Iron Eye's Final Battle

At the time of the battle, Curek the Iron Eye was the most prominent of the three Pirate Lords. He summoned his fleet to try and catch a Mordish passenger ship called the Kirinda’s Jewel, which carried his greatest enemy, Jack the Loadstar. However the other pirate lords, Commodore March and Nyshia Furrel, pooled their fleets to stop him. The battle ended with a duel between Jack and Curek. Iron Eye was killed and his armada surrendered.

Prelude
Earlier in the year AeP 446, a Mordish noble calling himself Lord Keel, organized an expedition to the Southern Isles. In order to complete his quest, he hired the pirate Jack as a guide. Jack and Iron had a long history of conflict. Several days before the battle, Iron Eye attacked Lord Keel’s ship near the Glass Palace. At the time he didn’t know why it was in the Isles or that Jack was on it. However Curek found it heretical that a Mordish ship would be so near the home of Li-Shara. He was even more furious when the ship escaped into the Glass Palace. Days later in Crow’s Harbor he found out that Jack was aboard. But due to the Harbor’s truce he couldn’t formally attack Jack. Iron Eye began to recall some ships and had his men kidnap a professor of Keel’s journey.

Lord Keel understood he would not be able to leave the Isles without a battle. He sent an expedition to follow a map they found a week before. While they were in the jungle he prepared. He realized that it would only take a little convincing to get the other two pirate lords to help him. He also learned that Iron Eye’s second in command had a large quantity of the explosive alchemists powder. Lord Keel promised Furrel and March that he could sink Iron Eye’s unsinkable vessel.

March and Furrel positioned their fleets on the South side of Piyla. Lord Keel ordered captain Melar Peterson to go pick up the expedition group on the North side of the island. They were chased by Iron Eye and his fleet. They sailed around Piyla and ran the two fleets into each other.

Battle
The two fleets engaged each other head on. Their numbers were about even. Iron Eye had more ships but not by much. The main bodies of the two armadas engaged each other to keep each other distracted. While this happened the flagships moved about doing the main body of the work. March and Furrel put several ships to the torch while Iron Eye steered his ship through several enemy ships.

While the main battle happened, the Kirinda’s Jewel engaged Ocean’s Teeth. Ocean’s Teeth was bigger and had a larger crew, but the Jewel  had more powerful people. The Ocean’s Teeth boarded the other ship. The defense was organized so that Daxian and J’Kar held the bow, Feerik held the middle, and Jack and Leucy held the stern. They were supported by the sailors and Sylvie in the crow’s nest. Sylvie was armed with a wealth of godstones taken from the crypt she had just helped explore. Having over a dozen godstones, Sylvie possessed an obscene amount of magic. With it she called down lighting and called up water to swallow invaders. Lord Keel remained below decks to perform emergency surgery on those who needed it. Eventually Daxian and J’Kar were able to push onto the Ocean’s Teeth. J’Kar was in a disguise. The first mate of the ship tried to push him back. However they both ended up in the water below and only Daxian lived. The captain of Ocean’s Teeth pushed onto the stern. He and Feerik killed each other. The crew of the Jewel was able to commandeer the Ocean’s Teeth. They packed the front with alchemist’s powder and Jack steered it to the Kretyyl’s Breath. With a combination of the powder and Sylvie using a special godstone given to her by Li-Shara to summon an iceberg, Iron Eye’s ship was sunk.

Iron Eye survived the crash however along with some of his crew. They boarded the Jewel and all other fighting stopped to watch. Iron Eye challenged Jack to a one on one fight. He promised the Loadstar that if he won, Leucy would be allowed to go. Iron Eye was a mage and a much better fighter than Jack. But Lord Keel had foreseen this possibility. In Crow’s Harbor he had purchased some powerful poison. He carefully slipped it to Jack. With a combination of the poison, and Sylvie subtlety using magic, Jack was able to best Iron Eye. Jack killed him with the knife Li-Shara had given Feerik. J’Kar talked down the rest of Iron Eye’s crew and the battle was over.

Outcome
The battle was the end of Iron Eye’s reign as the most powerful pirate lord in the Southern Isles. The surviving ships in his fleet either dispersed or joined the banner of Commodore March or Captain Nyshia Furrel. However those two lords alone couldn’t hold dominion over the Isles. The battle opened up a power vacuum that many sought to fill. It also cemented an alliance between the two surviving pirate lords. Finally the battle allowed the return of the Kirinda’s Jewel to Cape Red. Because the Jewel was carrying two human enchantment rituals, this part alone was enough to change the balance of power in Var’Tareen.

Many personal injuries were suffered. Jack lost his left eye, Sylvie was devastated by her overuse of magic, as well as many others.

Julieb Eveningstone, the father of Sarai, died in this battle. His body was returned to the Steel Cliffs.

Appearances
Campaigns Supplemental
 * 1) Silver Mists and Bloody Tides Session Eight: The Fury of the Isles
 * 1) SMBT Auxiliary: Catalog