Defeat of the Tidemaster Emperor
Date: 712 GY
Location: Ishui - primarily Arahi
Outcome: Pirates using forbidden blood magic are thwarted by a discovery deep within the Arahi challenge caves.
Despite the looming threat of the Gograzhi, some despicable Ishui choose to engage in piracy against their own people. Some of these traitors work directly with the Gograzhi, while others work independently for their own gain. Early on in the Gloaming Years, the Council of Tides attempted to mitigate the problem by legalizing privateers who direct their attention at Gograzhi or other known pirates. The creation of the Privateers was successful at stamping down the problem, but piracy does still occur.
One of the most fearsome of such pirates in the last twenty years was Captain Rangi’kori of the Sea Scythe. He terrorized the coastlines and ships of Ishui for decades. Although the bounty for the Sea Scythe and any member of its crew increased with each raid, they remained a slippery foe, eluding even Ishui’s elite privateers, the Bloodtide Reavers. Rumors abounded around Captain Rangi’kori and his crew. Some claimed he could control the weather and tides, could turn the entire ship invisible, or that joining his crew made you immortal. Although these rumors were dismissed as tall tales, the infamy of Captain Rangi’kori and the Sea Scythe only grew. When ships or villages saw the black flag with a bloody scythe, they often surrendered immediately rather than face the wrath of the Sea Scythe pirates.
In the year 711 GY, he intercepted a merchant ship, the Resolute Star. The captain of the ship, [character with at least Tier 1 Ishui Heritage], and their crew refused to surrender, fighting to the bitter end. [A non-Ishui Pallas Adine member] and [two more non-Ishui combat focused characters] had gained passage on the ship, and earned their keep by fighting alongside the crew [five Ishui sailors]. During the fighting, the navigator, [character with Cartography], destroyed the maps of the planned shipping routes to prevent the pirates from gaining that knowledge, saving many lives. Although the Resolute Star was defeated, rather than slaughtering the survivors, Captain Rangi’kori press ganged Shilon b’Eyal’Sirel, Nālani, and [one other crew member - this role includes a long time period of being a slave of pirates. See ending for more details.] that had impressed him, then marooned the rest on a deserted island nearby. The survivors were rescued by another merchant ship about a week later. Captain Rangi’kori gained a greater prize than he expected upon capturing the Resolute Star: a crate filled with sparktech weapons, a brand new Arcanatech invention. These were the first to be seen in Ishui.
Emboldened by these powerful new weapons, attacks by the Sea Scythe increased, each more brazen than the last. Then, rather abruptly, the Sea Scythe vanished. Some began to hope that the Sea Scythe was gone for good, but the truth was Rangi’kori had been formulating and implementing a terrible plot.
A few months later, the Sea Scythe initiated a series of vicious attacks. Now, rather than the normal pillaging, the pirates engaged in wholesale slaughter, leaving no survivors. It took some time before word got out, only for the pirates to change tactics again. Captain Rangi’kori declared himself the Tidemaster, Emperor of the Sea, and demanded every village his crew visited pay homage and tribute to him as supreme ruler.
An account from one such village, Yeungika, a moderately sized fishing village on one of the Arahi islands, details the cruelty of these pirates. When confronted, the people Yeungika boldly stood against the self-proclaimed emperor. Rather than attacking, Rangi’kori pronounced a Curse upon them. He claimed that as ruler of the tides, he would prevent the ocean from giving its life to the village. When they were ready to comply, they should send a vessel onto the sea with a white flag and he would return.
The villagers laughed off the encounter as insanity, grateful to have their lives spared. However, they soon found that the Tidemaster’s Curse was very real. The next day, the ocean remained at low tide, the water stagnant. [Four fishermen] discovered that all the marine life had fled. The ocean surrounding their island was eerily empty. [Two characters with Animal Empathy and/or Physicker] noted that the wildlife on the island was strangely absent or showing signs of illness. [Two characters with Gardener] realized that all the plants on the island were beginning to wither. Within just a few days, the villagers had no choice but to summon the pirates back in hopes that the curse would be lifted.
For their defiance, Tidemaster Rangi’kori lined up everyone in the village and killed every seventh individual. When they realized what was occurring, although their weapons had been taken, the bravest individuals among the village tried to fight back anyway. Tehliss Warded those nearby against the blows of weapons and then attempted to Weaken the pirates. [Three Water Channelers] teamed up and used their magic to snare the pirates' feet or pepper them with Darts. [A character with Artificing] snatched a sparktech pistol from a pirate’s holster and turned it against them. [A character with Inscription] had a handful of spellscrolls hidden in their pockets, which they used to great effect. It seemed that Yeungiko could prevail.
Then Tidemaster Rangi’kori raised his arms, chanting. The wind swirled, the sky darkened, and it began to pour. The winds buffeted pirate and villager alike, but Rangi’kori remained in the eye of the storm - a cyclone of water, ice, and shearing wind swirling around him. It forced the villagers to their knees. Tidemaster Rangi’kori sent Lances of ice at the individuals marked for death. Once the task was complete, he allowed the storm to abate. Blood streaked from his eyes like thick, crimson tears. The pirates took everything of value from the village and warned them that their Emperor would be back in a month’s time for the next offering. Rangi’kori then kidnapped two villagers at random, press ganging them into service on his growing fleet of ships. To the people of Yeungiko’s horror, when the pirates returned the next month, the kidnapped individuals acted like feral animals, with no recognition or affection for their village, and obeyed the Sea Scythe crew unquestioningly.
Similar accounts are recorded from the numerous other villages that Rangi’kori and the Sea Scythes claimed. When word reached the rest of Ishui, the people were horrified. The Council of Tides immediately ruled that all effort be made to end Rangi’kori’s reign of terror. Scholars sought records of the past for clues while the Bloodtide Reavers focused their full attention on trying to locate and destroy the Sea Scythe. Months passed with no results. Although Rangi’kori had never allied with Gograzhi before and there were no clear accounts of Gograzhi monsters assisting him, based on his displays of evil magic the Council of Tides suspected that he must have learned it from the enemy.
A breakthrough finally occurred months later. [A scholarly character with Lore: Ishui or Lore: Warfare] discovered that Rangi’kori was from the Mizuhana family. During the Ancient Era, the Mizuhana dynasty ruled over all the islands of Ishui. They knew the secrets of blood magic, and used it to control the people for generations until Ishui rebelled. However, the Mizuhana family was not completely wiped out in that rebellion, and their descendants still live on. Rangi’kori being a Mizuhana meant that he could have discovered ancient, forbidden blood magics.
With this new lead, scholars began to look for signs of how the magic might work. [Two cartographers] mapped out all the places Rangi’kori had displayed signs of the forbidden magic, and realized a pattern. Although the Sea Scythe had not restricted its raids to just one section of Ishui, ever since he had taken on the title of Tidemaster, the only accounts of his Curse or displays of powerful magic were in Arahi. This tip allowed the Bloodtide Reavers to focus on protecting a smaller area, thwarting Rangi’kori’s efforts to collect more villages under his rule.
The final piece of the puzzle came through surprising means. A group of Arahi divers, Tusinami, and [six characters with Ishui Heritage trait: Innate - Water Breathing] were exploring some of the underwater caverns of the islands. It is a common tradition among the Arahi to brave those labyrinthine passages to test their physical endurance and navigational ability. Deep within the caverns, with only the light glowgems keeping them from total darkness, the divers entered a hitherto unmapped cave. They were horrified to discover an enormous manta ray - at least 40 feet across - staked to the wall. The poor creature was somehow still alive. Carved into its flesh was a huge, complicated glyph. Despite being fully underwater, the cuts of the glyph acted like exterior veins, swirling with a glowing, blueish-purple blood.
Unsure how to handle this clearly powerful and strange magic, the divers quickly retreated and reported their findings to the authorities. A team of Sigilcrafters, Pearl and [two other Ishui with Sigilcraft] were sent to study the glyph. Although much of its construction and purpose remained a mystery, they disabled it (and put the manta ray out of its misery). They determined that the glyph used foul blood magic to empower its creator and provide some measure of control over the surrounding natural world. It was not a hard leap of logic to assume this had been done by Rangi’kori.
Using this knowledge, the Council of Tides sent divers scouring through all the caverns and ocean depths near Arahi. They soon discovered more of these glyphs. Some were carved into coral reefs, but most were carved into the flesh of creatures - both marine life and humans. The humans were, unfortunately, unable to be revived.
Rangi’kori’s power waned with each glyph disabled. He gathered his fleet to him as a shield, but this was his greatest mistake. In the winter of 712 GY, the Bloodtide Reavers finally pinpointed his location, based on the ship movements. They launched a huge, unified assault on the pirate fleet. [Any number of characters can be part of this assault as a Historic Event role]. One of the ships included in this assault was the Osprey under Captain Pearl. Another hero to join this assault was Tehliss, the brave wizard from Yeungika village.
The pirate ships sank or were captured. To their surprise, many “pirates” on the ships sided with the privateers. These were the people Rangi’kori had press ganged over the years, such as Shilon b’Eyal’Sirel, Nālani, and [the other crew member of the Resolute Star mentioned above]. They claimed he had controlled them with blood magic. Sorting out who had truthfully been controlled from those just trying to save their own skins was a problem for the Council of Tides for years to come, but on that fateful day the privateers were happy to avoid additional loss of life.
When victory for the Bloodtide Reavers seemed certain, the Sea Scythe attempted to flee, but the Bloodtide Reavers had anticipated this move, and blocked off their retreat. However, when they boarded the pirate ship, Captain Rangi’kori was nowhere to be found. His surviving crew claimed that when he realized the ship was lost, he dove overboard. Search teams were sent to capture him, but to no avail. Since the battle took place far from any land, Rangi’kori was presumed dead.
Not having a definitive answer made many uneasy, and for years after the people of Arahi remained on high alert. Rumors and tall tales surround the Tidemaster Emperor to this day. Some believe he’s still out there, biding his time. Others believe the ocean dragged him down the depths where he suffers eternal punishment for his crimes. The official stance of the Council of Tides and the Bloodtide Reavers is that he perished on the day he leapt from his ship. All records of his glyphs and notes were destroyed. Captain Rangi’kori and the Sea Scythe pirates' reign of terror had officially ended.
PC Roles
Pearl: Shadow W.
Tehliss: Rachel J.
Tusinami: Laura M.
Shilon b’Eyal’Sirel: John N.
Nālani: Caitlin B.