The Nordraak

The Nordraak is the official flagship of the Valmar Confederacy, owned by Admiral Human12542 and built and armed by himself, TrveMetalhead, and Yolypo. She was completed and christined as the flagship on March 25, 2018. Since then, she has played a role in a number of fleet movements and battles. She is an Astraeus.

General
The Nordraak was the first vessel to be constructed solely for the purpose of Valmar, and the first to have the musket and rose adorn her sails. Though originally created as a “rallying call” for the fleet, that role has been taken by the Confederacy’s crown ships and ironclad fleet after modernization. As ironclads such as the Steel Curtain and Mesoforte have come to dominate the favored fighting force of the Valmar Confederacy’s fleets, the Nordraak has seen less and less active service.

This does not mean that she does not still enjoy combat, however. The Nordraak is kept at-the-ready at all times for the use of the Confederacy fleet - all cannons are well upkept, and she is always full on round shot. In situations that Valmar’s fleet of ironclads would be inefficient (either for fuel or repair issues) or a strong full broadside is needed, the Nordraak can be extremely effective in combat.

Construction History
In late March of 2018, the Valmar Rebellion was being born. Still in its early stages, it lacked an organized fleet - it was limited to a few civilian cargo vessels and a couple of combat-capable bomb ships. In an attempt to create the figurehead of an organized fleet, it was decided to build an Astraeus - Human12542, having the resources at hand, took it upon himself to build the vessel. The cannons were built by Yolypo, one of Valmar’s current cannonsmiths (with the exception of her mortars, which were built by TrveMetalhead), and the figurehead was donated by TrveMetalhead. Shortly after, she had the musket and rose placed on her sails.

Combat Career
The Nordraak has seen battle in a number of skirmishes and raids against Nova Balreska and pirate crews.

In official battles, the Nordraak saw active combat in the First Battle of Nova Balreska. Human12542 was not present, however TrveMetalhead had access to his account to spawn the vessel. It was capable of sinking a Nova Balreskan Navy vessel before being scuttled herself.

Trivia

 * The Nordraak was named after Rikard Nordraak, a Norwegian composer famous for composing the Norwegian anthem.
 * She was first armed with three 68lb carronades in the center of her broadsides and two 48lb long guns, one on each side. This was deemed ineffective by Yolypo after a few battles and was inverted to much greater effect.
 * Human12542 has never manned the cannons on the Nordraak in a live combat situation.
 * The Nordraak is still equipped with the same elm and iron 36lb mortars gifted by TrveMetalhead.
 * The original mermaid figurehead of the Nordraak was replaced in April of 2018 with a Mozart figurehead. The mermaid figurehead was later relocated to Human’s Cutlass, the Crescendo.