pirate King saga.
The Elder Blogs: Rise of the Pirate King
“Today is the day,” Sean said to himself as he sat on his throne in the King’s Hall. From head to toe he was adorned in black clothes. From knee-high leather boots, to black trousers, ruffled shirt made of satin, a leather vest, and a rapier at his side.
The guard on Sean’s left, wielding a flintlock rifle in his hands and wearing a cutlass, looked at him and asked, “Did you say something sire?”
Running a hand through his jet black hair Sean looked at the guard, “Nothing. I was just talking to myself.”
The guard looked at his similarly equipped companion, both wearing an iron cuirass engraved with the King’s symbol, on Sean’s right who shrugged his shoulders. It wasn’t the first time the Pirate King had exhibited such behavior.
The King’s Hall, itself, was a massive room which could hold two hundred people within. All along the walls were giant tapestries depicting some of the greatest achievements by the Pirate Kings which had come before him. One particular tapestry depicted the naval assault of Richard the Pious, the third Pirate King, as he stood upon the deck of his ship, the Maiden’s Virtue, while attacking a fleet of merchant ships and capturing them all at the end of that long battle.
The throne, upon which Sean sat, was at the end of the hall atop a raised platform with twelve steps leading up to it; the same number of steps representing the number of captains who made up the council. The throne itself was the definition of wealth and power. Its very large and bulky frame was made from the wood of the Great Trees that the Mon Niri guarded and revered. Over the wood was solid gold with patterns of sea creatures gilded in silver. The headrest was in the shape of the majestic white-bellied sea eagle, its wings spread out. Its eyes were made of diamonds and it grasped in its claws two large blood red rubies that were attached to the throne. On the tip of the right wing was Sean’s hat, a black tricorn hat which had a large red feather sticking out on the left side. And to provide the kings some comfort the seat of the throne was covered in midnight black Scabal which was threaded with gold.
In the middle of the King’s Hall was a large round table which the King and the Council of Captains would sit at to discuss polices of the kingdom which mostly involved who should raid where and how much was everyone’s cut of the spoils. At this time only two of the Captains were in attendance; the others away on missions given to them by their King. The table was littered with maps and assorted messages, a large glass orb, and notes as the two Captains, Kratos the Godslayer and Dante Hellspawn, sorted through the papers and talked with each other.
Throughout the hall were glass displays which held suits of armor, various weapons, outfits that had once been worn by the Pirate Kings before their ascension to the throne, and very rare and valuable treasures. The crown of the Pirate King was also in one of these displays since Sean had found it uncomfortable, and annoying, to wear.
At the table the large glass orb, used for communication from the lookout points, suddenly started to glow yellow and the two Captains stopped in the middle of their conversation. Captain Dante leaned towards the globe and watched it.
When the orb ceased to glow Dante arose from the table and quickly walked over to where Sean was still sitting on his throne, “Sails have been sighted coming from the West sire!”
Immediately Sean stood up, grabbing his hat from the eagle’s wing and put it on his head, “How many?”
“Too many for the lookout to count sire,” was the reply.
Sean quickly left the throne room while telling Captain Kratos, “Send word to have my horse prepared and my ship ready to disembark within six hours.” Following a step behind him were his two guards and for several minutes the three of them walked through black hallways and down staircases that were a part of the palace.
The palace itself was located high up and within the walls of a super volcano that encompassed the entire island. The island, the largest one in the Kingdom of Pirata, was located in the northern part of the Ninten-do Bay in which there were a chain of smaller islands that connected the main island to a second smaller island.
It had taken a decade and a group of psychonians, from the land of Psychonia, to carve a city into the volcano’s wall in order to use the rich soil to plant crops and feed the population that thrived. The entire wall of the volcano, which shot up a thousand feet into the air, was honeycombed with houses, businesses, and the palace. The first Pirate King, Solidus the Snake, had been a man of vision. It had cost him several fortunes in order to see his vision come to be for the Psychonians rarely left their lands. And the result had been worth it.
Sean finally reached the base of the palace where a stable was located. A stable boy ran out to meet the King and his two guards with three horses in tow. Swinging up into the saddle of a beautiful black stallion while his guards rode palominos Sean gently kicked his horse into a canter.
The ships, which had been sighted, wouldn’t reach the island for another six hours so Sean decided to take it easy as he rode down to the docks.
As he rode, swaying with the horse’s movements, the small entourage started to pass one of the wheat fields which was in the process of being harvested; the smell of the freshly cut wheat stalks enticing Sean to get something to eat.
But the smell of the wheat also reminded him of when he had been ten years old. It was then when his life had been changed forever. While he couldn’t remember what his parents looked like he did remember the smell of baking bread. After all his parents had been bakers who lived on the coast of the Ninten-do Bay in a little village.
It had been a small fishing village built within the ruined Kingdom that had once been Hyrule. Constructed by a few survivors of the Great War, who had been left behind during the exodus in which the land of Setaimx was created, Sean’s parents had come later after the village had been established.
Yet while Sean could no longer remember what his parents looked like, he vividly recalled the day his life changed.
**********
During the dead of night, around the summer time, Sean had awoken to the sounds of screams and sporadic gunfire. As he tried to rub the sleep out of his eyes he remembered his father running into his room, picking him up, and, with his mother following closely, the three of them ran out of the house and towards the outskirts of town. It had felt surreal to Sean as he was carried away from the village. Some of the houses had been set on fire and he cold see men running through the village impaling the inhabitants on the points of their swords or firing flintlock pistols at anyone who ran.
However it had been a full moon that night and they were easily spotted by those attackers. Three of them came running after Sean and his parents. One of them discharged his weapon which hit his father in the leg causing him to fall and drop Sean who nimbly landed on his feet.
“Run,” his father had screamed at them while tackling the first man that came within range. As he tackled the first man they both fell to the ground and caused the attacker to drop his rapier. Seeing the sword on the ground Sean picked it up and stood in front of his mother while, at the same time, the other two men had killed his father from behind, as his mother screamed, while he had crushed the first attacker’s windpipe. When they turned their attention back to Sean and his mother they had laughed at seeing him standing there with the sword in his hand.
“Kill them both,” the larger man ordered to his companion.
Without hesitation the smaller man advanced on Sean who continued to stand in front of his mother. Time seemed to slow down as he waited for the man to attack. His palms became sweaty and his stomach churned. Finally the man took a lazy swing at Sean who avoided the swing and, with great speed, thrust the rapier into the man’s privates, the easiest thing for him to hit.
With a shriek of pain the man fell onto his back screaming and crying. The last man came up to the wounded man and quickly silenced him by slitting his throat. Removing the hat, from the newly deceased, he threw it to Sean. It was a black tricorn hat with a red feather in it.
“You killed him boy, so now his things belong to you,” the man said as he advanced upon Sean. But this time, instead of waiting for the man to attack, Sean attacked with his rapier only to have it quickly beaten to the side. For a full minute Sean tried to kill the man only to have every one of his attacks effortlessly deflected.
Then, quite suddenly, the man knocked the sword out of Sean’s hand, hit him in the face which made his ears ring, and, while Sean was disoriented, the man ran his mother through and she died without a sound.
Cleaning off his blade the man looked back at Sean, “You have courage boy but not the strength. You serve with me and you will get to live. Maybe even get your revenge. What say you?”
With tears running down his face Sean slowly stood up, donned the hat which had been thrown at him, and nodded his consent to the man’s proposition.
Picking up the rapier, the man walked over to Sean, handed it to him while pushing Sean’s new hat up, which was falling down, and said, “You will call me Captain Cervantes. From this moment on you are a part of my crew.”
And with that the two of them headed back to the burning town that was now silent.
**********
Onward Sean rode through the island; passing wheat and corn fields as well as orchards and other fields that would lie fallow until the next season. He passed the large fresh water lake which made all this possible. Without that lake, no one would have been able to establish a settlement here.
Finally he reached the business district which had been built right next to the docks. The district was filled with taverns, inns, bordellos, and various shops. It had been built near the docks so that the crews, from visiting ships, wouldn’t need to venture too far into the island to find satisfaction or disrupt the citizens.
As he entered the busy street, which was lined with buildings, he began to smell the salty sea breeze under the smell of food, leather, and other various aromas. As he continued to smell the food his stomach reminded him that he had yet to eat.
Quickly he stopped heading towards the docks and made his way down the street to his favorite tavern called The Grey Warden. Entering the tavern, proceeded by his guards, he spotted the owner standing behind the bar listening to a drunken sailor. The owner, Alistair, had served under Sean for a long time and had been a good shipmate but had grown tired of the life and wanted to run a tavern. So Sean had given him the money and was given ten percent of the profits.
Suddenly the room became quiet as everyone looked at his two guards in front of him. Recognizing the symbol on their iron cuirasses, that of a red skull and crossed bones with a gold crown upon the skull’s head, they all stood and bowed to the king.
“Carry on,” Sean said as his guards got him a small table in a corner of the room while everyone went back to their conversations.
Alistair came around the bar, wiping his hands on his apron, and approached Sean. They shook hands as Alistair grinned, “Good to see you again Captain!”
With a grin on his own face Sean replied, “Good to see you again old friend.”
“The usual I take it?”
“Of course,” Sean answered as Alistair sat down and motioned to one of the serving girls, by the name of Morrigan, who went into the kitchen to tell the cook of the order.
Looking back at Sean Alistair, wiping a few stray blonde hairs back, asked, “I hear that a large number of sails were spotted on the horizon a few hours ago. Is this the day that you have been planning for?”
“Yes it is,” Sean smiled. This had been in the planning for ten years and he was ready to see those plans come to fruition.
Letting out a drawn out whistle Alistair was incredulous, “Can’t believe you are really doing this. I don’t think anything like this has ever happened in the Elder Blog’s entire history.”
“Exactly,” was Sean’s reply. “I do not want to go down as just another Pirate King. I want to go down as a legend for the entire land and be remembered throughout history.”
Before the conversation could go any further, Alistair was needed at the bar and with regret he excused himself and left Sean to his own thoughts. While his guards sat at the table behind him to give him some privacy but to protect him as well.
**********
He had served on that ship, Souls Edge, for five years under Captain Cervantes. All the while he learned everything he could in regards to running a ship and how to fight. He was an exceptionally fast learner and, after learning everything he could in five years, he challenged Cervantes for the right to become Captain.
Patiently he had watched and waited for the right moment to challenge the captain. And today was the day for the captain had been feeling tired from the previous day in which they had attacked and captured a merchant ship. While everyone had fought hard, Sean had paced himself so that while he fought and killed men, he was not so tired as the rest of the crew.
So it was that early in the morning Sean had marched up to the Captain’s cabin wearing the black tricorn hat, with the red feather in it, as well as the rapier hanging from his side; both items kept since the day he had lost his parents.
It wasn’t long before Cervantes exited his cabin wielding two swords. “So it is time then,” Cervantes had said before attacking.
For ten minutes they had fought. The fury of Cervantes’s attacks had been so great that Sean could barely block the blows with his own blade. Yet he had been able to fend off the attacks until he had spotted an opening and was able to thrust his blade into Cervantes’s heart.
With that thrust Cervantes dropped to his knees, looked up at Sean, and said, “You have made me proud boy.” With those words Cervantes had died making Sean the new Captain.
The crew had been stunned at the result of the fight and, with only a couple of exceptions, cheered for him and hoisted him above their shoulders. Sean was now the youngest pirate to ever become a captain at the age of fifteen.
Quickly he had killed those who had been loyal to Cervantes including the first and second mate. Once his position had been secured he had changed the name of his new ship from Soul Edge to the Revanche. It was a two decked sixty gunner that had a crew compliment of 150 men. As captain he adapted the Orphic Egg as his symbol so that everyone would know who captained the ship under the Pirate flag of the Kingdom of Pirata.
And so his reign of terror on the High Seas had begun.
**********
At last his food was brought out to him. As Morrigan, a very beautiful young woman with raven dark hair, leaned down to place his plate on the table, showing off her ample bosom, she asked, “Will I see you later tonight?”
Looking at her with a regretful smile Sean replied, “I’m afraid I can’t. There are too many things that need to be taken care of and I will be busy.”
Pouting she kissed him and sauntered away in a provocative fashion to make Sean regret his decision for only a moment. However he wanted to make history and would not allow himself to be side tracked by such things. At least…not yet.
With gusto he ate the steak and eggs that were before him and washed it all down with a mug of cool ale. Satisfied he got up and left the tavern, his guards following him, with a nod to Alistair and a wink to Morrigan as she continued to slap away groping hands.
Getting back up on his horse he continued on to the docks and, after passing the last building on the street, saw the open expanse of the sea. On the island this was the only opening within the cone of the volcano; making the island very defensible and hard to attack.
Should a fleet of navy warships try to assault the island they had to sail around the large breaker which was a solid piece of rock carved into the form of a realistic-looking warship with three decks. On the top deck were cannons to fire upon enemy ships as they would have to slow down in order to sail around the breaker. Should a ship make it past the breaker there were cannon emplacements along the volcano’s wall giving them a great firing arc and range so that the ship was exposed to them once it entered the harbor.
The island was impenetrable and the reason why it had survived for so long despite kingdoms wishing to destroy the Pirate colony there.
At the end of the dock Sean saw his ship, a ship fit for the Pirate King. It had once belonged to a western kingdom across the Sega Sea which fed into the Ninten-do Bay. He had been Captain of the Revanche for only a year when he came upon the vessel on her maiden voyage.
**********
They had docked the previous night in the same harbor as the ship, called the Clouds of Stryfe, under the guise of an armed merchant ship looking for exotic goods to buy. Sean had been lucky enough to meet one of the sailors of the Clouds of Stryfe and, after getting him drunk, found out that its maiden voyage was crewed by only a hundred men and three hundred slaves. The reason being because the admiral was at another port with the rest of the crew and marines. The crew had been sailing for two whole weeks from the naval yards, and were tired from the voyage.
The Clouds of Stryfe was a rare ship for it was, essentially, a floating fortress on the sea. It was a triple-decked ship that counted 125 guns altogether. Her crew capacity was numbered at around 800. While she was a slow ship she more then made up for it in sheer destructive force.
This was a true ship of war.
But thanks to the Revanche’s speed they were able to board the ship and kill off the crew, who were too tired to give much resistance, and so Sean found himself in possession of one of the largest ships to ever sail the seas. To the slaves, who had been locked up below decks, he offered freedom and they all vowed to serve under him. Among the slaves he found former generals, veteran sailors, soldiers, teachers, and educated people; all of whom were to be sold.
Renaming the ship to Serenity Sean had terrorized the Sega Seas for the next ten years. He attacked merchant fleets bound to other parts of the world filled to the brim with all sorts of treasures and valuable commodities. He continued to attack slave ships and free the slaves all of whom would offer their allegiance to him. And, thanks to his warship, he was able to capture other smaller vessels to add to his fleet.
Wherever he went the Genesians, on the Sega Genesis Continent which was what was across the Sega Seas, would scream in fear whenever they saw the Serenity and his flag. During that time Sean was given the name Sean the Honorable Knight for his treatment of his crew. While he was strict, he was fair and dealt harshly with any man who took advantage of the female crew and thus protecting their honor.
But after ten years of raiding and pillaging Sean finally made his way back to Pirata Island with a fleet of sixty ships and a total of about 10,750 men and women under his command.
With such power at his command Sean challenged the Pirate King, Sephiroth the Tyrant, for his position. But in order to fight the Pirate King, Sean had to kill Sephiroth’s twelve Captains in single combat. The fights had been easy thanks to the ten years Sean had spent in the Sega Seas. Even Sephiroth had been an easy kill because he had grown soft and lazy during his twenty year reign.
So at the age of twenty-five Sean was now the Pirate King.
**********
Looking away from Serenity Sean saw his old ship, the Revanche, making her way to the docks. She had come ahead of the armada and, within thirty minutes, had docked as Sean drew up beside her.
The gangplank was lowered and Sean’s trusted and senior Captain, of his twelve, disembarked. Samus the Aran had been a slave when he had found her among the others as he had captured the Serenity. She was of the Piznal-Komputir people and had been captured as she had wandered the Elder Blog lands.
Quickly Sean learned that, under her beautiful exterior, she was a very intelligent and strong woman. She rose rapidly through the ranks and became the first official captain of his fleet and gave her command of the Revanche .
Removing her admiral-style bicorn hat, which went front-to-back, Samus gave a broad smile when she spotted Sean and shook her golden hair, “The armada is assembled and we are ready to begin sir!”
“It is time to make history,” Sean said with excitement. “How many ships?”
“In total 250 ships filled with soldiers and supplies with your fleet giving them protection. A total of 350 ships with a total of 100,000 soldiers ready for battle,” Was Samus’s immediate reply.
“How many of those small Black Mages were you able to hire?”
“I was able to find 200 Black Mages sir.”
Sean breathed a sigh of relief at this. Not only would those mages provide some great offensive firepower but they would also be able to help counter the Psychonians when his forces finally met up with them. The mages would be tasked to create talismans for his men to wear so that the Psychonian’s mental abilities would be rendered obsolete.
“Good,” Sean replied at Samus’s news. “While you and the other Captains were out procuring that force I was able to hire 50,000 Spammer mercenaries during my travels throughout the Elder Blog lands. They are so desperate for money that they were very cheap. Not to mention they keep trying to sell something called Air Jor-Dans. They will be great cannon fodder and will be used first to wear down the enemy while allowing our crack troops to remain fresh and to finish off any remnants of the enemy army. I also hired 25,000 Xbots who will be used to bolster the Spammer’s numbers. They are tougher then the Spammers and will help them last longer during a fight.”
Eyes wide with shock at the news Samus stammered, “T-that is great….”
Suddenly she stopped in mid-sentence as a large shadow passed over Sean, Samus, and his two guards while cries from the sailors on the Revanche were heard. Before Sean had the chance to look up there was a large thud behind him and turning, he spotted a large hairy creature.
“Falkor,” Sean exclaimed immediately recognizing the creature. “What are you doing here?”
“Spammers got my scent and I needed to find a safe haven so Alexis told me to come to you,” Falkor replied as he took huge gulps of air as Sean approached him.
Sean could see that Falkor was exhausted from his flight and that his fur was damp with sweat. Gently patting Falkor on the head he turned to one of his guards, “Send a message to the Lon Lon ranch and have Malon set up a spot for Falkor with food and water ready for him.” With a click of his heels and a salute, the guard ran to the message station at the beginning of the docks to relay the message.
With a worrying tone Sean asked Falkor, “What happened? Is Alexis and her annoying cat alright?”
“When I left them they were. Spammers followed a buy named Lt Kirby who had helped Leum fight off a horde of Spammers. It wasn’t going too well and I brought them back the Alexis’s house. She told me to come here and told Lt Kirby to head to the Microsoft Forest while taking Leum into the house to fix him up. After that, I don’t know.” Falkor became despondent as he told Sean all this with tears welling up in his large brown eyes.
At the point the guard returned and informed Sean that the message had been sent.
Patting Falkor’s head once again Sean said, “If you can fly just a bit more head to the north east corner of the island where you will find a large ranch with cattle and sheep. Maron is a good girl and she will take care of you.”
“Thank you Sean,” Falkor replied and flew off to the ranch.
Returning to business Sean looked back at Samus, “Have the lookout posts signal the fleet to drop anchor and rest for the remainder of the day. We will sail under the cover of night and hit our targets. The mercenary Spammers and Xbots are already in their designated positions within those cities. They will attack from the inside once we begin.”
“If I may sir, “Samus asked. “How did you meet such a creature?”
“I met him along with many other interesting people as I scouted the lands. But I can tell you more about that later. For now have the message sent to the armada.”
With a salute Samus started to leave before turning back with a smile, “Would you care to spend the rest of the day with me? Just like old times?”
Smiling in return Sean replied, “I wouldn’t have it any other way.” Satisfied with his answer Samus put back on her hat and went to order the lookouts to signal the armada.
Soon Sean would be able to conquer the Elder Blog lands and unify it all under his control. He would bring about order to these people. For the land was fractured and chaotic. Yet there were certainly going to be obstacles the first being the Sons of the Scorpion who were in the North. He had seen reports indicating that they, too, were amassing their forces. Yet, they were focused on the east while Sean and his army would be coming up from the West.
Perhaps, if fate was on his side, he would conquer their lands while their forces were out in the East trying to take the lands of Bjk394. But one step at a time. First he needed to establish a foothold on the continent which would start with him conquering the lands of the Setaimx and the MooseyMcMans.
Looking out across the sea Sean directed a question to his gaurds, “Are you ready to become a part of history?”
The guards, who were brothers by the name of Mario and Luigi, replied together, “Yes Sir!”
With an evil grin Sean made his way back to The Grey Warden tavern where he would wait for night to fall while in the arms of a beautiful woman.
Suddenly remembering Morrigan’s offer Sean thought to himself, “Maybe even two?”
