The War against Piracy

The war against piracy was an undeclared war between a coalition of seafaring states, and the Deutschmeister empire, against the self-proclaimed High King of the Seas, Orinthos, a former Trinsulaean shipbuilder. The war saw the coalition defeat the pirate fleet and Trinsulaean expansion on Tongaal island.

## The War against Piracy

Drawing of the Battle of Zenkar Port (Artist: Samuel Pollay)

### Side 1

Seafaring coalition (Kartaga, Trinsulae, C.o. Tards, Macarmonil, Republic of Tabard, Macarmonil, Deutschmeister empire)

## Background

### Midsea piracy

Midsea pirates existed as long as sailing had been invented and trade routes always had risks of being raided. With the emergence of year Zero however big seafaring nations emerged with fleets grand enough to keep piracy in check. The most important of these seafaring nations was Trinsulae but others such as Tabard and Mideria also emerged. The island of Tongaal remained a hub for pirate activity however, its many caves, accessible via sea, made the island a perfect safe haven for pirate fleets, operating more mobile ships than the large warships deployed by the empires. Tensions over Svean, however, resulted in the Trinsulaean navy declining its anti-piracy activities in the region, allowing pirates in the eastern Midsea to increase their activity, leaving the west relatively unscathed. Especially the state of Kartaga, situated in the eastern Midsea, was struggling under this piracy. Rumours soon spread about a certain High King of the Seas who united the many different pirate factions into a single fleet.

### Orinthos

Orinthos was a former Trinsulaean shipbuilder who got ostracized for his dividing and authoritarian rhetoric. When travelling to Svean to seek refuge there his ship got hit by a storm and he washed ashore on the island of Tongaal. The local population took him in and provided for him. On the island Orinthos came in contact with the many pirate factions operating from there and he offered his expertise in sailing and shipbuilding to them. His improved designs made the pirates more effective and he achieved more prestige over time. Eventually gaining the lead over a group of small pirate factions.

Over time Orinthos gained more and more followers and proclaimed himself High King of the pirates, the title of High King was an ancient Tongaal position that referred to the ruler of the whole island, a position that had been vacant for centuries. Rumours spread around and soon Orinthos was known in the mainland as the High King of the Seas, a title which he gladly adopted. Becoming more ambitious as the days passed he gave orders to build big warships to challenge the sea faring powers of the time. Trying to keep his plans a secret he was forced to play his hand when the Suffete of Kartaga contacted him.

## The Search for the High King

Arturo I, the Suffete of Kartaga saw trade in his realm diminish as rumours of the High King of the seas spread across the population. Two court factions emerged on the situation, one wishing to negotiate with the pirates solving the problems themselves in order to minimize foreign influence and loss of prestige. The other faction wished to call in foreign naval powers to deal with the pirates in the only language they understood, violence. Kartaga itself did not have the wood to build a big navy and even when doing so it would take a lot of time to build it up. The Kartagan navy was 20 ships strong, respectable, but not enough for a sustained anti-piracy operation.

### Javier's search

King Arturo decided to side with the diplomatic faction, sending his personal friend Javier on a merchant ship to find out the High King and negotiate with him. At this time it was unknown whether such a man even existed and the journey was a gamble. Arturo was certain however that the High King existed and he had a feeling he may be of use to him personally. Javier sailed out the next day and scoured the coast for pirate activity. He searched for a week when he noticed a small pirate vessel and followed it. The vessel was indeed owned by Orinthos and he invited Javier in his cave hide-out, known as the Great Sunken Cave. Javier and Orinthos had long conversations but when Javier lead the conversations towards negotiations he angered the High King. "If the Suffete wishes to negotiate with me then he must do so in person, I am not some mere subject who speaks with minor diplomats, I am the High King of the seas and I shall be treated as such." he is said to have said. Javier broke out in laughter, he responded by saying that the Suffete stood far higher in ranking than a self-proclaimed pirate king and that only the greatest leaders in the world were allowed to have the honour of being compared with him. Orinthos broke out in a furious rage and killed the servant on the spot. He then came up with a plan to come out of hiding and style whilst spreading fear in Kartaga. He took a small rowing boat, ordered Javier's head to be put on a spike and send it to Zenkar, Kartaga's capital, with a message in its teeth. The message said: "The High King does not negotiate." in an effort to scare the Karteese.

### Search on land

With Javier dead and his crew gone without a trace, the location of the clearly existing High King was hidden. Arturo I then dispatched a scout to ride across the entire coast to find the pirates, the sea was to be avoided at all cost. The scout was equipped with a Kartagan spyglass, the first time this invention was used for official purposes. The scout searched all coast close to Kartaga, going as far as Laurelorn and Apowidu but could not find any trace of a pirate look-out, resulting in the scout assuming that the pirates did not hide on the mainland but on the Midsea islands. In the meanwhile trade towards Zenkar was running dry and the local population got scared and angry by the economical malaise. Violent riots grew in number as the people demanded that the piracy be dealt with. When the scout reported his findings to the Suffete who decided to outfit a military expedition to the nearby island of Tongaal.

## Course of the War

### Battle of the Sunken Cave

The leader of the expedition to Tongaal was a man called Cortez, an experienced sailor with experience in rooting out smugglers as Amiral of Kartaga (Amiral is Karteese for admiral). Familiar with the many hide-outs on Tongaal Cortez planned to go there as he expected the pirates to be based there. He was given 10 warships, equaling half of the Kartagan navy. The next week they leave port and set sail towards Tongaal. A small pirate vessel is soon spotted by the Kartagan spyglass but it does not it has been seen. Cortez follows the ship to an enormous cave in Tongaal's coastline. Cortez, correctly guessing this was the High King's hideout, decided to wait further ashore until night fell. He then attacked the cave in the cover of darkness.

Cortez had been careless when attacking as he should have known about the many sharp rocks just beneath the sea, one of his ships got stuck in a diagonally shifted rock, breaching the hull of the ship immediately. The Amiral recognizing his mistake decides to halt his fleet, revising his strategy whilst saving the warship he recklessly put out of order. It was this exact moment Orinthos had decided to spring his trap and hundreds of small little rowboats emerged from the rocky coast. Cortez was hit by an arrow as he saw his ships being overwhelmed and taken by the enemy. Wounded he gave the order to his ship to turn around, a risky maneuver that could throw his ship on the rocks. His oars were experienced sailors however and Cortez an experienced navigator and they pulled the maneuver off, continuing their retreat and ramming two smaller pirate vessels in their way. Cortez and his crew escaped but the other nine ships were lost, their crew, valuable oarsmen and marines, slaughtered.

### The coalition

Cortez gave news of his defeat to Arturo I personally and was shamed. He was pardoned, however, as he had proven himself to be able by returning with his ship wholly intact, no simple feet. Besides this Arturo needed an experienced Amiral to lead a newly established anti-piracy coalition

#### **Forming the Coalition**

Just days before Cortex had left port a message from the Council of Tards had reached the Suffete, offering support against piracy. The leader of Kartaga had accepted this deal but the travel time between the two states had made linking up the fleets impossible. Now with half the fleet gone Arturo decided to play it safe or his people would revolt against him, something he dare not risk. The Trinsulaeans had heard of the endeavor and wished to join in as well, to protect trade. The Trinsulaean navy was the biggest in the world and support for Arturo grew in Zenkar. Polleander of Tabard joined the coalition in support of his allies. Macarmonil joined too as they had need of allies and experience against a brewing diplomatic conflict with Mideria that may lead to war. The Deutschmeister empire joined in as well, seeking plunder and booty.

#### **The leadership question**

Forming such a grand coalition brought problems with them, which the distance between the many members did not make easier. Especially the leadership of the allied armada was a sensitive question as three nations proclaimed they wished to lead it. Sulla of the Tards claimed that since the coalition was his initiative his preferred candidate, Octavian, should be leading the expedition. Trinsulae claimed that since they provided the largest part of the fleet (Almost half of the fleet was Trinsulaean) the right to choose a commander should be theirs. Their preferred candidate was a young ambitious man called Gravitos, the man responsible for the killing of Gabianus the previous season. The Tards saw this as an insult and refused to have this man as their leader. The last claimant to leading the expedition was Arturo's Cortez. His reputation had been tarnished by the battle of the Sunken Cave but, Arturo stated, he had been the only leader who had fought with the High King, knew the terrain and had managed to orderly retreat from a hectic night time ambush. Besides this Kartaga was the one hit by the pirates the hardest and thus it was only fair that they chose the leader of the expedition. This convinced many states and it was soon clear that the race would be between Gravitos and Cortez. A vote was called and Trinsulae was supported by Tabard, Kartaga was supported by Macarmonil; who wished to have Kartaga as an ally, the Deutschmeister and the council of Tards, who refused to be commanded by a man that had killed their kin. Thus it was decided that Cortez lead the fleet. As a compromise the Amiral proposed to link up on the Trinsulaean harbour in Svean, which the fledging democracy accepted.

### The battle of Zenkar Port

#### **Blockade of Zenkar**

All states prepared their navies for the expedition, rendezvousing in Svean. The High King had not heard of the forming of the coalition and was still in the understanding that his navy was far stronger than Kartaga's. He decided to strike at Kartaga in an ambitious plan to blackmail the state into paying him tribute. In secret he had given the order to build big warships, breaking up the many smaller vessels in order to use the wood. Orinthos had been a shipbuilder before he turned pirate and his blueprints helped the inexperienced pirate builders to quickly convert their fleet to a war-navy, the largest in the world at that time with 62 quinquiremes, be it that the ships were of lesser quality due to the recycled wood. The rams were made out of hardwood rather than bronze which severally reduced the quality of the pirate ships, with the exception of around 10 vessels which were equipped with a bronze ram. Nonetheless, it was a grand fleet that Orinthos had created and he felt secure in victory, sailing towards Zenkar itself.

Cortez had been preparing his departure for Svean, waiting for the tides to be favorable before sailing out. Mere hours before leaving the first warships arrived in the harbour and blocked it off. The small Kartagan navy was pinned in the harbour, not big enough to force a breakthrough. To make matters worse riots broke out again in Zenkar as fear and panic spread throughout the Karteese people. Cortez remained calm and ordered his men to restore order in the city. When night fell he sent out his best captain, Alvaro, with the fastest ship that was available, a confiscated Trinsulaean vessel. Alvaro broke through the blockade and reached the allied fleet in Svean 2 days later, urging them too come relieve Zenkar. Gravitos, the second-in-command, was reluctant as the Tabardans hadn't arrived yet and 62 warships were hard to take down, even for the proud Trinsuaean navy. It was the Deutschmeister commander, Friedrich von Bock, that stated he would set sail to lift the blockade, even if it was them alone. Gravitos was humiliated by this land general being more brave on the seas than him and decided that the fleet set sail the next morning. If the Tabardans had not arrived by then they would be left behind. Luckily for the coalition the Tabardans arrived that very morning and the entire fleet left from Svean three hours later.

#### **The battle**

The fleet arrived a week later, emerging from the West. Orinthos was shocked by the emergence of such a powerful fleet, the existence of the coalition had not been known to him, and he had not prepared for such an eventuality. Seeing the Trinsulaean ships charging forwards he ordered his ships to lift the blockade, seeking to attack the fleet with hit and run tactics which was his go-to tactic. Orinthos was a shipbuilder turned pirate and no admiral, his orders were spread amongst the fleet but sew confusion, making the retreat slow and disorderly. Cortez saw this as an opportunity to strike and left port, linking up with the rest of the fleet and assuming command. He ordered his fleet forward, much more orderly than his adversary. He placed the experienced and professional Trinsulaean navy in the center (32 quinquiremes and 11 biremes). The Tabardan, Tard and German navies were placed on the right (Together being 20 quinquiremes, 12 Tabardan triremes,9 Tabardan biremes and 9 German transports.). His own Kartagan navy (11 quinquiremes) and the Macarmonil navy (12 quinquiremes, and 10 triremes) were put on the left. Being a grand total of 75 quinquiremes, 22 triremes, 20 biremes and 9 transportships; opposing 62 quinquiremes of lesser quality. The plan was to use the superior Trinsulaean navy to force Orinthus to move the brunk of his ships in the middle, or risk his left and right being cut-off. The coalition flanks would then sweep in and destroy the weakened enemy, leading to a final last push to the middle where Orinthus would be attacked from 3 sides.

The plan did not go as was planned but the victory was complete nonetheless. The 10 bronze rammed enemy ships were situated on the right flank and they proved a menace to the Tabardan flank, sinking ships. The left was completely overrun however as Cortez' plan was not opposed by enemy surprises. The flank was soon won and the center was attacked from two sides, completely destroying it. In the meanwhile the right had dealt with the enemy too and when Tard ships sunk the last remaining proper enemy warship the pirates scattered. The victory had been complete and only the Tabardans had suffered losses, including their admiral.

#### **Aftermath**

The battle could be seen from Zenkar itself and when the population saw how easy they had won a victory they started cheering and shouting. Cortez had turned from being a schmo to a national hero, and Arturo I was the mastermind behind it all. He had forgiven Cortez for his failure and given him a second chance. The people of Zenkar would later raise a bronze statue of Arturo I as a token of gratitude.

Orinthos was found alive on a piece of driftwood by Cortez himself and he was taken ashore. In an almost ceremonial manner the many admirals and commanders walked on the docks, side to side as the victors of the day, a simple sailor behind them carrying the unconscious body of Orinthos. The Suffete gave each admiral a hug as the population cheered on them as heroes. He then offered to give the admirals anything they wanted, all they had to do was ask. But all refused, saying that ending piracy was a proper reward on its own.

But piracy had not ended yet. As Orinthos was being quartered, one limb sent to each corner of Zenkar, his head on the harbour entrance as a reminder of what happens with those practicing piracy; many pirates still roamed the roacky coast of Tongaal. It was decided that the Trinsulaeans deal with these remaining pirates as the other coalition partners return home and celebrate their victory. Gravitos quickly located and destroyed the quinquiremes that were left and fought some minor campaigns against pirate hide-outs on the island itself, establishing a military presence in the area that would be used for later expansion. In these caverns many riches were found, including huge sums of talents and gold. All partners received the fair share of 300 talents each with the exception of Kartaga, that had suffered more than all other states combined. Thus, it was decided that Kartaga receive all the gold found and on top of that got the grand total of 500 talents.

## Outcome and significance

### Midsea piracy

The war against piracy, as it would be known, saw the total annihilation of pirates in the Midsea. Tongaal had always been a breeding ground for pirates and smugglers as its rocky coast was perfect for hiding but with the Trinsulaean navy patrolling the sea and occupying the area it had finally be tamed. On top of this many pirate vessels were broken down to enable Orinthos to build his grand fleet. With most of this fleet laying on the bottom of the ocean and the surviving ships in Trinsulaean hands, the pirates had lost all their maritime equipment and thus ceased to exist for the time being.

### Macarmonil-Kartagan alliance

Another important outcome of the conflict was the Macarmonil-Kartagan defensive alliance. Macarmonil had been in a conflict with the sea-faring nation of Mideria over sea borders and prisoners for quite some time. War had been a very plausible option as Macarmonil, and later Miderian, ships began to attack the other nation's tradeships. As a member of the treaty of Utrond; Mideria was secured against invasion by the naval powers of Trinsulae and Tabard and thus Macarmonil could not win an offensive war. A defensive war with Mideria would be costly and with the Miderian proclamation to attack any Armonilen tradeships it seemed inevitable. Thus, by securing a defensive alliance with Kartaga; Macarmonil could secure its safety. This alliance was the cause for Macarmonil to join the coalition. Macarmonil and Mideria exchanged prisoners shortly after and negotiations on their respective borders at sea began.

### Trinsulaean Midsea Hegemony

Although Trinsulae had been the dominant naval power in the Midsea for quite some while it had established a permanent military presence on the island of Tongaal, a staging ground for further expansion on the island. The young democracy was now quickly expanding their maritime empire and became emboldened by their performance during the battle of Zenkar Port. This hegemony on the sea made other land powers nervous and created an ever bigger divide amongst the powers of the sea and the powers of the land. Possibly setting up the Midsea for future conflict.

### Cooperation

The war against Piracy was the first instance where a coalition of many states joined forces to fight a common threat. Making future endeavors more likely to happen in order to safeguard stability and status quo.