Sea of Harj

The Sea of Harj was once known only as the Southern Sea, but was renamed for Ruben Harj, a man better remembered for his bad deeds than his good. Harj was the scourge of the southern oceans for nigh on fifty years. So greatly was he feared that the leader of the Rohden Alliance at that time commissioned a naval flotilla whose sole purpose was to bring this dread pirate to justice. One might ask why anyone would name a sea after this scoundrel. Of a certainty, his bad deeds were many'piracy, treason, brigandage, kidnapping, extortion, torture and murder to name just a few of his crimes'but despite his obvious evil, he did have a softer side. Ruben Harj was never known to hurt a child, and it was often rumored that he was the secret benefactor of many orphanages and would readily donate (through a system that laundered the money) to missions for children. Still, despite his rumored good deeds, it was but one single act of selflessness that changed things overnight.

The Rohden Alliance leader's twelfth son was being transported to Corsain from Alibor. The small ship, trying to escape from Ruben Harj's pirate vessel, turned into a very rough patch of sea. With the wind and tide opposed, it heeled severely to port, and several of the passengers were cast overboard. Among those thrown into the waves was the ruler's beloved son. Floundering in the water, those cast overboard were destined to quickly become shark food. As Harj's ship pulled alongside the hapless passengers, he spotted the young boy amidst the sharks, moments away from becoming their next meal. Some say it was madness, others say unselfish bravery. Whichever it was, Harj acted without hesitation. He drew his cutlass, slashed two deeps cuts in his legs and dove into the water away from the boy. The sharks, driven into a blood frenzy, tore him to shreds in seconds. Seconds were all it took, though, to haul the remaining passengers onto the decks. A month later, at the insistence of his son, the ruler decreed that sea should be renamed after the man that gave his own life to save that of the ruler's son, and the waters were renamed the Sea of Harj.