Treva
The Pirate King hanged and left his treasure for the taking. Raise a flag, grow your bounty, eat a cursed pearl and sail for it.
- Pirates
- High seas adventure
- Bounties
- Cursed powers
pirate adventure fantasy 1 memberBuilt by Worldtable
Twenty-two years ago the Pirate King Calvez hanged on the navy's scaffold at Chalcos, and his last words told every soul in the square that his treasure was still out there for whoever had the nerve to take it. Now every misfit with a boat is sailing for the King's Share, the navy prints bounty posters faster than the gulls can carry them, and the sea between the islands has never been so loud.
Where it all began
the Hanging at Chalcos
Twenty-two years ago the navy caught Calvez Udenillo, the only captain ever to sail the whole of the Treva and come back, the man every crew called the Pirate King. They hanged him in the great square of Chalcos on Thergos in front of ten thousand people to show the age of pirates was over. On the scaffold he laughed and told the crowd: "My share is still out there. All of it. Go and take it." The square emptied onto the docks that same afternoon. Every boy and girl who heard it bought, stole or built a boat, and the great age of piracy began. Nobody has found the King's Share yet.
The lands
Vixora
the Free Port
jungle island and pirate haven of the Near Sea; every crew drinks in Porgos and nobody asks questions
Porgos is the one harbour in the Near Sea where every flag is welcome and the navy does not sail in, because Mama Osa keeps the peace and every captain knows what happens to anyone who breaks it. Rival crews drink at the same long tables, glaring over the same stew, and every deal, crew and feud in the Near Sea starts here.
Thergos
the Navy's Island
white-walled seat of the Thergan Empire and its navy; the scaffold where the Pirate King hanged
Thergos is the white-stone heart of the Thergan Empire and home port of its navy, where the scaffold that hanged the Pirate King still stands in the great square of Chalcos. Every bounty poster on the Treva is printed here, and every captured pirate of note is shipped here to hang in front of a crowd.
Al Mura
the Thirsty Kingdom
desert island sultanate dying of thirst while a navy-pardoned warlord runs its casinos
Al Mura is dying of thirst: the wells of its ancient sultanate have been failing one by one for two years, and the people blame their young Sultana. Meanwhile in the port city of Yabreen, the navy-pardoned warlord Akron Qart runs casinos with fountains that play all night, and nobody can prove where his water comes from.
Palia
the Reef Isles
warm reef islands of the fishfolk and their underwater city, on the edge of the Squall Line
Palia is a ring of warm reef islands on the very edge of the Squall Line, and under its lagoon lies Halula, the fishfolk city of coral towers and air-bells. It is the last safe harbour before the storms, so every crew bound for the Far Sea stops here to repair, resupply and hire a reef pilot who knows the way in.
Kyomiya
the Closed Country
mountain island of swordsmen beyond the Squall Line that shut its ports to the world
Kyomiya is a steep mountain island beyond the Squall Line that shut every port but one twenty years ago. Its swordsmen are the finest on the Treva, its regent pays a secret tribute of steel to one of the Four Flags, and its people are hungry behind the walls while the smiths work day and night.
Braugar
the Giants' Winter
snowbound forest island of the giants and their human whalers, far out in the Far Sea
Braugar is a snowbound island of trees so huge that the giants build their halls inside the trunks, far out in the Far Sea where few crews ever reach. Giants and their human whalers live side by side here, every quarrel is settled by a fight, and anyone who sails this far is welcomed with a feast and then challenged.
Who you can be
Human
The most common people on the Treva, found on every island, every deck and in every rank of the navy. They come in every shade and build: sun-blackened islanders, pale clerks-turned-marines, broad-shouldered whalers, swordsmen from closed Kyomiya. Humans are restless and stubborn and they make dreams out of nothing; nearly every famous captain in history has been one, Calvez included. They live about 80 years if the sea lets them. Best at: anything they set their heart on, from swords to Mettle to eating a pearl and learning to live with it.
Fishfolk
Tall, heavy people of the reefs, with gills along the neck, smooth skin in reef colours (blue-grey, coral pink, shark white) and features that echo a fish: a hammerhead brow, a ray's wide fins, an eel's long jaw. Out of water a fishfolk is already as strong as two men; underwater they are ten times stronger and faster than anything on two legs. They breathe water and air alike. Fishfolk have been chained and sold by humans in living memory, and many still carry that anger; others laugh loudly, sing in harmony and run the best swimming races in the sea. A fishfolk who eats a pearl loses the sea forever, which is a grief their families hold a wake for. They live about 150 years. Best at: raw strength, swimming, fighting in the water and hauling wrecks up from the deep.
Beastfolk
Furred people with the heads and tails of animals: fox, wolf, cat, bear, hare, otter, ram. They stand as tall as humans, smell everything, hear a whisper across a deck and are terrible at hiding what they feel, because their ears and tails give it away. Beastfolk are warm, fierce and loyal to their friends to the point of foolishness, and they greet each other by bumping foreheads. Under a full moon a trained beastfolk can take a wild form, white-furred and huge, that burns through their strength in an hour. They live about 90 years. Best at: speed, senses, unarmed fighting and tracking anyone across any island.
Giantrare
Men and women three or four times a human's height, from the winter forests of Braugar beyond the Squall Line. They wear furs, braid their beards and hair with iron rings, drink from barrels and laugh like rockslides. Giants prize courage over everything: a small person who stands up to them earns a giant's friendship for life. A giant sailing with a human crew is a famous sight, since they ride in the hold or tow behind on a raft, and doors, beds and taverns are a constant problem. They live about 300 years. Best at: overwhelming strength, hauling ships, shrugging off wounds that would kill a crew, and war.
Little Folkrare
A hand-high people who live in the walls, rafters and hollow trees of Vixora, and lately in the bilges of ships all over the Near Sea. They have bright eyes, pointed noses and tails, and they are absurdly strong for their size: one can carry a barrel of rum or knock a man flat with a headbutt to the shin. They are quick, cheerful and dangerously trusting, believing almost anything they are told with a straight face, and they adore sweets and stories. Plenty of famous crews have discovered a Little Folk stowaway only after a month at sea. They live about 70 years. Best at: speed, sneaking, sabotage, getting into places nobody else can reach, and surprising people.
Magic
Beyond the gates
- the Locker. the drowned sea under the sea, where every wreck and every drowned sailor ends up; ruled by Captain Marrecy Oinay and his cursed crew