Raiders of the Far Seas
The Raiders of the Far Seas is a loose confederation of ships and pirate-raiders who ply the numerous seas and coasts of Thedas.
"The Raiders" is the more commonly known name given to the Felicisima Armada.
Structure
The organization has no known leadership. It is instead a collection of ships, each its own sovereign vessel with its own rules, people, and captain.
Public Agenda
Wealthy merchants often pay the captains of the Armada, rather than risk having their ships commandeered and their merchandise stolen and sold on the black market. They're hardly unified, and bloody battles between Armada leaders are frequent, but any attack by outsiders will cause them to instantly put aside their differences and close ranks, and thus the raiders have become far more of a plague in the last century than they ever were before.
Llomerryn has become a haven for raiders, as well as brigands and various criminals, due to its location as a port city and its political neutrality. The markets and bazaars of the city feature goods pillaged from distant lands.
Assets
The port-city Llomerryn is the main stronghold for Raiders. It sits at a highly important tactical position just in between Rivain, the Free Marches, and Antiva.
History
Once upon a time these pirates were little more than opportunists, individual ships based out of the coastal city of Lloymerryn. They preyed on sea traffic in the area, quickly becoming the target of naval efforts from both the Free Marches, Rivain, and Orlais — though never truly did these nations work together. These nations all wanted these pirates dead, its members hanging from gallows. Even though some of these naval efforts were large successes, new pirates would appear to quickly fill the vacuum. Thus, the cycle continued.
During the ages where the Tevinter Imperium was still around, many Antivans felt threatened by the Imperium's naval presence. Rivain had a decent naval army, centered out of Dairsmuid, but to defeat the magisters out at sea they'd truly need all the help they can get. Antivan merchants and the queen at the time pooled money together to fund a temporary naval militia. The Llomerryn pirates were also faced with a difficult decision: band together under one flag and fight for those who they had previously preyed upon or face conversion or annihilation by Tevinter magisters. Not surprisingly, they chose the former. A deal was struck so that they would get all the money that was pooled together and they would serve as Antiva's naval force for the time-being.
The pirates brought their knowledge of stealth and trickery to bear, plaguing Tevinter supply lines and even launching seaborne invasions against the northern Tevinter coast.
With the Imperium being outmatched, they instead chose to shore up their coasts with large fortifications that made it difficult for them to expand outward but made it even more difficult for others to break their coasts. It was at this time, the Raiders had felt they had finished their job.
The Llomerryn Accords were signed soon after between several important Antivan noble and merchant houses, Rivain's queen, and a few important captains of the Raiders. It was agreed that the Raiders could maintain their association rather than be forced to disband — despite how much other groups wanted them to fall apart.
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