Privateers of Faith

We are the defenders of trade, of the sea, but of fair and open opportunity. We stand against oppression, against stagnation, we are against large groups controlling the interests and future of the many, the masses. We pick our fight with unorthodox means, means many in the upper rungs of society simply may not support, but we do so with conviction. We stand as a shield against the darkness of the worst of us, the oppressiveness of greed and envy without limits, without morality. We are always at the ready, for we are always in the fight. The seas, rivers and lakes be our domain, and ultimately, we stand against the things from the deep, the horrors most others have forgotten. We stand ever vigilant to defend the rights of all to trade and deal in fortunes. We merely also insure a level of fairness and parity is maintained. For the First Captain does not believe in hoarding power, and what is wealth if not power in its own right. Power should be used, should be spent, and should be invested back into society around you.

Opening Scriptures from a holy text, The Privateers Path

Structure

Those whom worship Captain Black Jeremiah do so because he represents a sort of convicted freedom most of the other churches simply cannot abide. There is a great deal of flexibility in the organizational structure of this faith, and anyone can start a clergy, or a crew, so long as they are willing to put in three or four years of study of the basics of the faith's structure beliefs and basic tenets. Now mess, no fuss, no politics blocking advancement, you can simply stick religious iconography on a structure on a wharf or dock, or a ship itself, and start a church. As one may imagine, this sort of looseness of structure can cause inherent and unfortunate problems with people using the faith as a cover for everything from criminal acts to acts of piracy beyond even what is allowable under the faith's....unique umbrella. This grants the Privateers of Faith a unique distinction. Being freebooters in their own right, whilst also being perhaps the most effective and efficient pirate and corsair hunters in all of Valerick. They have no problem hunting their own whom have fallen off the blessed path either. So this faith is uniquely hard to classify even the largest divides, as clergies, or 'crews' are almost always in motion, in flux. However there does lie a major distinction between a priest and a templar, still, so that divide is useful to know;

Brazen Buccaneers:

The seafaring enforcement of Captain Black Jeremiah's limited rules, along with the militant arm of the faith, the Brazen Buccaneers are a....templar order in the loosest sense, having some sembalance of larger structure, though that hierarchy is tested through combative means sometimes, and under the rules of the faith, this is not an issue. In fighting of this nature, of a competitive piracy based nature, whilst not encouraged, is also not frowned upon. It is just seen as part and parcel of what makes them effective. They are a unique faith, and the Buccaneers are just as unique of a templar order. They recognize no true one leader, one individual of rank above the rest in the fashion of a commander or some such. However the most influential among them currently is recognized as High Captain Edward 'Ironbraid' Tullimore, a dwarf, interestingly enough. He and his crew have made quite the name for themselves all across the trade routes of the Sea of Sails and beyond, for both good and ill, as is the nature of the God of the Sea.

The Dockmasters:

The more spiritually concerned side of the faith, the cloth, those whom concern themselves greatly with the scriptures, with maintaining and spreading the good word, and keeping safe port of calls safe. They are the generally more well liked part of the Jeremian faith, as they oft are not connected directly to any of the piracy or other shennanigans that the Buccaneers get up to, and are more directly tapped into communities. However uniquely, those of the cloth will be well traveled, generally not simply being involved in caretaking one community but several along a stretch of coastline or within another sort of interconnected set of waterways. Those of the cloth also have a bit more of an order, an organized system to their structure, and recognize officially a sort of seat of power at the head of the faith, conceptually at least. This seat of power is currently occupied by one Mother Ezra Marie-Ann, a Halfman priestess in her mid fifties.

Public Agenda

Those of the faith of Captain Black Jeremiah worship him because he represents the sea, represents its freedom, and its strength in his own fashions. He stands a beacon to the ideals of opposing the hoarding of wealth and power. There are many whom look upon this Ascended, much like Varis Tomain, with suspicion, seeing him as a god of rogues and brigands, and that is not necessarily untrue. But ultimately he is the God of the Sea, and his faithful are the most stalwart protectors of the trade routes and waterways that even now, in this age of steam and sky-ship, are so very vital to Valerick's economic and military security. They alone of the faithful remember, within their doctorine, where the horrors of the Sundering began.

"The seas themselves boiled and roiled, spitting forth scaled horrors from its depths, those with hatred and deep envy for the blessed Children of the Ascended whom get to live in the above, under the warm forgiving light of the sun."

Logs of the High Captain, 31-02-8311, line 5

Assets

Much like the counterpart god of the roads, the god of the sea's temples oft double or even triple as portside inns and taverns. The two faiths have been known to actually share holy grounds, Feyheart and Black Jeremiah, simply due to the natural crossover of port cities and communities, the sort of meeting place of important sea and land routes. Many ships act as sort of floating halls of worship, besides their primary roles, particularly those of the Brazen Buccaneers. One will find temples and shrines of all kinds to the First Captain anywhere one would find a remotely busy port of call, river-crossing town or fishing village. There seat of power, the Corsair Covanent, one will find in the port city of Tortuga, the capital of the Freebooter's Republic of Mora.

Tenets of Faith

Those of the Privateers of Faith actually have a more structured code of behavior than one may expect, considering their reputation for being little better than scoundrels and raiders and pirates. But they do have a code of ethics and behavior. The Corsair's Conscience they call it, a sort of humorous name for something that they do take quite seriously. The joke of course being more about how most would not assume followers of Black Jeremiah have something akin to a conscience, given the reputation and view of many. The Corsair's Conscience is made up of six guidelines and they are as follows;

  1. Target the Wealthy and the Greedy


  2. Take what ye can, give nothin' back


  3. No fear and no quarter ta the things from the dark


  4. Only 3 things we offer the Beasts from Black. Speed, Surprise, and Firepower.


  5. When all else fails, apply smokepowder generously


  6. Wasting good booze is a sin and a crime of faith!

Swift as the Storm, Strong as the Sea

Founding Date
0001 SuD
Type
Religious, Organised Religion
Alternative Names
Freebooter's Faithful

Worship and Divinely Granted Powers



Honoring the Corsair's Conscience in spirit and function is a major part of the faith, but so to is aiding the poor and protecting the communities which oft harbor your sort of brigand, the poorer and more hole in the wall ports of call and docksides. This can take many forms; from providing them spoils and goods when possible, to protecting them from sea raiders like the Drathi, or the dreaded mer, or some forgotten beast of the deep that takes up residence in the region. Devotion to his causes and honoring the Conscience offers many rewards and prayers that can be called upon by the faithful of the First Captain however. These specific pieces of scripture, though buried in various obscure and less common holy texts, are well known and passed around through the circles of the cloth and the steel. Known as the

Writs of the Privateers

these prayers are what allow Priests and Templars to request and recieve the benefits and power they can wield through their Callings.


Cover image: Black Jack and Bones by Keon Croucher (discord name, drizzt103) was the input operator, Midjourney AI took those inputs and put the image together.
Character flag image: Black Jack and Crossblades by Keon Croucher, I used Inkarnate

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