Long before Keridwyn ruled the mainland, the southern seas already belonged to pirates.
Across the scattered island chains, raiders, smugglers, corsairs, and private war fleets rose and fell with the tides. Entire generations lived and died upon the water while distant kingdoms struggled unsuccessfully to tame the lawless southern routes.
During the height of Keridwyn’s reign, countless infamous captains challenged the crown. Redclaw. Pete the Swiftfoot. Windblade Johny. Legends whose names still echo through taverns and gambling halls alike.
Yet none surpassed Shaneela.
A Troll of ruthless intelligence and terrifying naval discipline, Shaneela defeated rival pirate crews one by one until her growing fleet became powerful enough to threaten Keridwyn itself. Rather than wage a devastating war against her, the crown chose diplomacy.
Shaneela secured recognition as the official governess of the island harboring the core of her fleet along with a lucrative letter of marque authorizing attacks against vessels outside Keridwyn’s influence.
Thus, Orbin was born.
Named after Shaneela’s first ship, the island city rapidly transformed into one of the most important ports in the southern seas — a crossroads of commerce, piracy, gambling, entertainment, and vice.
Orbin became famous not merely for wealth, but for excess.
The city caters to nearly every desire imaginable. Gambling dens, fighting pits, taverns, dance halls, luxury resorts, black markets, resurrection wagers, illicit magic, and pleasures forbidden elsewhere all thrive openly beneath swaying palms and endless sunsets.
The wealthy arrive seeking indulgence.
The desperate arrive hoping fortune will save them.
Most leave with less than they arrived with.
Despite its reputation for chaos, Orbin possesses one of the most stable social systems among the fractured cities — though few outsiders immediately understand why.
Officially, the city has no written laws.
Unofficially, it has one sacred principle:
No violence on the docks.
Beyond the harbor, conflict, betrayal, piracy, and bloodshed are accepted parts of life. Upon the water, all things are considered fair. But the docks are where money flows, ships arrive, goods move, and Orbin survives.
To threaten the harbor is to threaten everyone’s livelihood.
The rule is enforced not through morality, but through mutual greed.
Outside the docks, safety depends heavily upon membership within a guild or crew. These organizations function as families, employers, protectors, and political powers simultaneously. Talented immigrants are often recruited immediately upon arrival and offered housing, training, protection, and purpose.
In return, loyalty is expected absolutely.
Betraying one’s guild or crew is considered one of the few truly unforgivable acts within Orbin society.
The island’s strongest authority is the Dock Administration Guild — the modern continuation of Shaneela’s original crew, still dominated by Troll leadership generations later. They maintain the harbor tirelessly, ensuring trade remains uninterrupted and violence never disrupts business.
Even the cruelest pirate captains understand a simple truth:
If the money stops flowing, every other faction on the island turns against you.
When the alliance between the cities fractured, Orbin adapted faster than most. Pirate crews immediately began raiding weakened merchant vessels and vulnerable diplomatic caravans.
Yet Orbin also recognized another opportunity.
As Enviro’s neutrality weakened, merchants, refugees, diplomats, and negotiators increasingly sought alternative locations for safe meetings and mediation. Orbin’s peculiar reputation for transactional honesty and enforced harbor neutrality made it surprisingly attractive.
Naturally, the city monetized that demand immediately.
Today Orbin serves simultaneously as pirate haven, trade empire, entertainment capital, and diplomatic refuge — a city where decadence and professionalism coexist in deeply uncomfortable harmony.
Trolls and Aquatic species make up the largest portions of the population, followed closely by nature-born peoples adapted to island life. Ancient Fae bloodlines and non-Troll Fae are comparatively rare among the islanders, though all species are welcomed enthusiastically.
In Orbin, the exotic is simply another luxury to be sold.
In her youth, Seline embodied nearly every excess Orbin celebrated.
The Pixie lived for sensation and spectacle. She drank recklessly, gambled impulsively, chased dangerous thrills, and spent her nights drifting between taverns, dance halls, and high-stakes gaming tables with little concern for consequences.
Then came the incident.
After an especially reckless night at the gambling halls, Seline awoke beside a magically formed duplicate of herself. The clone possessed her appearance, but not her maturity. It behaved like a confused child with only fragments of understanding.
For the first time in her life, Seline felt responsible for someone other than herself.
Rather than abandoning the unstable creature, she chose to raise it. She taught the copy how to speak, behave, and navigate the world safely. In caring for another version of herself, Seline slowly became someone entirely different.
Her magic shifted away from frivolous amusement toward practical protection and support. Though she still frequents Orbin’s dens of indulgence, she now remains sober and watchful within them.
Seline quietly prevents magical overdoses, neutralizes poisoned drinks, calms dangerous spellcraft, and steers reckless patrons away from self-destruction before disaster strikes.
Naturally, this earned her enemies.
Criminals, exploitative gamblers, traffickers, and predators who profit from desperation have repeatedly attempted to silence her. Assassination attempts are not uncommon, though Seline’s mastery of illusion magic and sharp instincts have kept her alive.
Yet she has also earned fierce loyalty from those she protects.
The people Seline rescues often refer to themselves informally as her crew. Many now defend her in return, shielding her from retaliation wherever possible both within the city and upon the battlefield.
Lotar once sailed beneath the official banner of Keridwyn aboard a merchant vessel before fate stranded him within Orbin’s chaotic harbor.
According to his former captain, Lotar betrayed him.
According to Lotar, he merely answered a question honestly.
Whatever the truth, the argument ended with the Moon Elf abandoned upon the docks of Orbin — a place where honesty is usually considered either a weakness or a negotiating tactic.
Oddly enough, honesty became his greatest strength.
Lotar worked for years as a guard aboard merchant vessels, refusing employment from outright pirate crews regardless of the payment offered. His reputation for integrity spread steadily through the southern trade routes.
One story in particular elevated him into local legend.
While serving aboard a hired vessel, Lotar discovered the captain intended to raid a weaker merchant ship. When ordered to participate, he refused despite direct threats against his life.
Instead, Lotar crossed onto the targeted vessel mid-battle and defended it against the very crew who had hired him.
Since then, his reputation has become nearly impossible to challenge. Leveraging both his defensive combat expertise and widespread trustworthiness, Lotar now serves as a guardian of high-value wagers, contracts, and secured stakes throughout Orbin.
No thief has successfully stolen property under his protection. No bribe has swayed him. No assassin has removed him quietly.
Lotar views Orbin differently than most residents. To him, the city is not merely a place of indulgence, but a place where individuals can choose to become better despite temptation surrounding them constantly.
Alongside Seline, he co-founded the Defender’s Guild — a small but steadily growing organization dedicated to protecting citizens, travelers, and honest merchants from exploitation and violence.
When threats approach the island itself, Lotar sails aboard his swift defensive vessel, the Shield, defending both the harbor and the fragile ideals he believes Orbin could still become.
