Corsair Wars

The Corsair Wars is the name given to a series of wars between the Mbe'ke dwarves and the pirates of The Shackles that is still ongoing. The Corsair Wars started with the First Corsair War which lasted between 4607 AR and 4611 AR, just after the beginning of the Age of Lost Omens. The Mbe'ke people are an urbanized and industrial culture that trade wool, food, their fine finished goods and even raw minerals like gold up and down the western coast of Garund. In return the Mbe'ke receive coin, rare hardwoods, textiles and even spices and silk from as far afield as Jalmeray and the anadi nation of Nurvatchta. This wealth had always drawn the eyes of pirates, but with the expansion of piracy in The Shackles this soon changed from isolated attacks into full-blown naval skirmishes, where packs of pirate ships would descend on Mbe'ke merchant vessels to capture and pillage them, escaping before their cloud dragon allies could come to the dwarves' aid.

Twice during the Second Corsair War (which lasted from 4695 AR to 4699 AR) did these skirmishes escalate into full on naval battles, with both the Mbe'ke and the Shackles Pirates losing dozens of ships each. It was hoped that the death of Hurricane King Kerdak Bonefist would finally bring an end to this raiding, but when the once Chelaxian colony of Sargava underwent another revolution and transformed into the free nation of Vidrian, the Shackles Pirates lost a major source of income. The pirates had long protected Sargava from the navy of Cheliax, eager to reclaim their rebellious colony, which did not come cheap. The people of Viridian refused to pay the extortionate amounts the pirates demanded, instead turning to Senghor for naval protection. With their protection racket suddenly gone, the pirates who once grew fat off it became hungry for spoils again, starting the Third Corsair War in 4718 AR. The Third Corsair War rages to this day and looks set to be the bloodiest conflict yet, with some amongst the Mbe'ke pushing to wipe the pirates off of the map once and for all.