Caden's Pirate Verse Information
Caden's Pirate Verse Information
Caden's Pirate Verse: The Backstory
Before coming to command his own vessel, Caden was (at one point in time) the first mate of the Vengeant Heart, an infamous war-frigate turned pirate ship led by a Captain Renn. The Heart had a reputation amongst sailors and pirates alike that it could punch well above its weight in battle raiding military ships and convoys, and trading routes, often. Caden served as Renn's brain (a lot of the time) and also her most trusted blade in combat.
Caden acted as the one who helped plan attacks, interrogate survivors, and ensure that the ship's reputation never grew stale and dull.
The final voyage of the Heart was supposed to be "the last hurrah" for the crew, to say. An ambush on a heavily armed treasure fleet coming from the Kingdom of Seroth who were transporting relics plundered from old, ancient temples across the archipelago of the kingdom, back to the capital. The prize for the crew was gold, of course, but there was rumors of something even more interesting being transported...
A silver-bladed relic, one supposedly cursed, said to hum under the moonlight and etched with strange blue vein-like markings and crystals, whispers in unknown or dead languages when unsheathed. But those were all rumors... right?
During the battle between the fleets, a violent storm engulfed the waters of the battlefield. Caden only remembers bits and pieces of what happened afterward... lightning so bright that it seemed to turn the now night battle into a daytime affair, striking as often as any storm he had ever seen, the ship breaking and splintering apart beneath his boots... and a silver blade... floating in the darkness toward him as he accepted his fate, accepting to join Davy Jone's locker... But that wasn't the end for the hound.
The sword fused to him as he sank, chains of blue-spectral fire wrapping around his body and arm, sending pain shooting throughout, his screams muffled by the deep, murky abyss. He should have been dead, he should have drowned. But instead, he woke up hours later on a single piece of shattered driftwood. Alone. Everyone else, his crewmates, Captain Renn, the sailors from the Kingdom of Seroth? All gone, without a trace.
The Sword
The sword itself is known as the Vowbreaker, a log silver cutlass with embedded sapphire-blue veins running throughout it of unknown energy. Despite the age of the sword, it never rusts and the blade is cold to the touch, even in direct sunlight.
The sword is now bound to Caden, basically not being able to be dropped by the canine, he can't trade the sword away, and it can't be stolen. If he does? it'll reappear in its sheath within hours of being gone, like some DnD items.
Occasionally, Caden can hear voices through it or coming from it. Whether its past wielders, drowned sailors, or remnants of something darker? He isn't sure.
Caden can now sense changes in the sea condition and any changes within the atmosphere unnaturally well. Storms almost seem to be able to listen to him if he wishes to command it while other storms almost seem to... hunt him for taking the sword. As if it belongs to the sea.
If the sword is unsheathed for too long and has not been used to attack, the blade will start to cause some pain to Caden. This pain will continue to grow worse, as well as Caden's overall condition, the longer it's exposed to air and is not physically being used to try and attack.
Modern Day
After the loss of the Vengeant Heart, Caden does eventually come to shore and starts to build up a new crew more and more over time. He is able to commandeer a ship from another fleet named the Serothian Navy, making off with one of their galleons that was parked in port, the galleon being outfit to hunt and destroy pirates on a daily basis.
He ends up renaming the ship to Breaker's Bite and crewed it with any outcasts, scavengers, pirates, sailors who survived storms, nearly anyone he could find and could bring aboard to train up to be his crew.
The sword itself, remains always at hand for Caden, always in its sheath at his side, only ever coming out when Caden needs it for combat. A lot of the crew have begun spreading rumors about it, with some saying that they've heard whispers at night, that it glows blue before a hurricane or strong storm, or even that it could cut a ship in half from a single slash. Caden, obviously, has never confirmed or denied the rumors. He likes to hear the crew talk about it, because he thinks the rumors are fun.
But overall, he now sails the sea with his new crew, trying to return to a life that he knew very well before his prior ship and crew got swallowed into the abyss. He can only hope to potentially grow to have the same reputation himself at some point.
Other General Headcanons
Caden sometimes wakes up drenched in sweat, and sometimes even seawater, at night. Even if the ship is docked or he is ashore, part of him thinking he remembers the account of what happened more fully, but that his brain is trying to suppress it.
Caden can't give a good explanation as to how the sword saved him. He knows very small bits and pieces and he is currently spending some time trying to piece parts of the puzzle together.
There are rumors that Caden may not actually even be mortal anymore, that he's walking a line between the land of those who have drowned at sea and the land of the living, almost similar to those who are approached by Davy Jones.
There is still trauma etched within Caden from when the Vengeant Heart sank, leaving him to not fully trusting his crew. He seems to test it constantly, part of him wondering if there was more to play when the ship sank.
Caden refuses to drink very often with the crew. He will celebrate with them, but he usually sits off to the side to watch them and may be in the middle of it, but he remains as one of the few on the crew who can normally be coherent enough to avoid any issues.
The lines within the sword seem to shift ever so slightly over time, as if they are moving waterways being found on a map. He's tried to see if they end up meaning anything, but he has yet to find any solid answers.
Caden also has continued to try and find others who may have artifacts that are similar to his own. He wants to find those who may know more than he does, or potentially have ways to break himself free of this curse.