Emperor Sampan smiled as he threw a slice of Mango to Jalur, his pet Palm Civet, who happily jumped into the air to catch it. Palm civets, or "Toddys" as they are commonly known, have been a staple part of Kulawanti culture for the better part of the last two millennia. Well liked for their outgoing personality, friendliness towards humans, and adorable faces, Toddys have been bred as housepets for as long as anyone in Kulawanti can remember. They are easy to feed and care for, great at playing with small children, and have adapted well to living in towns and cities across the empire, often seen scrounging for scraps or small pests in more densely populated areas. In this way, two distinct breeds have emerged - the more solitary wild Toddys that live in the sparsely populated jungles and mountains towards the inside of Doebi, and the more social Toddys that live closer to the shore, inhabiting towns, cities, and homes. It is this variety that Sampan took for himself as a pet, and Jalur has been a constant companion of his for years, providing a nice distraction from the annoyances and disappointments of ruling life.

Annoyances like the one he was ignoring right now, in the figure of one of his advisers.

"Sir, I would again implore you to think about taking a stronger response to this so-called 'Pirate Queen of Sulawesi'. Just this month her ships have raided and sunk two dozen merchant ships passing through the area, and their range is beginning to expand. If we do not stop them soon..."

The man was cut off as Sampan threw a slice of mango at him, causing Jalur to jump into the man, knocking him over with surprise. Jaur scurried away as Sampan laughed at the scene in front of him, despite the angry glares from his adviser.

"As I was saying, these pirates are becoming more bold by the day. We must deal with them soon if-"

Sampan raised his hand. "And as I have been saying, how exactly do you expect us to take action against them? The Darawan are far too busy with their own issues, the Triple Alliance is going through too much internal unrest to focus on piracy far from their own waters, and you would have to threaten me with death before I partnered with the Javanese, so do you really expect our navy to be able to beat a force of experienced naval raiders? Sure our land army may be the strongest in the world, but our navy is still very much a work in progress. Any real attempt to land on Sulawesi would be met with fierce resistance on the sea, and would lead to a terrible loss of life. Piracy is... unfortunate, but I cannot justify such a use of force for just some annoying pirates."

Both sides were silent for a moment, before Sampan sighed and continued. "Double patrols of the southern merchant routes. Have the new Bangsawan of our Sulawesi territories increase coastal patrols as well. Hopefully this will dissuade some of these pirates from our routes and push them elsewhere. And let us pray to the Gods that things don't get worse from here."

The adviser nodded, and hurried out of the room. Jalur ran back into the room, and jumped onto Sampan's lap, who smiled again as he stroked his little companion. Maybe someday, he hoped in vain, the damned Sulawesi would stop being such a complete nuisance.

Liag Liang, the so-called "Pirate Queen of Sulawesi", grabbed the side of her flagship and vomited into the ocean. She was annoyed, seasickness had never happened to her before, and yet she had woken up this morning to the swaying of the seas and immediately felt the need to vomit. She looked around to make sure no one had seen her, then wiped her mouth and made her way to the helm of her ship.

The Kraken's Scourge, as she called it, was the most feared vessel in the seas. It could close on a merchant ship before the lookout even had time to warn the crew, and was filled with experienced pirates who could strip everything valuable from a captured ship in minutes, before putting a few barrels of tar on the deck and setting it alight, oftentimes with the crew still tied up on board. Yet despite all of this, plus being the most feared and respected woman in all the known world, Liag was still constantly worried about seeming "less than" her fellow pirates, the men that served beneath her, and the other rulers around the known world - and this weird sea sickness was not helping.

She took a deep breath to steady herself, and began to bark orders. "What are you useless sacks of shit still doing asleep? Get up and get to your stations, or I will be spending your shares on a useful member of the crew - maybe a monkey, or even a Toddy!"

By the time Liag was done screaming, all the men had woken up and rushed to their posts, ready to find a rich Kulawantine trading ship to plunder. They sailed for a few hours, accompanied by the sounds of the sea, the rocking of the waves, and an ample supply of palm wine, before finally seeing a ship on the horizon. Liag smiled, screamed her men into readiness, and set her course. The Pirate Queen of Sulawesi was ready to plunder.

Within minutes, the Kraken's Scourge had caught up to the trading vessel, and before long a dozen grappling hooks were thrown from the pirate vessel onto the deck of the ship to be plundered, hooking them together like the tentacles of the beast after which the ship took its name. Liag was the first to leap from her ship to the merchant's, and looked over the men on board with a smile.

"You bastards all know the drill, hand over your goods and we might let you live."

The merchants looked around, scared and confused, as more and more pirates lept onto the ship. But instead of men coming forward with crates of gold, spices, silks, or other goods, the only person to step forward was an old woman clad in red and blue robes. She was a Priestess of Mykara, and she smiled as she approached Liag, unafraid of the infamous Pirate Queen. She looked into the eyes that so many came to fear, and laid bare a simple prophecy.

"My child, return now to the land from which you came. You will fight to make it a better place for you - and your daughter - to live out the rest of your days. But it is not your fate, nor hers, to see it through, but your granddaughter will be the one to bring a sword to the family who will cause yours so much grief."

Liag looked at the woman for a moment, confused. She did not have a daughter... but gasped when she remembered this morning, with the sickness, and the strange changes in mood over the last few days. And it had been more than a moon's cycle since her last blooding. She looked back up at the Priestess, who nodded at her understanding. 

Liag turned back to her crew, and motioned them back onto their ship. Normally they would be upset at the lack of plunder, but even they knew the evils that could fall upon them for killing a Priestess. So instead, they detached their grappling hooks, and went to push off. At that moment, the Priestess cried out one more time.

"Liag! When you see the red bird at dawn, grab your sword and run!"

The Pirate Queen tried to call back out to the Priestess, and have her explain, but they had already separated from the boat, and had begun sailing back to Ratu Pelabuhan to resupply. But Liag smiled, because not only did she know what was to come, but she knew where she would be headed next. For while she grew up in South Sulawesi, it was not where she was from. She would be headed to the place of her birth - the great trading city of Palu.

It was time to start another revolution.