Legends Before the Storm: Honorata, the Adventurer

How did the daughter of a wealthy merchant become a pirate chasing the Seven Seas' most ferocious beasts? Well, it’s a long story!

Honorata Van Horn was born into a rich family. Raised among four brothers, she was never meant to conquer the seas. Her mother, who’d secretly become the matriarch of the Van Horn trading company, had a different future for her in mind: to help run the family business.

But Honorata had the spark of rebellion in her. What she read in old books after dark made her crave nothing more than a life of adventure. She started going out, mingling with sailors and captains, and eventually learned how to navigate and command a ship. Rejecting her family’s plans for her future, Honorata stole a company ship and sailed away to new horizons.

Honorata was not a pirate in the traditional sense; truth was, she’d never held pirates in high regard. But travelling the seas and uncovering its mysteries, she became obsessed with mythical creatures mentioned in sea shanties and sailor’s yarn. That’s how she learned of Daredevil’s League, a group of fearless pirates, out to master the Seven Seas.

Eventually, Honorata’s search for the Daredevils led her to a notorious tavern in a bustling harbor. Sticking out like a sore thumb among the local scoundrels, she made her way to the bar. The tavernkeep, a grizzled man with a scar running across his scalp, gave her a stony look. Trying to make her voice sound deeper, Honorata ordered the strongest drink on the menu. The tavernkeep sent a full mug her way — the odor alone making her eyes water — and leaned back, watching her with a wry smile.

Honorata steeled herself and emptied her mug, bursting into a cough to the amusement of all around. Undeterred, she slammed her mug on the counter and ordered another. Holding her breath, she downed her second mug in one go. Her stomach turned upside down, but more importantly, she saw a hint of recognition in the tavernkeep’s weathered face. She was getting somewhere. Now she only had to ask for the Daredevils, and…

A loud bang sent a tremor through the crowd, and a dashing officer of the Crown entered the establishment with cold judgement in her eyes. Honorata, struggling to stand straight with the elixir taking over, approached the officer with a shaky greeting. In return, she got a blow to the head, putting her out of commission. Before her vision went dark, she saw chaos overtake the tavern — screaming, fighting, glass flying like bullets, then… nothing.

When Honorata woke up again, she found herself in the dark bowels of an unknown ship, feeling sick to her stomach. A massive rat was staring her directly in the face, sitting on the shoulder of a familiar tavernkeep. The man offered her a flask of water and told her to drink up. Funnily enough, he didn’t seem bothered by their predicament at all…

More Legends Before the Storm

If you've missed previous entries in our Legends Before the Storm series, you can get caught up here:

• Scarlet, The Fearless

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