- Aribar Raithen(src)
Aribar Raithen was a pirate captain.
Raithen was a young, handsome, and powerfully built man. Suspicious by nature, he was both cunning and brutal. He had a goatee, and a "cruel scar" touched the right corner of his mouth, giving him a "cold leer." He was primarily interested in obtaining treasure.
Biography[]
Once a sailor in the Westmarch Navy, Raithen left the navy to become a (rather successful) pirate lord. He became captain of the Barracuda after assassinating the previous captain. Raithen soon commanded his own pirate fleet, which he used to raid trade fleets and small settlements, often killing everyone on board. His brutality earned him the nickname "Scarlet Waters," and most of his raids occurred in the Great Sea. Apparently, Raithen's identity was unknown to Westmarch, though Captain Tollifer suspected that Raithen might have been the identity behind this "Scarlet Waters" pirate.
c. 1263, Raithen was contracted by the Zakarum priest Buyard Cholik. They formed an alliance—Cholik provided information to Ransim on which ships were transporting Westmarch's gold through the Gulf of Westmarch and the Great Ocean, allowing Cholik to easily prey on them. Cholik was given his share of the gold, which he gave to Raithen to purchase slaves for his excavation project at Taruk's Port, which the texts of Dumal Lunnash had led Raithen to. Because of the high mortality rate, there was a constant demand for slaves.
Exactly what Cholik was doing at Taruk's Port was of little interest to him, at least initially, as he was simply interested in the treasure that could be found there. Over time, however, he became more curious as to what Cholik was actually after, while his crew were simply interested in gold. He assigned members of his crew to infiltrate Cholik's circle with each delivery of slaves.
Later in the year, Raithen kidnapped Lhex, nephew of King Cornelius of Westmarch. While this was by chance, in one of his usual raids to obtain gold from Westmarch vessels, Lhex made a valuable hostage. Five days later, at their base in Taruk's Port, Raithen and Cholik came to blows as their motives clashed, Raithen being primarily interested in treasure, while Cholik's faith and contempt for humanity drove him forward. Cholik manipulated the water around them to seize Raithen, using tendrils of water to strangle him and hold him over the edge of the balcony they were standing on. Raithen realized that he was dealing with no mere priest. Cholik spared him, but warned Raithen not to take up arms against him. Told him that he was a tool, and nothing more.
Raithen retired to make love to a woman; the wife of a husband he'd killed in his many raids. She tried to kill him, but he killed her in turn, though not without being wounded himself. Afterwards, one of his crew told him about a door that Cholik had found in his excavations. He ordered the crew to assemble, while he went to talk with Lhex. He showed the boy the paper that Pettit had given him, wanting to know its meaning. Lhex recognized the writing as being some kind of demonic script, and likewise recognized the symbol of Kabraxis. Raithen insisted that demons didn't exist, but putting two and two together, realized that Cholik was hunting some kind of demon in Taruk's Port, real or not. Lhex told him more about Kabraxis, and the Black Road. Listening to Lhex, Raithen concluded that Cholik was interested in achieving the immortality the demon was said to provide. However, the conversation was interrupted as one of Raithen's crew reported that the Barracuda was under attack. Getting to the deck, Raithen saw his ships had been set aflame.
When Cholik released the demon Kabraxis from his prison, Raithen confronted both the wayward priest and the demon. Though many of his pirate crew were slain or turned by the demon, Raithen defiantly attacked the demon. Though he actually managed to hurt the demon with his fire-enchanted sword, Kabraxis easily destroyed the pirate lord.[1]
