Aeron Blacksails

King **Aeron Blacksails** is a character in Book 2. Born to unknown parents in the city of Lys, he grew up to be a pirate, eventually gaining enough supporters that he was able to crown himself their king, claiming dominion over the entire Narrow Sea. One of the most feared pirates to have ever lived, Aeron rules over his domain with an iron fist, making sure that no merchant's ship can pass safely without paying tribute to him.

## Background

Born in the Free City of Lys, Aeron himself never had much of a relationship to his parents, whom he would later describe as being a thief and a whore. Left alone by them at a young age, he worked as a thief for his childhood and not a particularly successful one at that.

However, what he lacked in skill, he made more than up for with charisma and so, even as a boy of ten years, he already gained followers, other orphans who lived on the streets, children who begged and stole for him, with him distributing the gains to everyones benefit. Growing ruthless, he also forced protection money from kids that did not join him, killing those that challenged him and even ending up becoming a danger to adult gangs, who soon learned to fear the name Aeron.

That was until his reign as king of the underworld of Lys ended before ot could truly begin. One night, several rival gangs attacked his hideout, killed most of his followers and left him for dead. Aeron, almost a man by then, survived only barely and on this day, lying in a pool of his own blood, he vowed that one day, he would become the most feared man of the entire world.

Fate smiled upon him when he met a pirate by the name of Degmar, captain of a ship called the Lysene Maid. Degmar took a liking to him and offered him a spot on his ship, not expecting Aeron to actually pull his weight. However, the young man was a born pirate and in time, he worked up the ranks, supported by Degmar, who eventually named him his successor even.

As such, Aeron succeeded his mentor and captain, when Degmar died during a fight against a Volantene warship. Aeron took command, leading his men to victory and gaining a reputation as a fearless and ambitious captain, whom quite a number of lesser captains soon tried to impress in their hopes of joining his ever growing fleet.

With his ambition never satisfied, Aeron landed on the Stepstones, where he claimed the old pirate city of Merman's Rest as his own, working with the last rightful ruler of the city, Warmond Manderly, in order to take it from hostile pirates. This daring act only further cemented his legacy and Aeron, in a moment of hubris, named himself Pirate King of the Stepstones and the Narrow Sea, with Merman's Rest being his seat.

Ever since he enforced strict, but fair rules to the captains in his domain. They had to declare their loyalty for him and he demanded tribute, which he distributed among his most faithful. His power quickly grew, to the point where his entire fleet would be a danger even to fortified port cities or the fleets of some kingdoms, even if the actual control he had over his men was always questionable. At one point in the past, he also gained the service of Edward Anturion, whom he decided to support, for reasons of his own.

## Book 1

### We Write History

Aeron does not appear in this chapter, but he is prominently mentioned during a conversation between Harpy and Jaron. She informs him that at some point, the pirate king had operations running in Oldtown, even personally overseeing them from time to time. It was the arrival of Butterfly, the crimelord hellbent on deveating his other rivals, that convinced him to give up on his work in Oldtown, a move that likely saved his live.

## Book 2

### Fires Far

Aeron is first encountered when Edward Anturion, whom he had invested a lot of coin into, makes his return to Merman's Rest, in the company of his remaining followers, among them the young Alys Boleyn. At this point, Aeron is in the city, together with several members of his council, namely Warmond Manderly, Sargasso Saan, Melvan Tiren, Jadith Linster, Aidan Storm and Gregor Harlaw.

When Edward, Alys and the two sellswords Alisa Karstark and Carvin Granver arrive at the king's residence, they are led to an audience with Aeron and his council. The pirate king himself remains in the background, letting Sargasso and Jadith speak until he makes his contribution. Greeting Edward and hugging him, he shows willingness to hear of his adventures, when he notices Alys, whom he had never seen before. Intrigued by her, he demanded to know whom she is, even harshly silencing Edward when the man tried to answer in her stead.

Ultimately, Aeron agrees to hear Edward out once more, especially after Alys speaks in his favour in a bid to protect herself from the pirates.While making it clear that he is not forgiving Edward for double crossing him, he decides to give him one final chance, due to him hoping for high profits from Edward's undertaking.

### Thorns

While Edward and Alys are his guests, Aeron hosts a tremendous dinner party to entertain them.

## Appearance

Being a Lysene, Aeron has the blood of Valyria in his veins, which shows itself in his pale skin and his light blonde hair. He is clean shaven, with a well-constructed face, featuring high cheekbones and a broad jawline. He also has crystal blue eyes.

Despite being the richest of them all, Aeron does not show his wealth as much as his captains do. He wears fine robes, white and grey, unadorned with any jewelry or further trinkets. He has the habit to smoke strange herbs he imports from the east, using an archaic pipe to do so.

## Personality

Aeron is a calm man, collected and thoughtful. Not a man of many passions, he knows when to remain in the background and let others take charge. It is this ability that made him such a highly successful pirate lord. Quick to gain followers with his charismatic behaviour, Aeron can be evry persuasive if he wants to, using his charm, wealth and mysterious aura to intrigue conversational partners, albeit he is just as willing to intimidate them with brute force.

Another staple of his actions and mannerisms is pragmatism. Aeron does rarely act out of wrath, albeit he can lose his calm when disrespected, showing an arrogant streak to him. He knows when to give up on a hopeless investment, something that has saved his life more than once in the past. Loved by his crew and captains, he treats them fairly and is willing to hear out anyone if they have to say something to him.

## Relationships

### Edward Anturion

As one of the captains under his command, Edward is shown to hold at least some degree of loyalty towards Aeron, even if his schemes seem to ultimately go beyond Aeron's own goals. The pirate king himself treats Aeron no different than any other captain that sails for him, treating him fairly and being willing to hear him out even after Edward ended up owing him a lot of coin.