Wassel

Wassel Elernel-Levia, is a Friholmian pirate who operates around the coasts of Sparwood. Right now he is mostly known as the Doge of Friholm. The family name of Elernel-Levia was created when Wassel got married with Shaereleria, back then, Elernel-Dariae. The Elernel name comes from marriage into the Elernel Dynasty and the Levia partially comes from Leviathan that has been shortend and partially from the meaning of Levia; “joined in harmony".

Early life
Little is known about the early life of Wassel. He was found as a child all alone in a strange, fully enclosed, metal container that looked like a barrel. It seemed out of this world, but smoke was coming out of it. The barrel was found on the shores, not far from a small town, by a sailor named Matthias. The smoke and the child's cries attracted the man when he was unloading goods from his ship. He was a sailor and merchant in the mid 40's, going from port to port, trading goods. Matthias had no wife, never had one. He had only his ship and a couple of crewmembers, who were his friends. He was not that big, he had short black curly hair and a fully grown beard.

The child took direct interest into the necklace that Matthias had. It was a sharktooth with a leather cord to hold it. The child stopped crying and started playing with it. Matthias' heart melted and from that moment he looked to the child as a son of his own. It had a weird metal necklace with weird signs written on it, Matthias couldn't make much sense of it. He looked at a small part of the signs that somewhat looked like letters he knew "W45S3L". Matthias said: "From this day forth, your name is Wassel and you are my son."

Living on a ship and raising a child wasn't going to be an easy combination, but that didn't stop him from trying. The first years were hard, a baby on board basically meant one person less to do the normal work. Eventually Wassel learned to walk, talk and swim on a young age. And from the moment he was strong enough to help pulling the sails, Matthias taught him everything that he knew. He learned stuff from basic sailing techniques like knotmaking, to merchant skills in port towns...

Tragic loss
Life was good, years went by on the Floating Betty (Matthias' merchant ship at the time). They sailed though the ocean, buying and selling goods. Matthias created a good reputation and earned alot of money with Wassel at his side. But on a bright day, somewhere in the middle of, what is now called, the Sea of Etscharien, Matthias fell ill. He had a high fever that didn't want to do down with a couple days of rest. The medician onboard tried everything with what medicine was available. They were too far from land and the wind was not on their side. Matthias felt his end was close, he asked Wassel to be at his side and told him the story of the sharktooth necklace and then died peacefully in Wassels arms. Wassel was around 16 at the time and the loss of his father was very hard on him. Matthias most likely died because of old age and the tough conditions on the sea. Wassel took Matthias' necklace and gave him a proper burial at sea.

With the necklace around his neck and Matthias close to his heart, he was proud to continue Mathias' work. Chosen by his crewmembers Wassel became the captain of the Floating Betty. His leadership skills were close to not existing at that time, but that changed quickly...

Sakura tree
Wassel became known in the world. For years he passed through great port cities and met alot of people around the world. Crewmembers came and went. They got enough money to buy their own ships or found the love of their life. Some became injured or sick and stayed on land to recover. But new faces joined as well, faces of all colors and forms. Some joined to learn, some joined because of an old favour and some just joined for the money.

It was on a day in Summer, when he was sailing somewhere North-East of Sparwood's main land, that luck was not on his side. By that time Wassel must have been around the same age that Matthias was when he found him as a baby. Wassel was almost at his destination after a long time on sea. A sudden jolt of noise made the ship halt. The Floating Betty crashed into sharp rocks close to the shores. Water filled his beloved vessal fast, there was nothing to stop it. Wassel felt a deep grief, losing the Betty makes him remember everything again. With small sloops Wassel and his crew peddled away from the Floating Betty. Some goods were lost, but no one was harmed and most riches were with them. The Floating Betty sailed her waters, the Floating Betty was no more.

Back on land Wassel looked for a new ship. There were some vessels for sale in the town, at the docks, but they were not in the best condition so Wassel didn't want to spend his money on them. After some wandering around the town he noticed a sign that led into the woods closeby. Following the road Wassel found a shed with a small wooden house next to it, right next to the water. There was a man working on a ship, it was smaller than the Floating Betty but it looked well made. After talking to the shipmaker and discussing over a fair price, Wassel had a couple weeks vacation before the ship was finished.

While the crew was enjoying themselves in the small town, Wasssel traveled on foot with his back turned to the sea straight towards the mountains he could see far away. He was not used long days on land so he rested alot and enjoyed the greenery and wildlife. After some days of walking, pink petals filled the air, there was a settlement. The people who lived there were mainly human, but they had a special tone of skinconlor. The buildings were also unusual compared to the town he was at a couple days ago, however, it was beatiful. He got offered something to drink that he couldn't remember the name of and the days went by like nothing. After a couple of days, when he finally decided to leave, he was given a seedling of one of the pink trees. He'd never forget the bright red structures, the exotic plants and the fine ladies in their pretty dresses.

On his way back, Wassel made a small detour. Big plains with a look on the sea, nothing could disturb the peace. He decided to plant his seedling there. He might not have lived on land ever, but he knew the basics of plants. Put it in the ground and give it water.

Back in the town he went by the shipmaker to check on the ship. It was done, the man was adding some finishing touches to it. Wassel went to get his crew and told them to get the small sloops with the remaining goods around the town to the place of the new ship. Rumours from the crew about increasing pirate activity reached Wassel but he stayed calm about it. Back at the shed, he payed the shipmaker handsomely with the money they had left and pushed the ship into the water where it was ready to sail away. There he officially named the ship "Matthias' Grace" out of respect for his father and sailed out to their next destination...

Black flag
Years pass, The Matthias' Grace had gained some dents and scratches. Wassel got to pick up where he left with his trading business. On one of his stays in a bigger city he picked up some small firearms and swords, mainly to satisfy the crew, because they were still complaining about the rumours of pirates. Wassel never intended to use the weapons however, he stored them away on the ship and basically forgot about them.

A couple months later, when they were in the middle of a trading mission for a special kind of wood and spices, a crewmember spotted a small black dot in the horizon. It was strange to see something on the horizon when land should be far away. It moved closer at an unusual speed. It was a ship, but it was headed straight to The Matthias's Grace! The speed, the direction, the black flag, this could only mean one thing... Pirates!

Wassel instantly ordered the panicking crew to turn the ship around, away from the pirates. The pirates however did not back off and kept getting closer and closer. Their ship was made to be fast and manoeuvrable. There was only one option, throw everything that was heavy overboard. The wood, barrels of wine and rum, the grain and even the lifestock was dumped in the water. At this point it was only the crew and the small amount of golden coins left. Somehow the plan worked, The Matthias' Grace gained speed. However, it did not seem to be enough, the pirate ship was still sailing at a higher speed. Luckely it was alot slower and it gave Wassel time to plan something, because he had an idea.

The Matthias' Grace turned more starboard, there was alot of fog, but that was exactly the reason. Night was falling fast, the pirate ship was only visible by the small lanterns they had for light. Wassel told the crew to light some lanterns as well. They called him a madman since it would go against the idea to become invisible in the fog, but Wassel insisted. After explaining that everyone had to talk with a soft voice, he told the crew to get on the small sloops they had, with the weapons, all the gold and rations. Only enough food for a couple days, maybe a week, stayed on the ship. Wassel explained the crew that they had to leave him, that the crew had to leave the ship. The pirates were after the ship and it's valuables. The darkness from the night and the fog would mask the small sloop's escape. The crew was furious; why would he ever think about a plan like that. Wassel tried to calm them down, explaning that it was the only option, the ship needed someone to sail it and it had to be Wassel. "I believe everyone of you should make it out unharmed. You're the best crew I ever had. And don't worry, I'll make it out as well somehow, you know me." The crew looked sad, but satisfied and determined. Wassel looked as the two sloops with the crew pushed themselves away from The Matthias' Grace and peddled as fast and with the least amount of sound possible. After only 50 meters away they stopped peddling and kept quiet. After only a couple minutes the pirate ship passed them with insane speed, but it seemed that they did not notice the small sloops. The plan worked, but Wassel would not see his crew for a long time if not forever.

Wassel kept sailing, there was even less weight on board, so it took the pirates even more time to catch up. Night became day and day became night again. It was only at the next sunrise that he was woken up by cannonfire. The pirates started shooting for The Matthias' Grace. They seemed still a little out of range, but it was not far off. They kept shooting every couple of minutes to see if they were close enough to hit Wassel's ship. After only a couple of hours of shooting they actually hit the side of the ship, no critical damage was done but Wassel was really getting worried at this point. His plan went up to getting his crew to safety, everything after did not matter back then. The shooting stopped for a while, what seemed weird. Wassel took a look at the pirate ship that was only a couple hundred meters away at this point. He saw them loading a big cannon, aimed straight towards him. There was no time, a giant fireball was shot towards The Matthias' Grace. It hit the ship dead center in the back of the ship, partly exploding it. Wassel was thrown overboard from the blast. Wood was shattered everywhere and the mast fell down. He almost drowned from the sails landing on top of him. He gasped after air after he found his way out of the water. His instincts made him grab onto a chunk of wood that was blown away from the ship. Knowing pirates he knew he had to stay out of sight, so he laid down on the chunk of wood and put a thorn piece of sail over himself. He only remembered seeing The Matthias' Grace being on fire after that, there was smoke. Then, everything went black. Wassel, floating on a small chunk of wood in an unknown ocean, passed out...