“Black Gulf Privateers vs. Blue Isle Mariners
Thursday, March 7, 2024 — Port Allanar

The Blue Isle Mariners made their league debut this past Thursday, as Coach Kochenberger led his inaugural crew to a sodded and gray Allanar pitch. Rain drizzled off and on all day, and salt of the sea clung to the skin and hair of the Mariners’ players, who had spent a fortnight tumbling in ocean water before finally arriving at Port Allanar. Perhaps giving the players a degree of familiarity in this competition was their opponents—similar in culture if not race—the Black Gulf Privateers. Nevertheless, the two ogres fronting the Privateers’ line of scrimmage were a scary sight to face up against, whether they knew the plights of scurvy and weevil-ridden hardtack or not. The elves were quick to put distance between themselves and the large women, Kala Riptide and Bertha Breaker. Once free from the line, they retreated into careful defensive formations as the Corsair Tithian Shaark let the wide frames of his teammates protect him from any agile sack attempts.

As the Privateers crept this wall into the Blue Isle backfield, Wreck Prismyn struck forward, plunging a concealed dagger into the chest of the red-haired Henry Foote. Foote’s pearl-white eyes shot wide open as he struggled, then slumped over deceased into the out-of-bounds area. Some front-row seated Privateers fans expressed their outrage and nearly broke loose onto the pitch. While Portside security drew their scimitars and pushed the thrashing tide back with wooden shields, the swashbucklers leapt into a brawl. Streetwise (or seawise, as the case may be) to a mugging when they witness one, the fatality was taken as a declaration of bloody siege more than sport. And the Black Gulf roster was laden with the muscle to put the wiry elves to rest- if they could only catch up long enough to land a square block. The elves rested heavily on their conditioning: their agility made injurious attacks difficult, and they let the steely shells of their armor soak up the rest of the damage. 

The ogres spearheading the frontal assault into Blue Isle territory began losing their momentum, their heads spinning from the fast and weaving elven defense. And the removals continued to pile up, as the Privateers looked wholly fatigued on the field. Kochenberger was able to successfully ice the offensive charge: set to receive in the second half, the work was cut out for a 1-0 victory. Catcher Jace Orard leapt up to grab the kick-off and quickly worked into the center of an offensive huddle on the wide zone. Suffering a 9 to 11 disadvantage, coach Nightbird spread his defense out rather than commit too hard to a single side of the field, and employed his Ogres in mobile blitz attempts. This was a good call, as Orard and Thrower Sexton would complete a few hand-offs in the backfield, shifting the pressure from side to side in a sort of pendulous keel. The Privateer defense hit its most dire as Prismyn delivered another casualty, this one seemingly clean, to Slayer Roddy Forecastle. While Orard sat cozily guarded against the sideline, Ogre Kala Riptide executed a play-of-the-game assisted dodge to storm over and teach the elf a lesson. Jace would be carried off by medical staff in a seeming knot, as the ball was hurled back onto midfield and again into the hands of Shaark.

Still posessing a manpower advantage of 10-8, and with ample offensive support, Blitzer Divinus Alterian would punch the ball free. Karson Trisdove then trotted freely to the endzone for the Mariners’ first-ever TD. Him and the rest of the Sea Elves would carry Coach Kochenberger off the field in a celebratory riot, commemorating the coach’s first career win as head. In spite of celebrations, the crew was quick to leave, as Nightbird's pirates had drawn various weapons and taken to the field in search of Elven blood. We were not able to get to Kochenberger for comment after the match, but when the team returns for the second round of their Rookie Rumble, it may be a different story. For now, Kochenberger will celebrate his first win in a strong showing of conditioning and guts for the Mariners.”