Merik Blackwater

Merik Blackwater (aka Michael Erik Noir)

Merik is a pirate by heart, and a businessman by trade. In Waterdeep, his father was a wealthy trader who made his living at the waters' edge, and his mother was a loving woman who took care of him despite the glaring anomalies that their son possessed. This was of course, not his fault. His father, on one of his trips south, ended up bedding a yuan-ti pureblood priestess, who in turn, deposited a baby on his doorstep in the dead of night nine months later. Little Michael was mostly human, and one can't tell just by looking at him that anything was terribly different. But as he grew older, it became more apparent. A forked tongue, serpentine eyes in a bold violet color.. the only thing that yet goes unnoticed to this day by those not close to him, are the fine scales on his torso and back. Barely noticable except up close, and still fleshy to the touch.

When Michael got into his teens, he took over his father's business, and made it even more successful. But he was not content. He wanted a life at sea, and so he took the Noir Trading Company to the waves, closing the business in Waterdeep and vowing to never return. Trade soon turned to piracy as Michael, who took on the name Merik Blackwater, began forcibly scuttling ships to salvage their cargo and sell it as his own, trading far and wide. He didn't stop with merchant vessels, however, and soon moved to bigger prey. Military vessels, other pirates. Everything was fair game, the only code Merik had was his own. And that was take what you want, leave the rest to rot at sea.

Merik has built up a pirating legend for himself. Not simply for what he has done, but for the ships and crew he has. Freaks, outcasts, unwanted. Four ships, crews made up of shifters, goblinoid races, giant-kin. And they all owe some deep debt to Merik that can never be fully repaid, serving on these ships with an undying loyalty that rivals some of the most powerful naval forces in the known world. Merchant vessels fear his coming, military vessels search every fog covered shore in search of him, but he sails on. His ships both inspire, and terrify, as he seeks to build his own naval empire.



Hellbringer Reborn, The Retribution, Devil's Dream, Zhai`Dratha. If you see black sails, and a dragon's skull on the wind blown standards, pull anchor and sail. Sail as fast as you can. And don't look back.