"The sky's no limit; it’s barely the beginning."
~Velletinoix Silverwing

Borne from vengeance and reborn from love, the Silverwing sky pirates are a motley crew of high-flying plunderers, adventurers, mercenaries, and treasure hunters. Housed in the advanced Late Allagan warship Argentaevis, they fly from Vylbrand to Thavnair in search of fortune and thrills.Several pages will contain Endwalker spoilers.

The story of the Silverwings began in the wake of the Sixth Umbral Calamity, when the brothers Velletinoix and Allemaud Silverwing discovered the wrecked remains of an Allagan warship in Abalathia’s Spine. Convinced it would mean the end of the Dragonsong War if restored, Allemaud obsessively worked towards making the ship functional, a project he named Argentaevis: a “Dragon of silver and steel to conquer the scale and flesh.”After a year of being thwarted by the inscrutable Allagan technology, in a desperate bid to see the ship made whole, Allemaud secretly collaborated with the Garlean scientist Ptolemy lux Nasso. Their combined efforts saw outstanding progress, but as the ship was near ready to fly, Ptolemy subsequently betrayed Allemaud and framed him for heresy, intending to abscond with the ship back to the Empire.In an attempt to rescue his brother, Velletinoix gathered a small group of allies to seize the ship from Ptolemy. While victorious, Ptolemy managed to escape and Allemaud’s execution was found to have already occurred. With a powerful artifact warship at his command and thoughts of fresh vengeance, Velletinoix pursued Ptolemy deep into Garlean airspace. This initial, seemingly hopeless campaign of retribution and their subsequent survival saw the birth of what would be known as the Silverwing Sky Pirates.While Ptolemy eluded them, Velletinoix found new allies among the pirate powers of Limsa Lominsa and became recognized as a privateer under their auspices. For two years the Argentaevis harassed and plundered Garlean aircraft before finally being ambushed and shot down by the 1st Legion’s elite Caelum Custodes unit, leaving only two survivors, the swordsman Djaal Au’Zjaariel and lead engineer Lierrelle Bluestorm.Continuing Velletinoix’s legacy, Djaal and Lierrelle devoted themselves to the second restoration of their ship, a dream only realized shortly after the liberation of Ala Mhigo. The crew and even the mission of the Argentaevis has gone under radical changes, but they still fly the banner of the Silverwings with all the same derring-do.

• The Long Version

The Ship: Argentaevis

An ancient, twice-rebuilt Allagan warship, the Argentaevis is the Silverwings' home, haven, mode of transport, and occasionally their most potent weapon.The ship itself is a late Allagan Sigurdr-class Nightfall Battlecruiser, one of several frontline ships in Emperor Xande’s personal Nightfall Company used during his campaign in Meracydia. According to what survived of the ship’s onboard logs, in the wake of Bahamut’s capture and internment in Dalamud at least three of these warships were then repurposed. Their new mission seemed to be the transportation of newly captured Meracydian dragons to the false moon for the purpose of fueling the Eikon it housed. This particular vessel appears to have been housed inside of Dalamud during the Fourth Umbral Calamity, and remained within until Bahamut’s emergence crash landed it in Abalathia.Most of the ship’s original Allagan-patterned hull was damaged beyond repair, and the hull has instead been restored primarily with various lightweight Ishgardian alloys, notably the hardsilver that gives it its characteristic sheen. With its functioning at all being nothing short of a miracle, the capabilities of this ship in its own age were likely considerably greater. As it stands, it has two remaining combat abilities that give it a marked advantage: Its Allagan force shields which render it impervious to all but the most powerful of artillery provided that its Aetherochemical Engine can provide the power to hold, and its Twin-barreled Dragonbuster Aethercannon. The auxiliary guns, which formerly had Allagan aetheric autocannons mounted on it, were completely destroyed, and have since been replaced with repurposed Garlean and Illuminati weaponry, including Shelshox’s signature Shoxybomber artillery guns.As its repair necessitated integration of Garlean technology in order to take flight, the Argentaevis utilizes both aether and ceruleum in its flight operations. Its main thrust is provided by an Allagan dual aetherburner system, but most steering and stability functions utilize ceruleum-based Garlean airship technology. In spite of this, it remains capable of being one of the fastest aircraft in the skies, having matched pace even with some of Garlemald’s fastest aerial pursuit mechs.The ship’s variable wing positioning reflects its change between two distinct flight systems: Astral Drive and Umbral Drive.When the wings are extended, this denotes an Astral Drive system, in which top speed and maneuverability are prioritized at the expense of shielding and stability. Shield systems are primarily focused at the front of the ship in case of collision. The most common wing position seen when the ship is soaring through the sky.The closed wing position occurs when the ship enters Umbral Drive, where total shielding and stability are prioritized over flight speed. When set like this, the Argentaevis is confined to a speed comparable to that of conventional airships but is able to travel through extreme weather conditions and even underwater.The Argentaevis has three internal decks:

Once a daring band of privateers focused mainly on wreaking havoc against the forces of Garlemald, the Silverwings have been forced to adapt along with the rest of the Lominsan pirate groups to the new reality that saw the age of piracy come to an end.They are now somewhat directionless, using their ship in a capacity much more resembling the sky pirates of Coerthas, hunting for lost treasures and doing odd jobs with only a passing respect for the rule of law wherever they fly.Their jobs tend to be of a few distinct kinds:Treasure Expeditions see the crew using the Argentaevis to access lost ruins both high in the sky and deep below the ocean. These are dangerous, sometimes lengthy campaigns that occasionally pay out substantially but often result in more harm than good. While most of the ruins they explore are Allagan, they are not exclusively so, often coming upon Antediluvian civilizations as well. Just nothing with Tonberries.Mercenary work has the crew engaging in odd jobs mostly involving the crew’s combat skillset. This includes bodyguard work, rescue missions, safe (and sometimes secret) transport, and even the odd investigation.Bounty Hunting has crewmembers taking down powerful foes with prices on their head, either individually or as a group. Typically they have prioritized rogue Garlean elements and out of control warmachina, but have branched out recently into hunting voidsent and large monsters.

Free Company Silverwings
Affiliation: Maelstrom
Server: Malboro
Tag: <Aevis>Silverwings is a roleplay-oriented Free Company, but not exclusively so. Both OOC and IC, we maintain a culture of close friendship and camaraderie.While members are not required to witness or participate in any adult themes, Silverwings is exclusively an 18+ only community.Silverwings has a diverse membership across the LGBTQ spectrum and is a space welcome only to those who are supportive of queer-inclusive themes, characters, and players.Roleplay ranges from serious, story-driven events to slice of life interactions onboard the Argentaevis. The greatest narrative tone influence for Silverwings plotlines are the works of Shinichiro Watanabe (Somewhere between Cowboy Bebop and Space Dandy) in which a travelling group of misfits experiences adventures mostly unrestrained by genre conventions; plots may be intense, character-driven affairs one day and surreal, comedic romps on another.

Djaal Au’Zjaariel

Aevis Commander

Leader of the new Silverwings after the death of his lover, Velletinoix Silverwing. Djaal never saw himself as a leader, but continues the ship’s mission in spite of himself. A powerful swordsman specializing in doing battle with warmachina whether they’re of Garlean, Allagan, or Illuminati origin, which was the original reason he was brought aboard the Argentaevis. A ne’er do well who has lived by his blade in some shape or form for his entire life: first with the mercenary tribe he was born in, then a common bandit, later an Ul’dah criminal enforcer, and ultimately more than a decade as a Lominsan pirate.Born to the itinerant Xaela tribe Djeghur, Djaal’s unique dark-aetheric abilities and fighting style come from a tribal order known as Duskblades, said to be martial enforcers of Nhaama’s will. Since the destruction of his tribe by Garlemald, though, Djaal hasn’t seemed to show any kind of reverence for the Dusk Mother outside of frequently using her in some idiosyncratic cursing.He’s prone to impulsive and rakish behavior and is seldom found without some kind of strong liquor in his hand. While his selfish irreverence and recklessness makes him scores of enemies wherever he goes, he pulls it off with a characteristic charm and swagger that seems to attract the friendship and loyalty of all manner of misfits, perhaps the only reason he still has a crew at all.To date, he still insists his rank is only “Commander,” believing that Velletinoix deserves the title of Captain even in death.

Among the many shards of Dalamud that crashed In the wake of the Sixth Umbral Calamity, one relatively small one made its way deep into Abalathia’s Spine. The harsh terrain and bitter cold did enough to dissuade those who might approach, and those who did were met with impenetrable security systems. It wasn’t until the shard’s security systems were bypassed by the Haillenarte-vassal Archaeologist Velletinoix Silverwing that the treasure within was discovered. The crash had taken a massive toll on the technology within, but a single ship had survived. Its armor was stripped and battered and its insides were shattered, but much of the inscrutable Allagan technology in its depths remained theoretically functional.
”Theoretically,” of course, was the operative word; all of it remained inert, and besides the substantial number of tomestones acquired from its archives, even members of the Sons of Saint Coinach would be inclined to call it nothing but scrap metal and historical curiosity. But when Velletinoix translated the first of the tomestones, the ship’s purpose as an Allagan Dragonslaying vessel quickly turned it into an obsession. His elder brother, the Skysteel machinist Allemaud Silverwing, saw it as the solution to his nation’s thousand-year struggle, as a weapon that could finally rid them of Nidhogg once and for all. Already seen as an eccentric by his colleagues, Allemaud’s vision was summarily dismissed by their patrons in house Haillenarte. His project only took off due to minor material support by Stephanivien, who was the only one to see promise in Allemaud’s passion but encouraged him to focus instead on the reverse engineering of Allagan firearms. And while Allemaud claimed this was possible, he took all the equipment he was provided and single-mindedly worked on the restoration of this ship. He called it a dragon of silver and steel to undo the ones of flesh and scale, and thus named the project Argentaevis.A year passed by with significant restoration being made to the ship’s hull and weapons systems, but its beating heart yet remained dead: the Aetherochemical Engine at the center of it would not function. Velletinoix pored over his knowledge of ancient Allag for his brother’s tireless work, exploring new shards of Dalamud for parts and hints, but the project showed no sign of being completed. Soon even Velletinoix began to bid his brother to abandon the project. But the eldest Silverwing would not relent, and his desperation drove him to making a deal that would prove his downfall, enlisting the aid of the Garlean Empire. Approached by the scientist Ptolemy lux Nasso, himself an eccentric with a tireless obsession concerning Allag, the two of them began to work together. In exchange for the considerably more advanced technological knowledge held by Garlemald, Allemaud agreed to serve as a spy for the Empire, delivering inside information on the otherwise reclusive Holy See and his patron House’s operations in the Sea of Clouds. It was a secret he kept even from his brother.
Working together, it only took another year for Allemaud and Ptolemy to finish restoration of the ship, getting the Aetherochemical Engine functional with supplemental ceruleum systems. In exchange for the last of the parts and fuel needed to complete the ship, Ptolemy demanded new intelligence from the Holy See, and Allemaud returned to Ishgard to collect it. This last request was instead a pretext; over the past year Garlean agents had subtly placed evidence that Allemaud’s work in Abalathia’s Spine was a fabrication, and that he had in fact been a heretic in collaboration with Nidhogg’s brood. The evidence was more than grave enough to merit execution, and when he came to collect the documents Ptolemy bade him to steal, it was the final nail in his coffin. He was captured, and his trial was to be swift.
With Allemaud’s death assured and the very existence of the Argentaevis now made to look like an elaborate lie by a heretic collaborator, Ptolemy meant to take the now functional ship for himself and bring it back triumphantly as a gift to his homeland. His plot would have certainly succeeded if it weren’t for Allemaud’s assistant, the Brume orphan machinist Lierrelle Bluestorm. While Allemaud had kept his assistant in the dark regarding his Garlean collaboration, sending her on missions with his brother to conceal their activity, Lierrelle had caught a glimpse of Ptolemy. By a twist of fate, Ptolemy had been responsible for performing gruesome experiments upon her and several other Garlean-captured children some twenty years prior, and her memories of that experience made his face one she would never forget. It was this knowledge that allowed Lierrelle to evade the ambush from Ptolemy’s men intended to dispose of the few others who knew about the ship’s existence.With her unanticipated survival, Lierrelle managed to thwart the assassination attempt on Velletinoix. upon learning about his brother’s impending execution and the intrigue surrounding it, Velletinoix planned a threefold mission in retaliation: killing those who had attacked his brother, taking back the Argentaevis, and bringing the ship to Ishgard to either clear his brother’s name or rescue him upon it. In addition to Velletinoix and Lierrelle, they were joined by three others: his sister, the Rose Knight lieutenant Celestiae Silverwing, Velletinoix’s childhood friend, the hot-headed Dragoon Orsinault Flamespear, and house Haillenarte chef Briellenne Greystone. With the relatively small contingent Ptolemy was able to bring with him reduced by their twice-failed assassination attempts, this small group was able to fight off the ship’s occupiers. Ptolemy himself escaped on his own ship to return to Garlean territory before he could be captured and made to testify.
When it was all over, and the ship was ready for takeoff, a linkpearl message from the Rose Knights informed Celestiae that it was too late: Allemaud’s trial had been deemed unnecessary and he had been summarily executed less than an hour prior.With his brother dead just as his dream had been accomplished, Velletinoix flew into a rage and instead turned the ship away from Ishgard in pursuit of Ptolemy, single-mindedly focused on vengeance. This warpath drove the Argentaevis deep into Garlean airspace, where the ship’s advanced Allagan weaponry and shielding proved more than enough to engage smaller imperial warships, and its impressive mobility sufficient to evade the ones so large that it could not. In truth, this came as a surprise to Velletinoix: in his fury, he never believed he would emerge from this attack alive, and had only hoped to exact vengeance on Ptolemy in this final blaze of glory. But the attacks continued to be met with success, going deeper into Garlean territory for daring assaults in the sea, sky, and land. After a fleet of Lominsan pirates witnessed the destruction of a ceruleum tanker and the ships guarding it, the Pirate Powers began to take notice of them. Initially, they were known in Limsa at the “Silver Bird Sky pirates” for the ship’s shining silver hull and avian wing design, but to most they were considered nothing but a high seas myth.It wasn’t until the Argentaevis had finally met its match that it was forced to make its presence officially known in Eorzea. The ship’s shields were broken, its hull damaged, and its bridge boarded by soldiers and warmachina. While the Argentaevis escaped the attack in one piece and the boarding party destroyed, Celestiae Silverwing was badly wounded in the process, shot by magitek artillery that demolished her shield and armor. Needing a place to repair the ship and desperate for medical treatment for Celestiae, they landed on the coast of Vylbrand, where they were surprised to be met in ceremonious welcome by the many privateering ships that had been rescued by the Argentaevis’ attacks. Upon meeting with Velletinoix Silverwing, the “Silver Bird” moniker was changed to his name instead.When he met with the pirate powers, Velletinoix was shocked to recognize Carvallain as the Durendaire heir whom he had briefly known in the earliest years of their schooling by High House tutors. That Velletinoix knew the truth of the Captain’s identity remained unsaid between them, but they became fast friends and allies. Through this connection, the Argentaevis was given official status as a Lominsan privateer, free to make its assaults exclusively upon Imperial vessels, leaving its mission unchanged but now sanctioned.Sadly, the most urgent nature of their reason for making port ended in tragedy: three days after their arrival, in spite of intervention by skilled conjurers and chiurgeons, Celestiae Silverwing succumbed to her wounds and died, leaving Velletinoix the last in his line. In addition to the grief felt by the Captain and his crew, they also found themselves lacking in their strongest fighter. Cognizant of his sister’s death being a result of being inexperienced in doing battle with Garlean warmachina, Velletinoix asked Carvallain to provide him with one of his best fighters against magitek armor to supplement the ship before it left. From this he recommended Djaal Au’Zjaariel, well noted for his blade’s uncanny ability to smash apart Imperial armor, who joined the crew on a temporary basis. Not long after their first mission together, Velletinoix and Djaal had a few trysts and quickly became lovers. When the agreed time for Djaal to return to the Kraken’s Arms arrived, he had long since decided to remain onboard.Over the next two years the Silverwings had many pitched battles and grand adventures in the midst of their attacks on Garlemald, including a variety of missions into Allagan ruins. It was a life filled with death and danger, but one that all of the crew had come to embrace, with new faces joining the ship, with a few of note who remained: the freed Garlean conscript pilot Cwinblyss, the septuagenarian but seemingly invincible Bozjan gunbreaker Srdjan Ljubicasta, and Djaal’s old comrade, the exiled mercenary Hingan swordsman Hiroyuki Souen. They were a ragtag group that was seemingly bound only by a shared hatred of the Garlean Empire and trust in one another. Djaal and Velletinoix grew ever closer over these trials and they began to realize their feelings went well beyond the physical.But it didn’t take long for the Empire to take note, and a plan to eliminate the bothersome attacks by the Argentaevis was hatched. Ptolemy lux Nasso, intent on retrieving the ship, joined with the First Legion’s elite Caelum Custodes aerial unit in a coordinated assault, surrounding them when they flew into a trap. Having bought off Hiroyuki to betray his comrades weeks prior, he killed two of them before dropping the Argentaevis’ shields, letting Ptolemy and a formidable armored contingent come onboard. In the interest of bringing back the ship in one piece, the Caelum Custodes held their fire during the boarding, but were under active orders to shoot it down if the boarding did not succeed.While Djaal engaged in a fierce duel with the traitor Hiroyuki, the other crewmembers engaged Ptolemy’s force and tried to give Lierrelle time to drop the shields. They were victorious at great cost, with only Djaal, Lierrelle, Velletinoix, and Srdjan surviving, Then came the prepared salvo by the Caelum Custodes, which badly damaged a number of critical systems before the shields could be restored long enough to make an escape.The Argentaevis came out in a tailspin and ultimately crash-landed in the Sagolii desert. In the ship’s wreckage, Djaal found Velletinoix’s corpse right by his side, his Allagan planisphere still active over their bodies in a sign that in his last moments he might have saved his lover from meeting the same fate. Lierrelle had survived only owing to her place within the ship’s shield generation units. Srdjan was found practically unscathed on account of the powerful barrier he’d projected by his gunblade, but he was nonetheless dead: the strain of the battle had caused the old soldier’s heart to give out.The only two survivors of the attack found the ship almost worse off than when Allemaud had found it five years prior. But having learned it to be their home, and doubly hungry for vengeance against Garlemald, they resolved to repair the ship and continue its mission.While Lierrelle used her expertise to assess and repair the ship, Djaal took to the life of an adventurer to secure the coin, favor, and Allagan technology needed to bring the ship back to flight. Djaal embarked on many new adventures, including an extended stint as an errand boy for Jessie in order to secure assistance from the Ironworks and a bodyguard for researchers with the Sons of Saint Coinach, where he first met future crewmember and lover Afe’ya Mekkhe.Both Lierrelle and Djaal took their focus away from this project during the Empire’s invasion of Eorzea, and they took part in many of the key battles that employed adventurers during this time. This was where Djaal first met the void-bound adventurer and current Silverwing Cirdan Moonray, though it would be much later before they ever even knew each other’s names.While exploring ruins in Dravania, Djaal accidentally ran afoul of the Illuminati, making a powerful new enemy, but he also enlisted the aid of the defecting Wingdings sisters, Skyhoox and Shelshox, when he inadvertently saved them from their old organization’s wrath.With the aid of the Ironworks and added Illuminati ingenuity making the repair of the Argentaevis hasten, the discovery of potent new Allagan technologies in Azys Lla gave them access to the remaining parts needed. But it wasn’t until a few weeks after the liberation of Ala Mhigo that this dream had been fulfilled, letting the ship finally take flight to defend against the Imperial counterattack. With a new crew and just as much passion for vengeance, the Silverwings were reborn.The new Silverwings continued their mission along a variety of campaigns, lending their support notably during the battle at Ghimlyt.When the Empire began to crumble under the Telophoroi, the crew was reluctant to aid the Ilsabard Contingent, initially refusing outright. Pressure from Lominsa led to them joining its second wave, focusing on clearing areas of rogue automated war machines.Today, the Silverwings have something of a crisis in purpose: the Empire they had devoted themselves to battling is no more, and they could not say they even had the slightest hand in its destruction. They routinely fly between Limsa and Thavnair, picking up odd jobs along the way such as transportation and bounty hunting, focusing on rogue Garlean ex-soldiers turned criminal when possible. With their unique knowledge of Allagan technology and the security bypasses passed on to Djaal from Velletinoix, their most notable reputation is as treasure hunters, plundering hard to reach Allagan ruins.But no longer merely an instrument of vengeance, the Argentaevis now flies as a memorial, a testament to Djaal’s enduring love for Velletinoix, and the ties that would bind the rest of the crew to him from it.

Zana Vardavar

Aevis… Sushi??

A creation of Vardavar Underwater Research Station, a sprawling Allagan facility deep beneath the Sirensong Sea. She is a prototype 4th generation Allagan chimera created utilizing genetic and aetheric material primarily from a pair of sirens and a Sahagin matriarch. Deemed a failure and being preserved for later study, Zana was placed in a stasis pod in the laboratory’s Chimeric Research Facilities and, due to the facility’s lockdown when it failed to control the pseudo-Eikon Vahakn and the advent of the Fourth Umbral calamity, she was destined to remain there for the next five millennia. At the end of the Silverwings’ expedition into Vardavar, Djaal accidentally opened the pod mistaking it for a door, and the credentials he used were transferred to her neurolink, making her believe she was required to serve him as “Lord Justicar.”With only the base knowledge programmed into her by her Allagan Neurolink, Zana has a naive, almost childish outlook on the world and is always eager to experience more of it. Her siren traits give her voice strange, mind-bending abilities which she will often use playfully if she isn’t being restrained by her mask.While only ever given a serial number in Vardavar, Djaal named her “Zana” after an old myth in his tribe about a sea witch, and the facility became her surname. In spite of the effort he went through naming her, Djaal seldom refers to Zana as anything besides “Sushi” and the crew typically just calls her “the fish.”

Cirdan Moonray

Aevis Vanguard

Lierrelle “Ellie” Bluestorm

Aevis Engineer

The only surviving original member of the Silverwings’ crew, Lierrelle was the assistant to Allemaud Silverwing during the first restoration of the Argentaevis and was the primary machinist during the second. One of several Brume orphans discovered after a destructive aetheric disturbance known as the Bluestorm Incident, the name having been applied to all of them, Having mostly made her living as a thief, she found herself working for Skysteel Manufactory when Stephanivien saw in her deft hands and creativity a potential talent for machinistry. Eventually being placed under the tutelage of Allemaud, she showed herself skilled both at the exploration of Allagan ruins and the operation of its devices. These skills have made her an integral factor in the past, present, and future of the Argentaevis.A brilliant machinist with an almost intuitive understanding of opaque ancient technology, Lierrelle is also capable of using various Allagan gadgets in combat and support roles, whether it’s with modified firearms, aetherochemical explosives, or repurposed medical nodes.Considering her seniority on the crew and indispensable role on the ship, people frequently question why she wasn’t Velletinoix’s successor rather than Djaal. To date, she’s never given a straight answer, though she seems to have an instinctive tendency to defer to Djaal on just about any non-technical decision making.

Afe’ya Mekkhe

Aevis Adjutant

A young, prodigious Sharlayan Archon specializing in ancient Aetherology, Afe’ya first crossed paths with the Silverwings when Djaal was working with the Sons of Saint Coinach to salvage parts to repair the Argentaevis. Though a Miqo’te Keeper and considerably less in years, Afe’ya bears a striking resemblance to the deceased Argentaevis captain Velletinoix Silverwing, something that has led to Djaal finding reason after reason to keep him on the ship. After a few jobs and more than a few unexpected trysts, Afe’ya came to acknowledge his own feelings for Djaal, and Djaal began to realize his own feelings were something more than nostalgia for his dead lover. Since then he’s remained on the ship as a member of the crew, usually referred to playfully as “the commander’s pet.”Continuing a great deal of Velletinoix’s more academic research, Afe’ya’s knowledge of ancient civilizations and aetherology has proven indispensable in the Silverwings’ frequent forays into ancient ruins, as well as the more mystic and theoretical sides of aetherochemical engineering needed to maintain their ship’s engine. His skill as a Sharlayan-trained Astrologian and familiarity with lost Allagan Summoner arts has seen him equally put to use in battle.