The Pirate Code

While there are exceptions to every rule, the Black Table enforces a code of conduct that it expects pirates on the high seas to follow under threat of gunpoint. Still, many clever captains have successfully maneuvered around these suggested guidelines. And of course, dead men tell no tales.

1. All men have an equal vote and treasure share aboard a ship during times of calm. Only during imminent violence does a captain have unequivocal authority over a ship and its crew.
2. Robbery of enemy ships is encouraged and rewarded. Robbery amongst a crew was cause for banishment, marooning, or death.
3. Any person may invoke Parlay to cease combat momentarily to discuss a potential truce or accord. Parlay must be honored to allow a person to speak, but no agreement is required to be reached.
4. A white flag of surrender is to be honored, and those who raise it spared. To betray a white flag of surrender is to invoke the Wrath of Besmera.
5. Harm against cats or parrots are punishable by death, banishment, or marooning.
6. To spill another person’s drink is cause for violence.
7. A duel must be witnessed by a second, and may be non-lethal if both parties agree. Duals are traditionally held at Dawn, as Besmera enjoys violence before she rests.
8. Killing in bar fights is considered bad manners.
9. One marooned to a remote island is to be left with some sort of weapon, typically a small dagger or pistol with a single shot.
10. A person who escapes a marooning or execution is to be considered exonerated of the crime they committed.
11. Offering a tithe to the sea and sky before a voyage is considered beneficial for one’s health.
12. Blood should not be spilled in port. We don’t shit where we eat.
13. Spilt blood may be cleaned with gold.
14. It is customary for a crew that mutinies against a captain to host a “pirate court” where a ship’s officers may be tried. Pirates are only too happy to arrange for a courtroom.

Type

Decree, Governmental