The Great Raid

Military action

Drac and Francisco lead the Great Raid at the end of the Golden Age of Piracy.

The Golden Age couldn’t last forever. About 200 years ago, the era of the rogue buccaneer came to an end. Lone ships faced increasing threats from organized navies. Where once a single ship could hunt merchantmen with impunity, now that same ship was a fox to the naval squadrons’ hounds. As crew after crew was hunted down and neutralized, the pirates of Freeport knew they had to change their ways.   It would take a navy to fight a navy, so the pirate captains decided to form a force of their own and raid en masse. But who should lead this great raid? After much bickering, the pirates settled on two captains for the fleet. Captains Drac and Francisco were fierce rivals, and the assembled captains believed anything the two could agree on would be a good decision.   The situation was not ideal, but the pirates had surprise and numbers on their side. The combined fleet went on a three-month raid that netted more money, valuables, foodstuffs, and booze than Freeport had ever seen. The Great Raid, as it was called, was a spectacular success, still remembered in the yearly celebration of Swagfest, and neither Drac nor Francisco was slow in claiming credit. Before long, each had declared himself a Sea Lord of Freeport.