Admiral Blacktusk Champion Lore
When the Dwarves of Gloomdeep Hold and the Skyiron Dominion re-established contact early in the Age of Treachery, it was a moment of celebration for both. A wave of hope and optimism surged through the Dwarven territories. Trade deals were struck and exchanges of technology were agreed. Thousands wished to travel between the two holds, to find long-lost branches of their kin, or for a new beginning.
The connection between Gloomdeep and Skyiron however was not physical, but magical, restored through runic gazing stones few could use at once. The tunnels that once enabled a Dwarf to walk or even steam—rail in perfect safety between the two holds were long destroyed or flooded, and what sections remained could be inhabited by monsters or Demonspawn. Establishing a land route was impossible, for that meant crossing the Krokhan Desert, Sorrowlakes, and Deadlands, exposing travelers to hostile peoples of the world.
Instead, the Dwarves turned to the sea. They already maintained ports and docks for their fishing fleets and navies; all they needed was to construct more vessels — powerful warships for long, hazardous voyages, and big-bellied haulers for the huge volumes of promised trade. So enthused were the populations of Gloomdeep and Skyiron that both put their full efforts into the work.
As the fleets grew, a question was raised: who to command the first? Who to carve a route through the waves? Who to fend off the dangers which may lie across them?
The answer was obvious. Admiral Blacktusk of the Skyiron Dominion, a warrior-sailor known also as the Boar-Admiral. Blunt, brutal, dour, stubborn, and a phenomenal master of naval warfare, he was everything an expeditionary fleet would need, and more than lived up to his name.
When fighting at sea — whether ship-to-ship or in a boarding action — Blacktusk favored coordinated, decisive charges, maneuvering his ships and marshalling his warriors like a herd of boars thundering toward a foe to pummel them to the ground and gore them. His was an uncompromising attitude, with little tolerance for error or weakness and not the slightest mercy for his enemies. He had studied enough history to know that Skyiron had nearly fallen in the past, to the Demonspawn of Siroth. The thought horrified him, and swore long ago to destroy any danger to his people.
Some years before being chosen to lead the first ‘Treasure Fleet’ — as they were already being hailed — a handful of Skyiron fishing vessels were attacked and their crews killed by members of a burgeoning pirate kingdom in the eastern Lost Isles. Their capital was an island known as the Altar of Sla’teshk, and it was home to thousands of raiders and scores of vessels. Blacktusk gathered every warship in the Dominion’s possession and attacked. He burned every ship to ash, and killed every foe, afterward ordering their heads be mounted on pikes that ringed the entire city. The lessons were simple: Skyiron avenged every affront. Skyiron showed no mercy. Blacktusk was personally involved in the construction of his flagship. If he was to break through to Gloomdeep, his vessel had to be able to lead — faster than all others and capable of smashing through obstacles. The ship, the Iron Boar, was powered by steam or sail as conditions allowed or demanded, and its metal-clad prow was so strong the vessel could split icebergs and smash through the gap.
The first Treasure Fleet to depart the Skyiron Dominion for Gloomdeep Hold numbered some two dozen vessels. Only the most robust ships and skilled captains were chosen — at Blacktusk’s insistence — for this pioneering mission. The dangers would be numerous and impossible to predict. The Boar-Admiral knew that, for all the Dwarves’ excitement about this new link between the two holds, should an over-ambitious expedition be launched and heavy losses be sustained, his people’s hope would be shattered. There might even be a desire to never try again. Blacktusk wanted his people reunified. A careful approach was needed.
This instinct paid off. Though ultimately successful, the first Treasure Fleet was attacked by beasts such as those they named the Great Red Shark and the Granite Kraken. They were battered by freak tempests and faced waves as high as mountains. One morning the ship Cloudspires’ Favor was floundering, and no crew could be seen. Boarders found no one on the ship. Not even bodies. Just thick streaks of blood and ship’s timbers splintered and shredded. In many of the cuts they found what appeared to be sawfish teeth.
Blacktusk carefully analysed every danger, learning from every mistake and victory, codifying all his experiences and collating that of his captains. He passed on every scrap of wisdom to his people’s navigators, merchants, and admirals. Though five ships never reached Gloomdeep Hold on that first expedition, all but one successfully returned to the Skyiron Dominion.