Captain Nera (Demigoddess, captain)

The Queen of Pirates, Sovereign of Sanctuary, Captain of the Black Pike,; despite her small size Nera is without a doubt and the most feared woman of the Magic Seas. As the daughter of Nenaya, Goddess of the Sea, she can not only control the seas as she wants but also has a vast array of magics at her command. (She’s also quite handy with a sword, but that’s more from training and not from heritage.)

She is ruthless towards her enemies, but respected and beloved among the pirates of Sanctuary, most of whom view her as their savior.

Prince Rhuno (human, quartermaster/first mate)

The second-in-command on the Black Pike; Prince Rhuno is the most elegant and courteous of the pirates; he has impeccable manners and an air of royalty about him – not so surprising when you learn that his “Prince” title is genuine. Rhuno is all that’s left of the Royal family of Neriken, after the monarchy was toppled by the Sorceress Nerai many centuries ago. With the help of his friend Dr Coppa, Rhuno managed to escape the country. The two men went out to sea and eventually became part of Captain Nera’s crew. They have been with her longer than anyone else.

Rhuno is popular with the ladies (and the gentlemen, too; he’s a bit of an equal-opportunist when it comes to romances), both on Sanctuary and out at sea. He’s charmed quite a few people to give up their riches, or even to surrender and join the pirates.

Margot (dragon, boatswain)

The hard-hitting, hard-drinking, hard-working and hard-partying Margot grew up as a human in a small village in Lysoria, not knowing that she was really a shapeshifting dragon. At the age of fourteen she had her first dragon transformation, and because it came as a total shock she panicked, destroying a good portion of the village and then fleeing in terror. She flew out over the sea until she, exhausted, reverted to human form and fell down into the sea… only to be rescued by mermaids and picked up by the Black Pike.

Captain Nera saw the use of having a dragon on board, and Margot was given help and training to control her transformation, and became part of the crew. She turned out to be a competent and hard worker, eventually becoming the ship’s boatswain.

Dr Coppa (human, master carpenter/physician)

Prince Rhuno’s oldest and best friend, Dr. Coppa was part of the Neriken upper class and was studying to become a doctor when the revolution happened and Nerai the Sorceress took over the country. He managed to rescue his friend, the prince, and smuggled him out of the country, boarding a ship and never looking back. Rhuno and Coppa traveled together for a while before they met up with Captain Nera and became part of her very first crew.

Dr. Coppa soon enough became invaluable with his knowledge of medicine and healing magics, and his skills with tools meant he was also handy when repair and maintenance jobs had to be done on board.

Shortly after Arlena became the ship’s cook, Coppa entered a romantic relationship with her. They now have a young daughter named Lydia.

Arlena (human, ship’s cook)

Arlena hails from Agardyn and was originally the cook on a ship named Prudence, which was attacked and boarded by the pirates of the Black Pike. The crew of the Prudence tried to fight the pirates, but were easily overpowered and, like anyone who tries to fight Captain Nera and her crew, unceremoniously got turned into mermaids, mindwiped, and set out into the ocean. The exception was Arlena, who held out longer than anyone else, giving quite a few pirates concussions by hitting them with her frying pan. Impressed by her ferocity (and also because she really needed a good cook!) Nera gave her an offer: She could be turned into a mermaid with everyone else, or she could join the crew of the Black Pike as the new ship’s cook.

Arlena chose the latter and has never regretted the choice… especially since she ended up in a relationship with Dr. Coppa.

Lydia (human, galley girl)

Lydia is the daughter of Arlena and Dr. Coppa. She’s the youngest crewmember of the Black Pike, and in fact the only one of the crew who was actually born aboard the ship. She’s pretty much the darling of the entire crew, and she knows how to exploit this; not all the adults are quite aware of what a sharp and devious mind hides behind those innocent green eyes.

Blessed by Nenaya herself at birth, Lydia swims like a fish and climbs like a monkey. Due to her young age she spends most of her time helping her mother out in the galley, but sometimes she manages to talk the adults into giving her some more interesting jobs. Her cute and innocent appearance makes her the perfect spy on land; nobody suspects a sweet little girl of being in league with pirates.

Beca (sea elf, master gunner/artillerist)

The only member of the crew who has been with Captain Nera for longer than Prince Rhuno and Dr. Coppa. A lazy, sarcastic slacker who shirks work whenever she can, she would never have had a long career on the Black Pike if it hadn’t been for two very important things:

One, she is Captain Nera’s half-sister. Two, she’s absolutely brilliant with firearms and magical artillery, and when she’s on the job she does it quicker and more efficiently than anyone else. It’s just such a shame that very often she can’t be bothered.

Tinkra (wight, chief engineer)

Most wights are not very good with machines and inventions. Most wights are not Tinkra. The resident engineer and “mad scientist” of the crew, she used to be part of the Inventors’ Guild in Khildarin, but was kicked out after a couple of untimely explosions.

Having to leave the country, she built a boat with all sorts of experimental navigational devices, went to sea and somehow found the supposedly unfindable island of Sanctuary.

At first, she was taken prisoner, and might have ended up as an amnesiac mermaid if Beca hadn’t spoken up for her. Anyone who could create a device who could, even by chance, lead her to Sanctuary, might be handy to have around. Tinkra has since taken to the life of a pirate, becoming the Black Pike’s Chief Engineer.

Oren (sea elf, navigator/lookout)
Also known as “Oren the Starwatcher”, Oren is probably the most mysterious crewmember. Nobody really knows where he came from; he was a prisoner on board a ship that the pirate attacked, and offered to help them if they freed him. He doesn’t speak much about his past, though it’s clear he’s an outcast among the sea elves, and that he sees the pirates of Sanctuary as his new clan; a nation where those cast aside by the world can thrive.

Despite them both being sea-elves, Oren is practically the opposite of Beca in personality; where she is a lazy, sarcastic slacker who never knows how to shut up, he is a hard worker with a quiet and meditative nature, often spending hours perched at the bow of the ship, gazing at the stars.

Keel (human, rigger)
Keel is the newest, and so far the only nonbinary, regular crewmember. Raised in a traveling circus, they’re an expert acrobat and escape artist who from an early age could walk high wires and get in and out of almost any place. When their cruel employers sold them out to a wealthy patron, Keel narrowly escaped thanks to Lydia, who had befriended them while out on a spy mission for the pirates. Both as a sign of gratitude towards Lydia, and as revenge against the employers, Keel helped them rob the circus blind, and was afterwards allowed to join them to Sanctuary.

Keel now treats the rigging of the Black Pike like their personal playground, leaping and swinging with unmatched agility.