The Reivers during a fight against Arabyan corsairs.
"I wonder, my friend, when all’s said and done, if I’ll not have trouble being respectable...Jeremiah willed me his cross. I think I might sail to it. I could then reward the Reivers better than any Prince of Luccini. What say you?"
- —Luka to Sesto.[1b]
Captain Luka Silvaro known as Silvaro the Hawk is a Tilean Pirate of Sartosa, captain of a company called the Reivers, sought after by the marines of Miragliano and Luccini.[1a]
He was sent by the Prince of Luccini on a mission to destroy the Butcher Ship, a vessel that was raiding the southern coast of the Old World, in exchange for an amnesty and a rich reward. To be sure he will not escape, The prince sent one of his sons, Giordano Paolo, under the false name of Sesto Sciortini with Luka to keep him under control.[1a][1b]
History[]
Whenever his second in command, his half-brother Guido Silvaro played him wrong, he took a finger from him.[1a][1c]
The Scalabra under captain Hernan nearly captured him in the Straits of the Gorgon but Silvaro managed to defeat him leaving his ship on fire with sixty dead. He would meet the same captain at Aguilas five years later and fight a duel, which he won although Hernan pledged to try again in a years time and once the Butcher Ship was destroyed. [1h]
He was captured after a battle with two warships from Luccini and the company thought he had been executed or at best imprisoned.[1b] However the Prince of the city offered him and his crew amnesty, a thousand Crowns each and a letter of marque if he could find and destroy the Butcher Ship attacking all vessels at sea.[1e] He returned to Sartosa with Sesto Sciortini and reclaimed his ships, taking a hand from Guido.[1b]
Silvaro encountered Muhannad Ru'af whilst searching for the Butcher Ship and although he sought to parley, the Arabyan corsair galleys suddenly attacked under the plain red flags signifying no mercy.[1d] However most of the corsairs were weak, undernourished and full of scurvy and so were outmatched by the pirate crews who sank the Tariq and left the Badarra burning and adrift. Ru'ef himself was captured and questioned, revealing that the Butcher Ship had emptied the seas.[1e]
He then discovered the wrecked ship of Reyno Bloodlock, the Sacramento and were confronted by what seemed to be a Daemon on shore. Silvaero convinced his Ebonian Helmsman to use the magics he had sworn off to bind it.[1f] They discovered it was in fact the remnant of Captain Bloodlock, cursed by the Butcher Ship and who told them that it was commanded by what had been Red Henri, another notorious pirate. [1g]
Having captured the Demiurge and repaired their vessels at Aguilas, he discovered Guido had stowed away but he survived to become master of the renewed Demiurge. However he then sabotaged the Rumour, kidnapped Sciortini and sailed away much to the fury of his brother. [1i]
Silvaro enlisted the help of the legendary pirate Jeremiah Tusk[1j] and recaptured the Demiurge,[1k] making Guido walk the plank again this time to his death.[1l] After an encounter with a great sea monster, Tusk gave him the Bite of Daagon, the rune inscribed tooth of a Megaladon.[1m]
With the aid of the powerful artefact he was able to successfuly fight his prey,[1n] although many of his crew and allies died. Finally he found the source of the curse - a a sarcophagus from Khemri and was able to finally break it by flinging the entombed boy-kings amulet into the ocean.[1o]
Luka then decided that he would not take the amnesty and the reward from the Prince of Luccini and instead sailed with his crew to the cross of his old friend Jeremiah Tusk.[1o]
Appearance[]
Luka Silvaro as rendered in the cover art of Fell Cargo, rendered with Man O' War: Corsair graphics engine
Luka Silvaro is a tall, massively built man with a forked black goatee and a thick mane of curly, greying hair tied back in a pigtail and grey eyes.[1a]
The Crew[]
- Alberto Long[1]
- Benuto – The boatswain, oversaw all the work. An old man from Miragliano originally, his face lined from years of sun and salt. He wore black buckle-shoes, stained calico trousers loose at the ankle and a crimson jacket so the crew could pick him out easily. Perched on his head was a black hat that had so many corners and so little shape that the companion was at a loss to tell its origins.[1]
- Bo'sun[1]
- Casaudor – The stern, robust master mate.[1]
- Chinzo - One of Roque’s men-at-arms, a swarthy fellow with a sock-cap, a drooping walrus mustache and arms like a wrestler.[1]
- Curcozo - Silke's first companion, an old cook.[1]
- Delgado[1]
- Dirty Gabriel[1]
- Fahd - The shriveled cook, happily clucking in Arabyan as he worked in the sweaty confines of the galley to serve up strongly-spiced meals twice a day.[1]
- Fanciman - One of the armsmen.[1]
- Garcia Garza[1]
- Gello - The pantryman, a lug-eared boy.[1]
- Jager[1]
- Junio - The storekeeper, a tall man who fussed around the provisioning work, his big eyes and long nose reminding a goat's.[1]
- Kazuriband - The helmsman.[1]
- Largo - The sailmaker.[1]
- Laughing George[1]
- Leopaldo[1]
- Lupresso[1]
- One-legged Belissi – The ship's carpenter. Cursed to be chased across the seas by a leviathan he calls "Mother mine", similar to a huge sea crocodile.[1]
- Onofre[1]
- Pepy[1]
- Pietro the Hoof[1]
- Rafael Guzman[1]
- Rodrigo Sal[1]
- Roque Santiago Delia Fortuna - Senor Santiago Delia Fortuna, a famous duellist, discoverer and exiled noble from Estalia.[1]
- Sabatini[1]
- Saint Bones – A scrawny rating.[1]
- Saybee - A massive lee helmsman, he carries on battle a double-toothed ax forged in the Norse land.[1]
- Sheerglas - The master gunner and a Vampire.[1]
- Silke – The retained master of the Safire. He was a shabby man with great, broad shoulders from which his ankle-length green silk robe hung like a kite. He had seven tight pigtails poking down from the edge of the orange turban on his head.[1]
- Small Willm[1]
- Tall Willm[1]
- Tende - A massive helmsman, bigger even than Luka, his skin black as coal. He fought with Luka in many adventure, the covens of Miragliano, Semper De Deos, the temple at Mahrak, the ash gray Shores of Dreaded Wo, all those deeds have forged their bounding during the years. He's a sorcer, and every time he uses his powers become more shorter as the magic drains his powers.[1a][1g]
- Tortoise Schell[1]
- Vento - The master rigger, surprisingly nimble for a heavy man, fond of a chalk-white frock coat the tails of which he had to tuck into the waist of his breeks every time he ran aloft up the ratlines. His hands are like the sailmaker Largo 's, calloused and leathery from sewing and splicing.[1]
- Vinegar Bruno[1]
- Ymgrawl – A boucaner.[1]
- Zazara - An Estalian pirate.[1]
Ships[]
- Rumour - A two masted twenty-gun, two hundred tonne brigantine, one hundred paces long at the keel.[1c]
- Safire - A twelve gun sloop, sixty paces long, often commanded by Guido.[1c]
Trivia[]
Luka Silvaro is cited in the book Temple of the Serpent by C. L. Werner.[2a]
Sources[]
- 1: Fell Cargo (Novel) by Dan Abnett
- 2: Temple of the Serpent (Novel) by C. L. Werner
- 2a: Ch. 3
Gallery[]
