Aemma Vunatis

Lady Aemma Vunatis (403 AC - Current) is the Lady of Sunstone. The Mistress of the Waves, as she's called, is a Pirate Queen currently based on the Stepstones.

Appearance and Character
Aemma has the classical Valyrian look; She has piercing violet eyes and long, pale silver-gold hair. She has full breasts, large hips and thighs, and a high cheekbones. She has a soft, breathy voice with a Low Valyrian accent when speaking in the Common Tongue.

Recent History of House Vunatis
House Vunatis was once an old and wealthy aristocratic family of the free city of Lys. The Vunatis traded in spice and silk from Qarth and Jade Sea where they sent large decked treasure ships on long voyages, taking almost two years to go all the way through the Jade Gates and back south passing by Faros. These extremely risky enterprises came with huge profits, when succeeded, to the Vunatis family who started amassing influence and power in Lys.

Early Life
Aemma was born at Lys in 403 AC by Silvario Vunatis, a rich Lysene merchant and naval officer, and Pharia Otherys, a braavosi investor. She grew up in Lys alongside her cousin Shiera Vunatis, both becoming close childhood friends. Aemma's father was a stern man, and wished to have Aemma inherit his business and enlist in the naval career, a bold choice for a woman, but one he was willing to make as his wife was too frail to bear him any more children. He made Aemma introduced to naval warfare, navigation, shipbuilding and sea charts as young as 6 years old. When they were young, Aemma used to read to Shiera, and draw her pictures of the stars. Shiera would later join a pirate crew in 411 AC with several friends of her, escaping home, even inviting 8 year old Aemma with her, but she refused.

The Eastern Voyages
When she turned 15, in 419 AC, Silvario brought Aemma to one of his voyage east with his trading fleet, in order to test her and introduce her to his contacts in Qarth and the Jade Sea. There she was enchanted by the eastern customs and culture, but much more so by the magic of the east. During her stay at Qarth she met an unusually kind warlock, who showed her magic tricks such as blooming flowers on her hair and creating animals made of fire with his hands. She was in awe of these, and wished to learn those tricks, but the warlock warned her that these weren't mere mummer's tricks, and that the price she would pay would be her entire world. She left Qarth, however, before she could learn more as her father obviously did not approve of her interest on the matter.

Soon their voyage led them to the fabled port city of Yin, where Silvario would meet a shadowbinder from Asshai. She would tell him his future which she saw on the flames, and gave him a prophetic warning: "I saw in the flames, why didn't you listen? I saw an admiral standing alone, with the sailor's coffin beneath his head and the bright blue sky above his feet. Beware the Daughter of the Sea.". Silvario was quick to dismiss the witch's words, but remembered them until the last of his days.

Later, during their stay at the port of Turrani, the ship's compartments were so full of spices, fruits and gold that they had no more room for any Lengii goods, porting there only to supply on water and food for the long voyage home. Aemma met the most beautiful person she ever saw, a Lengii noblewoman, seven feet tall with long legs and slender yet full of hips and bust. All Lengii were very handsome, but she ended up bothering the woman due to her constant questions, who then told her of the deep dark gods that inhabited beneath the island of Leng, who would sacrifice foreigners to grant powers to the God-Empress herself and her chosen. Instead of being horrified by the story, Aemma rather asked if these gods still granted powers, even to foreigners, which disconcerted the woman who told her the caves to such ruins were the gods dwelved were sealed shut hundreds of years ago, and that all who dared try to enter were sentenced to death, which bothered Aemma, saying that keeping all this knowledge secret was unfair. They would eventually find their way to the Isle of Elephants, were they bought many tusks of ivory with gold. The voyage back to Lys was very long, as had been the voyage to the east, and they returned in 420 AC with plenty of exotic goods which where sold by a fortune.

Aemma began to gain fame in the Lysene society, even amongst the common folk, for she was a rare jewel of exotic beauty, the famed admiral's daughter. Many suitors started to flock to her father's choice, but he refused them all, fearing that the bounds of marriage and betrothal would keep her from his grooming. Aemma would on the year 422 AC, travel once again to the east, this time with her uncle Khorane. Her uncle was much less prohibiting than her father, and Aemma managed to learn much more about the dark arts during her second travel.

After that, her story is not very well known, being shrouded by myths, sea legends. It is vaguely known that she studied the darks arts of bloodmagic and made rituals to ancient gods at Qarth while talking with warlocks and maegis. She went to Leng at various occasions as well, which led many to believe she studied the legends of the gods beneath the island, called the Old Ones, with whom the God-Empress of Leng would've had congress with them. The Old Ones instructed the empresses on at least four occasions to massacre all foreigners on the island as blood sacrifices. All these myths, however, only risen after her later career as a pirate on the Jade Sea. Why and how she contacted such dark forces is a mystery to this day.

The Pride of Lys' Eyes
Back at Lys after her voyages in 424 AC, Aemma was starting to become politically savvy, making alliances with important houses, sawying them with charms and a sharp mind, she was regarded as a promise alongside high society of a great house leader. Her father would arrange her to marry a very rich Braavosi merchant from the House Antaryon in 425 AC named Noho Antaryon. Aemma actually refused at first, but Noho charmed her with his skills of water dancing, even teaching Aemma how to use the rapier properly. Aemma's and Noho's marriage was very happy, making her even more popular amongst the high society of the city. Aemma started leading her own trade missions after that as a wedding gift from her father, leading fleets not only to the east but also all along the Summer and Narrow seas, proving her an skilled and promising naval commander. Even so, Noho started to get impatient at Aemma failed to bear him a child. They'd constantly fight over the issue, which led Noho to later become an alcoholic and excentric, openly cheating on his wife and commonly found in brothels. Noho eventually would die in 430 AC, when he drunkenly fell to his death into one of the city's canals and drowned on the water, Aemma having just left to lead a fleet to the east on another trade mission.

In 413 AC, after hearing of the chaos of the War of the Three Thieves, the now pirate captain Shiera Vunatis, who was basing her operations on the Narrow Sea, sailed her ships south, joining forces with Aeryn Targaryen on his campaign to conquer the Stepstones. She conquered Sunstone on his name, defeating and killing the powerful captain Leganos Jaqarro and styling herself as Lady of Sunstone. After Aeryn's death in 431 AC, she would launch a bloody campaign, laying claim to Aeryn's crown. Back in Lyz, the Vunatis family came under fire from the merchants and other aristocratic families of the city. Shiera's constant raiding and sea battles against other disputing captain lords severely destabilized the trade between the Summer and Narrow seas. Noblemen in Lys started to blame the Vunatis for Shiera's actions, and the common folk where skeptical of the Vunatis eastern and exotic customs. Silvario Vunatis, head of the family and an Admiral on the Lysene navy, as well as uncle to Shiera, decided to launch an expedition to Sunstone in order to destroy Shiera's fleet and clean the name of his house. He called back his daughter, Aemma Vunatis, who was leading a trade mission on the Jade Sea with almost half of the Vunatis fleet. It took almost a year until she returned, time Silvario spent building a gargantuan flagship named Warbringer. Upon Aemma's arrival, they both disagreed upon the necessity of the expedition, with Aemma claiming that kinslaying was not necessary and that the noblemen of Lys were conspiring against the Vunatis even before Shiera's rampage, with aims to steal their trade with the Jade Sea. In reality, Aemma had been secretly pirating on the eastern shores, and did not want to confront Shiera, who she saw as an equal, as well as they had both grown together in Lys and were good childhood friends. In any case, she was made to do so, and Silvario's Expedition left port in 432 AC with over 50 ships en route to Sunstone. Arriving at the island, Shiera's mighty fleet of 60 ships was ready, expecting their arrival. Silvario engaged with his mighty Warbringer, ramming several smaller ships easily, but to his surprise Aemma turned around and left his side, alongside with most of his fleet. Upon this mass desertion, Shiera destroyed all of the remainder fleet, engaging Warbringer personally. She fought a bloody boarding battle as she wanted to capture the ship, but during the fierce combat she ended up heavily wounded and had to retreat back her palace at Sunstone, leaving her troops to fight on her behalf. Silvario, not wishing to see Warbringer fall to the hands of the pirates, ordered his men to sink the ship and abandon it. The admiral fell alongside his ship as it sunk to the ocean depths. Shiera would later die of her wounds in battle, leaving Sunstone to be disputed once again amongst the pirate lords. Aemma was exiled from Lys, and House Vunatis fell to a bitter shadow of what it once was.

The Sunless Dawn
Aemma commands the ominous Sunless Dawn, a large triple-deckered galley with midnight blue sails. It has a black and midnight blue hull with golden ornamental lines on the sides. The hull is fully reinforced on the outside with leathers. The ship has a roaring golden dragon head as figurehead with a long blunt ram on the bow. The deck is of pitch-black wood with golden edges and blue hatches and walls, filled with fire braziers in the center.

The ship got it's name and reputation for it's very skilled crew of crossbowmen who would rain down flaming arrows at enemy sails and decks, setting them on fire. They'd use hollow pointed quarrels and would loose them from special made crossbows in a volley fire tactic, ensuring constant shooting.

Aemma's quarters is more akin to a palace room than to a captain's cabin. The dimly litted cabin's air is filled with incense and narguile smoke, with sea green walls and a roof filled with scarlet curtains. The stairs handrails are decorated with white dragons and the floor is covered with several Qartheen carpets of red, purple and gold with pillows scattered all around. There are statues of fantastic beasts and gods all around the floor, and a low but wide Ironwood table near one of the corners of the room, with fruits from Sothoryos and the Summer Islands and boxes of several ingredients and trinkets. At the far back, surrounded by the only windows of the room, there is a golden throne with sea green cushions, detailed with dragons. Surrounding it, there are two closed iron cauldrons, with it's peppered lids revealing the tips of burning incense sticks from Asshai. Behind a door on the wall there is a closet, filled with boxes containg from maps to cosmetics, pigments and ingredients, as well as several clothes hanged on the walls, with dresses of silk and Essosi cotton, scarlet, wool, velvet and pelts.

Family

 * Lucerys Vunatis b. 310 d. 371 (natural)
 * m. Kiera of Lys b. 343 d. 422 (natural)
 * Lysandro Vunatis b. 360
 * Silvario Vunatis b. 363 d. 432 (died sinking with his ship during his battle against Shiera Vunatis)
 * m. Pharia Otherys b. 380
 * Aemma Vunatis b. 403
 * Khorane Vunatis b. 366
 * m. Taena Vunatis b. 370
 * Shiera Vunatis b. 392 d. 432 (died of wounds from battle against Silvario's Expedition to Sunstone)
 * Illyrio Vunatis b. 369