~{ History ;
~{ Felix wasn't born cruel. If anything he was unlucky, which I know is ironic given his choice of nickname. He was an only child born to two very loving parents. They lived outside of a relatively small and quiet coastal town with a decent trading market and good access to various goods. Everyone in town was generally quite friendly, and they would often enjoy going into town to visit the farmers' market or various other stores. Some of their neighbors who also lived on the outskirts of town had Visclings of their own who Felix would sometimes play with. Though Felix was a mischievous troublemaker, he rarely actually meant anything he did.
~{ For six years, it seemed they had it made. Everything was going well for them and it seemed Felix had a bright and promising future ahead of him. Or at least he would've. That all was taken away the day a band of cutthroat pirates found the town and took it upon themselves to lay siege to it.
~{ The pirates landed to the south of the city and worked their way north, which meant that Felix's house and family were among the first to be raided. They had a very brief warning from the smoke rising south of them but weren't able to make it out before the pirates arrived. They broke down the door and before they scarcely had time to scream his parents were on the ground bleeding out and the pirates were advancing on him. Fueled by youth and adrenaline, Felix was just barely able to escape out a back window. He hit the ground running and only stopped to look back after a few minutes to see their house up in flames and dark smoke filling the winter sky. He didn't really grieve. At first he felt numb, but then he was filled with a determination and resolve to find who did it and not let them get away with it, but he knew that in order to that he first needed to survive that long.
~{ He didn't stop for long, and immediately continued running to town. He warned anyone who would listen about the oncoming attack, but he himself didn't stay for long. Just long enough to snatch a few supplies when Viscets weren't looking before leaving town. He knew the pirates wouldn't stop at just a few houses and had no intention of sticking around long enough to see if he was right.
~{ He continued his journey north. A huge industrial city was there, and that was where he intended to go. The city wasn't exactly close however. It was about a two week journey on horseback, a month if you walked. Needless to say, the middle of winter is not the best time to go, especially not when you're a six year old traveling on your own with little to no supplies or experience.
~{ Felix didn't grab much in the way of food, and was quickly forced to try to hunt just about anything he could find, an extremely challenging task given his lack of tools and experience and that it was the dead of winter. He wasn't very successful, and was forced to ration what little he had, sometimes not eating at all some days. The few times he did catch something he had no fire and was forced to eat it raw. The coat he brought with him was thin, really only having been designed for autumn use, and was barely enough to protect him from the biting cold.
~{ When he finally did make it to the northern city, he was in very bad shape from a combination of starvation, dehydration, and constant near-hypothermia. One upside though was though food and shelter was much easier to come by in the city than in the forest. Felix was able to find shelter behind in a back alley between a butcher shop and a bar, where he stayed for a while to recover from his journey.
~{ As his condition improved, he began to venture out more and more, a little farther each time. It wasn't long before he drew the attention of some of the citizens who alerted law enforcement and the orphanage that there was a homeless six year old roaming the streets of downtown. Felix had no intention of being sent to an orphanage, and a city-wide game of cat and mouse soon began.
~{ He spent close to two years on his own, living on the streets, evading law enforcement and fighting other Viscets for scraps. He began to develop quite a reputation among Viscets living on the streets, and many soon began to recognize him. Some would go out of their way to provoke a fight with him while others would drop whatever they were holding and quickly slink out of sight.
~{ Not long after Felix turned eight he found a badly injured Viscet about his age hiding and almost unconscious in an alley. Hit by a stroke of inspiration, he decided to help him and help care for him until he got better. He found food and some scraps of cloth to function as bandages and did his best to patch him up. The Viscet seemed to drift in an out of consciousness for a couple weeks, and Felix figured he must have been hurt pretty bad to be messed up so bad. Nonetheless he did his best to nurse him back to health.
~{ About two weeks after finding and caring for the Viscet, a group of five others showed up at the alley. They were armed with knives and were not afraid of stabbing a few kids. They completely blocked the only entrance to the alley, so there was no escape. Felix tried desperately to talk his way out of it, but they were having none of it. They started advancing on him, and being armed with nothing but his wits and facing five attackers much taller, older, and stronger than him, he didn't have much hope he would make it out alive.
~{ That was when the Viscet Felix had found apparently woke up and took them all by surprise. He lunged toward one of the attackers and took his knife with ease before promptly turning the blade on them. Every time they stabbed at him he expertly blocked it only to immediately retaliate with a jab of his own, even though they outnumbered him five to one. No matter how fast or fiercely they attacked he was faster. It came to a head when he managed to slip past their defenses and stabbed one in the abdomen and gave two others nasty slashes across their arms and faces. Having finally decided they'd had enough, the attackers fled.
~{ The Viscet, who seemed to be much better now despite having barely eaten anything for two weeks, explained the whole situation to Felix, telling him that those Viscets were the same ones who attacked him in the first place. He warned Felix that they were members of one of the most notorious gangs and that they'd made him their target, and now that Felix had been seen with him and trying to protect him, that the gang would be after him too now and it would be incredibly dangerous to go alone. He thanked Felix for finding him and in all honestly likely saving his life and asked if there was anything he could do in return. Felix suggested that they team up if it was so dangerous to be alone now, and the Viscet agreed. Felix jokingly called him Blade in reference to how he held off the five Viscets all by himself, and the nickname just seemed to stick after that.
~{ Soon after word started to spread about Felix and Blade teaming up, and it wasn't long before other Viscets being persecuted by the same gang came to them to seek refuge. Soon Felix himself had quite a gang around him. Since there were getting to be so many of them, Felix decided to set up camp in an abandoned warehouse on the southeastern side of the city, not too far off from their normal roaming grounds.
~{ It didn't take long for them to start getting involved in drama. For the next several years, gang wars and feuds were common. A lot of members died, but even more came in to replace them. It went from law enforcement searching for them because they were underage to law enforcement searching for them because they were a danger. During this time, Felix grew even more cold and ruthless. He knew he couldn't afford to get attached to anyone if he didn't want to get hurt again, and showing mercy to the wrong person could mean death or worse for him.
~{ This went on quite smoothly for just over seven years, but that routine was interrupted quite abruptly. Everything had been going normally that day, and dark was fast approaching. Everyone had been winding down for the night when the Viscet on guard duty suddenly let out a shriek that was stopped abruptly by a gargling noise. Everyone was immediately on edge and grabbed the nearest weapon they could. Moments later the door was thrown open and a raiding party from a rival gang poured in. In the midst of the immediate confusion, no one but one noticed one of their own members slip away to open the enormous side door.
~{ With a shudder and the ungodly screech of old bent metal, the massive door raised up to reveal a sea of enemies from several rival gangs all waiting outside. They poured in like an avalanche and the carnage was immediate. Within moments Felix saw the futility of trying to fight them off. Each of his own was outnumbered three to one at best, six or more at worst. He gave the order to retreat, and anyone who could make it struggled to the back exit. The survivors fled into the maze of alleys with their pursuers hot on their tails. Some fell behind and were immediately slaughtered. Eventually they decided they'd apparently had enough, as the next time Felix looked back no one was behind them anymore.
~{ Felix led the survivors deep into the back of a long winding alley in the heart of downtown where he was sure no one would follow. Then, after a few minutes of settling in, he turned on the Viscet he'd seen open the door in the middle of the initial raiding party and accused him of betrayal and of being a spy, since until then no other gangs had known where their base of operations was. In one fell swoop he grabbed the sword Blade was holding and lopped off the spy's head. His blood felt cold as ice and the adrenaline coursing through him drowned out any outside sounds, but as he stood there he felt nothing for the body laying before him.
~{ The next few weeks were restless. They couldn't go back to the warehouse and many were now wary and distrustful of their peers, unable to tell if they were truly friend or foe. Whispers and rumors began to circulate, and some were beginning to grow unhappy and resentful of Felix. They didn't agree with his actions and they were jealous of the special privileges he had as leader.
~{ A small scouting party from the now mega-gang they were rivals with stumbled across their camp one day, but were easily fought off. However, this seemed to be the straw that broke the camel's back. The Viscets who'd been frustrated and resentful suddenly confronted Felix, pulling blades on him and accusing him of being greedy, selfish, and in generally a poor leader. The mutineer's movement soon gained traction, and it wasn't long before a good chunk of the survivors were rebelling. While in the middle of their grand speech, one of them stepped toward him and lazily gestured toward his throat with a knife. Meanwhile all through the confrontation, Felix had been watching Blade's hands twitch on the hilt of his sword all through everything, and this set him off. In an instant the rebel was dead on the ground with a pool of blood forming around their chest where they'd been impaled.
~{ The resulting chaos was immediate. Everyone who remained loyal to Felix took this as their signal to begin attacking the traitors. Blades were flashing and fur and blood was in the air, and amidst it all, Felix quietly slipped away into the night. He saw the unfolding hell and he saw how just how many chose to betray him, and knew that trying to regain control over the situation would just be futile and be far more work than would be worth it for the reward.
~{ At that point he knew he couldn't stay in the city. Not with how many enemies he had now. He left the city and set up camp just north of it in the woods surrounding it. Luckily it was summer, and so shelter wasn't much of an issue. He stayed there for a few weeks, laying low and planning his next move. He again resorted to hunting animals for food, but now that he was older and more experienced and actually had weapons and proper tools it was much easier than when he was six.
~{ He was startled one day when someone found him. Luckily for him, it wasn't just any someone. It was Blade. Blade had apparently survived the fight, but had been outnumbered so much that he hadn't been able to get away and had been taken hostage by the mutineers. They tried to get information out of him of where Felix had gone, but he hadn't known and even if he had he wouldn't have told. He warned Felix that even though he'd escaped, he'd been followed and the rebels wouldn't be too far behind him.
~{ It was then Felix chose to tell Blade that he'd decided to steal a boat.
~{ Blade was properly taken aback and doubtful of Felix's plan, but after a few minutes Felix convinced him to trust him and just go with it. Even though it was the middle of the night, they left as soon as they dismantled the temporary camp. They were down by the docks before the break of day, using the shadows to their advantage to hide from the numerous guards stationed there.
~{ They stayed in the shadows and watched for around an hour, learning the patterns of the guards and trying to determine which ships were the easiest to get away with. Once they picked their target, they acted quickly. Once no guards were looking they jumped out of the shadows and hurried as quickly and quietly as they could across the pier. They were almost to the boat when they were spotted and the alarm was raised, and they abandoned all semblance of stealth. They sprinted down the dock to the ship. Felix leaped aboard as Blade hacked at the rope with his sword. As soon as the last thread frayed he followed Felix's example and jumped on.
~{ They set off immediately, but weren't getting away as cleanly as they hoped. Archers had already taken their spots along the wall and boardwalk and were already firing at them. They took cover as best they could on the empty deck, and were just lucky enough to have not gotten hit by the time they were out of range. They immediately headed south and had almost cleared the bend in the land when Blade looked back and saw two other boats pull out of the harbor and turn south after them.
~{ Felix remembered passing a river on his journey north and began to carefully watch the coastline on a hunch. It wasn't long before he spotted what he was looking for and steered toward it. A river mouth. As they approached, they saw the river was both narrow and shallow, with many branches hanging low over it and many sharp boulders protruding from the riverbed. Blade began to voice his doubts but Felix hushed him and promised he knew what he was doing.
~{ They reached the mouth of the river and began to travel upstream. If one thing was favorable about the river, it was that it was calm. They made quick progress, and when they looked back they saw their pursuers falling farther and farther behind, hesitant to continue the chase up the jagged river bottom. It didn't take long before they looked back and didn't see them at all. They continued at a steady pace for the rest of the day, and as night was approaching the river began to open up more and more and began to deepen. They rounded one last corner and saw open ocean out ahead of them as far as they could see.
~{ They didn't immediately head for open waters, however. Instead, they continued to follow the coast south and just as night fell in full, they pulled into the harbor of another city. They pretended to be innocent and amateur travelers, and asked the more experienced sailors for advice. When that was said and done, they headed into the city for supplies. Since they didn't have any money, they instead opted to steal of course.
~{ They found a hidden stockpile of food and rope, and as they were helping themselves to it, they were found by a younger Viscet with a dangerous glint in his eyes. He promised he wouldn't go to the authorities about them, but only if they let him in on it. Seeing they really had no choice, they decided to let him join them. He quickly earned the nickname Sly due to his devilish knack for being able to force situations exactly like that.
~{ The three of them left the next morning and continued their journey south, stopping at each city for more supplies and occasionally more crew members. This went on for a while before Felix felt confident they had enough people to start their career of crime. They started small, with small local stores and banks and eventually worked their way up to raiding smaller boats. They began to pick up a reputation, and it wasn't long before they were recognized as dangerous criminals.
~{ After a few months of this, Felix decided he wanted more and made the decision to steal an even bigger grander ship. He was incredibly ambitious, and set his sights on the recently completed Navy vessel the Corbeau. The heist was a success, and they were immediately launched into the vaulted rank of most wanted criminals in the land. After some thought, Felix rechristened the Corbeau and changed it to the Lammergeier.
~{ They began going up against and raiding other ships as big as or sometimes bigger than them, and quickly earned themselves a reputation as one of the most dangerous pirate gangs of their time. They were wanted in every city along the eastern shore and quite a few in the west as well, which Felix really didn't have a problem with.
~{ Present ;
~{ They bit off a bit more than they could chew in one battle in particular. They were up against a Navy vessel armed with canons, and the enemy crew started aiming the canons down to fire at the ship directly and try to sink them. Felix called a retreat and they made their getaway. Their opponent didn't pursue them luckily. They seemed happy enough to just get be left alone.
~{ They were fairly close to a port on the western shore, and made their way toward it as quick as they could for supplies to repair the Lammergeier. As they approached, Hawk-Eye had been up in the crows' nest and noticed a caravan of seven wagons on shore. He alerted Blade, who in turn relayed the information to Felix. Felix saw it as an excellent opportunity to get more resources quickly, and who knew what might be hiding in those wagons.
~{ As soon as they were docked, they attacked the wagons. They drove the Viscets off in seconds, killing over half of them before they got away. The crew split up to search the wagons, but the one Felix picked has something strange. In the back of the wagon was a young female Viscet, definitely no older than thirteen, tied up and blindfolded, clearly having been kidnapped. Felix almost felt a pang of pity for her but suppressed it immediately. He untied her and decided to take her back to the Lammergeier once the rest of the crew reported back with their findings. Felix and two others would return to the ship and make their way down the coast while the rest lead by Blade would round up the horses that got loose when the wagons were first attacked and use them to transport the wagons to wherever the Lammergeier stopped.
~{ Once back on the ship, Felix took the young Viscet into his quarters so he could talk with her without being openly snooped on by the others. He talked to her for a while, and once she got over the worst of her shock, she introduced herself as Cande and explained her situation. Felix had one of the crew members bring them something to eat from the mess hall in the lower decks, and after a little longer Felix offered her a place on the crew. She accepted, whether because she wanted to or because she had to, Felix didn't really care.
~{ They talked for a bit longer, Felix explaining some of the ins and outs of the ship and crew when they were interrupted by the Viscet from before bearing the news that they'd found a suitable place to drop the anchor and stay for a while. While they waited for the rest of the crew to catch up on land, Felix, Cande, and one other Viscet went down to examine the damage the canons had done and determine how long they'd need to lay low. There really weren't any crew members who knew how to work with wood well, and so repairs would likely take a while.
~{ Considering the close call with the Navy, the fight at the dock, the new untrained crew member, and the stolen wagons, maybe that wasn't exactly a bad thing.
~{ Future ;
~{ Right now, Felix's future is uncertain. He doesn't know it, but the young Viscet in the back of that wagon will change his life in more ways than he could have ever imagined, and honestly, in many ways he'd never want. Felix was the one who gained her trust, and helped her realize maybe she'd been wrong about herself all along. Newly named Rohan was about to start his life with the crew, and maybe in the process make Felix realize he'd been wrong about himself all along.
~{ The only certainty the future holds is uncertainty, betrayal, and double crossing traitors. In this world, there are no good guys, there are no bad guys, only the ugly truth that the world is a bleak and stark place that isn't what you thought. But in the midst of that despair, there's a glimmer of hope. Hope that maybe they can avert this path of disaster before everyone involved gets hurt and the world is dragged into another bloody war born of hatred and grudges.
~{ The cycle of murder, arson, grief, loss, and a life at sea will only continue to spiral out of control if no one steps in and puts an end to the insanity. Those who are hurt aim to hurt others the way they were hurt, while those they hurt swear vengeance or death and dedicate their lives to making their attackers miserable.
~{ It will take a very special Viscet indeed to put an end to all this pain and insanity.
