Barriholm Straits Accord

During the thirty plus year reign of terror that Honey 'SilverEye' Jinx perpetrated against the ships of Ziamid it was often wondered why the Ziamidian captains didn't simply sail around the Elding Isles and Barriholm rather than through the straits which were so clearly dangerous. Surely, they said, it was preferable to lose some time and money to the longer trip if it gave you a much greater chance at reaching your destination at all. But, by general agreement, it was determined that avoiding the straits would be admitting defeat and the clans of Ziamid would rather die than admit defeat.
So, for decades the Ziamidian merchant fleet was decimated by Silver Eye and her ilk while the government and army appeared to do nothing. For sure, the military leaders knew that their troops would sink just as fast as the cargo vessels and were not inclined to volunteer for the task of stopping piracy at sea. The navy attempted to stop Captain Jinx through decoy merchant ships but those too proved ineffective and the admirals soon found other places for their ships to be.
A few years after the raids stopped and Jinx apparently retired, the Ziamidian leadership got together and determined that now was the time to strike an accord with the people of Barriholm. Surely they wouldn't have to admit defeat for making a deal when there was no more threat. The Ziamids knew that the raids could begin again any time and they wanted to avoid that happening ever again so they sent their diplomats to Barriholm to seal a deal at a time when they could save face.
The deal that was struck was known as the Barriholm Straits Accord and it said that, in perpetuity, the Ziamidians would pay a duty of 3% of all goods that passed through the straits unmolested and arrived in a Ziamidian port. The leaders in Barriholm were happy to take their gold and nobody appeared to follow in Silver Eye's wake so they didn't even need to prevent piracy for it seemed to have run its course. To this day, the duty on goods coming through the straits is one of the largest sources of income for the people of Barriholm.