Forced to Flee
Lei was slave, like her mother and grandmother before her, and like her mother - she inherited a wildness and strength of character, as well as a fondness and bond with the sea. But Lei had a chance to escape, when her master sent his cousin, and a caravan of goods as dowry, across county to another lord. A political marriage intended to establish a bond by marriage between the two families. And Lei was sent as a maid to care for and look after the bride to be. However outlaws attacked the caravan as they travelled through some swamplands. The honour guard were killed, and the goods taken, and the bride and her servants captured and held prisoner. Eventually, the bride was ransomed - but Lei managed to bargain for her release and, eventually, her skill with a nagimata won her respect among her peers.
Unfortunately, the insult offered to the two noble houses who were trying to cement bonds between then and increased levels of raiding was too much for the establishment. Soon the outlaws were forced from their camp and fled to live as fugitives in the wild-lands of the local mountains. They made an alliance with Han, a casual acquaintance from the mountains. However, the numbers of soldiers and bounty hunters who were searching for them became too great, and they all decided to flee. It was as they fled that the bandit leader was killed, and Han took command of the rag tag troops and made Lei his lieutenant, and then his wife. Between them they led their band back towards the coast, where, they found a group of sailors about to be executed for smuggling. Han and his men quickly freed the men and raided the harbour, stealing 3 small ships and fleeing to the open sea.
Soon it became clear that the imperial navy did not intend to let them escape, and a fleet was launched to capture and bring them back. Skilful as the smuggler leaders were, they could not evade the ships and it looked as if the end was close - when Lei took her stand. Alone on the stern deck of the last of their ships, wind whipping her cloak dramatically around her shoulders, she called upon her master, the Lord of the Sea. Gradually the seas rose around the following fleet and their winds died down, while the sea in-front of the fleeing junks remained calm and a good wind filled their sails. These conditions prevailed for 3 days, until the last of the imperial fleet turned back and gave up the chase. Later in the voyage the small fleet was faced with a kraken that intended to take one of their ships to the bottom of the sea with them. However, Han quickly took a draconic form and flew to confront the beast - Han was victorious and the kraken sunk back into the depths, badly wounded.
They managed to keep all three ships watertight and sailing until they were virtually in sight of land - when a violent storm wrecked one of the ships. Han's flight managed to save many of the crew and Lei managed to save more, by diving into the raging sea and dragging them to safety. The two overcrowded and waterlogged ships finally made landfall on the eastern Coast of Eprica. While the crew repaired the ships, Han flew off to find a suitable place for his men to settle. He needed a wetland for himself and to be near the sea to make Lei happy. He examined the southern coasts and found what is now Tarila, but was more pleased when he flew north and found the northern shores. Gathering his men together, he ferried them to the new site, losing another ship in the process. But they all got there safely.