Captain Loraanys

Captain Loraanys

The Half-Elf Loraanys was the Captain of the vessel 'The Manticore' from an unknown date until mid-late 1494 DR, when she disappeared and the ship fell into the hands of one of her rivals; the Zakharan mariner and slavemaster Abbas Ibn-La'Ahad.
In the early hours of Ches 11 in 1496 DR a group of Thieves in service to 'The Cutters' thieves' guild boarded 'The Manticore', then called the 'Gared-Guur' by its Zakharan tenants, in the hopes of evading the pursuing Waterdhavian guard. Shortly after boarding, the thieves engaged in combat with the vessel's crew and their slaves. Through cunning, wit, and the help of the slaves the thieves managed to best the crew and claim the captain's sword for themselves, however, the ship ground to a halt upon one of the group making contact with the blade. The group were faced with further troubles as the Waterdhavian guard began rowing out to the stranded vessel, while the group fought off the guards' advance the wielder of the captain's sword attempted to figure out how to get the vessel moving again. Sensing a presence upon the ship the sword's wielder attempted to focus the sword's power into propelling the ship, and succeeded, though was fought the entire way by the presence he had sensed.
Once the group reached open water they freed the remaining slaves, discovering that among them were some of the vessel's original crew before it came into the Zakharans' hands, these were: the Tortle sailor Thibaut Shellback, and his crewmates; the Moon Elf siblings Nueleth and Novarth. The freed sailors divulged that they had been captured by the Zakharans while seeking their missing captain, the vessel's original master, Loraanys, while they could not find the captain they discovered a painting in the captain's quarters that depicted the woman in chains and held at the mercy of the sword.
While the group set about putting the ship back in order and seeking avenues by which they might regain full control of the ship, the presence which inhabited the ship steered them into a storm, reaching out to the ship the group felt what it felt; rage, confusion, and determination, determination to see the ship destroyed. The group had discovered letters penned by a 'Duaa', which Nueleth confirmed to have been the captain's lover, a Sha'ir; a Zakharan mage who drew power from the mysterious magics of Genies, and upon speaking a particular phrase discovered in one of the letters the entire crew felt the ship lurch as its figurehead came to life, took flight and came down to the deck in a rage.
The group did battle with the construct and witnessed it bore the face of the previous captain, during the battle one of the group experienced a vision of Loraanys' death at the hands of a Zakharan woman dressed in fine silks who drove Loraanys' own blade into her chest as she slept. In response to the vision the group wrestled the construct to the deck and drove the sword into its chest where a glowing red gem sat, identical to the one held in the sword's hilt. Upon plunging the blade into the construct's chest the ship was enveloped in a blinding white light causing the crew to lose consciousness.
When they woke they discovered in the construct's place stood a translucent green figure; the spirit of the slain captain Loraanys. The group and her former crew conversed with the spirit who remarked that she was sorry for any harm she may have caused them. All present could feel that the confusion and fear they had felt before was gone, replaced with gentle repose, yet they still felt that same desire and determination, where it was indescernable before, it was then clear; the longing for simply an end... Once and for all.
Loraanys, her mind having been cleared from the rage which consumed her, reflected on Duaa and recounted how the mage had managed the feat, and the jealousy that had driven her lover to condemn her to her fate. She confirmed that Duaa had killed her in her sleep and split her spirit in two trapping each part in separate gems and then gifting them to La'Ahad. While she did not know how the feat might be performed she asked the group to give her the end she yearned for.
Recalling that the spirit had only regained lucidity when the phrase in the letter was spoken and on the crew members' comments that a Sha'ir's magic depended upon a sort of twist to ensure it remained in effect the group attempted to use the sword's power to set her free as one might command a trapped genie's freedom. This caused the words in the letter to reorganise and form a new phrase which when spoken gave Loraanys the freedom she yearned for.
With a tearful goodbye to her crew the captain thanked the group before string-like wisps began to drift from her shoulders and her form began to fade, Loraanys reached out with her hands and touched the tip of the sword, running her fingers along its edges as the wind raged and the gem in its hilt glowed a brilliant red, until Loraanys' visage faded and joined with the wind as a quickly fading wisp of green flowing like cloth caught by the breeze.

Legacy

After Loraanys was laid to rest her crew swore their allegiance to the group that had helped free their captain, expressing that it was what she would have wanted. The group proposed that the ship be renamed in honor of its fallen captain, determining to rename the vessel 'Loraanys' Grace'.

Species

Half-Elf

Life

1456 1496 40 years old

Circumstances of Death

Cursed by a Zakharan Sha'ir and bound to her own ship and weapon, curse broken by a group of thieves in 1495 DR

Gender

Female

Eyes

Blue

Hair

Blonde

Skin Tone/Pigmentation

Fair

Height

5'9"