The Fifth Lord's War

Eighteen years before the story began, three crews revolted against Pirate Lord Shandy. This was unprecedented; Shandy's subordinates were always famously loyal. These crews consisted of the crew that would later sail the Matricide - though they had not constructed the galleon yet - as well as Dancer's crew, and one other. They were all children or teenagers at the time. They barely escaped Shandy's territory with their lives, fleeing to the unclaimed waters that bordered the Night Isles. When starvation, injury, and infection looked to be the end of them, the three boats happened to find Yeddow and its people's kindness. These three ships were quickly joined by fifteen of Shandy's other crews, bringing the total number of crews to eighteen. Among these ships were the Cockatrice, the Fortunate Fool, and the Hogshead. 
Laylin was originally the captain of her crew, but refused to carry on the duty upon leaving Yeddow. Driscoll took up the mantle and led the eighteen ships to war against Shandy. Years passed and many of the crews and ships were lost. Driscoll, Laylin, King, and Wick all earned monikers recognised around the world, and some people began speaking of Eight Finger as the fifth pirate lord. Many others disagreed, thinking him to be little more than an upstart - another false lord like so many before him. Still, the crew of the Matricide laid claim to their territory, forged alliances, and kept fighting Shandy when few others would dare to do the same. 
However, Driscoll and Dancer's relationship had soured over the years, and eventually, the two went to war. Ten years after the revolt against Shandy - eight years before the start of the story - the Brothers' Feud began. The twelve remaining crews split, siding with one brother or the other, and the conflict with Shandy was as good as forgotten by most of them. King was the exception. He refused to take part in the Brothers' Feud and left Driscoll's crew to form his own, made up of people who had lost their ships but not their will to fight. 
The Brothers' Feud ended five years after it began, but Driscoll's forces - which had never been enormous - were left enfeebled. He'd bolstered his number with a few new crews, something he'd never done until the Brothers' Feud began, but even with the addition of the Wicked Sister, the Ramshod, and the Banshee to his ranks, his forces were pitifully small. He was also occupied for much of the next three years, those that lead up to the beginning of the story, hunting down the final crews that had fought on Dancer's side. The world thought the Fifth Lord's War was over. 
Driscoll declared that he intended to keep fighting Mother Shandy when he raided her island hatchery. He made sure she found out that he was going to kill her dragons, but only when it would be too late for her to stop him. He'd had some of his subordinate crews spread the word so that when Shandy, in her rage, set up a fleet of 100 ships to stop his retreat, the world watched his lone ship best them all.
Category:Notable Events