[Tumbles]

"What is the lot of a Bastard?"

At the beginning of my journey, you told me, mother. You told me I'd have to be your 'secret'. 
My first year I learned the arts of Fortuna like you before me. I bought and made use of four ships.
I built a company. I made friends. All of my companions gathered by my will and their dreams.
I pondered the artifacts of time that you gave me.
I debated with myself what they meant, and why oh why... Must I be secret?

I made something of myself. I stood out, I worked for it and I must earn the privilege of your lineage beside my siblings.
They who never worked for it. They who got it by birthright without toil, without whispers and rumor. They who do not bear thine eye.
And so I asked "What is the lot of a Bastard?" And my answer from the world was to be brittle as Glass. Impermanent. It was to make something of myself.

I look back at our lineage. So far back most even forgot it. And I saw in the histories, in memoirs, old books, and shanties. The tales told of old sailors all.
I looked back to the beginning of Fortune. I looked back to a man; the progenitor of our line many would say. A scoundrel, a cheat, a charlatan. A SELF MADE MAN!
And his name was Stede Vane. 

So for a time I emulated him. Or perhaps the man who took him in. Creating a fleet that sails the seas, trades for their coin and I have built the beginnings of a trade empire.

I know I took the name Melina Glass. It was at your behest, for I do not know another parent to follow, no lineage or other lines but yours. That name has become part of me it always will be me. But I grow tired of hiding in the shadows and watching all of my family refuse to acknowledge me. I grow tired, mother, tired of being your shame, your secret. I am your daughter. I am your heir, and I wish for the acknowledgement that comes from it Emmeline Emeraldi.

I bear your Eye. 
I will take on your name.
I will be Melina G. Emeraldi.

In the time it has taken me to fully realize the beginnings of the Glass Company. My projects begin fresh. An Airship a Flotilla. And my Fleet. 
I will stand with my friends, my crew, my mates and all! And their dreams will be realized with the promise that my family once held. We were known for being Fortunate, We were known for bringing good luck, mirth, and fair tides to our ships, and I a sailor at heart feel this same draw.  Whether or not the Kingdom of Fortune lies with me, whether or not my family shirks what was their Birthright. I know mine is the open ocean and all of its vast expanse. My crew will grow with me and I will use my riches and my compass to guide me into a brighter future, for I have seen it. I have read it and the fates smile kindly on those like me who build and build.

"The lot of a Bastard is to Roam."