Nadeen "Cutthroat" Omen
That creed takes everything away from people like me. In every effort t' eradicate crime, it's only changed what it looks like. Y' call yourselves innocent, yet all I see r' criminals!
~ Nadeen Omen ~
Ill Omens
The Collective Creed. A list of concrete and inerasable laws that seek to govern the large island archipelago that is the Silver Piece Collective. The majority who follow these laws will find success and safety in the midst of the seas of piracy.
However, others like Nadeen Omen are... less fortunate.
She grew up on a revered vessel known to dwell in Darkwater. The Half Mast. As the captain, her father held a good word with the port's people. However, everyone had a sour taste for her mother. A tide witch.
Not only was she of foreign blood, she was the captain's quartermaster as well, something the collective code prohibited. Females could never hold the rank of captain, quartermaster, or first mate on a vessel. It was only because of Nadeen's father's reputation that the two were kept safe. And as a young child, Nadeen had only to enjoy the life on a ship her father gave her.
It was joyous, but when her father one day disappeared, the joy vanished too. Suddenly, Nadeen experienced hatred and taunts from crewmates who used to greet her. Trios and civilians on the streets shunned her and her mother. Some insulted their foreign blood, others their disregard of the creed.
It was all so confusing to Nadeen. Confusing, and infuriating.
She was caught in the middle of a crossfire. She didn't fit with the people of Darkwater, and her mother refused to speak of her origins as a tide witch. Nadeen felt no place in the world. Yet, instead of defeat her, it boiled up inside.
When she heard a mutiny would exile Nadeen and her mother from their ship, Nadeen did not cower. Rather, she struck preemptively, sending several crewmates overboard before stealing off with the Half Mast. The two were like criminals on the run, and only two to man a ship got you so far.
During a horrendous storm, Nadeen's mother was ripped from her grasp, cast out into the deep sea. Even then, the storm was not finished. It tore the Half Mast apart, and soon enough, Nadeen was sent under too.
When she awoke, it was on beaches of rock. Splintered wood of her family's ship laid all around her, but her mother was nowhere to be found. Instead, five individuals stood over her, dressed in colorful feathered-cloaks familiar to Nadeen. Like her mother's.
One introduced herself as Dyrus Yuzu, a tide witch of the Curuni Nenar. The stranger spoke of visions her people had had of Nadeen's coming arrival and welcomed her to the home of the tide witches. Even suffering from the loss of her mother, Nadeen was thrilled. She would finally get the answers she wanted, and perhaps a place that welcomed her.
Burning with curiosity, Nadeen immersed herself over the course of years into the tide witch culture. She practiced their elemental magic, finding affinity with water. She respected the land they respected. She read the theocratic laws they lived under that invited equality for all. And it all sparked something inside her.
Dyrus Yuzu felt that spark, because one day, she came to Nadeen with a vision she saw. Nadeen rode upon the waves, not only commanding its fish but also the waves themselves. It was an omen that prophesied Nadeen would not only control the waters one day. It was a sign the sea was Nadeen's true home, not the Curuni Nenar.
With nothing more than a dingy, Nadeen set sail yet again, confident she would do away with these laws of pirates... only to be captured by a notorious female pirate faction called the Sirens days later.
She fell at odds with its female captain, Ivantus Goldblade, but she joined their growing crew, noticing it acted under the same zeal to destroy the collective code. Nadeen quickly gained renown in their ranks, both as a quick-to-act leader, and a suave swashbuckler.
Conflict rose quickly when Nadeen ran into elite ships of the Ravennian Navy, the Steel Fleet as it was called. Captained by Xavier Lido, the Sirens were pursued and caught up to. But she saw the ships dipped further into the sea than normal, and she persuaded Ivantus steer their crafts south into the Coral Depths, where walls of coral rose near to the water's surface.
In what was to be called the Sinking of Steel, the Ravennian ships were torn apart by the coral, and were forced to flee. However, not before Nadeen stole the fleet's flag ship, the Scarlet I. All this earned her the name, "Cutthroat."
Every raid Nadeen aided in, she noticed the fame she got starting to overshadow the captain's. She saw a shot at the top of this ring.
Late after pillaging a ship which Ivantus had exhausted herself in, Nadeen challenged her to a duel on Solitary Island. The loser would remain stranded there the rest of their days. Ivantus felt a rush in this dare and accepted.
It had all been too easy for Nadeen. The crew had already been convinced to join her side. Ivantus was the first to set foot on the island. The only one. By the time she realized it, it was too late. Her distant screams were heard when Nadeen did nothing more than take the wheel of the Scarlet I, and sail off. She had become the captain of the sea's most vicious pirate gang.
For years to come, Nadeen's name spread across the seas as one to be feared. She welcomes it, knowing full well it's one step in her journey to destroy the culture the collective code has wrought.
I might agree the hearts of men should meld itself int' laws. But, if laws meld themselves int' the hearts of men, then blood is sure to follow.
~ Nadeen Omen ~
Year of Birth
1520 AC
Children
The great thing about being caught in the crossfire, y' got everyone's attention.~ Nadeen Omen
Presage
Presage. The famed water sword wieldable only by the Siren's captain. An artifact told to have been stolen out of the Silver Picaroon's hands. Nadeen's favorite weapon.
Tide Witches always possess an affinity for elemental magic, and because of her bloodline and past practices with them, Nadeen has great control over bending water to her will. Even when she can send waves cascading into ships, she finds more thrill in coating the sword in freezing water, manifesting sharp barnacles on its edge, and any other action that empowers the cut of the blade.
Oh, Xavier! Y' built another ship for me t' steal!~ Nadeen Omen
Fatherly Hate
It can be hard for a family to move on when one of their own disappears without warning. Though Nadeen rarely brings this up, the dread she felt the day she realized her father was gone still haunts her.
Some of her crew wonder what had caused her father to vanish, but Nadeen refuses to think any reason would have justified that. She was standing on pirate ships because of what her father allowed to happen. She remembered her love for him then, but whether he was alive or dead, she only felt hate now.
You'll find Scarlet II a much more difficult vessel to abscond with, I'm sure.~ Xavier Lido
Motherly Fear
Nadeen had never seen anything more frightening than the world ripping her mother from her hands. In a matter of seconds, her mom was consumed by the heavy gale.
But Nadeen had succumbed to the same fate, so when she woke up on the beach, even though sorrow filled her at her mother's absence, Nadeen told herself to be confident that her mom survived too. But even to the present day, Nadeen's hold in that logic has diminished. She still believes her mother is somewhere out there. But now, it's because believing is her only way to keep away from the thoughts of a dead parent.
Not a day goes by when I don't think of him. None of this would have happened if he hadn't left.~ Nadeen Omen
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