Morad Nyh and the Hand of Shadow

Morad Nyh's obstinate refusal of both the Order of the Unceasing Tide and the Hand of Shadow left her, and her followers, in a very difficult position. The Order had declared them apostate and anathema, and the her murder of the Hand's representatives guaranteed the criminal underworld would provide them with no safe harbor—even those criminals who didn't owe the Hand their allegiance would under no circumstances work with the Hand's enemies. But what came next was a tour de force of rage and ingenuity, as Morad led her crew on a cavalcade of slaughter, wiping out Hand Temples and cells wherever she could find them, while raiding ships belonging both to it, and to the Dokhar League. All this culminated in a battle with the infamous Dorakh Mul himself, which would sear Morad's name into history forever.

— from To Rule The Waves: The Dokhar Diaspora, by

Summary

Morad Nyh was an Andokh Renar, a priest of the Heart Unceasing possessing arcane knowledge of the ocean, belonging to the Order of the Unceasing Tide. However, she found the Order's theology lacking, and pursued arcane mysteries it had long deemed heretical. She was eventually discovered, and she, and all those to whom she had taught what she had found, apostate and anathema, causing them to flee into exile.
While in exile, Morad was approached by representatives of the Hand of Shadow, who offered her and her followers respite among their ranks, in exchange for their conversion. Morad was unwilling to compromise on her religious beliefs, and the argument escalated to the point where she murdered them. And then proceeded to murder multiple of the Hand's cells, which they called Temples.
Both the Order and the Hand, Morad chose a third path, stealing a ship belonging to the navy Dokhar League—a country with which the Order was intimately intertwined—and setting out as an independent pirate crew. They raided targets belonging both to the League, and to the Hand, alongside murdering every Hand agent they could find for good measure, accruing vast amounts of wealth, and amassing a small fleet under her banner.
Eventually, the Hand retaliated with the most infamous pirate in history, the immortal, semi-divine Dorakh Mul, who had been lurking in the land of the Dreaming, where mortals do not tread while waking. He arrived flanked by a squadron of sea monsters. Miraculously, Morad and her crew killed the monsters, and chased Dorakh back into the realm of the Dreaming, where they seized a treasure ship filled with ancient, sacred artifacts, which had once belonged to the Order.
Morad's arcane knowledge and mystical connection to the sea allowed her to return her fleet from the Dreaming. Upon her return, she used the newly liberated treasures to leverage a meeting with the leadership of the Order—which, despite even her victory over Dorakh Mul, their most hated enemy, refused to consider her theology as valid. And so, she deceived them, using the meeting as a cover to sacrifice the Order's entire leadership to the Heart Unceasing—a sacrifice which was accepted. From that day, she and her crew set out for the ocean. There would be stories for decades about her sacking ships, and seizing treasure, and especially killing members of the Hand, but none of which could ever be quite confirmed.

Related Species

• Sea Monster

Related Locations

• Abbey of the Unceasing Tide

Related People

• Dorakh Mul
• Morad Nyh

Related Organizations

• Hand of Shadow