"Oh that sneaky son-of-a..." Phaeydra trailed off, looking back up from her scrying orb, "Bastard's gone and made a deal with Calindra to become governor of what's left of his control."
"Never is easy, is it?" Ori sighed.
“We’ve gotta deal with him…” Brynn groaned
Lance crossed his arms. "I- Calindra is involved now?"
Noelani sighed and pulled out her journal. "They always were going to be eventually."
Background
Ever since the first Calindran settlers attempted to colonize the Kahra'Alani, the archipelago known today as Daria has always been coveted by various nations wishing to control trade over the Thunder Sea. Captain Dorland's first rebellion, armed with the dangerous tool known as black powder, ensured that for the next sixty years, the pirate lords of Daria would continue to hold a monopoly on naval trade; It was only when the enigmatic Black Sails began their own rebellion against the admiralty in mid-1198 C.F. that cracks in the admiralty's rule first began to show. With the gradual weakening of the admiralty through several concerted strikes by Black Sails, Daria's control of the archipelago had gradually come to be thoroughly undermined as the admiralty suffered defeat after defeat, culminating in the complete destruction of Fort Brimstone shortly after New Years' celebrations in 1199 C.F.. Though the Black Sails were the main instigators of rebellion against the pirate lords, resistance had also begun to crop up from elsewhere - namely, the fleet of the Nerve, whose theft of Admiral Ora's flagship The Stormbringer dealt a decisive blow in crippling the admiralty's unity.
After stealing Ora's prized ship and rechristening her The Nerve, the crew, captained by the air genasi Brynn Sylvaran, set sail for the Hoan Lagoon. Along the way, they captured a number of Red ships to swell the size of their fleet, drawing the attention of Admiral Fion the Red. After securing the alliance of the Hoan tribespeople and the bronze dragon that guarded their homelands, the Red admiral offered parley to the crew with an offer; That Fion herself would join under their white sails, permanently fracturing the admiralty and bringing Daria under the control of a new regime. Unwilling to risk their newly-made alliance and remembering Fion's sadistic brutality from a prior encounter at sea, the crew refused, with Fion promising a great battle to see who would rule Daria once and for all.
The Battle of the Hoan Lagoon
With the great battle looming over the horizon, the crew set about preparing for Fion's inevitable invasion, pulling on the strength of their allies and the bronze dragon Khoruthaendios to lure Fion into an ambush and forcing the rest of her fleet into a deadly chokehold. With the dragon torching Fion's rearguard and preventing reinforcements from coming through, it was left to the crew of the Nerve to engage Fion in battle and strike her down once and for all.
The battle was a long, gruelling affair, with numerous ships of the reds caught in Dragonfire or on the receiving end of sorcerous traps such as magically-parted trenches and explosive balls. Though the crew of the Nerve proved skilled enough to dispatch most of Fion's vanguard, Fion herself proved to be a terrible and dangerous foe, requiring the strength of the entire crew to keep her from killing everyone aboard The Nerve. It was only through the combined might of Lance Leonemaister, Noelani Kaimana, Esmeralda Drumwind, Ori, Brynn, and Phaeydra that Fion was at last felled and stripped of her position. Falling finally to Brynn's spectral tentacle, Fion's life was spared in an act of cruel mercy, sent to be imprisoned by the Hoa, with Brynn being given the moniker of "Redbane" for her rolling in ending Fion's reign of terror.
Glittergold's Betrayal
After a lengthy celebrations for their victory against Fion, the group reconvened to discuss what their next move would be in their quest to end the admiralty. Using her scrying ball, Phaeydra spied upon the only admiral left standing, Gorin Glittergold, and was startled to discover that Glittergold had decided to use the uprising against the admiralty to defect to Calindra instead, ruling over Swanford and the city of Daria as governor. Enraged by Glittergold's betrayal and frustrated at Calindra's involvement, the crew decided that they would rally all of the islands to partake in rebellion against the Calindran colonizers, sending out their fleet to forge alliances all over the archipelago and coordinate scattered hit-and-runs, whilst the main crew of the Nerve and the Defiance themselves would sail into the uttermost north to finish their quest of following Dorland's footsteps, and hopefully bring with them knowledge of how to repel the Calindran invaders once and for all.
After learning the truth of the Kraken from a defeated Admiral Ora, the crew decided to signal the beginning of their rebellion by raiding Glittergold's armada in Swanford and capturing The Mirage, the only remaining admiralty flagship still in enemy hands - the move was intended to show Glittergold the consequence of his betrayal and make a terrifying statement to the would-be colonizers. Unfortunately, however, the crew was unable to execute on their plan of capturing the ship, with Phaeydra instead being forced to start a fire in the ship's hold to prevent reinforcements from swarming them. The crew then had to resort to fleeing the ship instead once it became clear that it was far too late to stop it from exploding: Though the crew had won the battle, they could not secure The Mirage for themselves, leaving it to instead combust in a spectacular ball of fire and sink to the bottom of the ocean. Though their plan for a bombastic declaration of war had succeeded, the Fleet of the Nerve was nonetheless forced to retreat from battle, knowing the Calindrans would want to repay this catastrophic insult in blood.
The war for control of Daria had begun.