[OPEN] Yo Ho, Yo Ho... A Pirate Colony

[xo maho]

Yo Ho, Yo Ho... A Pirate Colony
The Home of the First Corsairs & the Grail Herd

Welcome to the headquarters of the First Corsairs, informally known as the pirate colony! The First Corsairs are the pirates of the Grail Herd, a herd primarily for seathi and other aquatics. These little guys specialize in treasure hunting and trading.

Right now, we're looking for members and trying to spread awareness - and bring attention to the aquatics! If you have questions, please feel free to post! We love to chat.

The Grail Herd has a few IC rules that you should know when it comes to what they do best:

• Don't steal from other members or friends of the herd.
  
• Respect the dead when looting shipwrecks.
  
• Negotiate with your own wrathful victims.

Other than that, there are no major rules aside from the implicit ones (e.g. respect your elders) and the rules of Soquili and Gaia as a whole.

Please feel free to post and shoo others with aquatics our way! We're also looking for land-based soquili to trade with.  

[xo maho]

Herd History

Long before they became the pirates known as The First Corsairs, the seathi colony was known simply as "The Grail." Just a small cluster of families, which they referred to as pods, the Grail herd depended on each other to survive. They traded shiny bits of oyster shells and pretty pebbles to the land soquili in return for berries and fruits and other goods. The herd was centuries old when the first ships came to the Kawani Lands and began crashing on reef and rock. When they explored the wooden behemoths, they found themselves surrounded by treasure beyond their wildest dreams - glistening gilded chalices and gems, jewelry and baubles.

Those days have been long gone - only a few elders are still around to recall the days before the Grail was in eternal bounty. Now, the First Corsairs raid every ship that crashes and hunt through the old wrecks, searching for tiny bits they might have missed. Not only did they become looters, but thieves, as well, stealing from neighboring mers, kelpi, and outsider seathi to feed their obsessions. The bravest are hailed as heroes and legends; the meek do not often survive foalhood.

When the nixies came, little changed. The Corsairs still plunder, but their nixie contacts allowed their trade on land to boom. Excellent middlemen for their tiny, exclusively aquatic cousins, nixies now help handle land-based trade to keep the seathi safe from the much larger land soquili.

The Ancestral Grounds

Click for larger map.

The Totem

The totem of the First Corsairs is still to be determined.
 

[xo maho]

The Grail Culture

The Grail is the center of the Corsairs' civilization. Everything important happens in the Grail, and only aquatic soquili have access to it. The culture is very materialistic - leaders often have hoards that spill outside of their homes. The hierarchy is based on prowess, which often means that the older the soquili, the more respect they have. Older members and elders have the most power, followed by their children, nonnatives, and then friends and outsiders.

One of the characteristics of the Corsairs is that the herd has no set leaders or duties. Those who become legends are often looked to in times of crisis, but the herd is made up of mostly small families and bands of friends. Each pod, or family unit, has a matriarch or patriarch; if a decision must be made about the whole of the Grail, the leaders of each family will hold a council meeting and vote democratically until a verdict is reached. Those without families are spoken for by the matriarch or patriarch they are closest to.

Those who have no desire to hunt treasure may assign themselves the duties of lookout, medic, negotiator, trader, etc., but they will likely never have the kind of power and sway that the more mainstream members - the pirates - have. The Grail, though most members would never admit it, counts on these members. Lookouts and medics keep their pirates safe and taken care of; negotiators protect the members from angry victims of thievery; traders keep the economy of the herd afloat.

When it comes to romance, the Corsairs are very accepting. Most of them believe that anyone can fall in love with anyone else - regardless of gender or breed. This attitude is heavily reinforced by the fact that many of the families have become interrelated over the years and their children are forced to find romance outside of the herd - with nonnative seathi, nixies, and even land soquili and mers. "Love knows no boundaries" is a phrase often repeated in the herd.

Views on Outsiders

Outsiders - especially neighboring outsiders - are treated pretty poorly by the Corsairs. Unless they are declared a friend of the herd, they'll be robbed blind. This usually happens with mers and kelpi who are not friends of the herd, though seathi families are also robbed. The Corsairs do not believe in robbing their friends, however, and all it takes is one visit by a thievery victim to have the said victim be declared a friend of the herd. They go home with a token to hang outside of their cave - usually a gold coin on a string - to prevent further robberies. One time in ten, though, the outsider will ask to join the herd.

The First Corsairs are generally good-natured when it comes to assimilating outsiders into the Grail. Mers and nixies are the ones that are most often accepted into the herd, outnumbered only by nonnative seathi. Kelpi are very rare, but the Corsairs do have a few Kelpi neighbors who live within the bounds of the Grail. Assimilation simply becomes a matter of recognition among the herd members - once everyone recognizes an outsider as part of the herd, they become part of the herd. As a general rule, the Corsairs are loose about everything but treasure.

Trading In & Out of the Grail

Trade and treasure are what binds the families of the Corsairs together. Every few days, everyone meets by the central reef and brings all the treasure that they want to get rid of or trade - it's like a big gift exchange. While the trading happens, many members talk to fences about goods that they can't keep in the water (say, because they belonged to a belligerent kelpi who is looking for them), who take them ashore with the client's wishes in mind. Traders also take less criminal items ashore to trade with the land soquili.

Very few traders and fences are actually seathi; it's too hard for the small creatures to haul a load of treasure up from the Grail to the beach. As such, many are nixies, a few are mers, and one or two are kelpi. They trade with the land soquili - treasure for fruit, medicinal supplies, and "land treasure," or treasure that originated on land. Mers also ferry trade with the Merlok people deep in the oceans.

Crafting is also a major part of the trade: many seathi take their treasure to craftspeople on the beaches to have it made into necklaces, hair ornaments, and more - anything they can't make themselves.
 

[xo maho]

The Grail Culture: Ceremonies

Coming of Age Ceremony:

A major part of Grail culture is the Coming of Age Ceremony performed by its young adults. It marks the entrance of the newly grown foals into society.


• Before: Before their Coming of Age ceremonies, foals are not permitted to go treasure hunting without an escort, and they may not take any of the loot for themselves. Despite this, many take it upon themselves to loot ships and many even venture into caves guarded by territorial sealife. The ceremony takes advantage of their rebellious nature and many try to prepare for it by testing the rules - which is exactly why venturing out without an escort is secretly encouraged.
  
• The Ceremony: The ceremony itself is a formality. Adults pick pieces of coral to determine who will observe and judge each young adult's performance. Once the judges have been assigned, young adults enter a predetermined cave (which is sometimes guarded by a familiar) one at a time and hunt for a piece of metal. Once they find the piece of metal, they take it home and polish it, decorate it (if they want), and bend it into the shape of an almost complete ring. The next day, they take it to the judges, who pierce the young adult's ear (or fin, nose, eyebrow, etc.). The judges explain to the newly minted "adult" that the piercing symbolizes their entrance to society: now, they are free to hunt treasure, but they most also learn the pain of sacrifice and responsibility.
  
• After: With their new piercings denoting their status as adults, the young adults begin their own treasure hoards.
  

The Folly:

A dangerous alternative to the traditional Coming of Age Ceremony, the Folly serves the same purpose, but often without the piercings.


• Before: See above's "Before."
  
• The Ceremony: Rather than entering a cave and being observed by judges, young adults who attempt the Folly are on their own. They are forced to find their own treasure and are often caught stealing from neighboring kelpi and mers. Many who attempt the Folly never return because they lack the stealth that only comes with experience. Those who do return may be exiled for the crime of stealing from another member (usually their parents). The few who legitimately complete the Folly are renowned long into their adulthood just for finishing it. Most don't come back with a bit of metal for a piercing, but instead return with a necklace or some other adornment that they'll wear for a long while after their ceremony.
  The purpose behind the Folly is to cater to the foals that hold different ideologies and can carry them out (e.g. they don't believe in mutilating themselves and put themselves in danger to prove that point), but the secondary purpose is to weed out the ones who would rather take the easy path and steal from their parents than get a piercing.
  
• After: With their new pieces of treasure denoting their status as adults, the young adults begin their own treasure hoards. They also begin their adult life with renown as ones who completed the Folly.
  

Lifemating Ceremony:

Lifemating ceremonies depend completely on the couple or group being bonded, but there are a few customs to be observed. It is a custom to symbolically bind them together with kelp. Another custom is for the partners to trade treasures, but their hoards are never merged. Lifemating ceremonies are usually cause for the whole Grail to feast and celebrate, due to their rarity - if word gets out that a pair or group have been lifemated, the whole herd will take a day of rest to feast, no matter who and how many are invited to the actual ceremony.

Circle of Life Ceremonies:

Circle of Life ceremonies are observed at birth and death. They are generally held by the pod of the individual in question, and the customs observed depend greatly on the family's history.

The Grail Culture: Tidbits

There are a few small customs that should be mentioned.

• Names of English, Irish, Welsh, Scottish, and Gaelic origin (OoC) are pretty common for foals born in and around the Grail. A lot of them may not be pronounced as they appear.
  
• Many Corsairs use their familiars as lookouts and partners-in-crime. They take pride in being able to not only adorn themselves, but their familiars as well.
  
• Familiars may go on treasure hunts independent of their bonded soquili.
  
• Many Corsairs keep polished plates of metal in their hoards to use as mirrors.
  

 

[xo maho]

Joining

Please post the following form to join the herd! If you do not have an aquatic but would like to be a part of the trading aspect of the herd, please see the next section of this post.

If any of the questions confuse you, feel free to just guess! :3 Nothing's set in stone and we can talk it out if you're confused.

[size=13][b][u]Yo Ho, Yo Ho, A Pirate's Life For Me![/u][/b][/size]
[size=11][b]Soquili Name[/b]:
[img]Cert Here[/img]
[b]Native or Nonnative?[/b] Was you soquili born in the herd? First gen only, unless the parents are also part of the herd or left their child with the herd.
[b]Corsair or Outskirts?[/b] Essentially, treasure hunter or not? Outskirts members are lookouts, medics, traders, fences, and more. They do not hunt treasure.
[b]Prowess[/b]: What level member? Do they have a huge hoard? Are they new at this? Matriarch/Patriarch = head of a family or band of friends, huge hoard; Breadwinner = usually first gen, been at it for a while; Novice = new to the herd or newly grown.
[b]Personality/History Blurb[/b]: Optional.
[b]Family[/b]: List any family members (optional).
[b]Teepee & Plot Thread[/b]: Not required, but stick your teepee & plot thread here if you have either.
[b]Anything else?[/b]
[/size]

Traders, Fences, Craftspeople, & Other Friends of the Herd

If you have a soquili that you'd like to be a friend of the herd, post the form below and they'll get their own spot on the members' list! 8D If any of it's confusing, just guess and we can work it out. <3

[size=13][b][u]Avast! There's Treasure To Be Had![/u][/b][/size]
[size=11][b]Soquili Name[/b]:
[img]Cert Here[/img]
[b]Occupation[/b]: Trader, fence (deals in stolen goods), craftsperson (makes stuff out of the treasure brought to them; may charge a commission if desired), friend of the herd (stops the Corsairs from stealing their stuff), or something else.
[b]Relationship with the Herd[/b]: How did they come to know the herd? If a nixie, kelpi, or mer, do they ever hang out in the Grail (center of the colony)?
[b]Personality/History Blurb[/b]: Optional.
[b]Teepee & Plot Thread[/b]: Optional, but if you have them, we want them. >3
[b]Anything else?[/b]
[/size]

POD APPLICATION

Want to start your own pod with some friends? Pods are comprised of three or more aquatic soquili who can visit the Grail, along with any land-based traders or friends they want under their mantle. To form a pod, please post the following form:

[size=13][b][u]We ARRRR One Big Family![/u][/b][/size]
[size=11][b]What is the name of your pod?[/b] [Answer here.]
[b]What will be the color tag for your pod?[/b] [Please note that Maho accepts only BBCode-recognized word color tags for pod colors. Like [color=blue]Blue[/color]. Please no hex codes.]
[b]Who will speak for your herd?[/b] [Name, owner, cert. Must be sea-worthy.]
[b]Corsairs or Outskirts?[/b] [If Outskirts, please specify roles, such as crafter, entertainer, negotiator, healer, etc.]
[b]Who else is in your pod?[/b] [Name, owner, & certs of 2+ more sea-worthy soq and any land-based friends who would join.]
[b]Anything else?[/b]
[/size]

 

[xo maho]

Members

Matriarchs, Patriarchs, and Other Leaders:
Étaín Genevieve (Windsor Pod), Ilyrana (Opal Pod), Tonalli (Patioa Pod)


"Breadwinner" Members:
Blake Irving, Caius, George, Leith, Leomaris Aenon, Leucothea, Muirgen "Scylla" Namae, Odhrán, Qetsiyah, Queen Anne's Revenge, Rechenka, Soairse Irving, Tesni, Víðbláinn


"Novice" Members:
Aphrodite, Ava, Celestine Vivianite, Eoin, Hermes, Hermes, Iolite Chrysocolla, Iseult, Kanani-kai, Kealoha, Lorćan, Lyric, Mint Tanzanite, Oke, Onyx, Palaemon, Ronan, Taigon, Teagan, Vanilla, Vaughn, Venus


Outskirts & Nonnative Residential Members:
Akihiko (明彦), Astra "Lapis" Tiarnán, Carthage "Devin" Brooks, Dominique, Eira "Shimmer" Tiarnán, Féve, Flibbertigibbet Johnson, Isadora, Ismae, Keeva, Llyr "Lazuli" Tiarnán, Maiandros, Oceania, Teague "Flurry" Tiarnán, Verallys, Xeven


Friends of the Herd:
Amitola, Apatite, Crème de l'Angélique, Cyllene, Gunkan, Jökull, Kaipo'kai, Kurage, Lue, Nigiri, Nori, Nuudi, Ozette, Quiyahuatl


Traders and Fences:
Chinook, Delmaria Windrose, Falsetto Amachi, Funa, Ikura Raukura, Illareth, Kisu Taonga, Kneecap, Lady Yuna, L'inglesou, Nessie, Van, Yakinori


Craftspeople:
Aresenciel, Eäryendë

 

[xo maho]

Plotting

If you have anything you'd like to toss at the herd, plotwise, please post in the thread! It can be anything from an angry victim of a theft to an attack or shipwreck that shakes the herd to its roots.

 

[xo maho]

Frequently Asked Questions

Is this herd RP-required?
-----No, it's not - but we'd still love roleplay! There's lots of fun shenanigans that our little treasure hunters can get into. X3

Do I have to have an aquatic to join?
-----Nope! If you have a land-based soq, they can become a friend of the herd or a trader or a craftsperson. However, they won't have access to the Grail, so they won't be a full member.

So... if I have an aquatic that's not a member, they're potentially a target for thievery?
-----Only if they live in the same area as the colony. And a single visit to the Grail could have them declared a "friend of the herd" (even if there's nothing friendly about their relationship) so that members will stop filching their shiny stuff.

Have a question?
-----Let us answer it~
 

[xo maho]

Reserved.  

[xo maho]

Reserved.  

[xo maho]

This is open for posting! 8D  

[Kyrieko]

*jumps in and licks shiny new thread* Yay! Looks good, Maho 8D  

[xo maho]

Kyrieko

*jumps in and licks shiny new thread* Yay! Looks good, Maho 8D

Awesome! X3 *rubs hands together* Let's see who we can pull out of the woodwork here...
Eoin: Finally~ I was wondering when somebody else would show up. =D *can't handle loneliness*

Want me to set up a foal RP for Teagan & Eoin? I'm working on that one for Kali and George and can make one for the kids while I'm at it.. :3  

[Kyrieko]

Mahogany Sunset

Teagan: -nibbles on Eoin's fins- I'm here, ya narwhal!

Oooh yes! 8D That would be totally awesome if you could! They can go 'sneak' away on their own treasure adventure |D  

[xo maho]

Kyrieko

Mahogany Sunset

Teagan: -nibbles on Eoin's fins- I'm here, ya narwhal!

Oooh yes! 8D That would be totally awesome if you could! They can go 'sneak' away on their own treasure adventure |D

Here ya go! :3