Corsair

Every wildsailor is expected to be able to take up arms in a crisis, but the corsair elevates combat to an art form. Tasked with protecting their ship in close combat they often focus their training on blades, hammers and axes.

Most corsairs follow the ancient wisdom that the best defence is a strong and punishing offence. It’s not unusual for corsairs to switch between a mixture of esoteric fighting styles and acrobatic feats to keep their foes off balance.

Pragmatic Elegance

Whether it’s across thrashing branches, crumbling ruins or the rolling deck of a ship mid-combat, most corsairs are constantly on the move. While there are those that weigh themselves down with salvage-hammered armour and heavier weapons these are in the extreme minority - the constant threat of an unexpected tumble into the waves is a strong motivator for staying nimble.

The Tools of the Trade

Given that corsairs tend to earn their place on a crew through the willingness and capacity to do violence, the weapons they carry are of paramount importance. Devoted, reliable weaponsmiths are uncommon across the waves, so for many corsairs their first ‘rite of passage’ is the creation of a tool that suits their purposes, or an array of them.

Sabres and cutlasses are the obvious choice when it comes to blades, picked for ease of use and (sometimes) a sense of carrying on the old salt-sea legacies whispered about by the oldest ektus. Hammers and axes are another good choice, useful for breaking through doors and defences. Spears are rarely used, seen more as a hunter’s weapon, and daggers (though useful in a bar-brawl) have limited effect on many of te sea’s wilder creatures.

Questions to Consider

When you incorporate elements of the corsair into your character, consider the following questions…

• Where did your weapons come from? Trade, inheritance or long hours of toil?
• What do you do in your spare time to keep yourself sharp, or to train the rest of your crewmates to defend themselves more effectively?
• What enemies have you made in your clashes with other ships - do they remember you and, if so, for what?

Alternate Presentations

Given the shifting nature of wildsea alliances and fortunes, a corsair could just as easily be a reformed pirate or marauder as they could someone trained to defend against them. For a more classic fantasy take, pairing the corsair’s abilities with a dose of heavier armour could lead to an effectve knight or paladin-style character.