Dear Admiral Leafwalker,

You read considerably deeper into Admiral Vorondil's announcement than anticipated, nor necessary. It seems her words struck a nerve.

Allow me to preface this by saying that I do not represent Cyrene's naval forces in any way. In fact, I try to spend as little time on ships as possible, as they make me seasick. Therefore, I cannot analyze your actions in the context of sailing, maritime law, or general international seafaring etiquette.

What I can consider is your actions, as you have defined them in this latest post, as well as your reaction to Admiral Vorondil's declaration.

You seem, in particular, to take offense to being labeled a 'pirate', so let us first discuss this. What is a pirate? By definition, a pirate is one who 'attacks and robs ships at sea'. This is a very simple, straightforward, and particularly objective definition, of which you apparently meet half the requirements. Because you only meet half the requirements, perhaps you are correct in protesting this terminology. For what I know and what you have said, you do not actually plunder the ships you attack. You simply attack any and all ships you encounter.

This begs the question, of course, of why? You have proudly declaimed that you prioritize attacking the Pirates of Meropis, as if this somehow absolves you of repercussion in attacking ships belonging to other organisations or individuals. You have declared, in essence, that those who dislike being attacked by you should simply (and I am paraphrasing here) 'get good'. You've pointed out that you aided Cyrene in reclaiming her home state, for which I, personally, would like to thank you--but you incorrectly and illogically insinuate that doing so should somehow grant you clemency or leniency when considering your aggressive actions towards our ships.

Furthermore, you claim that you hold no territory in the seas. As you put it, you are 'the shark of the waters' (I am personally unfamiliar with sharks of any other sort of terrain, and I would be very interested in learning if there are sharks of the land or of the lava) and that you simply attack ships that do not belong to your home village. In other words, you do not attack our ships because you are defending anything, but rather because they are in your proximity. You have in turn interpreted our statement as one of ownership of the seas, when nothing in Admiral Vorondil's post made any such claim; we have simply identified you as a prime and persistent target. If anything, we have simply done the inverse of what you yourself claim to do. While your goal is to attack any ship you see (besides Eleusian ones), ours is to simply sink you and those who act as your allies. There is no territorial affiliation, no political association, simply the declared hostility towards a repeat aggressor.

So, in considering all of this, what does that make you, Artanis? You're not a pirate, you're not a defender, and, honestly, you're not a shark. Sharks attack and kill things to feed. You do it for fun. So, you're also not a predator. What is left?

It's quite simple, Artanis. You're one of two possible things. You're either a buoyant bully, or you're a seafaring psychopath. Which is it?

At any rate, I look forward to working with you and the rest of Eleusis in our continued efforts to repel the tsol'teth incursion and the persistent amaranthine mist. I certainly hope that we never meet at sea. And I urge you to consider your actions, the motivations behind them, and whether or not the response they have recently garnered is merited or not.

Sincerely,
Eira de'Ehre

Penned by my hand on the 6th of Glacian, in the year 801 AF.