The Black Navy

The Black Navy was the unofficial name of the Malvaries' first seafaring militia. Sailing under flame-blackened flags, Initially created in opposition to Corva's oppressive trade embargo, the sailors involved challenged the Imperial Navy at sea, and won.

The unsanctioned force was quickly denounced by the Crown, its members made outlaws and barred from respectable work. The result was the beginning of the second-oldest Malvarian profession: piracy.

History
The result of fifty years of browbeating by the Imperial Crown, the Black Navy was formed by a handful of men and women, traders, thieves and craftsmen all slowly starving in the face of embargo and fiercely limited trade. Their actions in those early days were those of people desperate to throw their oppressors. They had no way to know that their actions would ripple so widely as to change their world forever.

Founding
The Malvaries' first contact with the mainland was in the form of Corvite traders, who readily made use of the crafty population of Oredes as a source of labor for their materials. While the arrangement was willing at first, the Malvarian people grateful for the chance to learn crafts and experiment with materials, it quickly turned sour. Corva's demand for goods outweighed the Malvarians' ability to produce, and high costs with low profits left the developing traders discouraged.

The frustrated merchants turned to shipwrighting, and set out to reach mainland on their own, in hopes of better trade or cheaper materials--but these gestures were immediately quashed. The Imperial Navy blockaded the Isles, turning the ships back with promises that it was for their own good. Attempts to negotiate with Corva failed, resulting in tighter restrictions and higher stakes. The nobility bowed under the pressure, and at their feet, the working class suffered.

Months passed, in which the newly-minted Malvarian trading ships were forced to meet the Imperial Navy at chosen waypoints on the water, exchanging their goods for just enough supplies to fill their newest orders. Murmurs of rebellion began to rumble among the craftsmen and sailors, many of them struggling to survive on what little they made. While some supported pressuring the Crown to continue its attempts at negotiations, the less tolerant among them began to plan for a more direct answer to the problem.

As Corvite authorities oversaw the conversion of the Malvarian ships for their purposes, those who worked on them chose the ones unfit for trade and 'scuttled' them on paper. In truth, the mismatched boats were relocated to dry docks, where they were handily repurposed. Hulking galleons thought too slow and unwieldy were armored and loaded with cannons, schooners too small to haul payloads streamlined and fitted with strong, agile sails. The funds for these modifications came from the pockets of their more successful countrymen, though their identities went unrecorded. Some are thought to have been lords, or even the lords of the Conclave, tired of failed diplomacy and ready for change.

The Siege
Change came, with all the slow and weary rage of ten thousand merchants and laborers. Men of all sorts took to the work, those unable to wield a hammer or offer coin volunteering for more direct methods. Young men of no rank signed onto the trade ships, replacing their rebelling forebearers to learn the craft of sailing--and with it, the trade routes that led to Corvite waypoints. All the while, craftsmen worked day and night to be sure that the ships they took out would outmatch what was described by their sons in every way. Sturdier, quicker, and packed with as many bodies and swords as were available.

When all was done, the rebels crowned their ragtag fleet with blackened flags, painted with crossed swords to signify battle, and set out to reclaim what was theirs. Veteran sailors guided the fleet to the rendezvous, flanking the Imperial escort and assailing them as they prepared to meet the Malvarian ships.

What resulted was a siege the likes of which had never been seen: the well-equipped rogue ships overtook the Corvite galleys, who were unprepared for focused hostilities. The smaller ships outmaneuvered their attempts at retaliation, and the larger ones launched the assault, charging at ramming speed to scuttle their enemies' more delicate vessels''. ''In under an hour, the ships not captured were sinking, hulls emptied, flags burned. Surviving crewmen were captured, stripped bare and dumped into trade-crates for the trip to the mainland. The Malvarian traders, unaware that the assault was planned, were present only until the first exchange before turning rudder and fleeing back to port.

The victors divided the spoils by value, returning their goods and supplies to Oredes, to be used by those who had supported their effort. It was the first Malvarian victory against Corva, and the effects of that victory immediately rippled. Those who participated savored their newly-earned power and infamy, and sailors and tradesmen who heard the stories rushed to join ranks. It seemed that the Isles had won, a lesson taught to their aggressors.

Fresh off their victory, the newly-minted buccaneers took to the sea to chase back the enemy, outfitting and crewing stolen vessels to patrol the waters. In defending their country, they had created a new profession, and it was one that anyone could learn.

Then, the Emperor of Corva came knocking, and the course of Malvarian history changed.

Dissolution
The thought that a government could fail to recognize the building of a military force was such that Corva dismissed it out of hand. The actions of the Black Navy were taken as an political move by the Conclave of Lords. Prince Astrius answered the accusation, disavowing the actions of the rebels as just that: guerrilla hostilities, unsanctioned by the Crown. Corva was not convinced, but leveled an ultimatum: the Isles were to leash their unofficial navy, or the assault would be taken as an act of war--inviting the whole of the Imperial Navy to their doorstep.

The Malvaries had no military, no soldiers or forces of any kind, beyond the volunteer militia that peopled the Black Navy. To them, the choice was simple enough. The Powers of Oredes outlawed military action against their oppressive allies, and those identified as having sailed beneath the blackened flags were exiled for treason. The ships that the Imperial Armada captured were firebombed, the rest lost to the winds.

That was meant to be the end, but it backfired spectacularly. All the feeble gestures did was split the rebel force into factions. One side who stood by Oredes, swearing to wage further assaults against the impinging foreign ships, in the interest of stabilizing their flagging economy and getting vengeance on the way. The other scorned their ungrateful heads of state, and vowed that they would take to the sea themselves, not to salvage their spoils for their country, but for their own interest. And in that, they would face down any ship--even one with Malvarian colors.

In this way, the Black Navy ceased to be as it was--but the dissolution gave birth to piracy as it stands. A profession of little restriction and great reward, it drew adventurer and cutthroat both to pledge beneath the black flag. Men flocked to every port to sign on.

Mastery of Shipwrighting
Though well-known now for the skill of their shipwrights, the Malvaries learned ship-building largely from their dealings with Corva, taught by craftsmen to build trading ships for the purpose of their mutual business.

When the arrangement between Oredes and Corva went catastrophically south, those who had built for the Corvite trade manifests turned their attention to augmenting what they had learned to best their former allies. Through building trading ships and augmenting them into siege vessels, Malvarian shipwrights mastered the nuances not only of creating a boat, but adapting it to a hundred purposes, improvisation becoming a vital part of the process. They became masters of bending frames and rigging masts to transform one vessel into another, designing interchangeable features and makeshift rigs to quickly repair and refit hulls. Much of what the rebel laborers learned during their endeavors makes up the first volumes on ship building, repair, and adaptation, and most if not all of it is still in use in modern times, with hundreds of years of advancements built on their spines.

The knowledge gained from constructing the first pirate ships is so intrinsically linked to Malvarian shipwrighting that the distinction exists only in text. Be they for trade or battle, every vessel that leaves a Malvarian port carries in its structure wisdom wrought from suffering and toil, in the name of pushing back. The rebellious spirit of the craftsmen who started it all is as much a part of Malvarian culture as its history of piracy.

The designing and building of ships remains one of the most decorated crafts in the Isles, and despite how they learned it, Malvarian shipwrights are some of the best in the known world.

Role in the Auroran Accords
The most beloved of Malvarian folk heroes was one of its first pirate captains.

Son of a carpenter and kin to the first shipwrights of Oredes, Arden Laurentine was a born sailor, and spent his childhood on every manner of ship that had been built. He saw firsthand the injustices faced at the hands of the Imperial Navy, swearing he would take the first opportunity to strike back in the name of his country. And when the rebellion began, he was among the first to take up arms. He lived the rest of his life with a sword in his hand, with a single purpose: protecting his land from those who would ravage it.

When the Prince disowned his mercenary armada, Laurentine was among those who sided with Oredes. He led the loyal in guerrilla raids on Imperial vessels aboard the Burning Laurel, a brigantine built to run down any ship it crossed. His tactics were quick and efficient, designed to do the most damage in the shortest time. His men employed spiked grapples and hammer-chains, catapulted from the bow to snag on sails and crash through masts. His raids were not limited to trading vessels, either; the sight of an Imperial cruiser was like a bone to a dog, driving the Laurel to give chase, in the interest of catching it in his fangs. He was the first named pirate to be put up for bounty in both the Malvaries and Corva.

The spoils from his assaults were dealt with in methodical fashion, valuables seized to pay his men and upkeep of his ship, crafting materials and goods returned to the sources from which they had been swindled. Laurentine made friends with merchants who would become the first guild-masters, and recruited able-bodied sailors wherever he went to fight for the cause. Those who opposed him--rival captains and navymen both--were dealt with summarily, their ships captured or torn to pieces, men recruited or delivered to Malvarian shores in chains. As his numbers grew, so too did his notoriety. He was the most notorious pirate of his day.

His dedication to his homeland made him something of a celebrity, a status that was reinforced when the merchant's guild made him a groundbreaking offer: an alliance, for the sake of their nation. Endlessly pleased with further chances to tweak the nose of the Imperial Navy, Laurentine snatched up the chance. His ships were commissioned to run down or lead whole off sections of the blockade, allowing Malvarian traders to navigate past in secret, in search of the mainland and more suitable fortune. It went off without a hitch. In the subsequent years, the Laurentian Fleet delivered a hundred Corvite ships to Aeslyn's depths.

By the time he was apprehended, Kyravelle had signed the Auroran Accords, and freed Oredes from Corva's grip. It accomplished everything he had wanted, and cemented his place in history. His strict and efficient methods set the standard for regimented crews, with some of the most notorious pirates to follow inspired by his exploits to seek their fortune on the sea.

Influence on Modern Times
The rise and fall of the Black Navy remains an important chapter in Malvarian history, but though it no longer exists as one force, the term itself has come to represent not only the profession, but the spirit behind it: the search for freedom on the waves.

Piracy is both the second-most common trade in the Malvaries, and the most taboo, being one of the surprisingly few crimes that can get someone hanged in Oredes. Even in private conversations, it is considered an unspoken rule to never confirm whether someone is or is not a pirate, or whether one has any knowledge surrounding the trade. (This falls in line with the taught-response to most damning lines of questioning, a feature of their fairly criminal culture.) It is common for both a pirate and a regular sailor to respond to such questions with feigned offense or amusement, often going so far in their mockery to ask what a pirate is.

Humorously, this stays true of even convicted pirates. Many last words are that mocking question.

Malvarians have various ways of discussing such things, with serving pirates claiming to be regular sailors or merchants. Claiming that someone "joined the navy" in conversation is a joking way of implying the aforementioned person may have become a pirate. Of course, due to the taboo nature of discussing this, as mentioned above, this has equal chance of being a joke as it does being a fact. The uncertainty inherent in this is intentional.

The effectiveness of those who bear the colors is hard to deny. There have been whispers among sailors for decades that the pirates would be better recruited and organized than hanged, but as of yet, no gestures have been made to do so.

The Black Armada
Despite, or perhaps because of, the ban on piracy in the Isles, a number of notorious pirates have openly claimed themselves as part of the Black Navy. Among the many braggarts and liars are some of the most notorious pirates in Malvarian history, including:
 * Arden Laurentine: One of the first pirates, and the only one who was actually part of the original Black Navy excursion. Made his name by coordinating raids on Imperial Navy ships, and helping free the Isles. Captain of the Burning Laurel, and later, the Laurentian Fleet.
 * Daraban Khorla: A widely-feared sea captain, very much cut from Laurentine's mold. Also called the Blade of Aeslyn for his association with sea storms and wide-scale destruction. Wanted by both the Conclave of Lords and the Imperial Corvite Navy. Captain of Hangman's Horror.