The Law in these waters

[Poach]

The ships sat ready in the harbour and upon the river, loaded with the implements of war. Crates of weapons and armour sat below decks, while bowmen checked their weapons and sailors prepared the sails. The larger warships had catapults and ballistae on their decks, ready to unload their heavy cargo upon any enemy ships encountered.

The new fleet of Karhold was about to embark on their first military venture: pacifying a pirate lair on Skagos that had been preying on ships sailing the newest maritime route in Westeros. If confidence in Karhold as a destination for commerce was to be nurtured and allowed to grow, it must not be strangled in the cradle by getting a reputation for being a journey marred by the risk of piracy.

A horn blast signaled the time to depart had arrived. Caron stood at the fore of the lead ship, a grand warship constructed in the first major drydock that was completed in the new port. The ship, christened Karhold, would lead the fleet to battle.

[Poach]

Skagos loomed in the distance, that wretched isle inhabited by men no less savage than those north of the wall, beholden to Winterfell by law but rarely by practice. This is where several pirate gangs were known to operate from. The Skagosi at best didn't care, at worst served as middle men, acquiring supplies and selling the stolen goods that the pirates bought for a cut of the earnings. Scum.

Caron knew well the dangers of Skagos from his days in the ships of the Weeping Water. With no naval power this far north, it had never been dealt with: Weeping Water commanded but a few ships, and White Harbour's maritime routes were a very long way from Skagos. Well, that changed today.

Karhold's fleet was not mighty by comparison to powers such as the Arbor, Iron Islands, or even White Harbour, but it was certainly far more powerful than the ships around Skagos. Through speaking to merchants who had spent time as captives for ransom among the Skagosi gangs, as well as through interrogation of a few captured pirates, the location of the hub of pirate activity on Skagos had been tracked to a sheltered bay on the south-west of the island: a safe and calm harbour without any major settlements nearby, allowing for relative privacy. Well, that changed today.

The first ships in were the smaller ones, the types that pirates might use for their own: small, cheap, fast ships used by small-time merchants and favoured by pirates for all of those reasons.

It wasn't until the Dromonds and Heavy Galleys came into view at the mouth of the bay that any alarm was raised, and the arrival of the even larger ones caused a frenzy of activity. The pirates were cornered as the heavy catapults and ballistae on the warships opened up on the stationary pirate vessels.

As the smaller ships got to shore, their holds full of Karhold men opened up. Hundreds of soldiers swarmed ashore and engaged in melee with the disorganised pirates. Archers were told to prioritise those running away: they turned their bows on the steep slopes of the bay to kill those scrambling up and away from the fighting raging below. Caron stood on the bow of his flagship watching it all, as heavy rocks and large bolts occasionally flew past him each time the weapons crews unleashed their next round of ordnance.

[OOC: Raid on Skagos. I don't intend for this to be a rolled raid with money at the end, just an RP story allowing Karstark to secure the northernmost waters by establishing a naval presence. Could I have a roll to see if the Skagosi lords complain to Stark, though?]

[Poach]

Caron walked along the makeshift pier that had served as the berth of many pirate vessels. Most were either already below the waves or sinking, terrible damage having been inflicted upon them by the artillery of the large warships anchored triumphantly in the middle of the small bay. The few that hadn't been in receipt of such attention were aflame, torched by the soldiers after they'd seized the den.

The land battle was equally as one-sided. Men with chainmail and hardened leather armed with swords, shields, pikes and bows fought men wearing linen shirts at best and armed with cutlasses and the occasional crossbow. Casualties on the Karstark side were light as a result: outnumbered, outarmed and unprepared to fight a pitched battle on terra firma, the pirate resistance had been weak and uncoordinated.

A very few had been taken alive, a few more had managed to make it up the slopes of the bay and into the questionable safety of the Skagosi wilderness. Perhaps there were other pirate dens nearby.

Reaching the line of captive pirates, all bound arms and feet, Caron asked the first if there were more. As soon as he denied it, Caron opened up his throat and kicked him backwards off the pier and into the water.

The next one, a hard looking man, spat at Caron's feet. His throat was opened and he joined his comrade.

The third one spoke before he was even asked. This was the hub: the main trading centre where ships could offload their booty and load up on supplies. All the buildings that lined the edge of the bay, now largely alight, were the taverns and whorehouses the crews then made use of with their shares of the takings. There was a large fishing village further up the coast that saw some business to, though, particularly if the captain wanted to avoid any grudges or debts he owed to another captain who might be in this bay at the time.

The surviving pirates were all hung that day. Next to the gallows a Karstark flag was planted and a sign nailed onto the chest of the middle pirate telling anyone that read it that Karhold was the new law in these waters.

The fleet set sail up the coast.

[Poach]

It had been several months since the expedition to Skagos, and piracy had already greatly weakened in the far north. Word had reached Caron that a major pirate problem had appeared in the Stepstones, but that was significantly further south than his concerns, and ships, reached.

New plans to expand the fleet were already being drawn up. The port at Karhold was now lively, having grown from a simple wharf into a small town in its own right, and always bustled with traffic. The Lord of the Weeping Water had also been complimentary, as the increasing traffic sailing upriver had improved the economy of his own holdings at the mouth of the river.

Caron surveyed the proposals on new warships, of which there were multiple competing proposals. Some sought to emulate the pirate strategy of employing a large number of smaller vessels, as this would allow Karhold's squadrons to be everywhere at once, keeping trade lanes clear; others proposed investing in a small number of Grand Warships, giving Karhold great prestige but at the cost of substantially fewer hulls; finally, the proposal that held Caron's interest, was to take the middle road and commission a new class of either Dromonds or Heavy Galleys.

Capable warships in their own right, they could operate alone or in squadrons of 2 or 3 and be more than a match for almost any pirate gangs that they intercepted. In addition, their cost compared to the largest hulls available meant they would be numerous, giving Karhold great flexibility in their deployment.

Making his decision, Caron stamped his seal on this proposal, and summoned a scribe to draft a letter calling a council of Karhold's shipbuilders and military seamen. Karhold's Navy would grow.

Once grown, perhaps White Harbour would accept Karhold as something closer to equals, as opposed to upstarts. Caron had designs on smashing the pirate havens in the Sisters as well, but to wage a war on piracy at White Harbour's doorstep without their agreement would be a direct insult to House Manderly.