Caburh the Bloody

Caburh the Bloody, also known as The Last Pirate King was the most infamous pirate in recent memory. Before his death he was a figure feared by all seafarers of the Heartlands, The West and even the distant North. At the height of his power Caburh united the Pirate Princes of the Corsair Fleets under his flag and ushered in a new golden age of piracy that ended only with his death in the Battle of the Bloody Shallows in 2491 ER.

History

Rise to power

Caburh's rise to power is the stuff of modern legend. According to most accounts he was an exceptional individual -- a great leader, a brilliant tactician, and a ferocious warrior with sorcerous gifts -- but most critically, he was a charismatic politician that understood the strength that lies in numbers. After becoming captain of his first ship, he gained notoriety as a constant threat on all trade routes across the Great Sea. He had a penchant for cruel displays of power, and his merciless logic that sacrificed the lives of any expendable prisoners, hostages and even crewmen for the sake of saving resources earned him his widely recognized moniker. After a decade of captainship Caburh had amassed a fleet of loyal ships under his flag and was widely recognized on the Sah-Dai isles as a Pirate Prince.
Famous and wealthy though he already was, Caburh yearned for more power. Over the course of five years he grew his might beyond that of any other Pirate Prince by making alliances. He rallied the prideful corsair lords behind him one after the other with bribery, threats and favors. So famous and popular was he with his ilk and so overwhelming the number of ships and fighters in the fleets loyal to him that the Brethren Court granted him the greatest honor a corsair can wish for: to be named Pirate King. Such an event is seen only once in perhaps a few centuries.

The Last Pirate King

Caburh's reign as Pirate King lasted almost a decade and during this time the Sahi corsairs accumulated unprecedented troves of spoils in their unassailable island stronholds, never to be reclaimed. The Corsair Fleets were the uncontested scourge of the western seas in those years, raiding the shores and sinking the ships of Tongobwe, Menyamar, Grand Duchies of Tyria, Shang, Minarra, Egea, Caraegwyn and beyond. The great numbers of military assets at his disposal made Caburh a threat that no nation could tackle on their own, managing to stymie the efforts of even the greatest naval powers.
Caburh was ultimately defeated by a vast armada combined from warships from the navies of Caraegwyn, Egea and the Grand Duchies. Under the command of High Admiral Margery Rowan of Caraegwyn, this vast fleet tracked down and followed Caburh's flagship deep into the Sah-Dai archipelago at great cost, suffering ambushes, skirmishes and the perils of unfamiliar waters. With powerful weather magics the armada managed to catch up to the Pirate King's warfleet at the Bloody Shallows and delivered a demand of surrender to the Pirate King. Caburh declined respectfully, and the two fleets met in battle.
The battle that followed was evenly matched as far as manpower and deployed vessels were concerned, but High Admiral Rowan proved to be the better at large scale military tactics. The Battle of the Bloody Shallows has become a textbook example of battle tactics in naval engagements, taught in military academies across the Heartlands especially in regards to using terrain and magic to one's advantage. The maneuvers executed by the allied fleet of Heartlander ships were so effective that the corsairs suffered over twice the casualties that their enemies did.

SOCIAL INFORMATION
Occupation
Pirate King (until death)
Pirate Prince (former)
Captain (former)
Affiliation
Corsair Fleets
Titles
the Bloody
Aliases
-
Relatives
Unknown
PHYSICAL INFORMATION
Race
Human
Gender
Male
Status
Dead

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Life

2451 ER 2491 ER 40 years old

Death

Faced with defeat, the Pirate King surrendered his remaining ships for a chance at parley. Unbeknownst to most, his plan was to get close enough to enemy leadership to be able to slay High Admiral Royce with his own hand and thus throw the enemy forces into disarray. His chance was spoiled, however, as his own bodyguards sprang to arms too early and were dispatched by the many elite knights on board the Caraegweni flag ship. Caburh shied away from the hostilities in order to avoid suspicion and was allowed to parley.
Realizing that his chances to salvage his defeat were gone, Caburh decided upon a course of prideful revenge. Knowing his life and the lives of all his underlings to be forfeit after the battle for the many heinous crimes they had committed, the Pirate King made an honorbound bargain with the Caraegweni High Admiral. She and Caburh would face each other in a trial by combat, and should Caburh win he would be allowed to retreat from the battle with his surviving warriors. Should he lose the trial he would be dead and his men would be at the mercy of their enemies.
Taken aback by Caburh's knowledge of Caraegweni custom, the High Admiral agreed to the desperate plea much to the chagrin of admirals from Tyria and Egea. Much to Caburh's chagrin, however, the short and dainty High Admiral opted for another Caraegweni tradition -- one that was perhaps unknown to the Pirate King. High Admiral Rowan appointed for herself a champion: a willing knight that would fight in the High Admiral's stead in the trial by combat. She chose none other than Serah Cilia Beldevere of the Kingsguard, a knight widely acclaimed to be the greatest swordfighter in the Summer Kingdom.
And so it was that the fearsome Pirate King Caburh the Bloody faced Serah Cilia Beldevere the Brightheart in a fight to the death on the polished deck of Admiral Rowan's flagship, the Blessed Perseverance. The duel was lengthy and evenly matched but the kingsguard’s unwavering stamina and immaculate equipment ultimately granted her too much of an advantage. The numerous protective enchantments on Serah Cilia's Kingsguard armor had her shrugging off Caburh's spells with ease and her enchanted sword wore away at the durability of Caburh's dual scimitars. The duel had continued for many long minutes when the exhausted Pirate King's main hand weapon finally broke in twain. Serah Cilia pressed her advantage by hamstringing her opponent and as Caburh fell to his knees on to the deck the fabled swordmaster of the Kingsguard removed his head with a single blow.
With Caburh's death the golden age of piracy he had ushered in came to an abrupt end. The pirate princes that had sworn loyalty to him held little loyalty for each other. Their alliance quickly disbanded and the fleets of all surviving princes went their separate ways, content for now with the many riches they had already stolen in the past decade under Caburh's rule.