The Age of Pirates

As the years passed and the survivors of the Great Drowning slowly rebuilt their lives, mankind began to adapt to the endless seas that had become its new home. Children who had never seen the old kingdoms grew into men and women who knew only islands, ships, and storms. The memories of crowns and empires faded with each passing generation, and the sea itself became the center of all life.

Trade returned first.

Small fishing fleets grew into merchant convoys, and isolated settlements began exchanging food, timber, iron, and salvaged treasures recovered from the ruins of the Old World. New ports rose upon rocky shores, and the survivors slowly transformed scattered communities into thriving harbors. Though civilization had been broken, mankind had once again found hope.

But where wealth travels, so too does greed.

Not all men wished to build.

Some preferred to take.

At first they were little more than thieves and raiders. Desperate crews attacked merchant vessels for supplies and vanished into hidden coves before justice could find them. Yet with each passing decade, their numbers grew. What began as simple banditry soon became something greater. Entire fleets of outlaws appeared upon the seas, living beyond the laws of any settlement and owing loyalty only to their captains.

Many called them criminals.

Others called them survivors.

And eventually, the world would come to know them by another name.

Pirates.

Unlike the kings of old, pirate captains earned their power not through bloodlines, but through strength, cunning, and the loyalty of their crews. Great ships became floating kingdoms, and powerful fleets commanded respect wherever they sailed. Crews swore brotherhood beneath black sails, and legends were born not within castles, but upon the decks of warships battered by storms and cannon fire.

Ports that welcomed pirates prospered. Taverns overflowed with sailors, merchants, mercenaries, and adventurers from every corner of the Abyssal Seas. Treasure recovered from drowned ruins flowed through bustling markets. Forgotten relics of the Old World became prizes worth killing for. Rumors of lost cities and hidden wealth spread from harbor to harbor, driving countless captains to seek fortune upon dangerous waters.

Not all pirates were villains.

Many protected the weak from raiders more cruel than themselves. Some became heroes among isolated settlements, defending trade routes and bringing supplies to those in need. Others were tyrants whose names inspired fear wherever their flags appeared. There were noble captains and murderous ones, honorable crews and ruthless killers. Yet all shared one belief.

No king ruled the sea.

The Age of Kings had ended forever.

The sea belonged to those brave enough to claim it.

It was during these years that the first great pirate legends emerged. Songs were written about captains whose names have since been lost to history. Fleets rose and fell. Fortunes were won and squandered. Rivalries turned entire seas into battlefields. Great treasures vanished, only to reappear generations later. Tales of monstrous creatures and strange ruins beneath the waves became common among sailors, though few could say where truth ended and myth began.

As the decades turned into centuries, the influence of the pirate fleets grew greater. Entire regions of the sea came under the protection—or the control—of powerful captains and their alliances. New traditions emerged. New banners were raised. New powers began to gather strength.

Though few realized it at the time, the Age of Pirates had become something far greater than chaos.

It had become the foundation of a new world.

And from among the countless fleets, captains, and rival crews, five powers would eventually rise above all others.

Their banners would shape the destiny of the Abyssal Seas.

And their names would echo across history.

Thus ended the Age of Survival.

And thus began the rise of legends.

“Kings ruled the land, but the sea bows to no throne. Out here, a man's worth is measured not by his blood, but by the strength of his crew and the courage in his heart.”

— Captain Marcus Redwake, Year 248 After Drowning