Stok
The Mercenary
Hello one and all those who make interactive literature! It has been some time since I've hosted a purely text-based roleplay. So if I'm rusty, please forgive me.
The seas are dark these days, and quiet. For quite some time they were stained with blood and littered with the floating bones of old ships. There were wars, but not proper wars between kingdoms and armies. Pirate wars, between hordes of vagrants, vagabonds, thieves, and mercenaries. And witches. While witchcraft was outlawed by most kingdoms, the pirate crews had no such obligations to the law. Nor to the faith. As such many practitioners of the occult found their way into their midst. Some of the pirates soon adopted the magical arts, and some witches found they quite liked piracy. Or perhaps, they liked having small private armies to do their bidding.
The most successful mage to amass a fleet has been Helena the Sea Witch. She has seven ships, all headed by members of her original coven, who's history stretches long back into the dark ages. This collection of crews is well steeped in the occult. Even the members whom cannot cast themselves have runes or enchanted weaponry gifted to them by their other crewmates. Conversely, those under this banner enjoy the least freedoms. They are not bound to servitude, and can leave the sea-coven should they wish. But no democracy exists on their decks, no discussion, only following the will of the Sea Witch is allowed. Only those who do, with distinction, may be promoted.
Edward Teech was well on his way to being a pirate king with a fitting nickname by the time witchcraft found its way into the culture. With his control of port royal, he has connections to the entire magical underground. Port Royal being the choice vacation spot for pirates, and thus entangling it with the occult. The black (magic) market has it's heart here, and so does Blackbeard's Organization of refined cutthroats.
Many other smaller bands of pirates roam the seas, spawning evermore mixtures of witches and crews.
To combat this, several empires have brought up witch-hunting fleets in response. No others more blood-thirsty than the Spanish inquisitors. It is well known that their galleys contain torture chambers meant for practitioners of magic. They are half controlled by the church as well, containing a Priest or Sister of the church whom can cast holy magics to counter the pirate sorcerers. And thus, the pirate wars began in full force.
Battles raged between the coven fleets, the Spanish inquisitors, and other pirate bands for years. Then, finally, it seemed the various Crowns decided it was no longer worth the funding. They pulled back to once again only patrolling shipping routes, and ports. They let the pirates become a floating nation unto themselves, and a brief ceasefire was born out of convenience for all sides.
The rumblings are there, however. The pirate captains are consulting with their advisors and magi. Wondering, plotting, as to whom will start the next war. The one that really counts. The one that decides whom rules the seas, and the rights to her bounty. The second pirate wars are threatening to begin.
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Hello! I'm stok. I've been playing DND for a couple years straight now, and I'm craving something more free form. I love action based roleplay more than anything, but as you can tell I've put a lot of thought into this setting. Fans of history will recognize the parallels to the actual history of piracy, with just a little rewriting to include witchcraft and magic into the history books. You can assume anything you know about pirates (from any land if you're a weeb like me) is relevant to the setting, and use it for your character. Likewise, any occult knowledge works here as well. I would prefer, (but won't be hard nosed about) you used source material from real world esoteric ideas. Voodoo, witchcraft, paganism, chakra and i-ching, I would like to delve into these magics more so than casting ice and lightning spells. That being said, if your character were Specifically a pyromancer I would allow that, but it has to make sense in context. Less pointy hat wizards, more allistair Crowley wizards. Think, branded by a fire demon vs being born an elemental.
Or, if your character IS the casting many different kinds of spells type, they might carry what's known as a book of shadows. This is a spellbook that a witch records their personal list of spells into. You might have a fireball spell, and a necromancer spell, etc. But try and find some way to break away from the tolkien-esc aesthetic of magic. Perhaps one of the pages must be burned every time a spell is cast. Maybe there are conditions which must be met to learn or record a spell. Whatever your reasoning is, magic has to take something to give. Be it time to cast a ritual, or a more literal sacrifice. And a little bit of research gets a gold star!!!
Please let me know if you are interested and I'll post here. Two or three people interested and I'll post an out of character chat where we can discuss/edit character ideas. Your character can be someone who is new to piracy, ex military (ex church, perhaps?), A veteran, purely someone with a magical past, or someone who has run with any of the fleets I mentioned in the plot up there. Regardless, they will be joining the character-crew when the story starts. I'll be gauging whether or not players want to start as a crew already formed or if we'd like to meet organically. Can't wait to meet you all!
The seas are dark these days, and quiet. For quite some time they were stained with blood and littered with the floating bones of old ships. There were wars, but not proper wars between kingdoms and armies. Pirate wars, between hordes of vagrants, vagabonds, thieves, and mercenaries. And witches. While witchcraft was outlawed by most kingdoms, the pirate crews had no such obligations to the law. Nor to the faith. As such many practitioners of the occult found their way into their midst. Some of the pirates soon adopted the magical arts, and some witches found they quite liked piracy. Or perhaps, they liked having small private armies to do their bidding.
The most successful mage to amass a fleet has been Helena the Sea Witch. She has seven ships, all headed by members of her original coven, who's history stretches long back into the dark ages. This collection of crews is well steeped in the occult. Even the members whom cannot cast themselves have runes or enchanted weaponry gifted to them by their other crewmates. Conversely, those under this banner enjoy the least freedoms. They are not bound to servitude, and can leave the sea-coven should they wish. But no democracy exists on their decks, no discussion, only following the will of the Sea Witch is allowed. Only those who do, with distinction, may be promoted.
Edward Teech was well on his way to being a pirate king with a fitting nickname by the time witchcraft found its way into the culture. With his control of port royal, he has connections to the entire magical underground. Port Royal being the choice vacation spot for pirates, and thus entangling it with the occult. The black (magic) market has it's heart here, and so does Blackbeard's Organization of refined cutthroats.
Many other smaller bands of pirates roam the seas, spawning evermore mixtures of witches and crews.
To combat this, several empires have brought up witch-hunting fleets in response. No others more blood-thirsty than the Spanish inquisitors. It is well known that their galleys contain torture chambers meant for practitioners of magic. They are half controlled by the church as well, containing a Priest or Sister of the church whom can cast holy magics to counter the pirate sorcerers. And thus, the pirate wars began in full force.
Battles raged between the coven fleets, the Spanish inquisitors, and other pirate bands for years. Then, finally, it seemed the various Crowns decided it was no longer worth the funding. They pulled back to once again only patrolling shipping routes, and ports. They let the pirates become a floating nation unto themselves, and a brief ceasefire was born out of convenience for all sides.
The rumblings are there, however. The pirate captains are consulting with their advisors and magi. Wondering, plotting, as to whom will start the next war. The one that really counts. The one that decides whom rules the seas, and the rights to her bounty. The second pirate wars are threatening to begin.
_______________________________________________
Hello! I'm stok. I've been playing DND for a couple years straight now, and I'm craving something more free form. I love action based roleplay more than anything, but as you can tell I've put a lot of thought into this setting. Fans of history will recognize the parallels to the actual history of piracy, with just a little rewriting to include witchcraft and magic into the history books. You can assume anything you know about pirates (from any land if you're a weeb like me) is relevant to the setting, and use it for your character. Likewise, any occult knowledge works here as well. I would prefer, (but won't be hard nosed about) you used source material from real world esoteric ideas. Voodoo, witchcraft, paganism, chakra and i-ching, I would like to delve into these magics more so than casting ice and lightning spells. That being said, if your character were Specifically a pyromancer I would allow that, but it has to make sense in context. Less pointy hat wizards, more allistair Crowley wizards. Think, branded by a fire demon vs being born an elemental.
Or, if your character IS the casting many different kinds of spells type, they might carry what's known as a book of shadows. This is a spellbook that a witch records their personal list of spells into. You might have a fireball spell, and a necromancer spell, etc. But try and find some way to break away from the tolkien-esc aesthetic of magic. Perhaps one of the pages must be burned every time a spell is cast. Maybe there are conditions which must be met to learn or record a spell. Whatever your reasoning is, magic has to take something to give. Be it time to cast a ritual, or a more literal sacrifice. And a little bit of research gets a gold star!!!
Please let me know if you are interested and I'll post here. Two or three people interested and I'll post an out of character chat where we can discuss/edit character ideas. Your character can be someone who is new to piracy, ex military (ex church, perhaps?), A veteran, purely someone with a magical past, or someone who has run with any of the fleets I mentioned in the plot up there. Regardless, they will be joining the character-crew when the story starts. I'll be gauging whether or not players want to start as a crew already formed or if we'd like to meet organically. Can't wait to meet you all!
