Free Captain

Overview

The Free Captains of Lerona Mere are enterprising masters of the sea. Striking out from the city of Legends, they are renowned for their daring, their impulsive natures and their cutting style.

Need:

Naval Investment

A captain without a ship is no captain at all.

Shouldn’t:

Nil.

The exact skills of Free Captains aside from their style and oceanic focus are as varied as the moods of the sea. Some are martial experts, others are capable ships surgeons, some are servants of the Spheres. If you command a vessel, you may be a Free Captain.

Costume Marker:

Captains Coat

More than anything, the fine coats worn by Lerona Mere’s Free Captains mark them out. Often long coats down to the knee worn open, they are of high quality and are a middleweight coat, capable of beating back harsh winds but not so heavy that they are cloying in the summer. Captains coats are often colourful, but seldom more than a single main colour with accents as opposed to a more garish multicoloured style. Other common traits are heavy cuffs, epaulettes and slits for the allowance of a sword scabbard. It is seen as a grave affront to damage or stain a Captains Coat, as such they are often removed before combat, however a Captains Coat is seen as the only reasonable attire when discussing matters of business, politics or any other similar import. A common verbal game between Free Captains is a constant one-upmanship of compliments towards each other's coats upon first meeting, well beyond the bounds of reality until one of the two concedes defeat.

History:

The Free Captains of Lerona Mere owe their existence to a quirk of Artebazzani Naval logistics. A vast majority (somewhere north of seventy percent) of sea-going vessels in the Artebazzani Empire are owned by the state. As such, when the four families that wished to strike out south and settle Posta Lerona approached the few independent Captains, those captains had a massive amount of bargaining power.

These ‘Free Captains’ retained this power throughout the colony's history, as they were often the only ones willing to make the journey to the distant port. They used this power to remain staunchly independent from Legend Cities cutthroat politics and to flaunt legal controls such as taxation, banned goods or weapons restrictions. Without the Free Captains, Lerona Mere could not survive, and the Free Captains knew this. For many, serving on a Free Ship of Lerona Mere was the only way to pull together a little bit of money and maybe escape the downward chains of poverty in the great city.

As the Illsevir drew in their wicked net, it was the Free Captains who first sounded the alarm. As Free ships flying Lerona Mere colours were taken in the dead of night, or friendly ports up and down the bay were conquered, the Free Captains pleaded for support against this new enemy. But the four families saw a chance to finally curtail the independence of the Free Captains, to be replaced by private fleets in the ownership of the great trading families, something the Free Captains had forced from existence through intimidation, unionisation and cunning business savvy.

This only pushed the Free Captains into the arms of the revolutionaries. As flames lit the streets of Lerona Mere, it was the Free Captains that armed the revolutionaries, and it was the Free Captains that turned away the fleeing nobility that begged them for space on their ships. The Free Captains would never be threatened again.

In the new Lerona Mere the Free Captains remain an important pillar of political, economic and military life. Masters of their own destiny and responsible for the maritime defence of their patron city, the Free Captains are patriots, adventurers and agents of the great city.

Three Things Free Captains Are:

No kings, no masters

While every Free Captain owes ultimate loyalty to Lerona Mere (referred to as ‘The Queen’), they are fiercely independent. To the Free Captains, there are non above them and their destiny is their own. To order a Free Captain is a great misstep and they are well known for their traditional cheers of ‘On no Kings orders!’.

Eye of the Storm

While not daredevils all, Free Captains are known for their courage or daring do. Whether that courage is foolhardy stupidity, wild competition or careful risk taking, all Free Captains are courageous to a fault.

Cock of the walk

While the Free Captains were always powerful, they have tempered that power with wealth. As such Free Captains can be recognised by their swagger as much as by their coats. A Free Captain should endeavour to always look their best, be clad in the newest fashions and to always walk as if the ground under their feet was the deck of their ship.

One Thing Free Captains Aren't:

Pirates

While the Free Captains are enterprising and they might see laws as guidelines more than actual rules, they are not unrepentant criminals or sea thieves. The Free Captains are privateers, merchants and explorers, far happier working on the edges of the law than on the far side of it.