Old stories(ignore if not involved in the Sura game)

[cloudcrono]

Back in my younger years I a piece of old parchment in a bottle along the beach.  I did not think it was too important at the time but it eventually led me to my interest in the brotherhood.

 

Hall historians put the discovery of Sel Arren at somewhere between four hundred and twenty five to four hundred and fifty years ago.  The Brotherhood had been established long before, and was based primarily among the floating prayer cities and loosely regulated ports. The islands of Sel Arren and Sel Erratz were known, of course, but were unexplored and were unofficially under the banner of the Neitaren Commonwealth, but this could be said for any number of islands in those waters. The Neitaren Navy was powerful even then, and the pirates only beginning to show signs of what they would eventually become, and so the islands were left to the Neitaren’s as no one looked for trouble with them. Which brings us to a young, but enterprising pirate, who had need of a hideout and a location to base his south seas trade in. He was the first on record to discover the bay that would become the Dragonsback Docks, and he was the first to explore the rocky cliffs that would one day become The Hall. His name was Teryl Riffken, captain of the ship Reliant. Captain Riffken was delighted with the bay that he had discovered and would have based his operations here even had he not made his next discovery. But the next discovery is what cemented his reputation as one of the greatest pirate captains of all. With a small group, the captain began to ascend the cliffs until he found an entrance to what turned out to be a vast network of tunnels and caverns. Somewhat stunned by his good fortune, for this was the kind of hideout and base that pirates dreamt of, he was not paying that close of attention to the walls of the cavern he was in. He noted the size of the cavern, the dimensions and the distance to what he had already begun to think of as the docks. It was perfect, and he realized that it was worth much more than just a hideout for one captain. He quickly formulated a plan to approach the Minister and propose this as a South Seas base. With enough brothers, the Neitaren’s might not bother them and even if they did, negotiations were held frequently over such matters. Riffken would lobby to become an Admiral and lord of this base, thus building his power and fleet. It was an amazing find, and one that would change his fortunes forever. But in a different way than he even yet knew. He moved the light from the lantern around the domed cavern once again, and this time noticed a reflection from the far wall. As he moved closer, his pulse sped up and as reached out to touch the wall and confirm what it was he thought he was seeing, he glanced up. Then to the left and then to the right. His jaw dropped. The wall was marbled with bonestone. He had little experience with it, and really had only seen a few pieces in his life. The pirates were more of am arm and sword blade group with no singers among them and little experience with those who used these stones and their power. Further inspection made it clear that the entire network of caverns was riddled with the stuff. He plunged deeper into the tunnels, exploring them further until he came to the largest cavern yet. And found to his surprise that it was occupied. Or at least it had been recently. There was an altar, and candles, and runes painted on different surfaces. He knew enough to spot the trappings of a witch cult when he saw them and his plans suddenly changed. There was no one in the room at the time, so he backed out, collected his men and made it back to the ship with no incident. He sailed from that bay and headed directly back out to sea and was almost content to put the entire affair behind him and be thankful for not loosing his hide. Almost. His first thought was that he had been foolish to think that he was the first one to discover the place. His second thought was that the Neitaren’s would never let the cult survive if they knew of the presence of all of that bonestone, as they were also skilled singers. His third thought was that those skilled singers would have demanded that the republic immediately populate the island and mine it for the bonestone that it held.  That’s why it appeared uninhabited. The witches were hiding. That meant that they were afraid, and that presented certain opportunities. He came about and sailed right back to the bay, where he dropped anchor, flew his colors and put a larger band of men together to search the opposite shores of Sel Erratz. He found what he was looking for relatively easily, small, rural villages of people who lived on the larger island but were part of no country. They were not exactly happy to see the pirates, but made no move against them, either. Riffken had prepared for this, and acted as if he sought to establish trade and possibly recruit hands, as pirates always did. As a general rule, these types of communities welcomed the pirates as it always meant wealth and opportunity for the younger men. After meeting several of the leaders of the people, Riffken found them to be no different. They were a little shy, but not really different. Riffken never let on that he had explored the other island. He waited until he had spread some coin around, and then casually suggested that the rocky point would make an excellent lookout. The people said no, it wouldn’t. That the island was infested with poisonous snakes and too much trouble to even visit. Better to leave it alone. The captain smiled and he knew the time had come. His men had spread out in case there was an uprising, but these people were not prepared to fight so he doubted any trouble would come of it.

    “I’ve seen the caverns. I’ve seen the bonestone, and seen you altars. I did not see any snakes, and I’ve yet to see your witches here in this camp.” The people shifted uneasily, looking nervously about. “It’s alright, I would like to propose an accord to the singers that I am sure you will all find beneficial.”

    Although Captain Riffken was confident at this point, he had no idea what he was about to enter into. The witches did come forth, and did admit vulnerability to the Neitarens, or to any one else who came along.  The entire village lived here because the witches had to be close to the island of Sel Arren and it’s bonestone caverns. The caves held bonestone, true. But they also shielded the use of it from Xoc as they gave off a near constant emanation of the stones power and were surrounded by water and volcanic rock. The witches had been slowly training themselves to the point where they might become strong enough singers to become valuable in the prayer cities and move their small village away. It was these peoples only hope at a better life. Captain Riffken understood this, and proposed that he and the pirates base themselves at Sel Arren. He would protect the witches, and they in turn would use the stone’s powers for their mutual benefit. He pictured a fleet with singers and knew that he could deter the Neitaren’s if he had but a short time to build this force. The agreement was made, but not as Riffken imagined. His world existed on the weight of a man’s word and the certainty that no one would cross a pirate. The witches knew better and would bind the pact with a song and a promise. Riffken agreed and the pact was struck. The leader of the pirates would always marry the strongest of the witches, uniting two groups that would remain separate but equal and share the home of Sel Arren. Riffken became that leader, and thus became the Minister of Sel Arren. Over the next hundreds of years the Brotherhood became very powerful indeed, and the sisterhood as well. One became famous the world over, and the other remained a closely guarded secret. Generations of witches became tied to the pirates by blood and to the current day, a split had never come between them. Until now.

 

Some months ago, before the Admirals had been assassinated, the current Minster’s wife had been assassinated first. The witches were given information that the Minster himself was responsible and that he sought to end the pact and remove the sisterhood from Sel Arren. No reason was given to why, but suspicion grew.

 

Soon after, all but one of the Admirals was assassinated and once again, the trail of guilt led to the Minister. Some speculated that he would rid himself of any competition or influence and remake the Hall is his name and image.  The last Admiral, new to the post, rallied who he could find that were loyal to the hall and began a careful watch over the Minister and the witches, determined to preserve their way of life.

 

The Minister kept close contact with the witches, proclaiming his innocence and let them use him to look at the future of the Hall, even though the process is extremely painful. The prophecy was seen about the outsiders help and betrayal from other pirates. The remaining and newly raised Admiral became their chief suspect and the call went out to the Neitaren’s and to the group of heroes. Also a small number of pirates remained loyal to the Minister, the leader of whom was Barm.

 

It is now clear that the Neitaren’s have finally come for what they have lusted over for hundreds of years. The Hall, and the bonestone caverns of Sel Arren. They knew that a pitched battle against the Brotherhood and the Sisterhood could never be won and that only the most elaborate, confusing, and subtle plan had any chance of success. They planned out single every aspect of the preceding months, with the exception of one thing: the heroes. It is now up to them to find the last assassin and save Sel Arren and The Hall

 

Now that I think about it it seems to me that [glow=red,2,300]the main point is this: Now we know who is attacking and why. The goal is to find the last assassin and end the threat.[/glow]