Captain Cora
Captain Maris Cora (a.k.a. Queen Cora, Sea Devil, Drowned Queen)
Before the ghost ship, before the whispers of fearful names sailors gave her, there was Maris Cora. She was a Dryad, living on an island that sounds like paradise in the old tales – deep forests, clear waters. A peaceful place. But peace ended when the sea rose and swallowed her home, taking her people and everything she knew.
Left with nothing but loss, Maris Cora sought power where she could find it. She turned to Kalaaros, the god of the seas. A pact was made. What exactly was promised is known only to them, but the price Maris Cora paid is clear to those who know the truth behind the legends. She was changed, remade by the sea god's power. She became something tied to the ocean's depths, bound to serve Kalaaros's will.
This changed being is the figure sometimes called Captain Cora by sailors. She captains the Cruel Blaggard, a ship unlike any other, said to be formed of living coral drawn from the seabed, capable of mending itself. It moves through the fog like a phantom, much like its captain.
Those few who might have glimpsed her true form speak of unsettling details. Her hair is not hair, but living red kelp that moves as if underwater, capable of lashing out like ropes. Her eyes hold the darkness of the deepest trenches. Her skin has the smooth, tough texture of sea-worn driftwood, cool to the touch. One arm, her right, is encased in a hard, shell-like structure, from which she can extend a vicious claw, sharp as any sword. Her voice, rarely heard, is said to be unnervingly beautiful, yet carrying the cold undertones of the deep sea.
Her crew isn't mortal. They are spectral figures, perhaps other Dryads who met similar fates, now bound to the ship and its captain. Their task, dictated by the pact with Kalaaros, is grim: they sail the seas to collect the souls of the lost, those claimed by the waves, ferrying them down to the sea god's watery domain.
The eerie music heard near the Blaggard, the sudden storms, the ships found empty – these are the signs of her passing. Maris Cora, the Dryad who lost her home, is gone in a sense. In her place is the sea's instrument, a figure of sorrow and dread, forever bound to her ship and the pact she made in desperation.
Children
Hair
Long red kelp
Height
5'11