Inktober II: Hero

Rhodes Belmshia is one of Endhaven's most hotly-debated heroes, with some calling her the Paramount Savior of the Coasts, and others condemning her as the Marauder of Zardenia. Opinions on Rhodes' goals and ideals have been maintained ages after her death, with many of the modern era using her as an example in morality, trust, and shifter servitude.

Early Life

Rhodes was born on the 18th of Clearwind, 1236, in Numanev, living as part of a well-to-do family who had struck rich with several lucky mining ventures in Cloudreach just a few years before her birth. Naturally, her parents' newfound wealth came with a desire to spend it on lavish goods and services, sparing no expense for their daughter. By the age of 8, she was the talk of many social circles in the nobility for not only her fashion, but also her knack for economics. She could take a look at any of her father's expense reports and tell him where costs needed to be cut or boosted. Soon enough, she was taken out of private schooling before her teen years and served many months poring over the accounts for half the city's nobility and increasing revenue.

Rebellion and Captivity

Rhodes was 17 when the revolt started. Many of Numanev's poor had risen up against the nobles in a swift motion, setting the city ablaze with the surplus of saltpeter produced by a family friend of the Belmshias. Rhodes, believing this all to be her fault, narrowly escaped to the city's port and fled on the first ship she reached, headed for somewhere safe and far away.
The first thing she awoke to was a cutlass at her throat. The small ship had been met by a band of pirates known as Fortune's Demise, headed by Captain Dirk Relou, and Rhodes was taken aboard as hostage and prisoner. While the crew waited to hear a reply from her parents, Rhodes was slowly able to bond with Relou, first by noting some loose ends that could be tied up around the Fortune's Demise, and later by pointing out possible slackers and moles onboard.

"Of course, I was afraid for my life at first. I tried numerous times to escape on my own, getting caught every time with a cutlass pointed right at me. But that didn't stop me from catching them talking about mutiny or their vices while they thought the 'dumb broad' was sleeping her bruises away nearby."

After enough time had passed without word from Numanev, Relou freed Rhodes from her captivity and promoted her to second mate.

Piracy

At the age of 20, Rhodes had worked her way up to the rank of first mate, serving directly under Relou in all his raids, negotiations, and trade deals. What she lacked in battle she made up for in intimidation and mathematics, at many times securing exchanges producing four times as much profit as its true value. After Relou's death in 1259, Rhodes staked the ship as her own, naming it the Salty Peter and commandeering it with no opposition. It was with this newly-amassed treasure that she hired other pirates and ships to establish their presence across the sea, as well as bribed numerous officials in coastal cities and towns to promote sea trade and open borders. The new fleets lowered competition against other pirates in the Zardenian, and the bribes pushed for more workers to be hired at docks to keep up with demand of more ships coming in.
These last two points hold the most contention for debates, with those against Rhodes citing that these actions were solely to lower profit loss for her and the crew of Fortune's Demise/Salty Peter, making them the predominant force of piracy preying on any ships unfortunate enough to cross its path. However, Rhodes supporters believe that wiping out other pirate crews reduced overall piracy among the smaller and weaker port towns, allowing their economy to remain intact while Rhodes and Relou set their sights on ships of higher-value goods traveling between large cities. The heightened employment rate is also referenced as a way to lower the possibility or frequency of peasant revolts in these regions, giving them a chance for a well-paying job.

The Apayama Incident

On the 14th of Newbud, 1270, Rhodes rowed into Apayama on a small dinghy by herself, walking into the local council chambers and offering to redeem the large reward set on the her and the crew of her armada. She was immediately arrested and held in maximum security before being brought before the Head Councillor from each city in the Walongs for questioning. Rhodes revealed that she had killed or incapacitated every last one of her crew members and rounded up every ship under her command, leaving the spoils and victims onboard in a large cove off the coast of Laccora.
To the surprise of many, Rhodes had held true to her word, providing the location and exact details of the ships and every last kyur aboard. After much deliberation among Councillors, she was set free under the Council's protection. Though many citizens were outraged over letting this bandit and murderer walk freely among them, just as many were glad to see the last pirate of the northern coasts giving up her ways.

Later Life

In 1282, Rhodes would win the nomination to the Council of Walong after ex-Councillors recounted the votes seven times, with an eighth during her first month as a member. In 1285, the Council passed the Aurealis Statute, a law limiting the freedom of Shifters following a sudden increase in the species' physical power to those born after 1273. Though Rhodes was herself a shifter, she was adamant in pushing the passage of this law for reasons unknown. Her serving period was marked by a dramatic uptick in public wealth that lasted until seven years after her death in 1291, earning the following period the name of the Rhodesian Fall.
On the 23rd of Icebreak, 1290, Rhodes was gifted with an improved version of her previous ship, the Fortune's Demise/Salty Peter by an anonymous donor. This ship brought up the topic of Rhodes' piracy once more, and public debate was soon in full effect. By the morning of the 24th, the ship's guards were lying unconscious on the dock, and the Fortune's Demise/Salty Peter was gone, presumably stolen or sunken by an aggressive Rhodes supporter or opponent. To this day, nobody knows where the ship is, and nobody has claimed credit for its disappearance.

Related Historical Events

• 1282
  Aurealis Statue Passes