Corsair

Overview

For nomads, there is very little of the world that is outside your grasp. Legend has it that some of the widest ranging tribes of the Andashi have travelled north beyond the Basilisk Gate, beyond the edges of the Greenweald, to where the Explorers Sea and the Great Trade Sea crash together beneath blackstone cliffs taller than any temple. When your people claim freedom on all sands beneath their feet and within their sight, where is there left to go? The Sea.

Defence at sea was never a great concern, those coastal clans could simply flee inland from would-be dangers, as such modern Andash never particularly gravitated to the martial seamanship of Lerona Mere or The Iron Valley. With thousands of leagues of coastline, a coastline prowled by raiders both local and distant, a coastline that opens onto one of the busiest seas known, and a coastline with generally calm weather, it is of no surprise that the Andashi people have their own unique maritime culture. Instead, those that took to the sea took to it with their eyes on the horizon. The rolling waves were just another road to other places, people, and adventures.

In quays, taverns and customs officers across the world, these wanderers found each other. They traded tales, contacts, and coin. They learned that they shared a wanderlust for the world and the belief that wanderers should not only see the world but grab it in both hands. They lived a life of adventure in orbit of home, secure in the knowledge that they would never be still until their sails rested below the waves, and the knowledge that Andash will always call them home, to rest their hands, anchors, and souls.

These maverick sailors became the impromptu coastal guides, messengers and guardians of the terrestrial Andashi, giving their time and blood in protection of Andash’s western border. Their tithe was one of skill and risk, fighting off pirates and slavers, guiding messengers from afar and merchants to safe anchorage. It was in this servitude that a joke became a title. Any who could not sail the waves as well as the wandering Andashi mariners could not call themselves Corsairs. The Andashi first took it as an insult to their foes and over time it became a powerful challenge.

These are the Corsairs, people who see the sea as a path to a thousand horizons, adventurers who travel to the farthest reaches of the known and unknown to see what the world might be, protectors who are just as much a part of Andash as any who walk the sands or streets.

Need:

Naval Investment

Corsairs are defined by their ships and without them they are nothing.

Shouldn’t:

None

Corsairs themselves are defined by their outlook rather than any skillset.

Costume Marker:

Corsairs Sash

A Corsairs Sash is a simple section of cloth, worn either diagonally across the body, or around the waist depending on preference.

Attached to this sash additional sections of cloth, beadwork or other trinkets, each one marking a new port or coastline where the Corsair has dropped their anchor. Each item attached to the sash is not necessarily the most impressive or expensive item gathered from that location, but rather one that holds meaning. A strip of a sail from a shipwreck you dived off the coast of a forgotten island, the holy symbol stolen from a guard captain while you escaped prison. Each item should carry a story of daring adventure personal to your character and it should grow over time, it is a far better character experience to start with a simple sash and seek out ways to grow it rather than arriving at the apex of your career. In addition, only having one item per port or location constantly drives Corsairs to see more of the world, rather than retreading the same docks.

Corsairs tend to make the highest or most central element of their sashes a symbol or cloth reflecting their home port, partly for identification but also for pride. Currently, Andash only holds two ‘home ports’ for Andashi Corsairs; the sandy coast of Mukarrem (represented by a small pouch or vial or white beach sand) or the ruined settlement of Nazafeza (represented by a small piece of burned wood).

Corsairs do not stand on ceremony regarding their sashes. They are items to be worn everyday to establish their bonafides, they will get dirty, dropped, and perhaps even bloodstained. They are items of reflection and representation rather than a stately uniform. Stealing someone’s Sash is a great personal insult, akin to stealing someone’s private diary. But losing your sash is just an invitation to wrap a new section of sailcloth around your waist and start your journeys anew.

Becoming a Corsair:

Being a Corsair is something that you feel in your blood, in your soul. It is not something that is bestowed upon you or something that requires recognition. You are a Corsair if you can look out on the horizon from the deck of your ship.

However, there are a few callings that a Corsair performs.

Firstly, a Corsair should ensure that the heed the call to protect and support their people. Without a home port you are adrift in the world. Corsairs should perform their tithe in services to the nation where required, support the fleet is a great example of this. Otherwise, representing their tithe as returned goods from far away is another fitting method.
Corsairs should always keep their eyes to the horizon. Always seeking out new journeys and new experiences in life wherever they find themselves. Even a Corsair at rest should be planning their next great endeavour.
Finally, a Corsair should offer aid to those experiencing the perils of the sea. Be they castaway, shipwrecked or caught in the doldrums, a Corsair ensures those with no skill for the sea find their way from it.

Provided you wear a sash, sail a ship and hear the callings of a Corsair, you can call yourself a Corsair.

History:

It can be hard to track this history of a dedication as fluid as those of the Corsairs. There is no great record of their founding, nor a ledger of their members. Rather there are tales that wind their way through the sands like a hyperbolic serpent. Tales of wealth, mystery, heroism, and the high seas. These are some of those tales.

The greatest living Corsair is likely Lupez El’Tradsea Al’Tosar. Aboard his hawkship the ‘Incarnate’ it is said that he passed all four Citadels of Astrana without paying a toll, travelled from Crownsport to Singarls Bay without sleeping and transported horses for a Khanate commander. But legend has it that Lupez’s greatest treasure was the blessed figurehead of his ship, depicting an Artebazzani Legionnaire charging with their sword, stolen from a shipyard in Pataviam.

Many Corsairs have departed these shores with the goal of circumnavigating the world, trekking out West in the hopes of returning from the East. None have ever returned. Each one that departs does so with some new scheme or skill that they are sure will return them and many Corsairs muse that the allure of ‘The Flight’ is an ever-present curse in the minds of every aging member of their creed. Rumour has it that at the Cape of Tabbadar there is a wrecked ship of Andashi style with ‘May the Spheres Bless your Foolishness’ daubed upon it.

Among all their number, there are few Corsairs spoken of with as much love and heart as Xavi El’Mukarrem Al’Valense. A Corsair of some renown, although little that defines them against any other. When the Artebazzani Tenth Legion landed in Mukarrem searching for pirates or smugglers who might have taken part in the death of Emperor Titus in 209AE. Xavi, despite their ship being smaller and slower than other Corsairs who fled the coastline, remained. They ferried people out of Mukarrem and brought supplies to those who were hiding from the Tenth Legions thorough investigations. Xavi was arrested by the Artebazzani that same year and never seen again, but their actions taught that it is not the strength of your ship, the adornment of your sash or the gold in your pocket that makes a Corsair, but your courage at the helm and the strength of your heart. Saying that an action is ‘in Xavi’s wake’ has become a common turn of phrase among Corsairs, indicating that a course of action is the right thing to do, even if dangerous or unprofitable.

Three Things Corsairs Are:

Horizon Walkers

Corsairs see the ocean as a journey that leads to infinite possibilities. The ocean is freedom to explore the world and live a life to the fullest. For many Corsairs, it is not the journey that matters, but rather the adventure that awaits you wherever you stop. While it is their ships that define them, for many Corsairs the ocean is just a means to an end. The true thing that rests in their heart is a hunger to see what is beyond the horizon, and beyond the horizon that follows.

Brethren All

Corsairs bring Andashi hospitality with them wherever they go. To any Corsair, another wearing the sash is an ally worth defending and feeding. Corsairs stand by each other and offer their aid to any other who would risk the waves, if only from a sense of cocky superiority.

Homeward Bound

Corsairs are deeply bound to their home ports and Andash at a whole. To Corsairs, travelling the world and learning it is as much about bringing knowledge, art, and life home as it is anything else. Corsairs regularly become absent community leaders, lending their strange wisdom and experience to guide Andash forward in whatever way they can.

One Thing Corsairs Aren't:

Sea Warriors

While many Corsairs are warriors, there is nothing in their calling that requires it. Corsairs are as likely to be roguish adventurers, arcane scholars and traders as they are warriors. While being skilled with a blade is useful, it is by no means required.