Akradína The Swift
History
Early Life
Born to powerful mages in The Capital, Akradína should have wanted for nothing. Well connected, wealthy beyond belief, and provided with endless arcane amusement in the form of magical toys, it was a life most children could have only dreamt of. But two great shadows loomed over this charmed existence. Despite her lineage, the child had no arcane power to speak of. Years of frustrated tutelage and tutors passed by, and more than once her parents considered handing her to colleagues who specialised in various forms of power-granting magics - draconic transformations, elemental infusions, even warlock pacts. That they didn't was a kindness, yet simply overhearing such discussions would frighten any child into forgetting their otherwise priviliged life. The second shadow was born of the first; fearing for their plebian child's safety in the world beyond their City of Magic, they refused to allow her beyond Olsíri limits. Every day she would watch the ships pass beyond the Tisian Gates, longing to join them, and every night she would beg her parents to leave the gilded cage she was in. Eventually they came to an agreement; should she master every nonmagical field a tutor set before her, a ship would be bought and she would be free. Across a dozen years she studied under the greatest navigators and astronomers in the world. Under the most skilled pilots and warriors money could buy. She learned how to survive the wrath of angry mages, how to escape the King of Teeth's deadly maw, how to chart a course through The Underworld itself. Until one day, finally, she was ready.A Lordly Ship
The Medea was named after a mythological woman of great cunning and wisdom. And she was a ship with few equals. In those days, Triremes were yet to become the standard, dominant style of vessel, but it was not this alone that had her stand apart. A golden hippocampus adorned the bow, while carvings of sharks decorated the ram. The two sails both woven through with the deep purple symbols of her family and home, able to catch the wind like no other. An enchantment upon the deck that ensured all crew could sleep comfortably on floating beds of conjured feathers. For all this and more, The Medea would have become a legend no matter who captained her. It did not take long for Akradína to assemble a crew, each one a hero in their own right, each one with a star since granted in their name. Together they ventured across the known world, gaining renown with each of their countless ventures. A city saved from a sea monster. A pirate fleet turned to splinters. A dozen races and rivalries against The Wanderer and her Captain Kreon, during the years before his tragic end. The tales of Akradína and her ship were too many to list, and yet even these did not satisfy the wanderlust born in the mind of a child, all those years ago. And so she - willingly, madly - travelled to the Shifting Isles of Fidain in search of greater dangers and stories.The Shifting Isles
Dangers and stories she would find aplenty. Waves that could capsize a city. Monsters with eyes of flame and claws of madness. Islands with treasures and secrets none had ever seen before. Flowing water hungry for flesh. Secluded mages and imprisoned demons. Where just one of these islands, just one day of travel between them, could have been the end for a lesser ship and a lesser crew, Akradína kept them safe through every one. With her knowledge of medicine she treated poison-induced insanity. With her training in speechcraft she convinced the mages to return her petrified companions. With the strength of her crew behind her, there was no challenge she could not face. Until nearly a decade after entering the isles and being presumed dead, The Medea returned intact.Hubris Before the Fall
Having miraculously kept every member of her crew safe throughout their entire (likely traumatic) voyage through the Isles of Fidain, the love Akradína's crew had held for so long grew into fanaticism. They worshipped her as Queen of the Sea, believing her power greater than that of Suróza and Fidain combined. Worse still, she heard them - their fanaticism was permitted. It was enjoyed. During their journey home, the crew of The Medea celebrated every night and half of each day, toasting to their success and glorifying their captain. Eventually the Gods had heard enough. A storm the likes of which has never again been seen in all the years since tore through the sky, tossing The Medea a thousand miles and more in the wrong direction, splintering her hull and disintegrating her masts. The ship that had survived so many dangers blew like a leaf in a tempest, and Akradína was powerless to stop it. Once sunny skies returned a week later, Akradína realised the weight of her hubris. Her ship would take years to return to the way it had once been, and a single crew member had been lost. Many claim it was testament to the skill of all on board that only one had died. In truth it was proof of merciful Gods, and Akradína in her wisdom realised this was so.The Palladium
The Medea limped its way from city to city, picking up small repairs along the way. Yet it sailed right past all of Tísma without stopping. She offered little explanation to her crew, though they trusted her to lead them even now. They knew she sought to attone for her failure, to gain forgiveness from the Gods that could have so easily killed her. She sailed to Prótos and sought The Godforge to make an offering worthy of the divine. And eventually she succeeded - a statue of pearl and platinum was made, paid for with every scrap of treasure earned across decades of adventuring. Before Katas himself she vowed to be faithful for the rest of her days, and offer prayers to Suróza each and every dawn in the hopes of forgiveness and protection. Impressed by this display of piety and skill, The Sea heard her prayers. The statue would become known as The Palladium, capable of protecting the domain of wherever it stood, so long as those around it remained pious and true. Returning to her ship, Akradína prayed to the statue upon her ship every day, and demanded her crew do the same. Devoted as they were, there was no hesitation, and The Medea's adventures continued for some time, fully repaired and warded to near invincibility.The End of The World
The Tachni Isles beyond the Gates of Kratis mark the end of the known world: none have ever ventured further East into the endless domain and returned. With a crew more loyal to her than to the very Gods, a ship protected by legendary magics, and every drop of The Varolian Sea already conquered, East was the only path left to travel. And so East she sailed. She passed the islands at the height of Summer, continued onward with the sun at her back, and was never seen again.
Children
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