Barkold Incident

Nearly twenty years ago, the Unity's Dregs attempted to cripple the inter-island trade by threatening Tiderider and independent cargo carriers at Barkold's annual trade gathering.

The Conflict

Deployment

The Dregs sent their force in two smallcargo freighters, arriving five days apart. Other traders recognize the first boat as one that arrived early, probably to monitor the participating boats. The second was probably given a particular signal to come, arriving after the majority of the traders were present and the gathering was well underway. From the tools recovered from both boats, the first carried most of the saboteurs and the second held the island invasion team.

The Engagement

The Dregs attempted to hold island trade hostage during the intershift wind calm. The boat that arrived late had been fitted with blades that sliced partly through the connection to the conduit floats as the boat passed them. As it transitioned out of conduit mode, the crew fired their anchor bolt into the final link, severing it from its floats. The anchor dragged the conduit into the deeps, pulling down the links behind it as their damaged floats disconnected.
By collapsing the conduit and timing their strike for the wind shift, the Dregs expected to isolate Barkold and prevent boats from leaving any faster than oars could take them. As an added benefit, any rescue fleet would be hampered in the same way and wouldn't be able to reach Barkold for several weeks. The Dregs invaded the island's air-wave station and sent a brief nightwave message of a single word--"Eruptor"--before broadcasting an interference signal that overwhelmed the traders' weaker air-wave sets.
The Dregs began targeting individual boats, mostly tetherless traders. The first boat, still incognito as a cargo vessel, sent out saboteurs with portable anchor guns. In the darkest hour of the night they would choose a boat, dive down, and fire the anchor through the hull. A total of four were destroyed this way.
The sabotage was cut short by the arrival of Dancinglight Alcendis Varenonde and a team of Water Seekers. Using a technology recently learned from the tkevsa of Tokled, they made the trip to Barkold from the Cluster Islands in an unheard-of five days. In response the Dregs set fire to their own boat and flung burning debris onto neighboring vessels. Two more boats sank before the Seekers were close enough to douse the flames.

Outcome

That the Seekers interrupted the Dregs' plan is obvious; what that plan was is far from clear. No demands were made, only the single threat, and no Eruptor was found in the wreckage of either boat.
After the first sinking, the Tideriders and tetherless executed a fast and panicked evacuation of the youngest children. By the end of it, many of them were orphans. In one case it took three years to find out who a baby's parents had been and find cousins willing to raise her.

Aftermath

The sabotage incident has done nothing to deter Tideriders from their annual New Year's meet nor any cargo haulers from the trade gathering. No further activity around the Cluster Islands has been attributable to the Dregs.