User:Joshmaul/My Various "Ships"

These are the various "flagships" of those of my characters who've taken to the sea (and the air!).

The Vengeful Spirit (I)
Upon becoming a Bloodsail Admiral, Joshmaul took control of the Vengeful Spirit, commanded by Captain Asavar. The pirate crew were at first distrustful of the warlock and his powers, and his lack of knowledge of the sea, but they soon warmed to him as he shared their desire for murder and plunder.

After Asavar was killed by Steamwheedle privateers, Ferdan Miller became the new captain. For several months, Joshmaul and Miller raided up and down the coast of the southern Eastern Kingdoms, including confrontations with an Alliance fleet off the coast of Stranglethorn Vale. They then proceeded north to Northrend to raid Alliance shipping, careful to avoid Horde targets because of the precarious nature of the peace between the warlock and Warchief Thrall.

The Vengeful Spirit was destroyed by a rival vessel, the Sword of Acherus, while in port at Venture Bay in the Grizzly Hills. Joshmaul was off the ship at the time, but Captain Miller and his crew did not survive.

The Vengeful Spirit (II)
The second Vengeful Spirit was a gargantuan goblin-built gunship hijacked from the hangar on the Isle of Conquest and commanded by Joshmaul himself. Its service was ultimately shorter than the first ship's, but its ending was far more spectacular, as it occurred during the Battle of the Court of Bones, the last major confrontation between the forces of Saavedro's Coalition and the minions of the Corruptor.

Attempting to attack his perennial nemesis, Saavedro of Stratholme, while he fought in Icecrown Citadel, Joshmaul was opposed by a force that was half the size of his own. He expected an easy victory, but he made the mistake of underestimating his opponents, who proved their greater experience in warfare and their resolve to destroy the evil sorcerer.

The gunship was tearing through the ranks of the assembled forces of the House of Whitehair under Master Taeril'hane Ketiron and Stormwind troops under General Oren Tanis. Master Ketiron, taking advantage of the skill of the goblin engineers in his force, sent them to infiltrate the ship and set explosives to cripple it. While he duelled Artimus Devaneaux on the deck, Joshmaul was shaken by the explosions below decks that crippled the ship, sending it crashing into the field before Icecrown Citadel. Though battered and nursing broken limbs, Joshmaul survived the crash.

Since the loss of the Vengeful Spirit, Joshmaul has yet to choose a new vessel, but it's believed he soon will...

The Sword of Acherus
Artimus Devaneaux, seeking to get closer to Joshmaul in order to kill him, also became a Bloodsail officer, and received his own vessel, which he christened the Sword of Acherus. He ordered it to sail the abandoned Scarlet harbor in New Avalon, east of Tyr's Hand, where the Bloodsail crew were ambushed, killed and replaced by a battalion of Stormwind sailors and Ebon Blade knights. The captain of the Sword of Acherus is a death knight, Eliphas Aximand, who served with Artimus in the Scourge war against the Scarlet Crusade.

The Sword of Acherus earned its crowning laurel when it destroyed Joshmaul's flagship, the Vengeful Spirit, while she was in harbor at Venture Bay. For the remainder of the war in Northrend, the Sword also served as a privateer and troop transport for Alliance forces, as well as Artimus' personal transport. After the Shattering, Captain Aximand - despite being a Forsaken (and a death knight on top of that) - remains a mercenary for the Alliance and has recently been tasked by King Varian himself with transporting Stormwind troops into the Plaguelands via New Avalon, to eventually send to reclaim Andorhal from Sylvanas' troops. Artimus has relied on other methods of transport during his continued service to the Alliance, most notably on a mercenary ship that was carried to the deeps by a great leviathan...

The Glory of Lordaeron
Shortly after the Shattering, Artimus appropriated a gnomish submarine he named the Glory of Lordaeron in honor of his lost homeland. He was inspired to this end by his exploration of the undersea land of Vashj'ir off the coast of Khaz Modan.

After gaining a shamanic enchantment that allowed him to operate underwater, and a subdued seahorse that would give him faster travel, Artimus eventually returned to the surface where he boarded the submarine Pincer X2, commanded by Captain Glovaal. The Pincer X2 carried him into Darkwater Cove in the Abyssal Depths, where Artimus was sent to find appropriate bio-fuels for the vessel to continue its way into Vashj'ir. Artimus was onboard the submarine when it was destroyed by the naga in concert with their faceless allies when the Alliance vessel went to aid Neptulon and his elementals at the Abyssal Maw, the gateway to the Tidehunter's realm. Artimus managed to survive and escaped the wreck before the submarine's reactor went critical and exploded, incinerating the vessel.

Impressed by the technology of the submarine, Artimus soon gained control of one of his own, and would captain it himself.

The Assassin's Treasure
While working in Thousand Needles aboard the Speedbarge, a massive floating racetrack owned by Fizzle Blastbolts and Pozzik to replace the sunken Mirage Raceway, Kitrik worked aboard one of these vessels equipped with cannons - a frost cannon for putting on the fires started by the Southsea pirates on the Speedbarge, and a standard cannon for sinking the rowboats of the pirates as they approached. With the Speedbarge saved from pirate attack, the goblin engineer Razzeric gave Kitrik this vessel, minus the cannons, as a token of his gratitude. Kitrik named it the Assassin's Treasure, and sailed across the Shimmering Deeps to give aid as needed.

As there is no sea access out of the region, the vessel's range is restricted to Thousand Needles. Kitrik parks this vessel at the Speedbarge when he is not in the region, otherwise he sails the waterways between the stone pillars.