Josia Price

**Josia Price**, often referred to by epithets such as **King Price** and the **Burned Man**, was the twelfth Pirate King of Twin Moon, serving from 2423 until his death from natural causes in 2455. His reign of thirty-two years was the longest in Twin Moon's history, and he is generally ranked amongst the greatest pirates in human history.

Born on the spacer world of Jeddah, Price survived his world's destruction at the hands of House Izar when he was rescued by future Pirate King Saw Trace, who then became his mentor. Price soon earned a reputation as a "Robin Hood" pirate with a strict code of morals, which earned him the loyalty of a small crew aboard the *King Trace's Revenge* and subsequently a seat at the Liberty Table. When the time came for a new king to be selected, a cabal of captains, fearful of new blood, framed Price, had him arrested and sent to Takhar Prison, which he famously escaped in 2423, becoming the only person to do so. After returning to Libertalia he exposed the traitorous captains and unanimously won election as Pirate King, the youngest in Twin Moon's history.

Throughout his reign, Price was known as a skilled diplomat, fearsome raider and dedicated captain who led Twin Moon during its darkest hour, the War of Thunder. His actions during the Battle of Earth, in which he aided the forces of the Stellar Alliance against the Hanseatic League, earned both him and Twin Moon a temporary amnesty that allowed them to expand farther out from Oppenheimer than ever before while also earning Twin Moon a reputation as noble outlaws. Upon his death he was succeeded by Henri "Whoreson" Thorson as Pirate King, though Whoreson was quickly succeeded by Price's former first mate Cyrus von Ironclaw.

## Biography

### Early Life & Background

Little is yet known of Price's childhood, other than he was born a spacer on the mining colony of Jeddah, owned by the Boötes Mining division of House Izar; at a young age he picked up one of the most widespread spacer accents, a strong Irish creole, and a defective anchor that would malfunction throughout his life.

When Price was eight years old, Jeddah's surface was becoming unstable from over-mining, causing frequent, devastating earthquakes. In order to not default on their investment, House Izar authorised the destruction of Jeddah so as to mine its resource-rich core; with little warning to the planet's inhabitants, House Izar deployed an orbital directed-energy weapon to bore through the crust. Jeddah quickly shattered into pieces, sending massive chunks of planetary crust flying off into space. In the chaos, the young Price's parents were swallowed up by the collapsing landscape just as a Twin Moon raiding party arrived to rescue civilians; Price himself was rescued from certain death by the party's commander, captain Saw Trace.

### Son of the Moon

Upon arrival at Libertalia, Josia was inducted into Clan Trace, the largest clan within Twin Moon at the time. Little is known about his subsequent upbringing other than he rose from the rank of toilet cleaner to lieutenant by the time he was twenty, a feat that only a few had ever accomplished. Trace eventually gave Price command of a small schooner within Clan Trace's fleet, giving Price the first taste of leadership.

In 2417, while walking the streets of Libertalia, Price was pickpocketed by an orphan named Cyrus von Ironclaw. Instead of punishing the boy when he apprehended him, Price took the young Cyrus under his wing, just as Saw Trace had done for him. Cyrus subsequently became Price's most staunch ally and closest friend, as well as a trusted advisor during Price's future reign.

### Clan Price

In 2419, Saw Trace was elected as the eleventh Pirate King of Twin Moon; in accordance with Twin Moon tradition, Trace vacated his seat at the Liberty Table and command of his clan to his first mate, Herrik Venture; Clan Trace thus became Clan Venture. The sudden changes frustrated Price, as did Venture's leadership style: unlike Trace, Venture was more of a typical pirate, one that didn't care about the innocent or the desperate. The tension between them was worsened by Venture's refusal to name Price - a senior member of the former Clan Trace - as first mate, causing Price to publically attack Venture.

Such an act against a sitting member of the Liberty Table carried dire consequences; it was only Trace's mercy that stopped Venture from making Price "walk the plank" (i.e. ejection from an airlock). Instead of death, Price was cast out of Clan Venture; he was thus rendered clanless, placing him at the bottom of Twin Moon's hierarchy. Without a clan, he was disallowed from living inside Libertalia's residential zone, forcing him to set up camp in the slums around the main body of the station; ever loyal to Price, Cyrus von Ironclaw went with him.

   Life for Price and von Ironclaw in the slums was brief but violent. Air circulation was poor, making it difficult to breath, and essentials such as food and water were rare. Price and Cyrus were lucky enough to join one of the clanless communes, where they barely scraped out a living. Their living conditions prompted Price to set a bold goal: he would create his own clan and earn a new seat at the Liberty Table, something that hadn't been done for nearly thirty years. Thus was formed Clan Price, of which only Cyrus and Price himself were members.

With Cyrus' help, Price assembled a small group of clanless pirates and offered them a place in his new clan; only a few accepted: the twins Dayna and Devin Stark, rogue quantum-turned-pirate Data and former H.N. Ranger John Golf. All were desperate outcasts that saw Price's ambitions as a way to get off Libertalia.

Although he now had a clan, Price still needed a ship; with the help of a few friends that he still had in Clan Venture, Price and his new clan learned of a frigate stationed at a Herschel Nations shipyard, the MV *Goodfella*. With the help of a fixer, sneaking into the shipyard and stealing the *Goodfella* was trivial; Price chose to name his new ship the *King Trace's Revenge* out of respect for his mentor.

#### Heist of the *Roger W. Young*

Although he now had a ship and a clan, Price was still far from his stated goal. If he was to break a thirty-year trend and earn a brand new seat at the Liberty Table, his great feat in service to Twin Moon would have to send shockwaves across the galaxy. Clan Price thus had two options ahead of them: spend years executing a series of small raids that would accumulate into an offering that may have been barely enough to earn Price's seat; or, more attractively, commit a single, daring raid against a well-guarded vessel and steal an offering that would all but confirm his place at the Table. Unsurprisingly, Price chose the second option despite reservations from his crew.

Thanks to Data, Clan Price soon discovered a tempting target: the MV *Rodger W. Young*, a merchant ship carrying bearer bonds destined for corporate casinos. Billions of untraceable credits lay within a heavily-defended freighter surrounded by corporate assault vessels; a daring challenge for an entire pirate fleet, let alone a single ship crewed by unsupported, underarmed and vastly outnumbered outcasts. For Clan Price, who had come to respect their captain, earning Price a seat at the Table had become a life-or-death mission from which any option was escape; they would very likely die, but even the slimmest chance of success was enough for them to rally behind Price.

### Pirate King

#### Great Galactic War

##### Price's War

―King Price convinces the captains to fight with the Alliance during the Great Galactic War

*To be added...*

## Overview

### Personality

In many ways, Price was the archetype of a legendary pirate: he had a love of fine food and clothing, a roaring charisma and a brutal ruthlessness; in others, he differed drastically from many pirates of his time: unlike any captain or Pirate King that came before him, Price possessed a strict code of morals that he expected every subordinate to follow, which included never harming innocents. Nonetheless, he was still a violent pillager and accomplished killer that showed no mercy to his enemies; he was not above using violence to keep his pirates in line and cultivated a reputation as a fearsome raider that nobody would want to cross.

Level-headed, cunning and endlessly loyal to his crew, Price fancied himself as a modern "Robin Hood" that would steal from the rich and give to the needy; to that end, he rarely kept his share of treasure, instead gifting it to the needy or to various charitable causes. He never once batted an eye at raiding and slaughtering those he saw as harming or taking advantage of common folk, and considered every government and corporation as his enemy. His empathy was perhaps his most infamous trait and he would often treat prisoners with some level of decency; he abhorred sexual violence and would severely punish anyone that committed such a crime, usually with death. During his prime, Price's image was that of a noble outlaw, one that showed mercy to most and unrelenting fury to those he believed deserved it.