Edith Darkwater

Edith Darkwater (also known as Edith of Darkwater, Edith the Dreaded, Edith the Bloody, and The Dread Queen of Darkwater) was the notorious leader of the Darkwater Dozen, a pirate fleet which harassed merchant ships and the fledgling Belgritian navy from AY 1095 to AY 1122, as well as conducting other raids along the southern coast of Delun from Al-Uqh to Ordinatus.

Aside from her more mundane exploits, Edith has also ascended into a figure of myth and legend, said to have stolen the moon from the sky and sunk the entire Belgritian armada and all manner of other such nonsense. One of these rumors is that she possessed a magic flute which could command the wind to carry her ship wherever she wished, earning her the nickname Whistling Death. A replica of this alleged flute is held in the Belgritian Hall of Curiosities in Domren.

Early Life

Nothing is known for certain about Edith's early life, as her true identity has never been fully established. Some very early alleged letters of hers, written to her parents, was addressed to "Evelyn and Richard Grand" in the town of Edgewater on the island of Brine. This letter was not discovered until after the Grands died, but one of their neighbors, Samuel Westbridge confirmed the Grands had a daughter who ran away in her teens. The veracity of this version of events has been called into question on the grounds of Westbridge having been a fiction author who wrote and published a poorly sourced book on the matter, "The Pirate Queen: The True Story of Edith Darkwater".

Letters / Cipher

Most of the documents attributed to Edith which have surfaced over the years have been enciphered in some unknown manner. She is known to have used a unique system of runes possibly derived from the Dwarven script. One sample of such a message exists on display in the Belgritian Hall of Curiosities. It is reproduced below as an example.

An example of Edith Darkwater's enciphered communiques (intended orientation unknown). The text consists of one large rune (left) and 56 smaller runes (right) of different design.

Disappearance and Legacy

It is unknown when (and indeed whether) Edith Darkwater died. Although she disappeared centuries ago and appeared completely human, rumors of half-elven parentage and stolen youth-sustaining magic persist to this day. And, of course, ghost stories are told in which she (and often the 4 other captains in her fleet whose ships disappeared amidst uncertain circumstances) continue to raid unsuspecting vessels even in death.

Her last known broadly accepted sighting was at the Battle of Brine in AY 1122.

Fleet (The Darkwater Dozen)

Ship Name	Captain	Class	Manufacture	Crew	Cannons	Original Name	Fate
The Zephyr	Edith Darkwater	Brig	Belgritian (presumed1)	150	24	Vanguard (disputed1)	unknown
The Clink	Golden Boy (Erick Gilder)	Galleon	Belgritian	400	88	Saint Solomon	Captured in AY 1120, served as the first Belgritian Parliament Ship
The Last Resort	Bloody Ben (Benjamin Richter)	Brig	Belgritian	175	20	Saint Catherine	Sunk in the Battle of Brine (AY 1122)
The Scallywag	Brittlebones Beth	Schooner	Belgritian	90	16	Morning Glory	Sunk in the Battle of Brine (AY 1122)
The Bearded Lady	The Red Dragon (Agatha Gallant)	Sloop	Araxian	75	8	Virtus	Sunk in the Battle of Brine (AY 1122)
The Bastard	Rancid Rob	Schooner	Araxian (presumed)	90	14	unknown	unknown
The Twisted Knife	Raynauld the Rat	Sloop	Belgritian	75	10	Libertine	Captured in the Battle of Brine (AY 1122)
The White Gull	Marcus the Mouth	Sloop	Belgritian	75	12	Saint Benedict	Sunk in the Battle of Brine (AY 1122)
The Warden	Blind Jim (James Burch)	Brig	Belgritian	130	22	Saint Paul	unknown
The Dawnstar	Willy Whitewhiskers	Sloop	Ao	75	10	Nijari-Deng	unknown
The Rose	Gwen Darkwater (disputed)	Schooner (custom)	Darkwater (presumed)	90	16	The Rose	unknown
The Whisper	Desmond Frey	Catamaran (modified sand skiff)	Al-Uqhid	40	6	Al-ajar-qalaan	Sunk in 1120

Footnotes

1. The Vanguard disappeared on its maiden voyage from the Arthan shipyards to Araxia in AY 1094, one year before the first recorded mention of Edith Darkwater. Though it was presumed sunk at the time, it bore a striking resemblance to the Zephyr and was one of the earliest vessels to be outfitted with runeshot.