Jaaza Cavander (JAZZ-uh ca-VAHN-derr)

Written by UmbralGoat

Cloudwalker, eh? Cloudswimmer's more like it.

— Jaaza

Jaaza Cavander I is one of the most famous pirates of the modern age. From the 1770s to the 1790s VC, Jaaza is thought to have seized control of over twelve large airships of the Western Lands trading with Sosha and Kailys. His special ability allows him to travel upon and within the clouds of Vernelis' oceans; his mastery of the clouds has made him infamously known as Jaaza, the Cloudwalker. This is the title that the modern airship company Cloudwalker Inc. is named after.

Appearance

Jaaza is a tall, slender wolf Fælen of spotted brown and gray fur. For much his younger years, he wore nothing fancy besides an eyepatch to assist in the dark, but upon becoming Commodore, he was provided a royal outfit from the archduke. He initially found it rather silly, but eventually he came to like its look. Even after betraying Armon Tehlba, he claimed it "made him look pretty sexy" and decided to keep wearing it.

Personality

Jaaza is well-known as a fierce but cunning pirate, despite his sneaky nature and distaste for direct violence. Stories and rumors of his legends were in no small part due to his own fluffing and exaggerations, though those who know him attest to his bravery and good heart.

He appears to rarely take situations seriously, even when he is in danger, but this is often to make others underestimate him.

Abilities

The extent of Jaaza's ability has never been seen beyond large storms of clouds. It's believed he can travel nearly the speed of an average airship within the clouds, but can sacrifice that speed to carry objects or other persons.

History

Youth

Jaaza spent much of his younger years upon a small vessel with other young pirates, the eldest being a rather unexperienced captain of eighteen or ninteen. He was the most nimble and quiet, so he made well for stealth and slipping past guards of the lands they searched. He learned young the power of the Ancient's language, though it wasn't until he was sixteen he truly discovered its potential; he could draw upon the clouds they sailed over. His Soul allowed him to pull and twist their forms down below, and draw them up to him. He could walk upon them, only sinking about as far as he would in freshly fallen snow, or deeper if he desired. They could carry him with great speed, and while toying with this ability, his young crewmates stared in awe.

In these years, he made great use of this ability in escaping trouble in which he found himself nearly caught. As he grew older, he found it useful, though, in sneaking upon ships without needing to bring his own any closer. The clouds could lift him and the few of his crew hundreds of meters into the sky to land them aboard unsuspecting ships. Jaaza rarely resorted to violence, he found that keeping those he was engaged with talking could give him enough time to think of a way out of scuffles, usually through boughts of trickery, and rely on his stealthiness.

When Jaaza was eighteen, their captain was killed in a scuffle upon another ship that turned out to be pirated as well. The shock of their death nearly cost the rest of them their lives, but Jaaza quickly took command and ordered the rest of the fighting men to fall behind and jump off into the clouds. Of course, there was hestitation, but he yelled to just jump. The ship jolted; the clouds had swarmed up and around the ship, and gusts of wind were tossing it about. This bought just enough time to grab their captain's body and rush off onto the deck. The ship rocked and jerked back and forth, as if carried by waves of water onto its sides, and just as the blade of another pirate caught the tip of Jaaza's tail, they all jumped from the capsizing ship and hurtled through the golden clouds to their own humble brigantine.

From then on, Jaaza became captain, but they swore to not let that ship go free. It was held in a rushing storm, the clouds swollen up to a huge bubble around the airship. They returned later that night, Jaaza armed with the sword of their late captain, and made sure any tracks were left with no witnesses. Many on the ship had perished already, being thrown from the ship in its harsh listing, leaving just enough for the small crew to take their revenge on. That ship was the Veshua, and it would become a favorite of Jaaza's future fleet.

Commodore Jaaza

If my li'l "quests" 're enough t'get in the way a' official royal business, that seems like a problem fer them t'figure out, eh?

— Jaaza

By 1730 VC, Jaaza had taken on a reputation for his legendary skills and slick nature, no doubt unintentionally becoming a hinderence to official work of the government. One day, amid great fog, his crew noticed they were being flanked by two royal cruisers. Jaaza refused to take fire on them, but rather yelled across joking that he feels his ship is worth at least three of theirs. Across a large boarding plank, Kailysian archduke Armon Tehlba was followed by five soldiers to meet the crew of six; five more boarded from the second ship. The duke recalled hearing the Veshua was run by eight, to which Jaaza said they regrettably turned to a life of honesty.

The duke met with Jaaza in the his quarters, and offered a proposition of employment under Kailysian colors. He bolstered stories he had heard of the famed pirate, claiming they were standing on a very legend right then upon the Veshua. He admitted that he desired one so well-versed in the clouds as him within his own ranks. But rather, he offered pay for simple "duties" to be carried out. He would be provided a small fleet of four behind the Veshua, and with them, the title of Commodore and a crew for each.

Tell whatever stories you wish; you could say you even stole four of my ships to boost your ego a bit. I don't care how you pirates view the duties of royalty and the art of trade, but I do know how to put you to good use.

— Armon Tehlba

Jaaza took a moment, and asked what exactly should happen were he to refuse. The archduke then told him that over the years, he was no stranger to his own ships being overrun with pirates and in some cases, even losing them completely. He recalled that there were a few accouns of a certain pirate who managed to escape through the clouds. He said that such...incidents could be completely absolved and forgotten under his employment, as well as the crimes of his crew, but if he were to refuse, he believes they have found that very pirate they were looking for. Thus, he became Commodore Jaaza Cavander under the grace of the archduke.

For fourteen years Jaaza and his crew were paid handsomely for secretive deeds done for Kailys, and despite their huge numbers, many friends were made upon the ships; typically missions involved interception of trade ships and espionage within the Western Lands. Still, Jaaza found opportunity to make even more pay by selling off ships they managed to take control of, and most egregiously, he would sell some goods from their haul for extra profit and then claim those sold goods could not be recovered or were stolen. He was caught and warned several times that he was no longer a pirate and was not above orders. This came to a head when he received orders to return to Kailys immediately, or be arrested upon next sighting of the archduke's ships.

He refused to go, of course, and announced to his crew of the four ships that he was no longer beholden to the archduke, and there was an ultimatum to be made of who would join him, and who would run back home. Half of them ended up staying behind and found another ship to take to Kailys, while the others remained loyal to Jaaza for his smart ways of attaining more money. As a final act of treachery, Jaaza sold off two of the archduke's ships, and loaded every bit of his wealth into the Opesh, one of the remaining ships. None know what Jaaza ended up doing with all of his wealth, some say he hid it on a remote island, and others say the weight of all his gold sunk the ship into the depths of Ve Neþ.

Upon further personal run-ins with the archduke, Jaaza explained that while he sold off two fine Kailysian ships, he kept the other two so he could still call himself Commodore Jaaza, and joked that it just sounded so pleasing.

So sorry we hafta meet again like this, Duke! But don't worry, I still 'ave one 'a yer li'l tugboats in tow behind mine, so you can still call me Commodore!

— Jaaza to Tehlba

Capture

In 1843 VC, Jaaza was imprisoned in the Scarlet Fortress through a collaboration between Tehlba and the Ignisoran government. He has remained there longer than any previous inmate, having served an incarceration period of almost eight years awaiting execution.

by lagito37

XXII

Age
124 years
Date of Birth
8th of Pluvur, 1700 VC
Classification
Fælen, Canine (Wolf)


Height / Weight
195 cm / 82 kg
Gender
Trans Male
Pronouns
He / Him