| The Pirates of Many Names
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Less common is a group of pirates said to worship a powerful sea creature. Some say these are lost souls or heathens, others claim they are, in fact, the dead returned to plague humanity. These pirates are called by different names, but are always feared by those who are aware of them.
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| The Origin of The Kraken's Fleet
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The Kraken's Fleet, as it seems to call itself, started long ago. The ferocious Kraken from the legend of the Golden Trident is real; however, unlike the story, it didn’t die. The great battle between it and Ismaela Turich did take place. One of the beast’s tentacles was brought back as proof of the beast's death. The Kraken was last seen sinking into the depths with the trident stuck in it. Unlike the stories; however, the trident wasn’t left in its heart and the Kraken was severely injured. After being stunned by the last strike the Kraken started to sink, once it had passed the sight of mortals, and Ismaela sailed away thinking she was victorious, the great beast recovered from its daze.
What isn’t known is that the Kraken swam away after this; the Golden Trident gone, either fallen out and left in the depths, or reclaimed by the Patrons that sent it. The Kraken fled to recover from its wounds and to plot its revenge. Settling in a far away, and unknown location it regenerated its damaged body. This process took it centuries to return to its state prior to the battle.
The Kraken wasted no time. As it passed corpses lost to the seas, they were touched by the great beast and stirred once more. The Kraken’s Curse could be passed by the touch of the beast to any corpse. Those infected by the Curse would return to life, the decomposition of their body would immediately halt at whatever stage it was when touched, and they would follow the will of the Kraken.
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| Culture
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Viewed as both god and king by those touched by the Curse, these corpses share a telepathic link with the Kraken itself, receiving orders from it. These corpses retain all of the intelligence, skills, knowledge, abilities, and the like they had when they were alive. Their bodies having the same degree of strength, speed, agility, and all other physical abilities they had in life… At least as much as the decomposition of their body allows. They can never harm the Kraken, and cannot even comprehend the thought, they will obey any order given by their God-King, however how they go about following their orders is purely up to them.
Another ability passed onto those Cursed is that they too can touch any corpse and return it to the state in which they live. So it was that as the Kraken fled and its Curse was spread to the bodies found floating in the seas, these original Cursed began to wash up on shore, climb aboard ships, and start attacking the living. Those that survived would then touch those recently slain to bolster their ranks. Within a century there was a fleet manned by the dead that answered to the Kraken, even as the great beast continued to recover. It is unknown if the Kraken always had these abilities, were granted them by the Patron Marguerite to reflect her disapproval of the original request for aid in killing the beast, or if somehow some of the power of the Golden Trident was passed on the the beast in some way.
Ever since this time the Fleet of the Kraken has grown and attacks all the nations of the known world, it is said this group of pirates want nothing but to Curse the entirety of humanity, which may well be the ultimate goal of the Kraken; its way of taking its revenge. What is known is that the Cursed cannot be burned, they must be beheaded to destroy them, and that until they act those most recently killed can pass for the living in appearance, sound, taste, touch, smell, behavior, speech, and knowledge. Ships that are attacked normally aren’t sunk, instead those Cursed prefer to capture the ships to add to the ranks of the Kraken’s Fleet. Any goods on board that are valuable, like weapons, are kept by the original crew. Any goods that have no value to the Cursed, such as food, are simply tossed overboard. The dead members of the original crew which are touched to spread the Curse onto them, simply take over their own ship and continue on their way, answering to the orders of their God-King.
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| The Kraken's Fleet
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| Kingdom:
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On the water
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| Capital:
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Unknown, if one even exists.
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| Cities and villages:
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None known
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| Vassals:
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Those infected with the Kraken's Curse.
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| Population:
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Uncertain
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| The Ruler:
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Unknown (Public knowledge), The Ferocious Kraken from Isles legend (Known to those of the Kraken's Fleet).
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| Cultural Niche:
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Resurrected dead in service to some great power.
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| Religion:
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Some powerful creature (Common knowledge), Their “God-King”, the Ferocious Kraken from Isles legend (Known to those with the Kraken's Curse).
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| Resources:
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The Kraken's Curse and stolen ships.
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| Wealth:
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None
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| CURRENTLY PLAYED CHARACTERS
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NPCs:
none
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