Vilimzair Aralivar

Legendary Figure | NPC

In honour of yesterday’s International Talk Like a Pirate Day, I’m reposting this brief overview of the World’s Greatest Ever Bard and Legendary Pirate Captain. Bask in his mythic magnificence.

A mythical but controversial figure, the elf Vilimzair Aralivar is widely held to be the World’s Greatest Ever Bard and a legendary pirate captain. The tales of his heroism, good looks and musical prowess are legion and seemingly without end. Along with his faithful parrot, Pluck, and a crew of semi-useful, wholly hapless idiots, Vilimzair swashbuckled across the known world in a series of incredible, scarcely believable adventures celebrated in famed play, song and legend.

Several books, including My Amazing Life, which details—sadly all too briefly—a few of his innumerable, wildest and best-known adventures and voyages, and the legendary, much-sought-after Ponderations, are attributed to the Great Bard himself.

Some believe that the countless adventures and deeds attributed to Vilimzair are impossible—no person could be so heroic, talented and lucky; thus, he is a figment of someone’s overactive imagination. Others believe that if he did indeed exist, the stories of his derring-do have been blown wildly out of all proportion. Most folk think Vilimzair is long dead. A few fanatical followers, though, believe that he either found a way to cheat death and live on—questing ever-onwards in pursuit of yet greater adventures and experiences—or that Seluria Inamiltae, the elven goddess of romantic love and beauty, herself enamoured by the Great Bard’s endless talents, elevated him to semi-divine status and that he is now her consort and paramour.

Finally, many elves, half-elves and even, bizarrely, some humans and half-orcs have claimed descent from the Great Bard. Most such folk do so only for tawdry self-interest and personal gain. Still, a few possess genuine musical talents, leading to conjecture that the heroic elf sired a veritable legion of children during his incredible life.

(Learn more about Ponderations next week!)

The Captain’s House

Docks | Urban

Set hard near the docks with a commanding view of the harbour, this three-storey townhouse is the home of Aril Tavel, a famed retired sea captain reputed to have visited more distant ports than any other in living memory. Now retired, he lives off the proceeds of his past voyages along with the gifts he receives for introducing captains, merchants, specialists and the like to one another. Merchants are always in need of intrepid captains, after all, and captains are always in need of patrons. In this way, the old captain acts as a “clearing house” of sorts.

Aril holds lavish monthly dinners at his home, and among the nautical class, invitations are much prized. Memorabilia from his many voyages fills his home. Where old hunters display the heads of their kills, Aril collects ship’s figureheads; a half-dozen or so serve as overly large gargoyles for his home, and they make it child’s play to find his residence.

While Aril is what he appears to be—an old and respected ship’s captain now living out his retirement in comfort—he hides a dark secret. On his last voyage, he uncovered an old and worn basaltic statuette of a horrible, be-tentacled dragon-thing. He believes it whispers to him, and he keeps the hateful thing in a hidden attic room. There, he worships it and performs terrible rituals of veneration.

The Blue Anchor

Docks | Tavern | Urban

Overlooking the harbour, this waterfront tavern is marked by a large blue anchor hanging over its main entrance. It is not uncommon to see labourers repainting the anchor, as the sea air and the attention of the swarms of seagulls attracted to the harbour often give it a diseased or pebble-dashed look.

Run by the popular and rambunctious Oskari Laitnen, the Blue Anchor is popular with sailors and locals looking for a good time. To most people, that’s all the Blue Anchor is—somewhere to have fun and blow off steam. However, the tavern hides a secret: Oskari is in league with smugglers and pirates and, from a hidden dock-cellar under the tavern, carries out his nefarious trade. However, Oskari is a man of principles. He only traffics in portable, high-value items such as spices, wine and the like and baulks at any more unsavoury trades. He sees himself as a “gentleman smuggler” and a hero of the common people. To that end, he gives much gold to the poor and the needy and is beloved as a result. Some folk wonder as to the source of his ready gold, but others point to the profit realised at the ever-busy Blue Anchor as its source. No matter the source of his wealth, it buys him much influence on the waterfront and little of import escapes his notice on the docks.

Oskari’s long-term goal is to buy as many surrounding businesses as possible. The docks are the town’s mercantile heart, and if he controls the docks, he controls the town. From there, his popularity should propel him into the mayor’s office, and from there, who knows where he might end up.

Inn of the Ancient Mariner

Docks | Inn | Urban

Set hard upon the docks, this old, tottering building has been a feature of the town for as long as anyone can remember. Run by an old sailor who—legend has it—refuses to die, the Inn of the Ancient Mariner is a favourite for sailors, dockworkers and the like. Most folk believe that pirates, disguised as normal sailors, come here to drink and spy on the dockside doings. Thrill seekers and adventurers come here to spot them.

Old salts visit the inn to drink and reminisce while young, impressionable sailors come to listen to their stories. The tavern is busy from the moment it opens its doors, and it closes late at night.

Rum and other hard spirits are sold here in vast quantities, and the atmosphere is lively. Drinkers not taking a rum with every ale are viewed with suspicion and disdain by the regulars. Wine is frowned upon and only sold—reluctantly—in the Captain’s Snug.

A building constructed in the old style, the inn’s taproom has a high barrel-vaulted ceiling decorated with a stylised map of the world’s oceans and seas. It is a beautiful work of art, and remains vivid and clean despite the vast amount of pipe smoke and the like hanging in the air. Perspicacious drinkers may notice that the map changes subtly over time, but only the most well-travelled sailors can speak to its accuracy.

Six Pieces of Pirate Treasure

Six Things | Pirates | Treasure

A dog-eared copy of the legendary Vilimzair Aralivar’s My Amazing Life is hidden in a pirate’s seabag. The book is clearly much loved and has probably passed through many avid readers’ hands.
This worn golden necklace depicts a wide-mouthed shark consuming a man—only the man’s head remains free of the shark’s gaping maw.
This diary details the pirates’ last year at sea. A close read reveals a trip to a barren sea stack a month ago, where six chests were hidden in a sea cave.
An old brown leather pouch is pregnant with gold and silver coins. The coins hail from many distant lands—some lands the characters have never heard of.
These delicate silver earrings hanging from small silver loops are shaped like leaping dolphins. They are highly polished and in excellent condition.
This ragged pouch holds a rough and part-finished wood carving of a dolphin, a mass of wood shavings and a small, sharp knife. Tiny black gemstones serve as the dolphin’s eyes.

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