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You think it's hard to fight the Qunari on land? You've never had to face them on open water. No wind, sails hanging limp, but those giant bastards keep coming. We'd always mocked the Qunari for their mindless servitude, but we saw their discipline as they steadily closed, their oars in perfect form even as our galley slaves flagged and faltered.
They pulled alongside, their great ship twice the length of ours, and we drew steel, ready for them to board. Instead, a great series of blasts rocked the waves, spewing smoke everywhere. Iron balls the size of a man's head flew as though fired from a bow. They ripped through hull, mast, and sailor alike; our ship came apart like a child's toy. I'd have died in the water had a trading ship not come by to investigate the wreckage.
That was the day I learned that although the Imperium might win the war against the Qunari on land, it will never defeat them at sea. It was also the day I decided to try life as a merchant's guard.
—An excerpt from Exiles from the Empire, by Gregorias Pepigit