Piracy
In a world where trade was almost exclusively oceanic, piracy was nothing new; it was an immutable fact of existence. From innumerable inlets, shallows, and watery caves of the vast archipelago, bands of Selatian raiders struck at the many thousands of intricate and lucrative trade routes that were the life-blood of its Cities. It wasn't uncommon for a merchant ship captain to have fought, bribed, bartered with and been kidnapped by pirates multiple times over the course of his career, or sometimes even a single voyage.
Selatian pirates operated in democratic gangs of various sizes and degrees of sophistication which typically became less democratic the larger they grew. Many were limited to single ships (Pirate ships were called "Hunters") or small fleets of five or less, called "Packs"; larger than these were Flotillas, which were led by a Commodore, and could number in the dozens. The largest groups were the Syndicates- these consisted of tenuous alliances between multiple Flotilla, with the respective Commodores either sharing power or submitting to a single charismatic figure among their number. Syndicates were resilient, organized and extremely dangerous- capable of controlling vast territories and holding their own against organized navies. Syndicates were prone to infighting as greedy captains vied for power and wealth, but even so, they would often survive these internal power struggles just with a changed dynasty of criminals. Some Syndicates could last for several decades- a few even lasted well over a century.
Piracy, like all organized crime, existed in a corrupt symbiosis with the Cities it preyed on. Cities regularly and knowingly bought stolen goods, if usually through middlemen and smugglers; usually with the often erroneous assumption that said goods came from the holds of their rivals. One would be hard-pressed to find a public official whose income wasn't padded by these ill-gotten gains (indeed, for some, it was the majority). In addition, pirates accepted contracts for privateering, bounty hunting, mercenary work, and (ironically) merchant escorts. Even the wealthiest Cities buttressed their navies with pirate ships, guns, sailors, and fighters in times of war.
But piracy was not limited to the Selatian archipelago. Maritime nomadic tribes in the Pandoran and Molutian Seas had long raided and traded with the tribes and cities of the Adrian and southern Mendabalan mainlands. For millennia the nomads existed in thousands of distinct and independent tribes, lineages, and polities, and in the years following the re-establishment of contact between Selatia and Mendabal, Pirate Gangs began trading and fighting with these tribes as well. During the Maelstrom, many tribes became engulfed by Selatian Syndicates. But by the mid-18th century, nearly all of these were gradually subsumed into five broad confederacies: the Panadori (for whom the Pandoran Sea is named), the Molutai (for whom the Molutian Sea is named), the Xolape, the Orotwain, and the Sipu. This coalescence allowed them to survive the influx of organized navies in the centuries following the re-establishment of contact with Selatia, and their strong cultural and familial bonds helped to establish well-enforced hierarchies which afforded them a stability and sophistication which was simply impossible for most Selatian pirates (hence why they were able to outlast them). These factors allowed them to fight off the pirates, and not only made them formidable in a military sense but also integrated them into the emerging global economy. After the Maelstrom and the Hollow war, it became an unspoken rule that Selatian Pirates kept mostly to their native archipelago, whilst the Pandoran Nations had free reign of the inland seas. This changed after the War of Javan Succession. The Pirates of Selatia had been growing as a menace ever since trade with the Continent began in earnest. Javodah II, however, poured fuel onto the flames of these burgeoning criminal empires, and indeed hoped for the Selatian pirates to overtake the Pandoran tribes, and ultimately help to wipe them out. Javodah also leaned heavily on Pirate gangs as his extensive national debt hindered the size of Java's navy. His coronation is often cited (by Phoenicians, at least) as the beginning of the Maelstrom. It was the King's intention to heighten the severity of piracy in Selatia to such a degree, that the other City-States would be unable or unwilling to collect Java's debt. This, unsurprisingly, backfired on him, as not only did many Cities refuse to forget Java's debts, but some of the pirates themselves began attacking Javan shipping as well.
By all appearances and accounts, Javodah II was just about the only thing holding the Kingdom of Java together at this point. His charisma and sheer brutality kept the State in check, but no contemporary outside observer would've bet that his Kingdom would outlive him by more than a generation. But for all his faults, Javodah was wise when choosing his successor. Of his 14 (legitimate) children, he chose the youngest, Alaric, to succeed him to the throne. Alaric was a sickly child, but grew stronger as he matured, though he was plagued by asthma throughout his life. He had his father's genius and strength of will, but also a softer, more curious nature. From a young age, he was captivated by the cryptic and fractured knowledge of the Eratil- a long-hidden power in a far-off hostile land. He initially took after his father in his politics, but seemed to quickly grow away from the more lurid and cruel aspects of Javodah's regime. Javodah became Machiavelian when circumstance crushed his idealism, but Alaric developed an idealism informed by the Machiavelian circumstances to which he was born. Alaric was the first monarch in Selatian history to have an official policy towards pirates. Firstly, he aimed to root out the corruption within his govt that piracy feed on (the success of which is highly contentious among historians), which was a task made easier by the extensive intelligence networks and institutions created by his father which gave the king totalitarian control over the govt. His next step was to centralize Java's sea power under his own control, as the King's Royal Navy(KRN), the first organized navy on earth since the Eratil Collapse. Finally, he intended to improve Java's diplomatic relations, reach out to the other Selatian cities, and create an international anti-piracy coalition that would be powerful enough to break up the Syndicates and hunt the stragglers into extinction. Needless to say, the shadow of his father's reign made it difficult for Alaric to gain the trust of his contemporary rulers, especially in Phoenicia, which was embroiled in political upheaval that made it extremely mistrustful of monarchs, particularly western monarchs, and ESPECIALLY Javan monarchs. However, Alaric was able to quickly assemble, arm, and train the KRN, which gave Javan trade some much-needed protection; as the Javan economy improved, it was able to boost its naval power to the point where it could provide protection to other cities- in exchange for debt forgiveness. This improved the City's international standing immensely, as before it was seen as a propagator of the Piracy epidemic, now it was seen as a solution- a savior, even. As Alaric built up support from abroad for his coalition, the Phoenicians begin to panic, seeing Java's rising influence as a threat. Phoenicia nonetheless joined the Coalition and began constructing its own navy. For centuries, high seas thieves were so powerful and numerous that merchant guilds and even State Armadas would make alliances with pirate gangs for safe passage through their territory and protection from other pirates and privateers. Pirate Gangs carved out massive, if ill-defined, territories, their borders shifting as they fought against each other, heedless of their overlapping with those of legitimate City-States. They commanded huge armadas and legions of cutthroat sailors, and would often ally with City-States in open conflicts. It also constituted the last alliance between Phoenicia and Java. During the war, the two prodigy cities began establishing alliance networks, political connections, and what would become massive spheres of influence, built off of those left behind by the pirates. Java and Phoenicia emerged from the war more powerful than any of their peers, naturally making them sworn rivals. The Pirates themselves, though inflicting heavy losses on their "civilized" enemies, were all but eradicated; never since have their territories or their sophistication come close to its glorious past. Not until Hannibal's exile...
Selatian pirates operated in democratic gangs of various sizes and degrees of sophistication which typically became less democratic the larger they grew. Many were limited to single ships (Pirate ships were called "Hunters") or small fleets of five or less, called "Packs"; larger than these were Flotillas, which were led by a Commodore, and could number in the dozens. The largest groups were the Syndicates- these consisted of tenuous alliances between multiple Flotilla, with the respective Commodores either sharing power or submitting to a single charismatic figure among their number. Syndicates were resilient, organized and extremely dangerous- capable of controlling vast territories and holding their own against organized navies. Syndicates were prone to infighting as greedy captains vied for power and wealth, but even so, they would often survive these internal power struggles just with a changed dynasty of criminals. Some Syndicates could last for several decades- a few even lasted well over a century.
Piracy, like all organized crime, existed in a corrupt symbiosis with the Cities it preyed on. Cities regularly and knowingly bought stolen goods, if usually through middlemen and smugglers; usually with the often erroneous assumption that said goods came from the holds of their rivals. One would be hard-pressed to find a public official whose income wasn't padded by these ill-gotten gains (indeed, for some, it was the majority). In addition, pirates accepted contracts for privateering, bounty hunting, mercenary work, and (ironically) merchant escorts. Even the wealthiest Cities buttressed their navies with pirate ships, guns, sailors, and fighters in times of war.
But piracy was not limited to the Selatian archipelago. Maritime nomadic tribes in the Pandoran and Molutian Seas had long raided and traded with the tribes and cities of the Adrian and southern Mendabalan mainlands. For millennia the nomads existed in thousands of distinct and independent tribes, lineages, and polities, and in the years following the re-establishment of contact between Selatia and Mendabal, Pirate Gangs began trading and fighting with these tribes as well. During the Maelstrom, many tribes became engulfed by Selatian Syndicates. But by the mid-18th century, nearly all of these were gradually subsumed into five broad confederacies: the Panadori (for whom the Pandoran Sea is named), the Molutai (for whom the Molutian Sea is named), the Xolape, the Orotwain, and the Sipu. This coalescence allowed them to survive the influx of organized navies in the centuries following the re-establishment of contact with Selatia, and their strong cultural and familial bonds helped to establish well-enforced hierarchies which afforded them a stability and sophistication which was simply impossible for most Selatian pirates (hence why they were able to outlast them). These factors allowed them to fight off the pirates, and not only made them formidable in a military sense but also integrated them into the emerging global economy. After the Maelstrom and the Hollow war, it became an unspoken rule that Selatian Pirates kept mostly to their native archipelago, whilst the Pandoran Nations had free reign of the inland seas. This changed after the War of Javan Succession. The Pirates of Selatia had been growing as a menace ever since trade with the Continent began in earnest. Javodah II, however, poured fuel onto the flames of these burgeoning criminal empires, and indeed hoped for the Selatian pirates to overtake the Pandoran tribes, and ultimately help to wipe them out. Javodah also leaned heavily on Pirate gangs as his extensive national debt hindered the size of Java's navy. His coronation is often cited (by Phoenicians, at least) as the beginning of the Maelstrom. It was the King's intention to heighten the severity of piracy in Selatia to such a degree, that the other City-States would be unable or unwilling to collect Java's debt. This, unsurprisingly, backfired on him, as not only did many Cities refuse to forget Java's debts, but some of the pirates themselves began attacking Javan shipping as well.
By all appearances and accounts, Javodah II was just about the only thing holding the Kingdom of Java together at this point. His charisma and sheer brutality kept the State in check, but no contemporary outside observer would've bet that his Kingdom would outlive him by more than a generation. But for all his faults, Javodah was wise when choosing his successor. Of his 14 (legitimate) children, he chose the youngest, Alaric, to succeed him to the throne. Alaric was a sickly child, but grew stronger as he matured, though he was plagued by asthma throughout his life. He had his father's genius and strength of will, but also a softer, more curious nature. From a young age, he was captivated by the cryptic and fractured knowledge of the Eratil- a long-hidden power in a far-off hostile land. He initially took after his father in his politics, but seemed to quickly grow away from the more lurid and cruel aspects of Javodah's regime. Javodah became Machiavelian when circumstance crushed his idealism, but Alaric developed an idealism informed by the Machiavelian circumstances to which he was born. Alaric was the first monarch in Selatian history to have an official policy towards pirates. Firstly, he aimed to root out the corruption within his govt that piracy feed on (the success of which is highly contentious among historians), which was a task made easier by the extensive intelligence networks and institutions created by his father which gave the king totalitarian control over the govt. His next step was to centralize Java's sea power under his own control, as the King's Royal Navy(KRN), the first organized navy on earth since the Eratil Collapse. Finally, he intended to improve Java's diplomatic relations, reach out to the other Selatian cities, and create an international anti-piracy coalition that would be powerful enough to break up the Syndicates and hunt the stragglers into extinction. Needless to say, the shadow of his father's reign made it difficult for Alaric to gain the trust of his contemporary rulers, especially in Phoenicia, which was embroiled in political upheaval that made it extremely mistrustful of monarchs, particularly western monarchs, and ESPECIALLY Javan monarchs. However, Alaric was able to quickly assemble, arm, and train the KRN, which gave Javan trade some much-needed protection; as the Javan economy improved, it was able to boost its naval power to the point where it could provide protection to other cities- in exchange for debt forgiveness. This improved the City's international standing immensely, as before it was seen as a propagator of the Piracy epidemic, now it was seen as a solution- a savior, even. As Alaric built up support from abroad for his coalition, the Phoenicians begin to panic, seeing Java's rising influence as a threat. Phoenicia nonetheless joined the Coalition and began constructing its own navy. For centuries, high seas thieves were so powerful and numerous that merchant guilds and even State Armadas would make alliances with pirate gangs for safe passage through their territory and protection from other pirates and privateers. Pirate Gangs carved out massive, if ill-defined, territories, their borders shifting as they fought against each other, heedless of their overlapping with those of legitimate City-States. They commanded huge armadas and legions of cutthroat sailors, and would often ally with City-States in open conflicts. It also constituted the last alliance between Phoenicia and Java. During the war, the two prodigy cities began establishing alliance networks, political connections, and what would become massive spheres of influence, built off of those left behind by the pirates. Java and Phoenicia emerged from the war more powerful than any of their peers, naturally making them sworn rivals. The Pirates themselves, though inflicting heavy losses on their "civilized" enemies, were all but eradicated; never since have their territories or their sophistication come close to its glorious past. Not until Hannibal's exile...
