Think you have what it takes to be an airship pirate, do you, you scurvy sky dog? The life of a pirate is hard. The average life span of an airship pirate is 18 months, but IF you manage to survive your raids, skirmishes with the IAN, Chuno Ggun and other pirates, storms, disease, madness, mutinies, enemy fire, starvation, marooning or execution, managing to not get thrown into a Change Cage, take "The Big Plunge" (falling overboard due to your own incompetence, losing your balance or getting blown over by the high altitude winds or other mitigating factors), accidental mishaps or your own Captain's suicidal recklessness, you can look forward to a life that's every bit as exciting as the penny dreadfuls make it out to be. If you manage to actually live long enough to RETIRE and haven't frittered away your Helios on rum, women and gambling, you can expect to live like a king for the rest of your days, secure in being a legend.
Who knows? Maybe you'll even be lucky enough to retire with all your limbs, eyes and extremities. But only skilled pirates can survive for a substantial length of time and only the luckiest get to see retirement. Piracy is a lifestyle that's every bit as dangerous as it is profitable but if you're tough and lucky enough, it's a profession that personifies high risk/high reward.
The Pirate Code: Pirates don't go in much for rules, but even they realize that sometimes agreements have to be made or else nothing would get done. There are ships and pirate sky cities where the only rules are those of the biggest bully - but unless the bully is truly fearsome and well organized, they don't last too long. So many pirate Skyloft cities and individual pirate ships subscribe to the pirate code.
These codes might vary from ship to ship and city to city. LIkewise, the means by which pirates swear their allegiance to the code might vary - over a pair of crossed cutlasses or steampistols, a bowl of blood or a human skull. The details of the allegiance ceremony do not matter as much as an understanding of what happens to those that break the code - invariably something very unpleasant.
Aside from execution or other grim punishments, such as being "swung around the ship" (dangled off the side of the airship for a length of time) and being forced to walk the plank (watch that last step, it's a pisser), marooning is a common punishment for serious crimes. Marooning consists of being set down in the wilderness with a flask of rum, a hunk of bread, a steampistol and one bullet.
A Typical Agreement:
1. Every pirate has a vote in the running of things.
2. Every pirate has the right to food and strong liquor, unless scarcity forces a vote to forbid it.
3. Each pirate has a right to a share of the booty, as agreed. If any pirate steals the common booty they shall be marooned in a deserted place. If any pirate steals from another they shall be cut with a blade and let off at the nearest pirate port.
4. Every pirate must keep their weapons in good order.
5. Desertion in battle shall be punished by death or marooning.
6. No fighting aloft. Any quarrel between crewmates is to be settled on land with cutlass and steampistol.
The Details: An individual airship might have their own extra clauses. For instance they might agree that no one should leave the company until everyone has earned He1,000 (1,000 Helios); the company should be all-male or all-female; everyone must obey the orders of the captain, first mate, etc; no music on a Wednesday; no smoking below decks; all punishments to be decided by the captain and a majority crew vote, etc.
Rewards: The pirate code in a home city might demand a share of booty from returning ships - used by the city to buy helium, pay a carpenter to patch up holes in the city floor, etc, or in other words...a tax.
The pirate code on an individual airship will probably lay out who is entitled to what share of the booty - the captain might get two shares, and the master gunner, quartermaster, etc. one and a half shares of all booty and prizes (so the players had better all make up a title for themselves). The rest of the crew get one share each. Of course, the Captain and Officers might take more shares each (6 or even 10 shares going to the captain is not unheard of), which may be tolerated if they are successful, less so if they are not.
If there is no booty, there is no pay. The captain isn't responsible for paying the crew a wage, although if they aren't given a chance to earn some booty every now and again, they will no doubt look for a new captain - that way, it's in everyone's interests to get on and do some plundering. New Captains are chosen by a vote from the crew which can be vetoed by the standing Captain - who may exercise such veto power at his own peril. The ousted Captain who values his life may either accept the vote, relieve themselves of command willingly and spend the rest of the trip in the brig to be released at the next port with no punishment but a damaged reputation (but the opportunity to start over and rebuild that reputation), or he may exercise his veto power and risk certain mutiny. This is done so that ousted Captains may have the chance to step down with honor and spare themselves the bloodshed and certain marooning should he and the sailors loyal to him fail to put down the coup.
In the event of a mutiny, the only recognized punishment is marooning for the defeated Captain or mutiny leader.
Of course, plundering isn't the only road to riches for airship pirates. Most pirates have their schtick - a secondary job as a cover, supplimentary income or both. Whether it be performing as a band, running a theater troupe, a flying brothel or whatever. The chances are that it will be the players who are the most important members of such a group, and earnings from performances, festivals, trade enterprises and the like will be shared in the same way as booty; the lead singer might get six shares, the backing group four shares each, and the ship's crew who help set up the stage, act as roadies, etc, get one share each. Again, the crew might well have something to say if the players' performance isn't up to scratch!
Due to the high risk nature of piracy there is usually an agreement to pay some compensation to any pirate so badly injured that he or she can no longer sail. This might be one lump sum on retirement, or even an amount to be awarded for each finger, toe, limb or eye lost fighting for the ship. This comes out of everyone's share before the loot is divided.
Gambling: Gambling is a way of life for airship pirates as a way to win and lose fortunes, but mostly as a way to pass the considerable downtime between raids when they've finished swabbing the deck. It's not uncommon to walk below decks and see the crew gathered frittering away their hard-earned shares playing Gin or Poker, or if a deck of cards is unavailable, Liar's Dice is also popular. While in port in a pirate city you'll see intense poker games happening in the taverns (which tend to end in brawls over accusations of cheating). Some of the fancier establishments in High Tortuga also provide craps, roulette and blackjack. For their wealthier patrons, high stakes poker.
Funeral Arrangements: It's common for a pirate who is killed in action to have their share of the booty (as well as their worldly possessions) divided among the rest of the crew, but some of the more pragmatic Captains have been known to give them to their next of kin next time they are in port if doing so is possible.
If you are an airship pirate, you will attend your share of funeral services. A pirate funeral is quite the spectacle. Pirate Funerals are more like Viking funerals than traditional burials at sea. The body is prepared and wrapped in canvas (or whatever other fabric big enough to wrap around the body is at hand) The ship's Gadgeteer builds a specialized one-man dirigible, and when this is finished the entire crew gathers on deck to pay their respects. The Captain says a few words or reads some passages from the bible, or if the ship happens to have a chaplain (or at least someone with a seminary education) then it is he who performs the service. Someone chosen beforehand (usually the departed's closest friend) then says a eulogy which can be either just a few simple words of rememberance or a moving speech. Afterward, four of the fallen crewman's friends aloft are chosen to act as pallbearers to load the body into the dirigible, which is then set ablaze and shoved off on the pirate's Final Voyage. The ship then fires all its cannons in salute. The fallen pirate's belongings and whatever shares they earned which were collected beforehand are either divided among the crew or given to the pirate's next of kin at the Captain's discretion. It is considered poor etiquette and selfish even by pirate standards for a Captain to keep what someone else died earning in that Captain's service, lest the next pirate funeral be the Captain's.
Thu Apr 26, 2012 10:46 am