Tezgalacana

Tezgalacana “Tezgali” (c. 300-362), known as the Mad Widow, was a feared pirate queen who dominated the Itlatla in the 4th century. She became the adoptive mother of Waleweha, who ruled Alpatlian as Agido the Pirate. She was renowned for her beauty in her youth. Born to a prostitute in Teco Cumbuya and kidnapped as a teenager to wed the great Amopatizan, Tezgali fully embraced the pirate lifestyle. Amopatizan agreed to give her half of their plunder. Though she proved barren of children, her organizational skills made her indispensable to Amopatizan. Under their union, he united many Northern pirate fleets into a Grand Fleet.

Before the Grand Fleet could invade Alpatlian, then-king Miquizah attacked them in 338. Over half of the Grand Fleet was destroyed, but Alpatlian suffered greater losses. Their navy was annihilated and Miquizah and his siblings were killed. Amopatizan ordered the invasion of Alpatlian. In the battle, the garrison of the city defeated the pirates and Tazanehi killed Amopatizan, though not before the pirate lord killed the baby Ayona (actually her twin brother Harroro) and allegedly kidnapped Agido.

In the aftermath of the disastrous campaign, Tezgali seized control of the Grand Fleet, with the help of Amopatizan’s chief lieutenants. She was left with a shattered, divided fleet, as other pirate lords abandoned her and took away their ships. Tezgali proved to be even more brutal than her husband, and by 345 she had reunited the pirates of the North into her Armada. It was then that she adopted a promising 11-year-old named Waleweha, whom she raised as the kidnapped Agido.

Tezgali reorganized her Armada into multiple fleets, each commanded by trusted commodores: Asganu of the Black Fleet, Hilusgi of the White Fleet, Usnui of the Yellow Fleet, and Uyo of the Red Fleet. Tezgali personally commanded the Grand Fleet, twice as large as the others with 8,000 men, women, and children in its crew. In total, the Armada boasted around 24,000 crew over 200 ships. Aboard the Loogaroo, she trained Waleweha to be her successor.

Under Tezgali’s command, the Armada ceased its attacks on Alpatlian. Instead, they raided the prosperous trading cities of Southern Nemaghua and the Horn. In 347 Uyo’s Red Fleet invaded the fallen city of Teco Cumbuya, still recovering from the Red Death some decades ago. Uyo, who Cumbuyar called “the new Red Death”, shattered the walls with fire and black powder, heretofore rarely seen in combat. The city fell easily. In an unprecedented move, Tezgali granted freedom to any slave that would join her navy. The social order of the city fell apart. However, Tezgali was no abolitionist. She expanded the slave trade, sending slave snatchers beyond the Rims and profiting off Southern Nemaghui gold. Still, hundreds of slaves fled to her realm in search of freedom, sometimes vainly, sometimes successfully. By 352, she had over tripled the size of the Armada.

With over 80,000 crew in a dozen fleets by 352, Tezgalacana held command over the Northern Coast (the Pirate Coast) and Greater Cumbuya, and received tribute from the trading cities. She held an iron grip on trade entering the Itlatla Sea, along with her plunder and tribute. Thus, she and her trusted commodores became the wealthiest individuals on the continent. This prosperity came at the expense of Alpatlian and the Trading Cities, which were withering in importance. The organization of the Trading Cities into the Nepichee League prompted her to appoint Daloni and Gedodi as official emissaries and unofficial spies. The only areas of the Itlatla not controlled or vassalized by Tezgali or her surrogates were Alpatlian and the sparsely-populated South Coast. Tezgali held a deep grudge toward the boy-king of Alpatlian, whose life she saw as traded for Amopatizan’s.

The summer of 352 marked the invasion of Alpatlian. Tezgali publicly declared her apprentice and heir Waleweha to be the kidnapped prince Agido, rightful king to the throne of Alpatlian. At the time, Alpatlian, though nowhere near the dregs of Teco Cumbuya, was in a decline. Trade with the Nepichee League collapsed via the work of Daloni and Gedodi. Resulting food shortages led to mass emigration from the city to the countryside. The boy-king’s weak rule had led to the weakening of the crown’s central authority in exchange for feudal rule by hereditary governors. The institution of slavery had changed as well. Hereditary slavery was becoming more common, particularly among tsoto/littlemen slaves.