Pirates of Dorwinion

Pirates of the Rhun

What is known of the pirates, the plagia of Dorwinion is that they hale from the what the locals call the Inland Sea, otherwise called the Sea of Rhûn, located within the heart of Dorwinion. There are a plethora of rumors that abound around the home of the pirates, known as the City of Gold, located on Altaral (the Golden Isle) the island located within the Inland Sea. Stories of the Golden Isle whisper it has impossible-to-scale cliff faces and some whisper the true city is under-the-sea. No pirate would wisely reveal the truth of it to an outsider even to their most trusted or beloved, even under the most dire of pains or threat of death. 

The mystery, it is said, is everything to the survival of the water-bound and lowest of low-caste Dorwinions. And to take the blood oath of the plagia is to carry the honor of that secret to the grave. 

Playing a Pirate of Dorwinion: Quick Tips

- Plagia do not refer to themselves as "pirates" seeing the title as a sneering insult. They refer to themselves as plagia, or as aguchu - the multitude. Indeed, a captured plagia will often simply say his name is Aguchu when questioned, meaning he is one of many, one of the multitude. 

- Plagia, despite being never-do-well criminals and land-less, lawless wastes to larger Dorwinion society are exceptionally loyal to the code that governs them. They do not lie to or steal from their own. They do not unnecessarily take a life when their prize is already claimed. 

- Plagia might be easily confused with Corsairs from the City of Umbar who battle with Gondor. Both are referred to as "pirates" by the people who oppose them. The Corsairs of Umbar however, are a race and people unto themselves. Plagia are a brotherhood by choice and circumstance, oft clinging to the traditions and beliefs they arrived with though by fortune, misfortune or birthright find themselves on a wayward and watery path.

-  The common clothes worn by plagia are linen, felted wool and goatskin oft found around Dorwinion. Women dress in feminine attire of such things as shifts and chemises worn beneath split-skirts or split-skirt overdresses common to the seafaring Dorwinions, a fashion not seen outside of it. Bolero-style jackets are common amongst pirate women as too are rus-pants worn beneath a split skirt but never on their own. Men dress in masculine attire of such things as vests, tunics, jerkins, rus-pants and bolero-style jackets. Most clothing in Dorwinion is of a colorful and layered, as the amount of cloth, not leather, shows the wearer’s wealth. Bodices are rarely the fashion in Dorwinion where instead the women sport wide, girdle-like belts which are usually colorfully embroidered. Heels upon boots or shoes are not worn by the common man or woman, due to their livelihood a constant use of boats between areas of the city or upon the rivers themselves. Headscarves, sandals and kohl are the most predominant fashion staples of any pirate’s wardrobe.

- Kohl is used around the eyes to prevent the dripping of sweat or sea-water from forehead into the eyes. It is not used as a fashion trend and actually signifies gypsies and pirates within Dorwinion as the lowest of low.

- Much like others of Dorwinion the plagia adhere to a length of hair to which they can financially support and not by some social propriety but more by the realistic happenings and likelihood of lice and preciousness of fresh water while ship-bound. Pirates keep their hair short, no matter the gender and by short, oft the length ranges from ears to shoulders or shorn to the scalp to represent repeated pest problems. Beards are wholly kept at bay and men who keep mustaches or goatees make an artform of it. Hair-braiding is not a common hairstyle in any capacity in Dorwinion and instead, headscarves called tichel are the common means of keeping hair back whether worn by men or women. Facial piercings and tattoos are very common amongst pirates, the latter done by those who never want to be able to blend into any other society but their own as tattoos are a permanent flag of their status as a pirate.

- Cats are protected by pirates, kept safe and treated much like kin. Cats guard against ill luck and misfortune and are believed to sense incoming danger and storms upon the Sea of Rhun as well as to ward against disease by warring against vermin.

- The common livelihoods of plagia are water-faring folk, whether barge or sea-faring vessels. The various positions of a pirate range from deck-hand to cooks, healers to fisherfolk, canvassers, archers and more all of which are relegated professions to being on a ship. 

Plagia hold no distinction between men and women who wish to serve their ship's crews, yet still plagia women are something rarely seen and fierce to behold. Many of their women it is rumored are kept instead on the Golden Isle where they work to supply the navy and their efforts through the more domestic arts. 

- Facial tattoos marks one as never being able to be anything but a pirate, and they’re proud about this. The tattoo artists of the plagia are renowned for creating a brilliant green ink from something it is said, is found only on the Golden Isle. They hold out their work for the worthy however - and one is never crowned with a facial tattoo until they have tasted and won their first naval battle. Plagia women who are not of the crews, are some less likely to tattoo their face, but will get markings on their arms or back to proudly display the births of children or the loss of man in battle. 

- Facial piercings, particularly the nose, eyebrows and ears are common for the pirates and are at times signifies for being part of different crews.

Pirates of Dorwinion Reference

- The Sea of Rhun lies in the heart of Dorwinion and the City of Gold, rumored home of the pirates is a mystery to all but the pirates.

- Plagia operate under a rather strict code of ethics though it was not always so. For many generations pirates were little more than rabid seadogs constantly battling and cutting each other’s throats in a bloody attempt to carve out a bigger slice of the Sea and all its profits. 

This was bad for business; for pirates and the Merchant Families. Until one day, as the story goes, there was a terrible storm upon the Sea of Rhun and it claimed many lives, drowning ships from shore to shore and scattering the fortunate few across the raging waters. She was said to be found wrapped in sealskin on a floating cradle as an infant, nothing to name her and no one to claim her. A pirate ship found her and took her amongst them, raised her as one of their own. Her beauty was well-known as such was a well-sought companion to many a pirate captain. Yet during one of many battles upon the Sea of Rhun her ship was sunk and she was rescued by the dashing Captain Miogrin, for whom she forsook all others. 

Her husband, Miogrin, was one of many born to a very successful family of pirates and though his fleet was smaller than his brothers and cousins, he was known as being the most cunning and most innovative in his tactics in sea-born battles. Miogrin quickly drew his new, young and beautiful wife, his Jewel of the Rhun, into his politicking and battle strategies and with her clever mind and natural good-fortune with the sea found it suited her well. Success after success in battle, Miogrin’s strength and power over the other pirates was quickly growing and when he succumbed to illness on his strongest of ships – his young wife assumed leadership and quickly began seeding good-favor into her deceased husband’s men. Her power, like an oil-lit fire upon the sea, consumed all in her path and once her strength was mighty enough she knit all the ships into one glorious weave.

The Jewel of the Rhun, her husband had called her, though in infamy and legend she is called Pisica, The Mother of Cats. She brought order and ethics to the pirates of Dorwinion. One of Pisica and Miogrin's line has served as the Darga - the legal and military authority of the City of Gold ever since. 

Laws of the Plagia:  

a.    Anyone questioning or disobeying the orders of their superior are to be beheaded. No questions. No hesitation. Sedition and mutiny are the two most deadly plagues on any ship.

b.    No one for any reason was to take even a single grain or a single coin from the hands that feed and clothe the pirates – those villages, Families and ship-lines that pay tithe are to be free of troubles.

c.     Do not steal from your brethren, be them on your ship, another ship, or from the City of Gold. Violation can result in losing of digits to hand to ears, tongue and banishment.

d.    Ship-wives may only be aboard at the discretion of the captain. Women onboard ship are expected to be knowledgeable and capable enough to hold their own should the ship be boarded. Woman who join the crew with rank will be treated with equal measure to male counterparts. Children who are too young to serve on the crew are not permitted due to the risks and dangers and thus all children are kept in the City of Gold.

e.    No living person, whether man, woman or child can be claimed as a spoil or forced into any manner of arrangement.  Living persons of a non-pirate persuasion are often ransomed. They are kept and provided for on-board until the ransom is delivered and they are returned to port.

Violators of this rule are quartered and their parts carried to land and buried so that they never again feel the eternal lull of the sea. 

If no ransom is forthcoming, the captives are presented with the cold, harsh reality that the Merchant Families who hold their lands and their own blood kin care little for their lives. Few, save Gypsies will request return to their kin in the wake of such reality. Instead they will accept they have been abandoned and embrace the only choice left before them - to let the Sea claim them, or to take the plagia's Oath. 

f.      All on-coin spoils require to be presented to the entire crew for inspection and needs be registered by the ship’s purser before being distributed by the fleet’s leader. A cut is always set aside for the City of Gold.

g.    All coin is turned over to the fleet’s leader who would give it in turn to the fleet purser so the rest could be used to purchase supplies for unsuccessful ships in the fleet.

h.    The first offense for withholding booty, whether coin or not, is a serious flogging while second results in losing a hand and the third is death by beheading or banishment.

i.      No pirate will reveal the location of the City of Gold for if it is done every person sharing or carrying the pirate’s blood will be hunted down, hung from the rafters by their ankles and bled like a shark.

j.      All ships will pay their annual fleet-tax to the City of Gold and ensure the tithes to the city is delivered on a monthly basis.

k.     Gambling is a waste of good coin, coin that can be used for the betterment of the City of Gold and the pirates of the Rhun and thus, gambling – whether for dice or cards, is forbidden. Violation is to lose one’s cut of booty upon the ship and can become as extreme as losing fingers.

l.      All disputes resulting in duels are to be handled upon land and not on a ship as it is ‘inviting trouble’ or ‘welcoming bad fortune’. Duels are to be undergone only by the two individuals in the duel and no other may stand in on one’s honor. Duels are life or death and once called for, cannot be undone or put aside. The losing party of the duel, loses the dispute and the winner, the survivor, will despite winning pay a percentage of his or her monthly spoils towards the family of the loser. Violation of this family-tithe is to lose access to their cut of crew spoils and subsequently have it sent to said family by the purser.

m.   No man or woman will be land-stricken due to crippling or ailment despite it impeding upon their position within the ship or fleet. Any and all can be found a task and position for unless it is their choice to leave.

n.    The Captaincy of a ship is not to be claimed through blood, death, violence or mutiny. A Captain is a Captain made only by the vote of the crew. Only the Darga can veto the claim of a Captain should that Captain be found in violation of any of the aforementioned rules and code of conduct amongst the pirates.

The ranks of any given pirate ship:

Swab (Member Level)

Cabin-Hand (Member Level)

Rigger (Recruit Level)

Sailor (Recruit Level)

Mate (Corporal Level)

Master Gunner (Corporal Level)

Carpenter (Corporal Level)

Surgeon (Corporal Level)

Boatswain (Sergeant Level)

Sail Master (Sergeant Level)

Quarter Master (Sergeant Level)

Captain (Captain Level)

Darga (Commander Level) - Fleet Captain of the City of Gold 

- Those taking high ranks seal their lifesworn existence as a pirate by tattooing their face. To show pride and acceptance of the Way of the Sea, similar to the Way of the Leaf amongst the land-born gypsies, lower ranks too will mark their face which forever signifies them to the rest of the world as a pirate.

- Every ship and fleet answers to the City of Gold and this includes in any and all trade. Works of artisans alike are bought and paid for, bartered between ships or upon land while at port in disguise. The traditions and many of the functions of Dorwinion mercantilism has bled over into the pirates.

- Much like the rest of Dorwinion, dueling is very important to the culture of the seaward pirates who make not just sport of it but also weight the entirety of their honor on it. For the activity of sport, dueling is done much like any other sport or game and the intent is not violence or finding justice in any dispute or issue. It is common that there are capture the flag style dueling battles amongst the crew. Dueling for the pirates is often referred to as ‘Blade Dancing’ which is a term common amongst House Calaer, the sea-born Merchant Family of Dorwinion which is heavily whispered, but never outright so, to have abundant and profitable ties and history with the pirates.

- One of the most famous of pirate Captains is the Prince of Cats, said to descend from Miogrin’s line as well as be of noble blood from House Calaer, kin to the current Darga. His ship is well known by those of the Rhun, marked by its distinctive sails and its piercing ram which is said to be shaped in the likeness of a woman’s arm and hand wielding a dueling sword. There are rumors that the ram’s tongue is actually just that: a massive blade. The ship and its Prince are known to have more than just one ship-cat and all are said to be orange tabbies with copper eyes.

- Every ship houses and cares for at least one cat. To bring harm, whether by physical violence or neglect, to a cat of any ship is the utmost crime amongst the pirates and not only invites bad luck to the captain and crew but usually causes heads to roll when news of such is brought to the City of Gold.

- Formal inheritance is unheard of amongst the pirates who own nothing, not even their ship for their ship it is owned by the City of Gold and easily lost. Blood, aside from those of Miogrin’s line, holds no weight amongst them pirates, even if one was once noble-born. Family is family. If you are recognized as family from the City of Gold, thus welcomed into the arms of piracy, every other pirate is your sister or brother, no matter age though rank can trump the title depending on how formal a crew runs.

What Would Other PCs (Non-Dorwinion PCS) Know About Pirates from Dorwinion?

- The pirates of Dorwinion exist on the Sea of Rhun and are rumored to sometimes raid the lower reaches of the River Running.

- Pirates are thieves, brigands, murderers and generally neverdowells of a violent persuasion.

- Pirates, like other gypsies, are rumored to steal babies, children and beautiful women.

- A smiling pirate is a sure pirate, one confident in their mischief hence the notion never trust a smiling pirate.

- Blond and red hair are extremely uncommon amongst the pirates just like the rest of Dorwinion. Blue eyes are exceptionally uncommon and are found in only one bloodline - the closest thing the plagia accept as nobility - the line of Miogrin. Grey is unheard of and thus impossible in their bloodlines. A pirate is known, generally like most Dorwinians, by their dark hair, dark skin and green, brown or hazel eyes. A dead giveaway for a pirate is a tattoo of any kind on their face. 

Suggested Backgrounds and Roles

These roles require certain amounts of RPP and they vary with each role. Use of a background outside of the roles below are by Special Application only and require Elder Staff approval before submission.

Pirate of Dorwinion

Requires 2 RPP.

Strongly Suggested Skills: Seamanship

Other Useful Skills: Sole-Wield, Dual-Wield, Dalish, Common

Background: You hale from the Sea of Rhun, born as a low-caste pirate of Dorwinion. You serve as a low-level pirate in a mediocre crew, ranking no higher than Sailor. You are familiar with the Sea of Rhun, the traditions and cultures of Dorwinion, it’s histories, rich and vibrant lifestyle and it’s laws. You live by the code of the pirates and for whatever reason, you’re no longer welcome upon the Sea, bereft of a ship and a crew and barred from return to the City of Gold. Whether by fortune or misfortune, you find yourself in Laketown.

+5 to a Combat Skill, Haggle at Opening Level, Racial language

Surgeon or Carpenter Pirate

Requires 2 RPP.

Strongly Suggested Skills: First-Aid and Medicine or Seamanship and Woodcraft

Other Useful Skills: Dalish, Common

Background: You hale from the Sea of Rhun, born as a low-caste pirate of Dorwinion. You serve as a Carpenter or Surgeon in a mediocre crew. You are familiar with the Sea of Rhun, the traditions and cultures of Dorwinion, it’s histories, rich and vibrant lifestyle and it’s laws. You live by the code of the pirates and for whatever reason, you’re no longer welcome upon the Sea, bereft of a ship and a crew and barred from return to the City of Gold. Whether by fortune or misfortune, you find yourself in Laketown.

+5 to either First-Aid or Woodcraft, Haggle at Opening Level, Racial language

Disabled, Retired or Banished Pirate Officer

Requires 3 RPP.

Strongly Suggested Skills: Seamship

Other Useful Skills: Sole-Wield, Dual-Wield, Dalish, Common

Background: You hale from the Sea of Rhun, born as a low-caste pirate of Dorwinion. You serve as a mid-level pirate in a mediocre crew, ranking no higher than Quartermaster. You are familiar with the Sea of Rhun, the traditions and cultures of Dorwinion, it’s histories, rich and vibrant lifestyle and it’s laws. You live by the code of the pirates and for whatever reason, you’re no longer welcome upon the Sea, bereft of a ship and a crew and barred from return to the City of Gold. Whether by fortune or misfortune, you find yourself in Laketown.

+5 to Seamanship, +5 to a Combat Skill, Haggle at Opening Level, Racial language

Dishonorably-Discharged Captain

Requires 4 RPP.

Strongly Suggested Skills: Small-Blade, Long-Blade, Dual-Wield, Seamanship

Other Useful Skills: Dalish, Common

Background: You hale from the Sea of Rhun, born as a low-caste pirate of Dorwinion. You serve as a Captain in a mediocre crew. You are familiar with the Sea of Rhun, the traditions and cultures of Dorwinion, it’s histories, rich and vibrant lifestyle and it’s laws. You live by the code of the pirates and for whatever reason, you’re no longer welcome upon the Sea, bereft of a ship and a crew and barred from return to the City of Gold. Whether by fortune or misfortune, you find yourself in Laketown.

+5 Seamanship, +10 to a Combat Skill, Haggle at Opening Level, Racial language

 Stories and Songs

Players are encouraged to submit songs and stories for Pirates of Dorwinion as they’re playing. Please respect all Copyright Laws. If it is someone’s work, heavily or loosely based on someone else’s work, or even that of work too old to maintain a maker’s name – give the source, when submitted, due credit.