Book of Corsair Myths and Legends

[Madvillain]

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Long before Crete became the stronghold of the Corsair Empire, it was a young and troubled world, still scarred by the wreckage of Hispania and the devastating collapse of the ancient Sol system. The first generations of the Corsairs struggled to survive in the wilds of the planet, their society fractured and primitive. The Hispania, the last remnant of their once-great civilization, was little more than a distant memory: its technology scavenged, its grandeur forgotten in the face of a harsh, unforgiving world.

In those early days, Crete was not yet the united, proud home of the Corsairs. Instead, it was a storm of warlords, tribes, and rival factions, each with their own way of life, and each fiercely protective of what little they had left. The old ways of Sol of advanced technology and sprawling cities were beyond their reach, and so the Corsairs relied on their primal instincts: strength, cunning, and tradition.

It was during the Día de los Muertos, a time when the people of Crete remembered their ancestors who had perished in the fall of Hispania, that a new tradition was born. The day had originally been a simple remembrance, a time to honor the fallen and offer sacrifices to their memory. But one man’s pride and arrogance would change that forever.

This man was Nikandros, a fierce and ambitious warrior from the wildlands surrounding the earliest settlements on Creta. Though still young, he had already made a name for himself as a brutal fighter and an arrogant leader of his tribe. The people of his clan, the Sephardi, were known for their ruthlessness and unyielding strength, and Nikandros was their pride.
But his success in battle had given him an inflated sense of his own power.

As the Día de los Muertos approached, Nikandros grew increasingly dismissive of the ancient traditions that mourned the victims of the Hispania sleeper ship fire. He mocked the offerings made to the dead, saying, "The blood of the living is stronger than the ashes of the dead! I need no blessing from spirits to prove my strength." He boasted that he was a warrior of Hispania and that the beliefs of the old world had nothing left to offer him.

The elders of Crete, powerful leaders of clans and familias, saw Nikandros’s pride as a threat to the fragile unity that had begun to form among the scattered tribes. They knew that without respect for the traditions of the past, their future would be doomed. So one of the more influential elders, a mystic known as Elder Orpheo, took matters into his own hands.

In secret, Orpheo called upon the spirits of the dead who still lingered in the dark reaches of the universe. He offered them a pact: that the Corsairs would honor the dead with trials of strength, blood, and honor, and in return, the ancestors would guide them to a future built on sacrifice and unity. The spirits agreed, and on the eve of the Día de los Muertos, a new trial was devised. One that would forever change the Corsair people: Arena Sagrada de los Muertos.

Nikandros was called to a makeshift arena, build from rocks and wreckage, where this new trial would take place. Elder Orpheo, presented the attending warriors with masks made out of painted skulls of the fallen saying: “You fight for your people now, not for yourself. The ancestors will decide your fate.”

Though skeptical, Nikandros donned the mask and felt an overwhelming shift: his pride faded, and he realized the contest was about survival, sacrifice, and honoring the dead. Each gladiator fought not for personal glory, but for Crete’s future. After many battles, Nikandros faced his final opponent, the brave and ruthless female warrior Calista Espingaria, in a legendary duel.
Nikandros emerged victorious but not before, as a last action before her death, she ripped the mask from his face to reveal his true identity.

No longer the arrogant warrior, Nikandros became the first champion of Crete. Calista, the last of the fallen, was named the first aspect of Santa Muerte after her death. The Pontifex Maximus declared the Arena Sagrada de los Muertos the ultimate trial of strength and honor for Crete. From that day forward, the gladiator tradition was born.

The contest evolved from knife fights to battles in space, where warriors, masked and anonymous, fought for legacy and honor. Each year, to this day, as the Día de los Muertos candles fade, the strongest Corsairs face off in the skies, honoring the past and securing the future of their people. Elder Orpheo would go on to become the first Pontifex Maximus of a new religious order on Crete: the Order of Santa Muerte.

His bloodline would spawn many influential Elders involved in the foundation of the Corsair Brotherhood.

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