The Battle Of Galesong Bay

The records of the battle.

Many years ago, a great war broke out amongst the kingdoms, republics and other states along the western edge of the Galesong Sea. The war began as a territorial dispute, but as the fortunes of great nations began to turn, it became a gruelling, continuous conflict.

The region was rich in seaborne trading and impressive were the navies of these various states. Each one was old, proud and capable and as their fellows fought and died on the land, so did they do battle on the waves with sword, bow and ram.

It was during this time of prolonged conflict that these opposed naval forces developed amongst themselves a  **code of conduct** that was both unwritten and enduring. This was one of mutual respect; surrender was taken and mercy was given, sailors would not be left to drown and not to seek out to sabotage their saviours. Fleets and ships would often work together, despite being on opposite sides, to weather the ferocious storms that gave the Galesong it's name, parting ways in the aftermath to give each other time to repair and resupply.

As the ground war grew ever more bitter, the veteran sailors of these navies came to even admire each other and learn the languages of their foemen. As time passed these sailors began to feel distant from the wars of the land, which seemed so foolish from their perspective far from shore.

On the land, the war eventually began to subside. The nations were exhausted, their people weary of bloodshed. Rumours spread of a truce and possibly a peace. There was a whisper that a small nation might sell back those lands it had won from its surrounding territories.

These rumours turned out to be terribly, maddeningly wrong. This small nation; Novotium, did not release its captured lands. In fact, it had gained a terrible and insatiable hunger for conquest. This nation now had an Emperor and its armies were well-armed, well-rested and well paid. The newborn **Caldanian Empire** grew like a wildfire from its  **humble beginnings** and started to consume its neighbours piece by piece.

At sea, the navies of the realm did what they could to halt this conquest, but the dogged legions of the Caldanians did not rely on sea power for their expansion. Exiled and defiant, these fleets raided the coastal cities of the Empire as often as they could and then made their way across the seas to the ports of the west.

Seeking to re-supply and return to their embattled lands, this patchwork fleet turned to City-States far from the Galesong Sea. From each they were turned away, by cities who did not trust such a warlike and desperate peoples and by those who sought to remain untangled from the wars of the east.

The **City-State Of Aram**, ever aloof, went as far as to turn its weapons on any vessel from these remnants who stray too close to their ports. Their impressive siege technologies made quick work of those ships who ignored their curt warnings due to being too damaged to continue any further. From port to port they sailed, only to be turned away or extorted for the services they required. By the time they were in any condition to return to the east, a period of close to five years, Caldania had all but swallowed up the world they had known.

From this point, they were Seabound.

Their years as enemies had transformed these disparate exiles into familiar faces. They already knew how to cooperate and coordinate together, and had between them an informal pigeon language and practical if unwritten system of laws. Bonded by their stateless condition, they fell into an easy alliance as the first of **The Grand Fleet**. They had been displaced by the Empire, and spurned by Aram and the other cities like it.

It was only to themselves that they could turn, and only amongst themselves that they could know trust and freedom. It was not as if they were doomed, their skills in war and peacetime had made them ready for the challenges ahead. They could fish the waves, they could raid and forage on foreign shores. They were familiar with every mile of the known coast and could venture into those unknown better than anyone else in the world. They represented the best sailors, captains and admirals from not one nation but many. Though the centuries would change them, from the outset they understood two facts above all - that their place was astride the waters of the world, and that they owed nothing to anyone but each other.