Flotsam City

History and Origins
Smugglers, pirates and other seaborne scoundrels will always find friendly mooring in Hawklight Bay at Flotsam City. None in the shattered realms have been able to crush the free city, though many have tried, they often find themselves swimming back home. Ever since its establishment by Ian Hawklight the bay has functioned as the port of call for many licentious captains and their crew and the bane of many an honest trade merchant.

The pirate outpost at the northern tip of Major Island C was established shortly after The Falling by Ian Hawklight, a mage by training and captain of The Gryphon's Wing, a small trade ship. The day of the falling, The Gryphon's Wing was swept by a massive Tsunami into a wide cove of the newly formed island of Major Island C, crashing roughly against the shore. Working through horrendous torrents of rain and wind the crew managed to the small vessel aground and saved her from sinking. In the morning, as the skies cleared the crew discovered they were not alone in this new cove, many other ships had been wrecked.

The crews worked cooperatively to fix what vessels they could and over days these wreckages were salvaged into raw parts for repair of the ships in better condition. As the food dwindled and the crews grew hungry, the captains realized that they starve if they waited for rescue to come and decided that a scout should be sent out to try and locate help and increase their chances of discovery. The Gryphon's Wing having survived the vicious tides with the least damage was selected with Captain Hawklight taking the helm.

Men speak of a different Hawklight returning a changed man, his eyes somewhat dimmer, but his crew sailed into the cove with three new ships, their wood slightly charred and caked with blood.

Over time this cove would become a city of wood and sails as older ships were anchored more permanently as they were replaced by their captains with larger ships captured in combat. These ships began to serve as Inns, general stores and warehouses for the ill gotten goods, with Hawklight reigning over the fledgling "Flotsam City". As the city grew, an unwritten pirate code grew with it, enforced by the crew of the grand captain.

Prior to his death, Hawklight determined that every ten years there was to be a contest to determine the Grand Captain of Flotsam City. The captains and crew were to compete to see who could display the greatest courage and aptitude, an event that became known as "The Challenge of the Keel". The greatest amongst the competitors would then be in charge of the growing city, with their crew functioning as enforcers of the pirate code within the floating maze of scoundrels. As a tax, the city is also to receive a part of the prize as if it was another crewman aboard the ship (equal to one portion), and is able to collect a toll from smugglers looking for safe harbor and supplies.

Modern Times
Throughout the centuries since its founding, numerous storms have wrecked Flotsam City. As it's composed of old and slowly decaying ships, the city isn't exactly resistant to this sort of weather event. While the outer moored ships do protect the inner ones, over time, the oldest rot out and are sunk in the storms.

When storms strike Flotsam City, the entire fleet strains against their anchors. Most hold, but a few do not, and those blown free crash into nearby ships, creating a cascade of wreckage. As it's usually the older and thus closer inland ships that fare the worst, the shallows are piled with the wrecks of such ships. After every such sinking, what can be salvaged is, and then a new ship is jostled into place, often overtop the wreck now slowly sinking into the mud. While a time of crisis for those losing their ships in such a storm, it is a time of celebration for others. When a ship is pushed by a storm up onto dry land, the owner is moved into an elite group.

The Landed Captains, as they are called, own the most stable and long-lived ships in the city. Throughout the years the sinking of thousands of ships has created artificial fill in the shallowest parts of the harbor, and the most resilient ships now sail on grass and mud, the wrecks from ages past forming the land beneath them.

Landed Captains take great care of their ships, painting, repairing, and polishing masts and rails. Doors and windows are cut in the hulls, and they become lavishly decorated inns and shops. Rather than a temporary structure floating in the harbor, the God of the Sea has granted them a permanent place on shore.

It is seen as a badge of honor for the God of the Sea to bestow a Landship upon a captain. It means that they have survived all (s)He can throw at them. The God of the Sea has decided that they can do no more with them, and has pushed them out of the sea. They have won, as it may be, and will sail no more.

When a Landed Captain gets old, and tires of life on land, they often will take their Final Voyage. At dawn they depart in a small sailing boat filled with provisions, and sail wherever the wind takes them. Neither boat nor captain is ever seen again, and it is believed that the God of the Sea has reclaimed them. For the Captains of Flotsam City are born on the sea, and they die on the sea. It is how it is, how it was, and how it will always be.

Carla "The Kraken" Todd - (Current Grand Captain)
Carla Todd was born of a bar wench within "The Copper Wyvren", a newly established Inn within Flotsam City. As a young child, Carla earned her keep around the Inn, clearing empty mugs from tables and cleaning dishes. It was in this position that Carla first ran into Todd McGivney, a landed captain of moderate success.

Todd noticed how Carla deftly weaved in between the brawls and rumbles (which were common place within The Copper Wyvren) to continue her duties, her child-like demeanor never fading. It is from this man that it is said, Carla first learned to dominate the waves, the wind and the raging infernos of the arcane. After teaching her all her could, Captain McGivney arranged for Carla to serve as a cannoner under one of his old crew members, one Captain Adalali aboard The Fiery Willow.

The boat was tough to the young lady, and the crew was no better, figuring her a waif, but Carla put them in their place with her vigor and skill with the arcane. Over time they grew to respect her as one of the crew and she rose to the rank of gunner (in charge of the ships arcane spell casters). It was during the latest Challenge of the Keel that Carla would prove her strength to the rest of Flotsam city and rise to the rank of Grand Captain.

With the start of the contest The Fiery Willow left Flotsam City carrying a full crew and a compliment of supplies, bound for the shipping lanes of local ports. Weeks later, The Fiery Willow limped back into the cove. The mainsail and half the crew had disappeared and young Captain Todd appeared at the helm, and behind her The Fiery Willow towed a Kraken twice her size.

Since then Grand Captain Todd has proven to be a fair and just leader (as much as can be said for a pirate)

Crulamin "The Buoyant" Warstout
Crulamin Warstout was the first non-founding captain to become Grand Captain. Crulamin, a young dwarven captain, arrived abord his ship, The Bronze Keg, five years after the foundation of Flotsam City, drawn by the promiss of a safe port for pirates. He quickly became known as a force to be recconed with and gained the nickname "The Buoyant" as he always seemed to limp back to port, no-matter the damage sustained to his ship. Crulamin became the Grand Captain during the third Challenge of the Keel when he and his crew defended Flotsam City against an attack by mercinaries hired by merchants and managed to capture the entire fleet over a grueling battle.

Adohorn "Inferno" Forgedawn
Adohorn Forgedawn, an elven captain from parts unknown, fundamentally changed the strategy employed by pirates in Major Island C. Captain of The Morbid Mermaid, Captain Forgedawn employed a strategy involving cannoners, mariners trained in the destructive arcane arts, to bombard ships with offensive magical spells. Forgedawn became Grand Captain by fighting off five xenophobic captains who disliked the idea of an eleven captain competting within the Challenge of the Keel.