So here we are learning of some of the pirates' backstory. A lot of talking, but no real action. If you want to skip, you won't miss any of the revolution.

Ocean near Anvil

Lydia

It had been weeks on The Red Diamond. Lydia was now just part of the crew, wearing mismatched armor, and even wearing war paint. Everyone on the boat knew her, and she was thought of as a lieutenant. She also understood a large amount of the lore of the pirates. A week or two ago, Talen had told her their story.

He had said, "My story is not expected from a pirate. I was raised in a rich Chorrol household, easily growing up to be a politician or a legion general. Our family was descended from the Hero of Kvatch, making us very important. I didn't like that life, so I left to find the Priory of the Nine. It had been lost after my ancestor, The Divine Crusader, died. It took me a year or two, but I found it. Using the ring that was passed down, I managed to get inside, and found the armor of my ancestor. Unfortunately, the divines wanted me to feel some sort of pain before I was ready. My eyes lost most of their color, turning gold. My arm was branded with the Red Diamond, the original Knights of the Nine symbol. I feel pain in that arm whenever I anger the divines, as a way of showing me the right path."

She had been amazed, "A pirate? Being a holy knight?"

"Yes, it seems odd. But they only allowed me the weakest of the relics, the sword. I thought it was the greatest, but they showed me it was otherwise."

"Wait, what about the rest of the pirates, they all have the tattoos."

"They tattoo the members who are sworn in with just the diamond, each of the markings around them, just as they are on me, symbolize a rank. Only I have the full design, but the rest copy parts of it. We've been jewels in the Divines' eyes ever since we began our fight against the Thalmor and the Legion."

"Wouldn't they hate you? You are pirates."

"Yes, but we only fight fights that are justified. Ulfric knew this, so he asked us to help him. Your Jarl, Vignar, did not know this. He thought we were just some random pirates. Still, the Divines have stopped shining on the legion, and began shining on us."

That was the conversation. She learned a lot from that. This made her want to join them, that and what they do on the boat. The pirates are family, Helga, Keera, and Penelope taught her that. They helped her with everything she needed. The rest were close, they knew each other by name, and this boat had almost a hundred people on it. They had fun times, singing and dancing at night. They told stories, and one of her favorites was Shajirr's story of why he joined.

He had been working as a sailor on a supply ship, when the pirates sailed next to them. The sailors on the supply ship knew that they were peaceful, so they began to talk and laugh for the short time that they tied each other's boats together. The reason Shajirr joined was that when they had a boxing match, Mo managed to take him down with a single punch. When he first joined, he had never known how to work a cannon, and hated that a kid, Talen was sixteen at the time, could possibly lead pirates. He learned fast that Talen was the best they had, and quickly became the first mate. The main reason he stayed was that he wanted to beat Mo in a fight, and has yet to succeed. He made a bet with Talen that when he beats Mo; he gets to be captain of a boat.

Lydia loved to laugh with them at stories like this, no longer a stranger in a foreign land. She also learned all about the fleet they had. There was The Red Diamond, The Warhammer, The Ebony, whose captain was a big redguard, two unnamed ships, and her favorite, The Old Horker. The Old Horker was led by a Bosmer, who she had never met. She felt at home on the boat, and was considering staying. She never worked as a housecarl anymore, and this was the kind of adventure she wanted. As she stood on the edge of the boat, running her hand over the scarlet paint on her face, she wondered how well she would do here. Helga was happy here, even married to another one of the pirates, and Keera was always happy on the boat. But then she thought of home, of Whiterun, a place she would barely get to visit. It was landlocked, no ocean for them to come in on. They could visit places like Riften, or Windhelm, even Solitude, but her real home would be far away.

"Thinking of home, huh?" She jumped. Talen was standing next to her; she hadn't even heard him walk up.

"How could you tell?"

"That look into the horizon, all of us do it when thinking of our island we live on."

"What's on that island?"

"A town. The people that live there think of us as their protectors. Many have family there, Arrius is from it."

"You never told me his story."

"I'll tell it to you now, then. Arrius was on the island when I first landed there in this very boat. He always wanted adventure, being stuck on an island and all, so we let him aboard. He turned out to be a great pirate, and the best part was that we then had a harbor. As the fleet grew, he became my assistant, and we became the best of friends. He started the tattoo tradition. He has a brother and a sister on that island, and they are great people. That's him, but what are you thinking of?"

"Whiterun. If I stay on this boat, I might not see it for a long time, and that'll be hard."

"You're right with that. I haven't seen Chorrol since I left. Hardest thing to do for me."

"Is it worth it to join up? I'm in for life, but is it worth spending all of my time?"

" I would say yes, but that's me. I've not got a fair view, being the leader and all. It's up to you." With that, he walked off, and Lydia resorted to looking at the horizon again.

In this, page breaks mean that it goes to a story being told. There's no Mo backstory really, so if you were wondering, I don't have anything for you. Pictures are going to be uploaded and linked to on my profile soon.