The Sea Ronin

Mershael is known for its naval power. Its ships are undisputed kings of the sea lanes. Though they are often challenged for that title and sometimes bested, no captain in their right mind lightly starts a fight with a Mershael vessel.
The Mershael have been an ocean-going people for centuries, long before an internal cataclysm drove them from their homelands and to the shores of northeastern Ryshael. The city ships that bore them from their heartlands are now legend, but their dominance of the seas lives on without them.
The Mershaeli are not overly aggressive unless provoked, so their supremacy of the sea lanes is usually proven against pirates, slavers, and the rare battle with the Traazorite navy. Their merchant ships are almost always escorted by warships. Except for the months of early autumn when storms threaten the coasts of the Shining Sea area, Mershaeli ships are a common sight along the trade routes and in all foreign ports.
The strength of the Mershaeli navy lies in two things: Their superior ship designs born of millennia of use and their crews, which train hard and give their lives to the sea.
Naval combat against the Mershael is brutal. Mershaeli ships close the distance fast, deluging an enemy ship with bolts fired from deck-mounted weapons. The enemy ship is then boarded, and all remaining resistance is dealt with directly. This efficiency has given the Mershaeli navy a well-earned reputation as brutal no-nonsense warriors.
One example of their superior crews is the Sumeda Yenhi or Sea Ronin. The Sea Ronin is a Mershaeli boarder, trained to leap from their ship onto an enemy ship and seek out the biggest threats to a boarding action.
Sea Ronins train in one of the Mershaeli Hona Ihatha, the ancient martial traditions known as the Winds. Being boarders, they are prepared to take out opponents quickly in the close confines of deadly ship-to-ship battles. Sea Ronins learn Tachan, or Surprise, known for fatal strikes that come from seemingly nowhere.
Sea Ronins are incredibly agile, usually leaping from their vessel onto an opponent’s ship before Mershaeli forces launch their assault. Once aboard, they work their way through the enemy, picking out skilled warriors to engage.
Sea Ronins are dangerous opponents trained to fight in the most confined conditions. Their every move is measured and thought out, giving them the most advantage over their opponents. Their strikes have been compared to lightning, without warning and deadly.
All Mershaeli port cities have a school that teaches Tachan to aspiring students. The largest and best-known of these schools is at Palantis, and it has earned the derisive nickname Hona Abe or The Pond from its students. The Katatoshi that run the school honor a millennia-long tradition of having their students train in the water. To do something quickly, one must be able to do it slowly first.
Sea Ronin end up all around Faelon. Their original name, Sumeda Yenhi, means Sea Warrior. For whatever reason, they tend to disembark at a port and keep going, hence the change in their name to Sea Ronin. These wandering Mershaeli warriors appear in mercenary freebands, as part of bandit groups, and adventuring throughout the northern and southern continent. Many have purchased their own ship and sailed far beyond the trade lanes.
Many have speculated about their tendency to wander. Very few Sea Ronin leave a ship before their term of service is over, though it has been known to happen. Others wait patiently until service is over and then do not return to their home port. It may be years or even decades before these wandering warriors come back to their home, usually their Hona Ihatha School.
Because of this, Katatoshi for Tachan are rarer than in other disciplines and tend to be older before reaching the rank. “Keeping a Sumeda Yenhi at home” is a phrase that has come to mean an impossibly tricky task that you have no absolute control over.
The Sea Ronin’s wandering is probably influenced by Mershaeli’s tendency to travel after their term in the military. Many Mershaelis will educate at a foreign university, learn a trade skill in a foreign port, or do anything so they can travel. Young Mershaeli love to see new things while still being productive and furthering their lives. Mershaeli name this Hona Owalaba or The Call.
Hona Owalaba is the nagging sensation of missing something in their lives and the irresistible impulse to drop everything to find it. Most Mershaeli get this out of the way when they are young before starting a family. Sea Ronin will behave this way at any time in their life, long after most Mershaelis get it out of their system.
The Sea Ronin spends years beyond their youth honing their skills and serving the Mershaeli navy. They are taught to have complete confidence in their abilities and are shown that they can overcome even the direst situations with their brains and their blade.
It makes sense that Hona Owalaba is not satiated until the individual travels and satisfies the wanderlust. A Sea Ronin, having devoted their lives to training and duty, simply steps away from it for a time to answer The Call and experience life outside of the seabound trade routes.