Pirates

Pirates

Pirates are, broadly speaking, professional criminals that operates wholly or partially on the world's seas, especially people conducting criminal acts of robbery or violence by ship called piracy, typically at sea, and can also range from naval warfare and coastal raids.

Acts of piracy can be committed on land, in the air, or near bodies of water including shores. In most, if not all, cases they lead or belong to a group of like-minded criminals, known as a crew.

Overview

Perhaps the trait most universal to pirates, beside their sea-going activities and general defiance of the law, is the Jolly Roger: a skull-and-crossbones symbol meant for intimidation, usually flown on black ship flags and sails, which exists in countless variants among different pirates. Such symbol's overall connotations are strong enough that the authorities have been known to attack ships flying it on sight, even if those onboard are not identified with any particular bounty or crime.

The (stereo)typical pirate is greedy, violent, and ruthless, willing to hurt anyone and destroy anything to gain what they want—be it treasure, power, or even personal amusement. For this reason, it is not uncommon for civilians to fear and detest pirates on principle, even if they have never personally met any.

Crews

Virtually all pirates are part of some pirate crew, comprising other pirates willing to operate under the same Jolly Roger. These are typically led by a single Captain, who makes (or at least has final authority on) all major actions taken by the crew and often possesses the highest combat ability and notoriety.

Other positions common to pirate crews include:

• First Mates or Vice-Captains, who advises the captain, relays orders to the rest of the crew, and usually assumes authority in the captain's absence.
• Combatants, who specialize in fighting—whether with swords, ballistics, or their own bodies—and, depending on the crew's size and focus, may have no other skills.
• Navigators, Chiefs, Doctors, Shipwrights and other logistical roles common to any sailing ship.
• Musicians, Pets, and other roles meant to entertain.
• Pirate Apprentices, recruited at a young age, who may be used for anything from unpleasant chores to open combat.

Ships

All but the newest (or poorest) of pirates sail on specialized ships that bear their corresponding Jolly Roger on the mainsail and/or flags; in most cases, the figurehead is also customized to reflect the captain's epithet or personal motif. Apart from this, a pirate ship may be of any size and equipped with any level of technology, depending on the skills and materials available to—and ambitions of—its crew.

Territories

A sign of a pirate's threat is their ability to gain territory from a small island to a base over several villages. Often, to stay out of sight, they will keep their base hidden as well.

Synopsis

Skull & Bones

According to the Skull and Bones art-book, the design of the game's pirates was born from a desire to reconnect with the authentic, gritty realism of historical piracy while adding their own special twist and flavor. Setting sail in the late seventeenth century, when maritime hijacking was the scourge of the Indian Ocean, our buccaneers are battle scarred and tempered by harsh elements. But they also exhibit a rebellious flair. They're young. relentless outcasts loud and swaggering, tattooed and bejeweled.

Contemporary accounts of the era confirm that piracy was a truly terrifying threat to sea travel in the late seventeenth century. But the fact is, pirates weren't just feared. To many, they became romantic symbols of revolt against injustice in a world dominated by powerful elites. The brigands of Skull and Bones -- adorned with jewelry looted from the ships of kings and caliphs and mercantile barons -- don't just reject society. They seek to reinvent it.

Historically, much of a pirate's power comes from a consciously fostered image, equal parts flamboyant and terrifying. After all, linking an easily recognizable look to a nasty reputation always makes life easier -- foes panic and flee, victims surrender. As the game's creative direction evolved, the pirates of Skull and Bones began to morph into more youthful, punkish rebels challenging the status quo.

This "pirates as rebels" -- young, brash, hungry and defiant -- continues on into the final release. Skull and Bones pirates are akin to modern-day entrepreneurs, if maybe just a bit more colorful and cutthroat, Seeking out high-risk, high reward exploits, they fearlessly target some of the world's most entrenched powers on the high seas.

Plot in the Series

Like the pirates who inhabit it, the wider world of Skull and Bones is rooted in rigorous authenticity. By the late 1600s, the ongoing conflict between powerful Western commercial fleets and native coastal communities ringing the Indian Ocean had become an existential clash of economic models. Heavy-handed European naval powers sought to colonize and build a mercantile empire for the ages. Local cultures that had flourished (and feuded) for centuries now struggled for survival.

Surfacing amid this struggle, a new faction arose-a cast of wild, libertine rebels serving no cause but their own. Depicted in ships' logs as "howling sea wolves with a grappling hook in one hand and a cutlass (or a rum bottle) in the other, they seized vessels, raided settlements, and built outposts in hidden coves, always seeking a pirate's utopia. In designing our world of Skull and Bones, we tried to re-create this "lawless paradise," splashed in the bold color palettes of the Indian Ocean.

See Also

• Pirate Hunters

Etymology

While the English word "pirate" is derived from the Latin pirata ("pirate, corsair, sea robber") and Greek πειρατής (peiratēs: "brigand"), the Japanese word for pirate—kaizoku—comprises the kanji for "sea/ocean" (海) and "thief/robber" (賊), in analogy to such terms as "Bandits" (盗賊, tōzoku).

External links

• Pirates Wikipedia

Notes & Trivia

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