Life on the High Seas (I hate titles)

It's been a while since I've been on FOG, so forgive me if I'm not familiar with customs--I didn't really get into the community before the rigors of school yanked me out again! Now that we have exams in a week and a half, things have slowed down, and I can finally come back, full of fresh ideas!

So here goes!

EDIT: Realized there was a One on One request with a similar name. I don't want to seem like a title jacker.

A little over one year ago, a familiar ship sailed into Puerto Del Sol, expecting a warm welcome and a place to repair their battered ship in the harbor town where their captain had been born. What they were met with, however, was a full scale military assault by Her Majesty's Royal Navy, and hampered as the ship was, she stood no chance of escape. On suspicion of piracy, the crew was taken captive and the captain put to death, a warning to those that might have followed in his footsteps. The ship now lies at the bottom of the ocean, rotted and irredeemable, a symbol of the dreams the Free Traders who manned it had lost.

The death of Captain Augustine and the disbanding of the Torch's veteran crew served just as the Navy had intended: many merchants and sailors resigned from the Free Trader's Guild, bringing about its collapse. While some still fly the colors of the Guild, the only resistance to Her Majesty's absolute restriction of trade is that of an anarchist band of privateers known as the Sea Wolves, whose tactics are both morally and psychologically questionable.

After years of toil by Her Majesty's Navy, piracy is as good as dead in the world of A'erlon. However, there are those who would see it revived, if only they could come up with the crew and capital to do so. Many crewmen from captured Free-Trader vessels still walk free, though most of them remain under surveillance by Her Majesty's Navy. The wizard-laden kingdom of Aristos has given refuge to a handful of native born Free Traders, including the Guild's founders, but the majority of these are wanted men the moment they step outside of their sanctuary.

A few brave souls looking to bring the spirit of the Free Traders back to life have found themselves in Puerto Del Sol, and must form a rag-tag alliance that will either make or break the resurrection of the pirate way of life in A'erlon.

A work in progress, obviously, which is why I'm posting the "commercial," as it were, before I bother posting an OOC. That's the usual way of doing things around here anyway, isn't it?

What I propose, ladies and jellybeans, is a pirate role play, and not just a pirate role play, but a serious pirate role play that delves into all the dark little nooks and crannies of their lives--because let's face it, drinking and song weren't the only things going on aboard pirate ships! Pirate role plays are few and far between as of late, probably because people got tired of them, but it's never too late to bring back an old fad, is it?

The basic idea, as it stands now, is to start out with a rag-tag band of pirate wannabes from all different backgrounds, clichéd or otherwise, in the fantasy world of A'erlon. Players will get to choose other characters as well, such as navy sailors and Sea Wolves, and hey, if it ends up a big enough thing, maybe I'll start letting people form their own crews and crew their own ships.

I've been looking for a good, mature, genre-combining role play (action, fantasy, romance, all that good nonsense that all needs to go together in the same epic pot) for a while now, but I haven't really found anything that suits my taste. So I decided, "whattheheck, I'll start my own!"

It'll probably leer around the darker side of things, though, since pirates were sort of dirty, smelly bastards, but that's okay, right?

What say you?

I would love to participate. Never played in a pirate role before, sounds like it could be alot of fun.

What exactly were the Free Traders, and why did the Queen want to get rid of them?

WARNING: Long Winded Explanation Ahead.

Sometimes I can't help myself.

Her Majesty, Queen Iordis II of Arlon, falls into the same category as many absolute monarchs—corrupted by power, she desires as much of it as she can attain. Arlon's resource-rich lands and seas, as well as its bustling economy, allowed her mother power and influence to increase, but as a modestly sized coastal country, she had little chance of expanding her influence within her borders. Rather begin a needless war with the surrounding countries, she pumped all of her funds into the nation's Navy, and basically assumed the role of international police as a token gesture to larger countries whose naval forces are considerably less influential.

Iordis I offered protection from both piracy and natural dangers, as well as reimbursment for goods up to a certain amount, to all ships willing to pay a small yearly fee. In addition to this fee, large ships from countries allied with Arlon militarily are required to serve a one to three year term during wartimes, assuming that their homeland has not passed specific edicts of neutrality.

Discontent with this system brought about the initial incarnation of the Free Trader's Guild, a coalition of ships and crews (pirate or otherwise) which either refused to serve under the Queen's Navy under any circumstance or did not want her intrusion in their "trading" affairs. Free Traders were not hunted by the Queen's Navy, but were not given protection the protection of other ships in the Merchant Marine.

The Sea Wolves were also formed around this time, though they were far more aggressive than the Free Trader's Guild in their opposition to Iordis's Navy, attacking Navy-employed privateers freely and openly. Many ships that enlist with the Sea Wolves function only as pirate ships, and will attack even other Sea Wolf ships if the goings get tough. Even in the days of Iordis I, any ship flying Sea Wolf colors was to be attacked or apprehended on sight.

Thirty years ago, after the death of Iordis I and the rise of her only daughter to power, Arlon's Royal Navy grew considerably more agressive towards piracy, going so far as to attack Free Trader ships without due cause on simple suspicion. With increasing violence being done upon them, the Free Traders changed tactics and resorted more often to arming their ships and pirating ships enlisted with the Merchant Marine as an act of rebellion. Though piracy has always existed on A'erlon, it grew far more prominent in the first twenty years of Iordis II's reign.

Ten years before our story begins, nearly every ship in the Free Trader's Guild was a pirate vessel, either by choice as an act of rebellion or by force of circumstance, as scrupulous transactions were made increasingly harder by the persecution of Her Majesty's Navy. Those that had not gone pirate had likely relented and enlisted with her Merchant Marine. This was the peak of piracy on A'erlon and the beginning of a vigorous battle against it, culminating in the death of the prominent Free Trader captain Evander Augustine.

Aaaaand yeah.

That about answer your question?

(Also, sorry for the delay.)

Quite perfectly thank you. I look forward to seeing this plot come to fruition.