Curek the Iron Eye

"'I am Curek called the Iron Eye. I am the high priest of the Isles and the will of the waves. These tides do not tolerate outsiders. Your ship is forfeit, your cargo is forfeit, and your lives are forfeit. Pray to the Goddess I judge them well.”""-The Iron Eye to the Kirinda’s Jewel on Sharus 8th AeP 446"The Iron Eye was the most feared and respected Pirate Lord in the Southern Isles during the time of Lord Keel’s expedition. He was known for his fury, religious zeal, and his penchant for taking slaves. Curek saw himself as the fury of the Isles and gave himself the title High Priest. He got his name from his lost eye which he replaced with iron. The Loadstar killed Curek in single combat in Sharus of AeP 446 during the sea battle that would be known as Iron Eye’s Final Battle. According to Lord Keel, the Iron Eye was the most wanted man in Roadon at the time of his death.

History
Little is known about the Iron Eye and what is told is mostly rumors. He became a leading figure among the pirates around AeP 410. From there he quickly rose to power and amassed the largest following of any Pirate Lord. At some point Curek lost his eye in a successful raid against a Roadani warship. This was noteworthy because most pirates avoided the Empire’s ships. Despite his injury the success of the raid added to his fame. His ship Kretyyl’s Breath was the most feared vessel in the Isles.

The Iron Eye clashed many times with Jack the Loadstar. Jack was known to free slaves taken by the Iron Eye. However the rivalry was put on hold when Jack was arrested. The two would not run into each other until Sharus AeP 446 when Curek ambushed the Kirinda’s Jewel outside the Glass Palace. Although he would not find out until later that Jack was aboard the ship. Curek used day magic to burn a path of light through the mists. He demanded the other ships surrender thinking he had them cornered. However to his surprise the Jewel fled to the home of the Tide Keeper. This was a taboo the Iron Eye would not dare break. Much to his surprise he found out the ship survived and docked in Crow’s Harbor several days later. Iron Eye then found out his rival was onboard. He found Jack in the Whirlpool where he had his men start a bar fight. He also had his men kidnap Palo, Henrus Kline, and two sailors. They were taken to a safehouse in the Chitin Forge owned by Curek but later broken out.

Curek had Kretyyl’s Breath and the rest of his fleet in Crow's Harbor follow the Kirinda’s Jewel out of Crow’s Harbor when Lord Keel went to pick up the Piyla expedition. He followed that ship right into an ambush. Keel had convinced the other pirate lords Nyshia Furrel and Commodore March to rally their forces against the Iron Eye. In the resulting battle Curek sank several ships by driving Kretyyl’s Breath through them. Thanks to the enchanted hull his ship was unharmed. However his ship was finally sunk when Sylvie used a special godstone given to her by Li-Shara to summon an iceberg below Kretyyl’s Breath bringing the great ship high above the waters. Then Jack, Leucy, and J’Kar crashed a commandeered ship full of alchemists powder into the iceberg. This caused Curek’s Ship to capsize. He made his way onto the Kirinda’s Jewel where he challenged Jack to a one on one fight to decide the fate of the battle. All other ships stopped their fighting to watch. Curek thought he would easily win by using magic however Lord Keel had slipped Jack a poison which the old sailor threw at Curek’s good eye. Sylvie used magic to control the winds which pushed the vial into his eye. Although blind now in that eye Curek still seemed able to see through his iron eye. In the resulting fight he almost beat the Loadstar, battling through several knife wounds, and having his arm which was covered in incantry tattoos, maimed by Jack. At the end he stood over Jack and buried the Jade knife given to Feerik, in the left eye of the other man. But he succumbed to the poison and while he was weakened, Jack stabbed him repeatedly until the pirate lord died.

Appearance
By the time of Lord Keel’s expedition to the Southern Isles, Curek was in his early sixties. He had short grey hair and well crafted dark blue leather armor. One of his eyes had been lost so he replaced it with iron giving him his name. The metal eye had the elder rune of war carved into it. As a sorcerer Curek had many tattoos which he did not bother to hide. His hands and face were covered in geometric black ink. Curek was tall but not extremely so, and he wore a golden necklace with the rune of Li-Shara on it.

Relations
Curek had a tepid alliance with the other two pirate lords. Although he liked neither Nyshia Furrel or Commodore March he reluctantly worked with them in Crow’s Harbor. This ended when they betrayed him at the request of Lord Keel.

The Iron Eye hated the Loadstar for many reasons. Jack was known to fight Iron Eye’s ships and free the slaves aboard. It was the Loadstar who finally rid Var’Tareen of Iron Eye.

Powers
Curek was said to be an incredibly powerful sorcerer and skilled knife fighter. He ruled by fear and commanded a vast pirate fleet. Curek was also somehow able to see without his real eye, using magic to see through his iron one.

Kretyyl’s Breath
Curek’s ship was one of the most dangerous in all the Isles. He named it for the volcano in the South. It was a mammoth ship was a dark wooden hull and grey sails. It was said that the hull of the ship was enchanted with stonestrength and thus invincible. This was proven true in Iron Eye’s Final Stand when he used his ship to smash through several others. When it was spotted by the Kirinda’s Jewel it flew dozens of banners each taken from a ship it had bested. It’s flag was black and adorned with a white skull with flaming eyes. Any ship she bested was burned and the crew either thrown overboard to the judgement of Li-Shara or enslaved.

List of Appearances
Campaigns Supplemental
 * 1) Silver Mists and Bloody Tides Session 4: Under the Knife
 * 2) Silver Mists and Bloody Tides Session 5: As the Crow Flies
 * 3) Silver Mists and Bloody Tides Session 6: An Eye for an Eye (Mentioned only)
 * 4) Silver Mists and Bloody Tides Session 7: Strength, Justice, and Soul (Mentioned only)
 * 5) Silver Mists and Bloody Tides Session 8: The Fury of the Isles
 * 6) The Snake in the Sand Session 3: The Viper's Head (Mentioned only)
 * 1) SMBT Supplemental: Before the Hall (Mentioned Only)
 * 2) SMBT Supplemental: Catalog (Mentioned Only)
 * 3) SMBT Supplemental: Jack’s Last Bottle (Mentioned Only)
 * 4) SMBT Supplemental: J’Kar’s Reflections (Mentioned Only)
 * 5) SMBT Supplemental: Sylvie Felt Tired (Mentioned Only)