Callustine 31, 1805: A Brief Introductory History

From the Journal of M. Maelstorme Smythe
Captain of the Signet Ship "Seraph"
Captain's Log: Introductory Entry
Callustine 31, 1805, Year of the Hare

My full name is Lord Captain Mortgan Maelstorme Smythe. I am informally known as "Mael". This log shall be the first of many journal entries detailing my "official" account of the journeys and discoveries made by the S.S. Seraph and her crew, as well as my own personal journal.

I have never before taken up a journal, or any sort of chronicle of my life's adventures. To be truthful, mine is an uncommonly long and strange existence. I have seen much of history unravel before these eyes...so much has been lost. For this reason, I feel that I must endeavor to begin some record of what goes on in this new age of Æarthe's history.

I was born in Ryverpoole, a grey, industrialized city on a worlde we, her inhabitants, called Æarthe. I was the bastard son of a brutal, infamous pirate captain named Captain James Reid "Red James" Maelstorme. My mother, Ms. Seraphina Mortgan, was an exceptionally lovely prostitute who fell prey to what she referred to as the "Maelstorme charm". Mother was kind and sweet, and did the best she could for me. Had me learning basic reading and arithmetic at a very early age. However, she grew very ill from tuberculosis, and became unable to support us. I learned the ways of the street urchin, steal food, medicine and whatever else was needed.

At the age of 7, I was orphaned and alone; my mother in a pauper's grave. At the age of 9, I was the leader of a gang of urchin thieves on the streets of Ryverpoole. I dreamed and told my fellow urchins stories of the untamed sea and foreign lands that I fully believed in and expected to explore one day. One day, I reckon I picked the wrong pocket. I found myself hoisted into the air with a sabre at my throat. That sabre belonged to a wizened privateer for the Anglian navy, Lord Captain Everett P. Smythe II. Lord Smythe and I got on very well, and he was very kind to me. In truth, he was the dad that my own father never cared to be. A confirmed bachelor and unable to produce children, he adopted me as his son, stating that, "A child of the mind is far preferrable to a child of the flesh."

Thus was I raised at sea by Lord Smythe, his First Mate, Mr. Duranjaya, and the rest of the crew of the H.M.S. Archangel. I took the name Mortgan Maelstorme Smythe, and left that unfortunate childhood behind me in favor of the life of adventure that I'd been dreaming of.

As a young man, I fought for queen and country against the Lansian Empire. I've been called "infamous"...to be truthful, I was a treasure-hunting privateer and general swashbuckling "thorn in the side" to the morally repugnant (and...being Anglian...by morally repugnant I plainly mean the Lansian Empire, may Axiom spit in their eyes). I suppose I still am, as well as an explorer/naturalist, and overall gentleman of fortune.

I have made more than my fair share of enemies and friends. Eventually my lone wolf days began to dwindle as, one by one, I began to take on crewmen. Soon those crewmen became my friends and brothers in arms. I suppose it was inevitable, but some days I miss the freedom of singularity...courting loneliness is a bittersweet pursuit indeed.

My apologies...I find myself rambling...ah, yes. I began to build a small crew during my misadventures. Over time, I ran into a friend and swordbrother from my privateer days; a skilled physician by the name of Dr. Augustus Dayafter. He joined my crew as ship's doctor.

Through a family legacy established by Lord Frederick Smythe III, I became knighted as a member of the secretive Black Signet, now a small flying nation of secluded societal protectors, composed of a fleet of advanced battleships.

Tomorrow the Archangel Class S.S. (Signet Ship) Seraph will launch, it's fledgling sailwings tasting the cold winds of AEarthe's infinite skies - and beyond (The Seraph is rumored to later be equipped to explore the blackness of the universe itself) - for the first time, with myself as Captain. It is both frightening and intoxicating to think that I have been elected Captain of this incredible ship; add to that the fact that I am also the leader of these men and their very home...this ship shall be more than merely a concourse to us. She is our castle - our home. The more I think on this vast responsibility, the more oppressive this weight upon my shoulders becomes.

Regardless, I shall do my duty. I have not the time to question either my ability or my determination to see this grand experiment through. These men and women are not only my crew, they are my friends. My brothers and sisters. If my betters among the brotherhood say that I can perform these duties adequately, then I not only can...I must. The nations are split now to fragments; the world forever changed. Let no man ever again think to be our master lest he be the Son of Axiom returned for final war with Chulgrathon. The Seraph is my ship, my island and my home. Axiom help man, beast or devil who tries to sink her, harm her, or take her away.

- Mael