Godric Avery
Contents
The Annexation of Ballard
Godric Avery was born into a life of privilege. The seventh son of Brion and Martha Avery, he is a member of the royal house of the small city-state Ballard. Ballard, a minuscule island-nation, is located at the lucrative junction of two sea-trade routes. As a result, the island and its inhabitants enjoyed a great deal of autonomy and wealth, much of which trickled up to the royal family.
At least until the island nation, which had no standing army, was forcefully annexed by the Naltronian Empire.
When Naltronian ships unexpectedly appeared in the harbor of Ballard's capital city, Edgewater, a 22-year-ld Avery attempted to rally a small resistance force to his side. While Godric collected a token defense force, his father sailed out into the harbor to negotiate with the Naltronians on their flagship. Upon boarding the Naltronian ship however, Brion was taken prisoner. It was the last time Godric would see his father for many years.
The Naltronians landed their troops and quickly captured the royal family with the exception of Godric, who remained hidden in the countryside. Over the next few weeks, the young man watched as the Naltronians, undermining his family's power, brokered trade deals with the island's powerful shipping guilds. With the guilds in their pocket, the Naltronians cemented their hold on the island by establishing a garrison and appointing a governor over the island. Godric's mother and two sisters were publicly humiliated in the Edgewater Harbor Square, and sent to a nearby convent to live out their days.
Godric, enraged but powerless, left on a skiff with a few of his close friends -- young sons and daughters of the city's elite.
Enacting Revenge
Godric, isolated, still believed his father and family were being held as political prisoners on Ballard. To rescue them and free the island from Naltronian control, the ordinarily carefree, irresponsible and overly-idealistic Godric decided to build a fleet. To do so, he and his close cadre of friends used their royal status (and considerable inheritances, smuggled off the island) to purchase an old, decommissioned Naltronian warship. A natural sailor since he was born, Godric decided to captain the ship, which he christened "The Edgewater." Hiring a crew proved easy; the group tracked down other ostracized and newly-nationless Ballardians. Their recruits included a young sorceress, Calenda, who quickly caught the eye of Godric, for more than a few reasons.
Cause and Effect
The almost overwhelming task of freeing the island Ballard soon got the better of an inexperienced and vain Godric. Over the next few months, Godric and his crew did little to remedy the situation on the occupied island. Instead, they embarked on a pleasure cruise, traveling to exotic locals and frivolously spending what little inheritance money they had left.
While sailing near the Shin Malas archipelago, Avery, foolishly flying Ballardian colors, was run down and boarded by a Naltronian corvette. After securing the ship, the Naltronians turned back toward their homeland, intent on bringing the renegade Avery to justice.
The next three days and nights were hell for Avery and his crew, who were held abroad their own ship and tortured and interrogated. The Naltronians, aware that Avery was the missing crown prince of Ballard, were particularly ruthless with the would-be monarch. In a mockery of the Ballardian flag, the seared three lines resembling waves into Avery's back.
But the Naltronian sailors --and Avery-- didn't realize the extent of Calenda's powers. One of the few to escape torture, Calenda waited until the Shin Malas coastline fell out of sight. At night, she called a firestorm down on the Naltronian ship, then used a cantrip to free her and several of her companions, including Garrick Reynolds, a swordsman. Together, they retook the Edgewater.
The experience transformed Godric.
Another Man
Godric, hardened by the torture he and his crew endured, ordered the ship back to Shin Malas. After searching the coast, and and his crew fell upon a small Naltronian merchant vessel that was just leaving port. There, in full view of the village, he and his crew massacred the civilian Naltronian crew onboard. Then, just before twilight, Calenda torched the ship with a fireball. All night, a mile from shore, the ship burned. It was a grim precursor of what was to come.
In the next year, the crew of the Edgewater became corsairs in every sense of the word. Generous and friendly to ships from other nations, they made up for it with notorious brutality when they found a Naltronian ship. No two raids conducted by Avery followed the same pattern, although Godric frequently used the talents of his resident sorceress to turn the tide of battle.
In no time at all, Naltronian reward posters were tacked up in ports on the southern coast of Naltrim. Suddenly infamous, Avery's crew swelled with Ballardian outcasts and freelancers. A victorious battle with a Naltronian corvette allowed Avery to equip his ship with stolen ballistas and iron plating.
A month later, Avery captured another intact corvette, but spared the captain and crew. He gave them sufficient water and sent them to mainland Naltronia with a message: "I will not rest until Ballard is free."
He then re-christened the captured ship and gave it to Garrick to captain. The two stayed together a short time, then Garrick sailed east to strike out for new territory, promising to remain in contact with Godric.
Godric Avery, the self-proclaimed Lord Edgewater, frequents the seas on the southwest coast of Naltrim. Despite acquiring another ship, Godric is more a nuisance to the massive Naltronia Empire than a true threat.
Still, the heir to the throne of Ballard is determined to wage his one-man war against the Naltronians as long as he is free. Single-minded in his brutality against his foe, he is equally honorable and friendly to any ship that doesn't fly the Naltronian flag.
It is Godric's lifelong goal to see his nation free from Naltronian dominion, and he will go to any length to see it happen.
Appearance
Godric is a big man, broad-chested, with braided black hair and blue eyes. The son of nobility, he loves the wearing the regalia and trappings of a sea captain.
Despite his fondness for pomp and circumstance, Avery is a capable captain and navigator -- traits that run in the blood of native Ballardians. He is also an extremely strong swimmer.
Quick to laugh, Godric is likewise quick to anger. He is often egotistical and impulsive, which can work to his disadvantage in combat and cloud his judgment. But that same impulsiveness often catches his enemies off-guard.
Godric is frequently accompanied by Calenda, and he fondly refers to her as his "secret weapon."
After more than a decade at sea together, the two have struck up a relationship.