Orinthos

Orinthos was a Trinsulaean shipbuilder from noble blood that was exiled and turned in the High-King of the Seas, a pirate king that threatened the state of Kartaga. Eventually he was beaten by a coalition of sea-faring nations, including Trinsulae.

## High-King of the Seas

A headbust of Orinthos before he left Trinsulae

## Childhood

Ortinthos childhood was shaped by violence, his father was the tyrant of Allea. Unfortunately for Orinthos his father was going to be the last tyrant in Trinsulae. When the people finally stormed the palace and burnt it to the ground, he could flee with the help of one of the Kings guards. This soldier hid him by his relatives, who build ships for a living. The young boy was a diligent worker, he had to be, or else his new family wouldn’t feed him. He learned the trade of building ships.

He was a troubled youth, boasting about his royal blood, but nobody of rank believed him, why would anyone be proud of that? He had some followers, other adolescents shared his idea, why shouldn’t there be one In power above all, and if there was one, it was certainly going to be Orinthos. So, one night, Orinthos had just turned 20, he and his friends decided, after one of his arousing speeches and some cups of wine to many, to take control of the temple hill and to reinstall the tyranny. That went as one would think it might, he and his companions blockaded the entrance to the hill and got chased of 2 hours later by some very angry priests. Humiliated they fled Trinsulae in one of the boats Orinthos was working on. Because the would-be revolutionaries stole gold out of the temples treasury and weren’t liked anyways they got retroactively banished in the next shard trial.

The original plan was to land on Svean, but the ship wasn’t quite finished and capsized when it hit a storm. The crew died, but Orinthos got lucky the first time in his live and washed ashore on Tongaal.

## High-King of the Seas

The Tongaaleese found him and took him in. 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.

Orinthos blockaded the harbour of Kartaga so that no trade could flow over the sea. When a small vessel approached, he had one of his ships follow it. It turned out, that there was Javier, a close friend of Arturo on the boat. He had come to negotiate with the Hight King. Orinthos 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.

Arturo had some of his spies searching for Orinthos again, and they found him. The Karteese amassed a great coalition against the High King. Tabard, Trinsulae, the Deutschmeister empire, Macarmonil and the Council of Tards all followed his call.

Orinthos had no chance against the coalition when the time for battle came, his fleet was swiftly destroyed. Orinthos was found alive on a piece of 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. He went on to being quartered the same day.