Alter Aeon The Great Library

Welcome to the Alter Aeon Historical Archive!

Note - as with any topic, researchers should question the reliability
and veracity of these texts.  The library's aim is to preserve
documents, not verify accuracy.

AABN:  48801
Title: a book titled, "Famous Pirates of the Southern Ocean"

Many pirates have sailed the waters of the Southern Ocean. While the sight
of any privateer vessel bearing down upon you may strike fear into even the
most stalwart hearts, they do compare with the two greatest pirates that
ever raided the south: Salt Dog and Captain Dikeman.

Salt Dog's real name is lost to time. It is said he was a sailor in the
Dragon Emperor's Navy. For his crimes, the most severe of which were
rumored to be working for the Gohk Shin, his name was stricken from all the
records of the Dragon Empire. He was famous for wearing a red cap and his
love of drink. Legends claim he was gifted at scrying, and used his
clairvoyance to track merchant vessels.

On the other hand, Captain Kethar Dikeman's history prior to his life of
piracy is well known. The son of a Rogonian nobleman and a Quelese maid,
his early life was hard. He signed onto a Rogonian whaling ship as soon as
he was of age. After only a few weeks at sea, there was a mutiny. The crew
killed their skipper and turned to piracy to survive. What happened to him
in the immediate aftermath is unknown. After ten years, Kethar re-appeared
on the historical records as Captain Dikeman, a famed pirate and a wanted
man. He and Salt Dog quickly became rivals.

The two men mostly raided merchant ships traveling between Suboria and
Atmir, though Dikeman would raid Avalonian and Kuritan outposts along the
coast from time to time. It is unknown if the two ever met face to face,
but letters exchanged between the two were largely terse negotiations and
veiled threats.

Their conflict came to a head off the southeastern coast near Gthl'rooj.
Salt Dog tracked Dikeman's ship after it had robbed a Kuritan tribute ship
bound for Suboria, quite possibly the most daring raid and definitely the
biggest pay-off of Dikeman's career. Briefly, the two pirate vessels
squared off. However, Dikeman quickly surrendered, with a cunning plan in
mind. He dumped the captured Yuki treasure overboard, on the opposite side
of his ship from Salt Dog, with plans to retrieve it with divers and
waterbreathing spells. He and his crew swore that the Kuritan ship was
carrying only food, and gave Salt Dog a token payment. Stymied, the older
pirate let Dikeman go, cursing his rotten luck.

The next morning, Dikeman sent down divers to retrieve the treasure chests,
only to find that he had dumped them into the depths of the Ignora Trench.
Enraged, his crew mutinied, and Captain Dikeman was hanged from a palm tree
on a nearby atoll, which now bears his name.