Battle of Pirates Graveyard

This is a historical article, describing a past event or events that occurred on Shartak.

The Battle of the Pirates Graveyard occurred at GMT midnight on 26 August '07 within a large region of cleared jungle 25-35 paces directly west of the town of Raktam. The battle was the culmination of a series of sorties by the Brotherhood of the Coast upon Raktam throughout the month of August.

List of Pirate Combatants

The Brotherhood of the Coast contingent was lead by Rozen's deputy, Bootstrap Bill, together with rogue Raktami, a rat. Other participants included Tristam Tanhide, Atriedes 88, Zamiel, and 0000FF Beard.

List of Raktami Combatants and their allies

On the native side, the Host of the Queen of Greater Raktam, Blue Hummingbird, consisted of Merc93, Taika, dchan, Warrior6789, and Dappled Shadow was augmented by reinforcements from the Wicksick, consisting of Lama, Jesus, Foo Fighter and Skull Face, together with Azuma of the Dalpoki, and outlaw Raktami and leader of the Scavengers, Armadox the Butcher.

Other players

Atok the roaming shaman was to the east of the battlefield. A York member of the Royal Expedition on the southern border of the battlefield, apparently there as an observer, was warned to depart on the morning of the battle and promptly withdrew.

With his departure, Raktami forces and their allies outnumbered the pirate contingent by 13 to 5.

Transcript of the Battle

A transcript of the battle, excluding all pirate kills, follows:

Atreides 88 says “Argh! This won't end well!” (2007-08-25 23:59)

Blue Hummingbird says “How are we going for time now?” (2007-08-25 23:59)

Atreides 88 says “It be showtime!” (2007-08-25 23:59)

Foo Fighter says “One minute left....I hope you outsiders have a secret killer squad at the roaming shaman....” (2007-08-26 00:00)

azuma says “I am proud to stand and fight against the devils with each and every one of you. Good luck all.” (2007-08-26 00:00)

Blue Hummingbird says “Zamiel has wondered off. Bit short on pirates!” (2007-08-26 00:00)

Lama says “don't kill teh journalist, please ”

Blue Hummingbird says “FOR RAKTAM! INVADERS BURN IN THE LOWEST PURPLE HELL OF SOME MISBEGOTTEN....hm, drawn a blank.” (2007-08-26 00:01)

azuma kills TanhideTristram. (2007-08-26 00:02)

Armadox kills TanhideTristram. (2007-08-26 00:02)

Lama say “please don't kill 1262 this evening ”

Jesus returns to normal after a spell of acting strangely. (2007-08-26 00:02)

azuma says “Good on ya, Lama. Thanks.” (2007-08-26 00:02)

Blue Hummingbird starts acting very strangely. (2007-08-26 00:02)

Blue Hummingbird returns to normal after a spell of acting strangely. (2007-08-26 00:02)

Dappled Shadow says “Ah well, it was great fun, if it wasn't for whoever it was who attacked me beforehand.” (2007-08-26 00:02)

Dappled Shadow starts acting very strangely. (2007-08-26 00:02)

azuma kills 0000FF Beard. (2007-08-26 00:03)

Dappled Shadow says “Hey lama don't exorcise me!!!” (2007-08-26 00:03)

Skull Face kills Meirleach. (2007-08-26 00:03)

Blue Hummingbird says “Um, is Merleach the journo?” (2007-08-26 00:03)

Foo Fighter says “Victory! We took heads and all! WICKSICK!” (2007-08-26 00:03)

azuma says “Nice work all” (2007-08-26 00:03)

Blue Hummingbird says “That was quick. The game told me azuma and Armadox kill the same guy.” (2007-08-26 00:04)

Skull Face says “Where is 'A Rat'? He was supoosed to be here?” (2007-08-26 00:04)

Lama says “got nice log ”

Foo Fighter says “Hmmm...maybe we should kill Armadox now just to make sure?” (2007-08-26 00:04)

Blue Hummingbird says “A rat is in the med hut. We can get him too.” (2007-08-26 00:05)

Foo Fighter says “Atok it is! Where is he?” (2007-08-26 00:05)

azuma says “I tagged a couple of them, Tanny and Beardy. Great fun.” (2007-08-26 00:05)

Lama attacks Armadox for 5 damage. They die.

Foo Fighter says “Hey Armadox, you alright? You really look sick....” (2007-08-26 00:06)

Skull Face says “I sat and watched the numbers go down. I have used the outsider magic called 'screenshot'...” (2007-08-26 00:06)

Lama says “Sorry, couldn't resist ”

Foo Fighter says “I don't find that shaman...” (2007-08-26 00:07)

Blue Hummingbird says “Taika and I nailed A rat out to the east. where is Atok?” (2007-08-26 00:08)

Foo Fighter says “I had a look around, didn't see the bugger” (2007-08-26 00:08)

azuma says “Didn't see anyone either.” (2007-08-26 00:08)

Taiaka says “I killed a rat, with the help of the Queen.” (2007-08-26 00:09)

Lama holds a seance and senses the presence of Armadox and 3 outsider spirits.

Outcome of the Battle of the Pirates Graveyard

The result was the destruction of the pirate force, with no losses to the native alliance other than the death of Armadox at the hands of the Wicksick.

Azuma was later quoted as follows: "I was surrounded by heroes and we were all hitting everything that moved in a puffy shirt. What a line-up of natives; it was like a who's who of all time great cannibals. Truly spectacular. I may have gotten lucky and had my name accredited to two kills but I didn't do all of the damage myself. Let's be honest about it. We collectively (and quite efficiently) waged a war of superior numbers and eradicated our enemy en masse. My work here is done. Crushing pirates dreams, one at a time. Ahhhh. Crushed pirate dreams. Your scent is redolent of Valhalla."

The location of the battlefield and the overwhelming victory of the Raktami host and their allies is marked in the following way:

"You see a tall mound of moss-covered skulls and rusting cutlasses. Decayed and rotting leather together with bleached human bones are scattered around the area. A strong stench of rum exudes from the surrounding foliage."

Further skirmishes with the remains of the pirate contigent in the area who did not make the battlefield in time for the battle followed in the next week, with the Host of the Queen mopping up pirate survivors.

Consequences of the Battle of the Pirates Graveyard

Aside from the odd skirmish by members of the Host of the Queen with Raffles and mercedes, the battle effectively concluded the pirate assault of Raktam.

The region itself is now the Province of the Pirates Graveyard and is a part of the Kingdom of Greater Raktam.

The battle highlighted the lack of support to pirates by other outsider groups: cemented the alliance between the native regions: firmly established the Queen of Greater Raktam's credibility as a defender of Raktam rather than a despot as feared by some senior Raktami: and demonstrated that even Armadox the Butcher and his usual prey occasionally have common cause.

As at August '11, a road runs through the site of the battle from Raktam to the mountain, called "Azuma Road".