Jack

"“I thought giving up this sword meant giving up my freedom, but I was wrong. It’s yours now.”""-Jack upon giving his sword to Leucy"Called the Loadstar by the pirates of the Southern Isles, Jack was a captain who fought other pirates. He most notably had a rivalry with Curek the Iron Eye. Jack was favored by Li-Shara and could speak with the sea which he would often consult for guidance. He married a Roadani officer and they had a daughter named Leucothea. Eventually he was jailed by the Roadani but was released from prison in order to work with Lord Keel. On their expedition to the Southern Isles, Jack fought a siren, met Li-Shara, found his daughter, recovered two ancient rituals of human enchantment, and fought in Iron Eye's Final Battle where killed Iron Eye.

History
Before he took the name of Jack, he was known as Nereus. Nereus was born in the Wildlands to the newly formed Aegae clan. He lived a normal life there. Nereus and his family remained fairly isolated until the Second Desert War. The Aegae clan thought it would be a perfect opportunity to take supplies from the Toallans and the invading Roadani. The more successful the raids went, the braver they got. But one raid went terribly wrong. The group was ambushed by Roadani soldiers. Nereus was taken captive and his father was killed. He was brought back to Roadon where they put him on a prisoner transport leading to Cherak. While they were at sea a massive storm struck. The ship capsized. Jack was able to find some wreckage and bring him and a few other prisoners to an isle nearby. There they found Captain Precott. He promised them help and a place in his crew. But soon they learned the price. Captain Precott was also known as The Whip. He was a terrible slaver who held them prisoner. Nereus became the servant of The Whip. He was taught to read and manage the cargo. He lived like this for four years. Nereus led the mutiny. He killed Precott and won the freedom of the prisoners. He took the sword from his former slave master. It would become his most prized possession. He then found he had a special gift. He could read the sea. The ocean guided him back to the mainland and the port of Sar-Makashi. He kept the ship and took the name Jack. Some of the prisoners stayed behind to be his crew. Jack sailed the Southern Isles partly as a pirate and partly as a liberator. He was given the name Loadstar by those he helped and those he fought.

Jack would return to the port of Tel’Mar on occasion to resupply and find respite from his Southern rivals. It was there he met his wife. The first time they met she beat him in a tavern brawl. He instantly fell in love. Over the years he would bring her gifts, none of which she wanted. It wasn’t until he sailed too close to the Glass Palace and returned with nothing but his love, that she agreed to marry him. They had one daughter which they named Leucothea. Jack was frequently away from his wife and daughter. He sailed the Isles returning briefly to see his family. In the Isle he earned the hate of some and the love of others. None hated him more than the Pirate Lord Curek the Iron Eye. Their rivalry would last years. Eventually in AeP 442, he drew the ire of the Roadani Navy. They arrested him when he was in port and stuck him in the prison on Cherak. He stayed there until Lord Keel paid for his release in exchange for his help on an expedition to the Isles. Jack agreed only because he knew Leucy had run away to the South and he wanted to find her.

Jack met with Keel in Ghuramus of AeP 446 but stayed with the Roadani for the next month. On the first of Sharus he was dropped off in Cape Red. There he met Daxian, Sylvie, and J’Kar. After helping run errands in the city, he went to the Kirinda’s Jewel, the ship they would be travelling on. There he met Melar Peterson the captain, and Feerik the first officer. He instantly hit it off with them. They were both experienced sailors themselves and recognized that Jack was too. That evening Jack was invited to a meeting of the trip’s leaders. He met the academics who would be working with them. Jack told the gathered crowd stories about the Southern Isles. Their first destination was the island of Karabour. He spoke of the great serpents and the steel eagles on the island. J’Kar laughed at his stories but Jack stuck by them. When they encountered a storm a few days later, Jack took the helm from the Captain and steered the ship through.

The morning after the storm, the Kirinda’s Jewel reached Karabour. Jack was among those who went to shore. He helped fight off the Steel Eagles they encountered. The student Genna was injured and he brought her back through the jungle to meet Feerik on shore. He then led the remaining group to the boiling lake. That night when they took camp he took the final watch. He heard a horrible shriek echo over the lake. Jack knew the sound well. It was any sailor’s worst fear. A siren of the Old Gods. When everyone else woke he told them what the chilling cry was. Jack then used his knowledge of the isle to find tree sap they could stuff in their ears to protect them from the cries of the siren. The trip across the lake was nearly deadly. The siren attacked the raft. Jack was confronted with his worst fear. He was not the primary target but even so he was hit by her claws. He helped fend her off and securely land on the isle in the center of the lake. Following a True Compass, Janie Kerias found a crypt. They descended the stairs and found three smooth walls. Behind two were sea water waiting to flood the room. Behind the third was the way forward. He spoke to the sea to find the way forward. In the room ahead they found a mural of the old storm god with two winged servants. Jack made a sketch of the mural and at the behest of J’Kar promised to not speak about the winged servants. He also made a sketch where the servants were Poi’Mareath.

After leaving they had to once more pass over the lake. Jack reinserted his earplugs and helped row across. When the siren attacked again the call put Janie Kerias in a trance. The professor jumped off the raft and under the water. Jack dove after her. He swam down into the murky water and grabbed Janie. But the monster grabbed her too. She was caught between Jack and the siren. Jack had only one option. He grabbed his cestus and struck the siren in her face. She screamed as her beak broke. The siren let go of Janie and struck Jack. It was a horrible blow and Jack knew he couldn’t take another. He quickly swam for the raft dropping the unconscious professor off first. As Sylvie used magic to scare off the siren, Jack resuscitated Janie. When they got to shore he collapsed.

Returning to the Kirinda’s Jewel, Jack was treated by Lord Keel. After much rest he was feeling better and once more helped Melar and Feerik around the deck. When they saw a pirate ship in the distance, Melar once more offered Jack the helm. Jack pulled a dangerous maneuver quickly turning the ship into the mist and losing the pursuers. But their safety only lasted for a day. The Kirinda’s Jewel had sailed close to the Glass Palace in order to reach Crow’s Harbor sooner. But they were not the only ship their. There they found Kretyyl’s Breath the ship of Iron Eye. Curek did not know the Loadstar was abroad but he saw the forigen ship and found it disgusting and unholy. He tried to capture the Kirinda’s Jewel. Knowing they couldn't beat Iron Eye’s unsinkable ship they had no choice but to break the sailors most scared code. Most of the crew wanted to sail into Li-Shara’s mists. Still Jack couldn’t bring himself to do it. That was until he felt the tide shift moving towards the Palace. He took the invitation and they sailed towards the home of the Tide Keeper. Iron Eye didn’t follow. But soon they were stopped by two jade clad soldiers. They leaped onto the deck of the ship. To the surprise of those aboard the jade soldiers invited several of the crew to enter the Palace. One of those was Jack. They called him by name and showed him the way in.

Jack and the others were taken through Li-Shara’s peaceful islands and to the craggy rock spire in the center that was the Palace. True to the stories the floors of the palace were made of glass showing the dark twisting waters below. They entered the throne room and there in the back was Li-Shara herself. Jack was immediately impressed. She seemed to convey the essence of the ocean itself. It was hard to view her as an individual and not an idea. She spoke to the gathered group about their expedition. She warned them that she knew what they sought and how dangerous it would be. She took them out of the palace and spoke of the Poi’Mareath she had rescued and how living enchantment had affected their lives. And then she gave each a gift. To Jack she gave the name of the ship his daughter currently served on. It was called the Razor Grey. He then asked about all the bottles he had thrown into the sea over the years. They had contained messages to his wife and always found their way home. Li-Shara confirmed that she had guided them. She then swore the group to secrecy and made them swear not to talk about what they had seen here. Quietly they all returned to the Kirinda’s Jewel.

It took a few days of Jack’s guidance to reach Crow’s Harbor. J’Kar tried to speak to Jack but the sailor was as cryptic as ever. Jack also told Lord Keel and others about the Pirate Lords and how they would need the approval of one to dock. When they arrived in Crow’s Harbor he went with a group to speak to the Pirate Lord Nyshia Furrel. Jack stopped the pirates from making fun of Sylvie. He was also recognized as the Loadstar. His companions noted the reverence with which the pirates said his name. After Captain Furrel gave them permission to dock, Jack led a group to the market before rushing off to try and find his daughter. Hours later he found himself searching the Whirlpool. J’Kar found him there. Moments later so did Iron Eye. He had learned that his rival was in the city and on the ship he had attacked earlier. The Pirate Lord could not openly attack Jack here but that didn’t stop his men from starting a bar fight. Jack and J’Kar quickly tried to get out but ran right into Leucy. Both father and daughter were surprised to find each other in the brawl. But that didn’t stop Leucy from taking a swing at her father. The three hurried outside where they had a rocky introduction/reunion. Jack was upset that she had ran off to the Isles and Leucy was upset that Jack had gotten himself arrested. They argued for a while before Jack promised her his sword. She promised to meet him on his ship in the morning.

In the middle of the night Lord Keel realized that Palo, Kline, and two crewmen had not returned to the ship. Jack was among those he woke up and tasked to investigate. Jack went with the others to the Exchange and the Whirlpool where they looked for any traces. With the rising sun, Jack had to run back to the Jewel to meet his daughter. They hurried back to into the city to find the group. Leucy wanted to help. They found their allies just after a fight with a few of Iron Eye’s men. There was no sign of the missing people, but Jack and Leucy decided to help question the survivor of the raid. Despite Jack aggressively beating the man he didn’t talk. Feerik, Daxian, and Sylvie, staged a fake rescue and Jack, Leucy, and J’Kar followed them from a distance. They pirate led them right to where the missing people were being kept. Jack jumped in during the raid and killed a few pirates. They rescued their crew and returned to the ship. Even though he was still not on the best terms with Leucy, he asked her to come with him on the rest of the trip. She agreed.

The next day they began a long trip through the jungle to follow a map they had found on Karabour. After a day and a half they reached the mark and found the vault. Jack helped them get inside the flooded door. He also helped Sylvie fix the broken gears of the mechanism that moved them around. To get down to the actual relics they needed three keys. To get the last one they needed to active a rune of emotion. To do this Jack and Leucy were locked in the room together. They had to talk out their problems. When it was clear this was going nowhere, Sylvie stepped in to help. She told Jack the secret Leucy had told her. Leucy had killed a man for the first time on the pirate raid but was upset about it. She had done it to get the approval of Jack. This really upset him. He finally handed over his sword and with it the story of how he had gotten it. How he used to be a slave and needed to sail to feel like he was using his freedom. But Jack promised to go home after the trip. That was all they needed to get the key.

They returned to the shore and to the Kirinda’s Jewel just in time to see Iron Eye’s war fleet approaching. But Lord Keel had set up a plan. They ran the fleet right into another one. This one was a friendly fleet captained by Nyshia Furrel and Commodore March. Jack worked with the rest of the crew aboard his ship to take out Ocean’s Teeth. That was the ship of Iron Eye’s number one man. Jack steered the Jewel next to it and helped defend the stern. He fought back to back with Leucy and when a pirate injured her he went berserk. He was injured by a crossbow and was dragged off by Melar Peterson to be treated by Lord Keel. Later he steered the captured Ocean’s Teeth and used it to help capsize Iron Eye’s ship. Iron Eye then challenged him to a one on one fight. Using trickery Jack beat him but not before losing his left eye. After the fight he took the Iron Eye and threw Curek’s body into the sea. A week later he was dropped off by Lord Keel in Tel’Mar. He and Leucy reunited with his wife. Jack would go on to run a bar and retire from sailing.

Appearance
Jack was a rough-skinned man who by the time of Lord Keel’s expedition, was in his early fifties. His skin was so heavily tanned he must've been under the sun all day for the last twenty years. He suffered from sun damage on multiple parts of his body and had deep wrinkles on his face that make him look older. After his fight with Iron Eye, his left eye wore an eyepatch with a deep scar cut from his

forehead to his cheekbone. The other eye shined bright green. His head was covered in a messy mop of salt and pepper hair and he boasted an unkempt beard that looked like he hadn’t shaved in a few days. His white shirt was large and loose fitting with an open chest for free range of movement. The rolled up sleeves and open chest exposed dark, navy blue tattoos winding across his arms and a large compass across his chest. More blue tattoos littered his fingers and out from his shirt collar peeked a curled fishing hook tattoo. The tattoos were not enough to mask the many scars across his hands though. He finished the look off with simple brown pants, tanned boots, and a leather belt with scabbard and cutlass.

Relations
Jack first met his wife in a tavern in Roadon. They formed an unlikely pair. One was a pirate the other an officer of Roadon. However they made it work. Although they were mostly separate they kept a correspondence through letters in bottles thrown in the sea. After Jack was thrown in prison they didn’t talk as much. This was made worse when Leucy ran off to the Isles, abandoning her post in the Roadani Navy. Jack’s wife blamed Jack for this. Most was made right when Jack and Leucy returned and were granted pardons. Until their time in the Isles together, Jack and Leucy were somewhat distant. Jack did not want her to live out the life she had. After their time in the Isles they became very close.

Jack made a number of enemies in the Southern Isles, most notably Iron Eye. Jack would raid his ships and free his slaves. Other pirate lords would grant Jack favors as thanks for challenging Iron Eye. This fight culminated in Iron Eye’s Final Stand.

Jack had a cordial relation with most of the other people on the Southern Isles expedition. After Sylvie’s help with Leucy he felt in debt to her. He also respected Janie Kerias, and Melar Peterson. Finally Lord Keel was more friendly with Jack than anyone else onboard. The normally secretive lord let his guard down somewhat when with Jack.

Pelorus was a dolphin Jack had befriended during his time at sea. Jack could communicate to Pelorus in a limited fashion and considered the dolphin to be his freind.

Powers
Jack was the best navigator in the Southern Isles. He was a highly skilled sailor and captain. But his abilities were truly elevated by the fact that he could talk to the sea. This wasn’t in the form of words but he could catch glimpses of emotion or images from the waves. Jack was favored by Li-Shara. It was from her that this ability came. When Jack threw bottles containing messages into the ocean, she would make sure they got to his wife.

In addition to his sailing abilities, Jack was skilled with a variety of weapons. He could use cutlasses, katars, and blades. But his favored tool was the cestus.