The Lionsails

Lost Ark

The League of Three Crowns is an alliance of trade guilds, banded together to promote their mutual interests of trade in the Sea of Bartel. But each affiliated city is home to its own guild, with its own leadership - and those guilds do not always agree. Perhaps no better example of this is that of the Lionsails - regarded by some as the fiercest pirates in the Sea of Bartel and a menace to society, and by others as the truest heroes of the people.

The group that now calls themselves the Lionsails - so called because of their use of a lion emblem on their ships' sails - originated as a guild of privateers drawn from the League-affiliated guilds of the Levic cities of Annedal, Hassla, Smilgi, and Trudebeck - now dubbed the Four Shameful Cities by Hyndeners. The Lionsails were tasked by the Kvessian crown with running naval blockades and resupplying cities during a succession war between Kvesland and Togarmah. However, while most of the League supported Kvesland (as a victory by Togarmah risked cutting off trade routes), Hynden - the unofficial capital of the League of Three Crowns - favored Togarmah, and disapproved of the measure. Despite Hynden's authority, they were ultimately outvoted, and the motion was made to organize the Lionsails.

However, this arrangement left the Lionsails with plenty of support - in both coin and weapons - from the Kvessians, but little goodwill from the rest of the League. This was not a recipe for success. Deciding that if they wouldn't be recognized for their service they would take their arsenal elsewhere, the Lionsails turned to piracy.

The Lionsails saw their golden age two years ago, when they secured strongholds in several cities along the Bartel coast and disrupted many important trade routes, stymieing League operations. Their greatest victory, however, would come when they took control of the island of Hyegel, effectively turning it into their base of operations and launching raids from there. However, their dominance would prove short-lived. In an effort to restore order, the crown promised the knightly Order of the Hammer control over Hyegel as a fief if they would drive the Lionsails out - and, in a bloody battle, the knights were able to wrest control of the island, scattering the remaining ships.

Though their numbers and their resources have fallen from their glory days, the threat of the Lionsails is not over. They primarily operate out of the Four Shameful Cities, which remain fiercely loyal to them even against the authority of Hynden. As of yet, this has not been enough to lead to any schism thanks to the decentralized nature of the League, but some have mused it's only a matter of time. But there are ships and even fleets loyal to the Lionsail cause all up and down the Bartel coast, and the Four Cities can easily call on reinforcements if they feel the need.

One of the Lionsails' greatest assets comes from neither their coffers nor their cannon, but from the fact that they hold the support of the people. The Lionsails have taken to distributing an equal share of the treasure they win in their raids to the rural poor, and through this, they have won the favor of serfs, homesteaders, and Levic tribesmen who feel disenfranchised by the power held by the wealthy urban elite. Many a villager will think twice about reporting Lionsail activity to the authorities when it is the Lionsails that have done more for them than the League of Three Crowns ever has. In fact, with the native Levics feeling increasingly marginalized by the League, an alliance between them and the pirates could threaten Hynden's grasp on the Marches.