Cassus Leander

Introduction -  The bastard of a powerful Myrish merchant-lord cast out into the streets, Cassus Leander has made a name for himself upon the open seas, from a position as a merchant ship sailor to commandeering the ship for himself, taking more for his growing fleet through a combination of guile, charm, and simple bloody-handed bladework, and becoming one of the Pirate Lords of the Stepstones under Aeryn Targaryen. The flag of the Black Oleander -- a stylized white blossom upon a black field, superimposed upon a ship's wheel -- is well known through Essos, especially in the minds of the merchant families whose ships ply the waves. The man behind the flag, less so... but it's always easier to work a crowd when they have no idea you're the reaver they've heard of.

Appearance and Character
Fit and strong, the Lord of Fire apparently blessed Cassus when he was born with some portion of the strength of the flame, though with little -- at first -- of his sire's business acumen. Reshar had little use for a bastard begat by a dead pillow-house woman, though it was that very decision that forged Cassus into the man he stands as today -- at an imposing height of six feet, well-enhanced by scarred, tanned muscle. His face is a bronzed tan, on the paler side of olive, and his eyes a glittering green like the emerald he wears in a setting of gold upon his finger.

One might think that gaze calculating in the right light, however... and they would be right, howevermuch Cassus's charming, honeyed voice would likely soon persuade them they saw wrong. The Black Oleander is ever watchful for an opportunity and an opening, listening in on parties for the movements of merchant-ships and deftly stealing shipping manifests from the desks of blushing clerks. Just as much as there's a blade at every hip and in every boot, there is a similar cutting edge to every smile.

Timeline
381 AC: Cassus and Piero are born as an unlucky pregnancy to an unnamed pillow-house woman of Lys dwelling within Myr, made even more ill-starred when she died in childbirth. Sannir Reshar, the powerful merchant-lord who sired him, refuses to accept responsibility for both illegitimate children, and Cassus is raised within the pillow-house by his mother's co-'workers', inured to the hedonism therein. Piero, meanwhile, is raised as Reshar's own legitimate son, close enough in looks to the man and his wife to get away with it.

395 AC: At four-and-ten years of age, Cassus signs with a merchant-ship captain as a cabin boy on his ship, soon rising to a full sailor at six-and-ten. The hard physical work pays off, combining with a natural talent for sail and sword and the charisma he learned in his 'initial home' to create a dangerously charismatic man.

401 AC: At twenty years of age, Cassus mutinies the captain of his second merchant ship at sea, as the first mate. Taking it as his first pirate vessel and naming it the Treachery, in a wry twist, Cassus plies the waves with it for two years.

403 AC: As his riches grow with the special fittings to his pirated merchant-ship, Cassus sets his sights on something greater. In a daring raid on a Tyroshi shipyard, he seizes a true warship from its docks, which he christens the Judges' Tears and takes as his proper flagship.

404 AC: Now with enough renown to survive therein, Cassus slips to the Stepstones, becoming one of the first self-fashioned pirate lords to settle there after the War of the Three Thieves. At the same time, a succession crisis in the Reshar family after the merchant-lord's death results in Piero being cast out from the family, forced to flee.

405 AC: Cassus finds his brother through rumor, and after a semi-joyful reunion and revelation, eventually persuades Piero to join him as a pirate -- taking over the business and statecraft side of the enterprise, where Cassus's own skills are lacking -- by playing upon his brother's resentment of being cast out from something at least approaching the lap of luxury.

405 AC - 413 AC: Cassus's piracy becomes more and more renowned, seizing and sinking ship after ship and claiming their treasure, sailors beginning to defect towards his cause as he becomes one of the most powerful pirates of the Stepstones, with forty ships and two thousand men to his name.

413 AC: This ends in 413 AC, however, when Aeryn Targaryen sets down upon the Stepstones. Seeing an opportunity after hearing tell of the power of dragons seen on the Stepstones before, Cassus subtly aids Aeryn, pledging his allegiance behind the scenes. In the first battle between the self-proclaimed king and the Targaryen, Cassus turns upon the other pirates in the king's fleet, devastating their ranks as he sailed away towards the Targaryen fleet.

418 AC: Cassus now stands well-founded, with his brother at his side, forty-five ships of the line to his name, and riches and gold enough to fill a fortress upon the lonely isle of Wreckstone. From the lowliest of beginnings to the top of a prosperous future, the Black Oleander now turns his attention back to the mainland...

Recent Events
N/A

Family
Sannir Reshar, father, deceased

Unknown, mother, deceased

Piero Leander, 'younger' brother / twin