Darsielle Du Moire
Darsielle Du Moire was a Chelaxian privateer operating in the Inner Sea in the years prior to 4708 AR.3
Background
Darsielle Du Moire was the third son of a wealthy Chelaxian count, who came to be an embarrassment to his family due to his love of debauchery and his penchant for offending high-ranking Chelaxian nobles, including the allies of his father.
In an attempt to limit his son's capacity for embarrassment, the elder Du Moire provided Darsielle with a small sailing vessel named the Hydra's Fang and a privateer's writ, confident that either pirates or disgruntled crewmen would soon dispose of him.
Ironically, Darsielle flourished as a privateer. In a short period of time he succeeded in sinking half a dozen pirate ships, as well as one or two Andoren vessels that he claimed were unmarked.
Due to tales of his ruthlessness, the infamy of the Hydra's Fang spread. He murdered or drove off much of his original crew and replaced them with ruffians recruited from the crews of ships he had sunk. Thus, by the end of a year, Darsielle commanded a crew of nothing but bloodthirsty thugs.
In the spring of 4708 AR, Du Moire sailed into Westcrown and demanded to be crowned admiral of the Chelaxian dragoon fleet, a ludicrous request which insulted the current Chelaxian high-admiral, Astran Thrune. At the same time, the Andoren government formally accused Du Moire of deliberately attacking free Andoren ships and declared his attacks to be acts of war. They called upon the Chelaxian government to restrain Darsielle or face diplomatic consequences.
Darsielle responded to these events by fleeing Westcrown and going on a rampage along Andoran's coast. Andoran responded with a formal declaration of war. In an effort to avoid conflict, Cheliax promised to sink the Hydra's Fang, and Andoran gave Cheliax 30 days to deliver on this promise.
Two weeks later, Darsielle raided the small Andoren village of Wittleshine and burned it to the ground, taking survivors as slaves. Among the dead inhabitants of Wittleshine was Myraxus Threeshadows, a sage and umber mystic believed to be of Azlanti descent.
During the attack on Wittleshine, Chelaxian dragoons led by Rear-Admiral Gusarre the Bleak intercepted the Hydra's Fang and assaulted it with two battleships. During the battle, Gusarre rammed his ship, the Righteous Fury, into the Hydra's Fang, causing significant damage. However, Gusarre was struck by a shot to his throat and fell overboard, and the Righteous Fury was set aflame by Du Moire's crew. The Hydra's Fang escaped during the chaos, and the remaining Chelaxian ship chose to aid the Righteous Fury rather than give chase, a decision for which her captain was later hanged.3
This page contains spoilers for the following products: plot events and climactic encounter outcome of The Hydra's Fang Incident.
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Fate
Du Moire piloted his damaged ship to Diobel to sell the loot from Wittleshine and seek repairs.3 While in port, he was confronted by a party of Pathfinders attempting to recover a set of ancient Azlanti tablets that Du Moire had looted from Threeshadows. He was subsequently presumed to have been killed, either during the confrontation or executed upon capture by authorities within days of the event.2
References
For additional as-yet unincorporated sources about this subject, see the Meta page.
- ↑ Paizo described Chelaxians as a separate human ethnicity until Pathfinder Second Edition, when they were retroactively redesignated as being of Taldan descent. See Meta:Chelaxian (human ethnicity).
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 The truth, timing, and circumstances of Du Moire's death are all subject to player actions and are not confirmed in a subsequent work. See Meta:Darsielle Du Moire.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 . The Hydra's Fang Incident, 3. Paizo Inc., 2008