Dante

Beginnings

Dante's conception was the result of a tryst that shook the heavens themselves. As the illegitimate child of Valkur, the tempestuous god of ships and sailors, and Cora, a gentle nereid whose laughter was said to calm the roughest waters, his earliest weeks were spent living among the nereids.

When the affair was eventually discovered by Valkur's wife, Umberlee, Queen of the Depths, her jealousy knew no restraint. Cora was slain to punish Valkur's infidelity, her body claimed by denizens of the fathomless deep.

Hidden from Umberlee's gaze by the nereids, the infant demigod was spirited away to Valkur's faithful. Accepting this sacred task, two disciples carried the child onward to the quiet inland village of Gresk, Bruslavya, a place where no-one would think to search for him. There, the "couple" settled into a simple life, doting upon Dante as if he were their biological son.

An Agrarian Upbringing

Although his aquatic features made him the subject of superstitious whispers, the people of Gresk soon accepted Dante's as one of their own. He grew into a compassionate and hardworking young man, content to live a simple life far from the oceans that called to him in his dreams.

That fragile peace shattered when famine visited the land.

As crops failed and livestock died, fear consumed reason. The villagers sought someone to blame, and the man who resembled a sea monster became the perfect scapegoat.

A Divine Awakening

Dante was declared a curse upon the land and dragged into the town square by an enraged mob, stones and fists raining down upon him.

Hopelessly outnumbered and on the verge of death, he did the only thing his broken body still could. With a bloodied rasp, he cried out to the heavens, imploring them to preserve him in his time of need.

With that, the clouds began to swirl and darken overhead. With a deafening crack, a huge bolt of lightning pierced the sky, striking the centre of the mob and hurling its murderous villagers unconscious to the ground.

To Dante's amazement, the arcs of blue-white energy crackled harmlessly across his skin. Summoning what strength he had left, he stumbled to the safety of home.

Upon hearing of the miracle, his parents revealed the truth about his origins. Dante was not merely unusual but the son of Valkur and, more concerningly, a target of Umberlee. With tears of pride and sorrow, they urged their adopted son to leave Gresk, both for his own safety and so he might to find his destiny in the Azure Ocean.

Any Port In A Storm

Dante volunteered on the first ship he found heading deep into the scattered islands of the Corsair Archipelago. As he travelled, he came to master his newly awakened abilities, summoning seawater with a gesture and sensing storms long before they appeared. At times, his body seemed to become liquid, revealing the divine essence of the undine within his soul.

Haunted by the fate of his birth mother and fearful that Umberlee might discover his existence, Dante sought refuge among his father's devotees. His search brought him to Port Marley, where the windswept Temple of Valkur watched over the locals. There, he came under the guidance of High Captain Welgar Brinehanded, a former whaler whose body bore as many scars as the hull of an old galleon.

Seeing merely another soul heeding the call of the sea, Welgar accepted Dante without hesitation. However, his new acolyte's claim of divine parentage was another matter.

"If you're truly Valkur's son," the old captain told him, "then prove it as He would—not with words but through deeds."

Acolyte of Thunder

For months, Dante remained at the temple, learning the arts of war and worship alike. He trained with trident and shield, mastered divine rituals beneath the tempestuous sea, and learned to channel the fury of the storm through his soul.

Satisfied his pupil's training was complete, Welgar entrusted Dante with a sacred pilgrimage: recover the legendary Gold Flake Grog from a lost temple in the archipelago and cast the bottle into the swirling heart of the Rishi Maelstrom, returning it to Valkur himself. Only a soul favoured by the god of sailors could hope to survive such a mission.

Staring out at the endless ocean, Dante pondered what fate had in store. Somewhere among Port Marley's crowded docks and weather-beaten taverns waited a ship and a crew, and a voyage that would make him a legend in his own right.

And, somewhere in the ocean's deepest trenches, Umberlee slumbered, blissfully unaware that the last reminder of Valkur's betrayal still drew breath.