The Lost Conqueror

Once upon a time, there was a pirate king called Erikul who claimed dominion over the many seas. When Erikul was a child he had gone to the water’s edge and cut his hand, letting his blood spill into the sea. “Sea Father,” he said, “I dedicate my blood to you. Let me ride your back to glory!” His prayer was heeded, and by the time he was full in manhood, he was the greatest sailor in all the lands. He served on a pirate ship and, in the winking of an eye, became captain of a dread fleet.
By the time the first traces of silver were in his beard he was known as the Terror of the Seas. One day, while sailing on the back of Shalimyr, the Great Sea, his vessel was hailed by the kindly sea-elves who swam at its side. The pirates welcomed the sea-folk aboard. At their head was their queen, Shawaliasha, the most beautiful woman on land or water. At once, Erikul was smitten in love and demanded the queen’s hand. “I have forsworn marriage,” the queen responded, “until I find a man who is the lord of all he surveys.”

Erikul thought this awfully strange, for surely the queen of the sea-elves had heard of Erikul, the Terror of the Seas. “But that is I, lady. I am Erikul, the pirate king, and I am master of all the seas. There are none who would dare oppose me or my fleet. No one sails on the wide back of Grandfather Ocean that I do not know of, and none stand against me should I seek to board or take their ships. While other kings rule the weak land, I rule the seas!” “That is well, King Erikul, but you are not lord of all you survey.”

This was terribly vexing to the pirate king, and he looked out over the bow of his mighty ship. And then he turned back. “You are wrong, lady! I am Lord of all I Survey! I see nothing before me that I cannot take for my own, including you and your folk. I have been kind thus far, but should Erikul seek to conquer your folk, he shall! I am the King of all the Seas! I am Master of all the Oceans!”

At this, the queen smiled, for she knew that Raging Shalimyr had heard this claim. Within moments, Shalimyr, the Waters of the World, opened wide his horrible maw and swallowed up Erikul and all his ships. Thus did the queen of the Sea-Elves rid the world of the Terror of the Seas. For no man is King of the Ocean; only Endless Shalimyr may claim domain over the waters. Any man who forgets this is doomed to die as surely as Erikul, who is now bones at the bottom of the sea.