Zodiac Empires – Fleets of the Skies
The world was forever changed when the magical crystal Eldria was discovered in the year 3689 AG.
This discovery led to the advent of the Ether Drive System, allowing for the first time lighter-than-air travel, and soon great airships were invented to fly the skies. The new Age of Sailing dawned. With these new methods of trade and warfare came an arms race between the nations of Vathis. The airships piqued national interest across the globe, lighting the fires of competition as the world’s leaders fought for power over the skies. Expansion of airships grew immensely in the coming decades and spurred the world towards a new era of tensions and slights. The national borders felt closer than ever, and military might was now judged solely on the ability to protect one’s power, with heavy emphasis placed on the size of one’s sky fleet. The First Empire Wars broke out on the back of a nation’s sunken ship, and became the first conflict to utilize airships as great weapons of war.
With any great age of sailing comes those driven by greed to disturb law and plunder riches, and this new dawn of sky-sailing was no exception.
As the merchant fleets of airships accumulated an ever-increasing pocket of wealth, those who would move against the merchants made themselves known. The pirates who sailed the seas and preyed on the weak took to the air with a natural born spirit, seeking to increase their fortune in the clouds. The Sky Pirates were born from this movement. They would come to play an important role in the First Empire Wars, which led to the utter annihilation of the kingdom of Elessar, a people once grand.
Upon Elessar’s destruction the nations moved to create a cohesive armed force to combat the new pirate threat, which outnumbered even the Tristan Armada.
The Council of Vathis was convened and a new lawkeeping force created: The Vathis Sentinels, an airship law enforcement fleet capable of protecting the vital airspace trade routes. As the funds necessary for their creation poured in from the world’s various nations, the Vathis Sentinels expanded their sphere of protection rapidly, pushing the fractured pirate groups to the edges of the skies. Backed into a corner, the Sky Pirates did something the Council of Vathis believed impossible. They united under a single leader for the first time in millennia of pirate history.
As an amari from Sillirai named Commodore Adeiu took control of the reins of power within the separated pirate families, he formed the One Hundred and Seventeen Sky Dragons.
The One Hundred and Seventeen Sky Dragons returned the fight to the Vathis Sentinels in force, pushing them from the territory they once claimed as pirate domain. The war between the two sky-faring organizations raged for decades, utilizing hit and run tactics and small, organized strikes on vulnerable vessels. The Vathis Sentinels pushed their combat fleets to destroy the pirate families once and for all, but the Sky Dragons easily avoided their attempts to locate their base of operations. The War for the Skies has been raging ever since, but in light of the Darkest War the Vathis Sentinels and Sky Dragons have banded together for mutual survival. An uneasy truce exists between both parties, with only intermittent attacks happening rarely. But this peace cannot last long, as the two sides are acutely aware, as restoring their respective spheres of influence has become a priority for both organizations.
In light of the new age of exploration a new breed of sailor appeared, made famous for operating outside of the law.
The aptly called themselves the Outlaws. The Outlaws banded together under the Free Companies Treaty, allowing them to live outside of the governing principles decreed by the Vathis Accords. The Outlaws side with neither law, nor disorder, with neither Vathis Sentinel, nor Sky Pirate. With only their dreams and mutual brotherhood guiding their cause, the Outlaws quickly established a long series of contacts and expanded their influence across the world. Today they can be found in nearly every city from coast to coast. Outlaws have proven their worth time and time again to the citizens and pirates of Vathis. Braving the depths of the world to explore the uncharted and return with glory and treasure, Outlaws know personally the true freedom of the skies.
