Rayla Black
Contents[edit] Old Bounties Bounties are currently hard to come by, a favor from her Monetarist associates.
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A couple years passed being used as a slave while kept prisoner she managed to escape her bonds. Fleeing while the ship was docked at a small port, where she was quickly hired by a small fishing boat. Biding her time she saved every gil she could. She had made a plan, save enough money to buy some basic equipment then get hired onto any pirate crew that would take her. Her plan worked three years after her escape. She was hired to be just a deckhand aboard the ship The Crimson Cutter. And there she spent several years doing what she loved to do, but it wasn't quite the same. She had become cold, bitter, and at times, unreasonably cruel. Where she once sought mercy for people that laid down their arms, or civilians who didn't fight. She advised wholesale slaughter to prove points. It didn't take long for her to catch the notice of the Captain who grew to trust her. She rose through ranks eventually becoming the Quartermaster of the ship. She trained crew, handled the armory, and lead boarding parties. The crew had no limits of praise to give her, she had their complete respect. However there was a small group that felt she was too cruel, too horrible. This group, lead by the First Mate a woman named Orianna, had tried to wrest control of the ship. Believing there was a better way to go about it all. After a brief, but violent fight the mutiny was squashed. Orianna was left adrift in the sea, believed to be dead. And Rayla was made Captain as the previous one had been too wounded in the fighting to carry on. From there she upped her raids. Often striking coastal towns and villages and leaving ruins behind. Years passed and her legend grew. She earned the nickname Black Rayla for her hair color and general attitude and formed the Black Sea Reavers as a result. There was no single outfit on the seas that could take her down, or so she thought. When she was in her early 30s she had heard a rumor, that a man was seen in Limsa. A man that was described to be the spitting image of her husband long lost. She decided to check out this rumor, leaving the ship to her First Mate. Trusting that they'd carry on just fine without her and orders to return to a neutral port after a few months. A week into her search she ran across a free company that the man was a member of and discovered that her husband had in fact lived. They had both believed the other was dead for nearly 20 years. He was stunned by her change in personality, but ultimately approved of it. Feeling now they could have even more fun than before. The two left for the neutral port and were back to their old ways on the sea once the ship returned. Together they ramped up even more. Wanting to live their lives together as if every minute could be their last. Years passed and finally her husband was captured by the Maelstrom and shoved in a prison somewhere. They had long ago agreed that should the other be captured that they would not seek rescue. Better that one be free than both dead or imprisoned. Rayla kept true to this and continued for another year before ultimately losing the ship, and most of the crew, to a surprise night attack by Garleans. She managed to survive after being rescued by a fishing boat and taken to a town that she had raided years ago. Having healed up she decided it best to retire. She was getting older and knew it. She made her way to Ul'Dah to seek work being a bodyguard or stealing from warehouses. She had no real need for money, years of piracy had seen her become rich. What she wanted was a distraction, something to keep her mind off her husbands imprisonment and the loss of her crew. Eventually this distraction came. A couple years after coming to the city, and having successfully hidden her identity through changing her hair and style and wearing various masks, a man approached her in the Pearl Lane where she lived nearby. This younger man, a cocky Mi'qote thought she looked familiar. She fed him some lie about having a common face, and when pressured about what she did, she gave him another practiced lie about being a security consultant. She was sure that her bounty papers were long buried and that no one would be looking for her now. Pressured more by the man over several days she was found out. He confronted her with an old bounty and she admitted to who she was. Thankfully the man simply laughed and expressed common interest. He was a fledgling pirate himself, but not at sea. He roamed the skies for his treasure. Intrigued she offered her advice, life in the city was always boring and believed this could be a good distraction. The two quickly formed a rather strange mentor student relationship. With her suggesting what he could do and how to do it, and leaving it up to him to see if he was capable. Several times he managed to surpass expectations even as she gave harder suggestions, such as stealing a Garlean airship. Every time he had offered to pay her something for her help she'd turn it down until one day she asked for help in finding a ship. This wasn't so much of a distraction as she thought but a resurgence. She was feeling that old joy of the life she had lived. The man agreed and found a ship(Now called Black Fall) owned by some skilled, but small, crew. After boarding the ship and killing the captain Rayla managed to persuade the rest of the crew to join her. Recently outfitted the ship with a heavily armored bow for her preferred ramming tactic with more, albeit smaller caliber, cannons for harassment. Shortly before the war with the empire reached the tipping point she, along with Lukas Madrazo and some other help, launched a mission of revenge on a Limsan ship anchored just outside the city. The former captain of said ship, who was recently killed thanks to other friends, had killed her husband during a failed prison escape. Having obliterated the ship and all hands aboard they fought their way back into free skies, but not before leaving her old flag behind to tell authorities that she was back. Later that week she began to grow restless feeling the need to go out and be who she was. Quickly getting her ship and crew ready she began her own crusade on anything in the sky, Garlean, Eorzean Alliance, and any civilian air ship that looked promising. Every ship she attacks ends the same way, devoid of all valuable resources with all crew either dead or conscripted. Currently her location is unknown, but is likely she'll turn up back in Ul'Dah. Having returned to the city she multiplied her influence. Gaining favor with an unknown Monetarist, her bounties became far more hidden. After gaining numerous ships from a young Ishgardian lord she was given the rank of Admiral. Currently she is trying to better her reputation into that of a more legitimate businesswoman, it is of course, a lie.
Tall, as most Highlanders are, she stands over 6 fulm. Muscled from years of fighting and covered with various scars. She has deep blue eyes, with one being much lighter than the others due to a wound she suffered many years ago. She changes her style of clothing wildly, preferring leather and scale armor the most.
Recently lost her formerly wounded eye.
Greedy and cocky, she's the quintessential pirate except for one small difference. She despises being reckless, advocating for making plans prior to any engagement and outright refusing to rush into anything. To most she seems nicer than expected as she is often smiling or laughing. She does this to not put off everyone she comes in contact with while she things of several plans to kill them should anything happen.
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