The Three Kings

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'"For less, Bessaro; and far more."]] The Three Kings, also called the Three Thieves, were the three pirate kings of the Stepstones who conspired to capture a dragon for themselves. Their ambition would lead to the War of the Three Thieves, and the collapse of their triple alliance.

Daarius Ormollen
The leader of the triumvirate, Daarius had ruled as a pirate king for nearly a decade before the alliance, having made his name in the Disputed Lands before claiming the island of Sunstone as his own. The black sheep of the ancient and wealthy Ormollen line, he wore kingship as if he was to the manner born, and wielded brutality and cruelty much the same. One of the most feared pirates of the age, he was the leader of the alliance in the eyes of most, and it was he who boarded the Gallant Stride to seize its contents for his own.

Fate
For all his cunning, strength, and surprising loyalty, Daarius forgot one thing; a dragon takes but one rider. Their alliance, thus, was doomed from the start. While Daarius warred with the royal fleet and crushed them in the Battle of the Splinters, he was betrayed by Alequo; upon his return to Sunstone, victorious, he was fed to the dragon Arranax.

Bessaro of Norvos
Bessaro of Norvos, also known as Bess the Dainty or Bess the Bony, was an exorbitantly large man, who wore as many rings as he had rolls. Rich beyond dreaming and mercurial in taste and temperament, it was he who funded much of the initial navy for the alliance, and brought them prominently into power late in the third century. Having few plans to actually lead his ships in battle, Bessaro contented himself with allowing the captains to do most of the sailing and fighting -- instead indulging himself on the fruits of his labours, from fine wines to succulent meats to the unfortunate souls brought to him in chains.

Fate
Bessaro, too, was slain by Alequo; garroted from behind until his fine silks were caked with blood and gore. It is said that it took a half dozen men to move Bessaro from his chair, and by the time they finally managed to drag him off for burial one had succumbed to the horrid stench of his corpse.

Alequo Silverband
The youngest of the kings, Alequo was the only true pirate amoung them - having worked his way up from a cabin boy to a captain, serving as crew on other men's ships. It was careful cunning and sheer luck that saw Alequo rise to his position of prowess, ruling the smallest of the Stepstone islands with a underwhelming but efficient band. It was Alequo's skill as a smuggler that kept him afloat amidst the ranks of thieves and cutthroats he consorted with; and those very same skills were what drew the other two kings to him, hoping that his deft hands and reputation for secrecy could aid in securing their prize with little ado.

Fate
Slain in battle above the Stepstones, aboard his fledgling dragon. For all his treacheries, Alequo failed in his quest, the brief alliance of the Three Kings crumbling about him.

Legacy
The brief near-unity of the Stepstones collapsed after the deaths of the Three Kings, and their fleet was largely torn apart or disbanded. Only the castle yet remains, untouched, scorched to ruin by the flames of dragonfire. The Targaryens left the blackened monument as a testament to their wroth, the ruined castle standing tall above the cliffside. None of the three kings were buried, in the end -- Daario died at sea, Bessaro's corpse was thrown to the waves, and Alequo himself fell from the sky, aflame. Their wealth, however, remains untouched, buried in the depths of the castle that was their headquarters. Already men claim that the place is cursed, and avoid it at all costs. Sailors make signs warding off the evil eye, whenever their course should bring them through it's shadow.