Besmara, The Pirate Queen
The Pirate Queen appears as a brash, raven-haired pirate captain of any race she pleases, flamboyantly dressed – typically in colored pantaloons, black boots, a blousy shirt, and a hat (a bicorne, tricorne, or bandana). Despite her inhuman origins, she does not take any monstrous forms, even when angered, though swarms of sea creatures have been known to crawl out of her clothing to do her bidding. Besmara’s favor takes the form of gold coins spinning, mists concealing one’s approach from enemies, enemies dropping weapons or having their weapons misfire, and opposing ships’ sails tearing or burning. She shows her anger through stored food spoiling in a matter of moments, potable water turning to sludge, peg-legs and hooks irritating their wearers, foul-smelling winds, and an increased presence of sea monsters. Domain
Rather than a defined realm, Besmara wanders the chaos of the Maelstrom aboard her idealized pirate ship, the Seawraith. While depictions of it vary with the observer’s cultural notion of a warship — everything from a galleon to a longship to a junk — the Seawraith inspires fear and respect. Besmara can change its appearance and configuration at will, as well as the environment around and within it. This power extends only about a hundred yards from the ship itself. Fortunately, the ship’s mobility and her chaotic powers make it very difficult to find should she wish to be hidden, and several vengeful divine entities have sought her in the Maelstrom for centuries, only to give up in frustration. Sometimes Besmara leads an armada of petitioner-crewed ships or drags floating wreckage, loot, and crazed, undying sailors in her ship’s wake. The Seawraith is also a constellation in Golarion’s sky. Worshipers
Besmara’s followers are greedy folk. While some take to the seas in search of adventure or for the joy of exploration, most such folk gravitate to more benign gods, so Besmara’s flock consists mainly of those who lust for treasure above all else. Such followers covet the belongings of others — whether actual riches, property, titles, fame, or lovers—and think it’s fair for them to take what they want. Most are chaotic and love their personal freedoms. Her followers hate staying in place day after day, and are usually content to spend only a few days carousing in town before setting sail again. Like Besmara, her followers enjoy strife more than peace — when two nations are squabbling, Besmarans can plunder both and blame the attacks on the victims’ rivals. The Pirate Queen’s followers have many superstitions about good luck (cats, figureheads with open eyes, pouring alcohol on a deck), bad luck (whistling on deck), and evil spirits (wearing gold jewelry wards them off) in addition to other traditions and beliefs. They say those who oppose Besmara feel seasick on the water and hungover on land. There are no formalized rituals common to all churches, but services are generally upbeat, with singing, boot stomping, dancing, and the lighting of incense or matches (particularly slow-burning matches and fuses). Burials are one of the few somber occasions, marked by a short prayer and either burial at sea (with the body weighted down with a chain, cannonball, or heavy-but-inexpensive treasure) or burning a rowboat or raft bearing the corpse. Besmara has few priests, for pirates are more superstitious than religious, but she counts among her followers anyone who has made a desperate prayer to her when facing death on the sea or given tribute to gain her favor. Nearly all of Besmara’s followers are pirates or pirates by another name. The rest are, along with a few intelligent sea monsters, folks who profit from strife – such as war profiteers, dog fighters, and similar low-class individuals – officials in “pirate towns,” pirates’ spouses, and prostitutes whose clientele comprises mainly pirates. While such folk may rarely or never set foot on pirate ships, they indirectly profit from successful piracy, and pray to Besmara that their favorite buccaneers return with plenty of coins to spend. Some Besmaran hookers and rent boys consider themselves “sacred prostitutes” of the goddess, though this devotion often consists of little more than a “pirate queen” costume and roleplayed seduction (antics at which the goddess laughs). Male prostitutes among the faithful are often referred to as matelots (a term also sometimes given to the male spouse of a pirate). As is befitting a chaotic pirate goddess, the church has no official stance on marriage, offspring, or raising children. Some pirates never marry, some have many spouses, and some have children, which they may choose to acknowledge or train. Very few in the faith embrace celibacy, save those with an obvious disfiguring condition or venereal affliction. A Priest’s Role
There is essentially no hierarchy within Besmara’s church – each priest crafts his or her own title and recognizes no authority other than the goddess. Priests don’t report to anyone, though they may defer to a mentor if they lack a good reason not to do so. Rarely does a particular ship have more than one priest on board, and in those cases they are often rivals. Every few years, a charismatic priest-captain may unite other like-minded priests under his or her banner, creating an armada with the leading priest as the admiral, but this is rare. Most priests are practical folk rather than zealots, using their magic to gain advantages on the water. This is not to say that a typical priest’s belief isn’t sincere, but there is a marked difference between the crazed devotion of a Lamashtan cleric or the noble serenity of an Iomedaean paladin and the utilitarian faith of a Besmaran priest. As long as the goddess is respected and gets her fair share of tribute, she is content with little more than lip service, and her priests know this. By using her magic to gain wealth, power, and fame, they serve her interests and demonstrate her greatness. Like lay worshipers, Besmara’s priests are either pirates or folk whose business directly relies on piracy. Their personalities run the gamut from dashing privateers to rapacious murderers, and some in the middle may play both roles as the mood or pay suits them. They bless pirates and ships, heal crews, act as go-betweens for those looking for work or workers, guard pirate ships, chase off or bind sea monsters, and ever strive to profit from their activities. Most priests consider it undignified to abandon fallen allies to be eaten by a sea monster — after all, crewmates depend on each other, and a sailor cannot pay the priest for healing if he perishes — unless doing so would save other crew members from an early death. Besmara’s holy symbol in most seas is a skull and crossbones on a black or red field, though Ulfen pirates often instead use a Viking helm with crossed swords behind it. Nearly all of Besmara’s priests are clerics or rangers, with a few bards and druids, though every few decades an antipaladin champions her more destructive aspects. Temples & Shrines
Given Besmara’s small priesthood, there are few with the time and interest to build temples to her. Most of her temples are repurposed buildings or shipwrecked hulls, some of which are half-submerged. A public temple always displays a jolly roger flag, and its priest fences goods and sells healing potions, local nautical charts, and hideout tips. In places where piracy is frowned upon, these temples have a public purpose (such as selling rope or barrels), and knowledge of their true nature is shared among pirates by word of mouth. Far more common than temples are shrines to the goddess. In port towns, these shrines may be merely nooks between buildings with a pirate flag and a carving of Besmara or an old ship’s figurehead. These shrines usually have a cup or a place to hold a stick of incense or a match. When a petitioner pours rum or grog into a shrine’s cup, it trickles out of a hole in the bottom or through a channel in the figurine’s arm so it appears the goddess is drinking the offered beverage. A priest living on a ship usually owns a portable shrine that doubles as an altar, and may store it in her quarters or display it on the deck where suddenly pious pirates can mutter a prayer mid-battle. Holy Text
The Pirate Queen’s holy text is Besmara’s Code, just a few pages detailing treatment of crew, treasure, and captives. Most priests who can read make copies in their own hand; those who cannot read memorize the text’s key points and ignore what doesn’t concern them. Aphorisms
These three phrases are the core of the goddess’s code, and any person familiar with her faith should recognize them and understand what they mean. End Your Quarrels on Shore: Whatever disagreements one sailor has with another, onboard a ship is not the place to settle them, for everyone’s survival depends on the crew working together. If one member of the crew has a disagreement with another, the place to settle it is on shore – whether this is a port or just a sandy beach. Thirty Stripes Lacking One: The traditional punishment for a serious infraction on the ship is thirty lashes on the bare back. The captain or boatswain, however, may choose to reserve the last (30th) lash as an act of mercy if the target is repentant or unconscious. Still, the captain always has the option to make that last strike at any time – a threat to ensure better behavior from the target. Usually this “lash debt” is canceled once the ship makes port, and always if the target leaves the crew. Truce Ends at the Horizon: While pirates recognize the need for parley, any truce is only valid until the opposing ship is past the horizon. This gives the weaker captain a head start should he fear the other captain’s intentions. Breaking this part of the code is seen as not only unsportsmanlike, but a threat to all pirates. Holidays
The church of the Pirate Queen has no official holidays. Her old role as a master of sea monsters (many of which have seasonal hunting grounds) means that in Garundi lands her faith is remembered more at certain seasonal events. Thus, some tribes may associate her with the return of reefclaws in the summer or the ebbing of sahuagin attacks at the start of winter. Besmara has grown beyond that role, however, and doesn’t care about the old rituals as long as she is respected. Relations with Other Religions
Besmara is a thorn in the side of many lawful powers and a casual ally or enemy of just about everyone else. Like her followers, she interacts peacefully when it suits her, but may betray an ally when it is convenient or profitable. She has been known to associate with Cayden Cailean, who considers her dangerously attractive; Gorum, who respects her strength and devotion to battle’s excitement over its causes; Gozreh, who calls her sister, partner, and monster tamer; and Hanspur, with whom she sometimes sails on raids. Erastil dislikes Besmara because she eschews tradition, and because she values brashness over benevolence. Iomedae finds the Pirate Queen’s corrupt sense of honor distasteful. Abadar abhors her because she disrupts naval trade, and Asmodeus despises her because she has no sense of order, dares to interfere with his plans, and disrespects him. Because her home is in the Maelstrom, she frequently interacts with protean cabals, but has bargained and bribed them into accepting her presence. In her relationship with sea monsters, Besmara plays the clever bully who keeps other bullies in line through physical threats and force of personality. Her monsters are like vicious dogs who reluctantly obey her command to heel only because she can hurt or kill them. Aquatic races usually venerate their own gods and avoid attracting her attention, for her monsters prey under the sea as well as upon it. Besmara’s worshipers are accordingly encouraged to use her reputation to help them intimidate aquatic foes, but must take care not to overreach themselves. While she may bless a boasting follower if she likes his attitude, that follower must to some extent be able to stand against such creatures on his own for her blessing to do him any good. Planar Allies
Most of Besmara’s best-known minions are great beasts from beneath the waves. Besmaran priests all know of legendary, dead pirate captains and may call them with the right bribe, but most prefer to conjure nightmare creatures to drag enemy sailors to their deaths. The following are well-known supernatural servitors of Besmara and can be summoned using spells such as planar ally. Blackwarn This tentacled, stealthy creature resembles a bear-sized aquatic decapus encrusted with barnacles. Its preferred payments are gold, squid brains, or gnome flesh. Kelpie’s Wrath This storm-battered pirate vessel has the skull and spine of a great sea creature mounted on the prow, and eerie lights flicker on its deck and stream from its masts. The ship is the source of many horror tales of abandoned ships found in the ocean or spectral ships crewed by ghosts, but it is actually a living creature. On the rare occasions when it comes to the mortal seas at Besmara’s bidding, it appears to punish some buccaneer for a horrid blasphemy against the Pirate Queen. Left to its own devices, it sails mortal waters, the Ethereal or Astral Planes, or strange dream-realms in search of plunder, danger, and glory. When called by mortals, it demands treasure as payment for its services, preferring chests full of gems and gold. It has a lecherous, voyeuristic streak and might lower a price for anyone willing to give it a carnal show. If properly bribed, it serves with grudging loyalty until the task is done, then leaves. Old Vengeance This ancient charybdis has been under Besmara’s thumb since before she was a goddess. Old and weary, it persists out of spite and the hopes that someday it will see the Pirate Queen destroyed. It loves the taste of creatures drowned in holy or unholy water. Rusizi Alternately described as a turtle, a crocodile, or a dragon turtle with a crocodilian head, this huge creature is sometimes worshiped as a god by lizardfolk, goblins, and other primitives. Long used to eating humanoid flesh, it prefers living offerings, though its service can be bought with gold and adamantine (which it eats to harden its shell).
Titles: The Pirate Queen, The Black Lady, The Sea Banshee, Sailor's Doom
Adjective: Besmaran
Realm: On board her ship Seawraith
Alignment: Chaotic neutral
Areas of Concern: Piracy, Strife, Sea Monsters
Worshipers: Pirates
Domains: Chaos, Trickery, War, Water, Weather
Subdomains: Deception, Duels, Oceans, Protean, Tactics, Thievery, Storms
Favored Weapon: Rapier
Symbol: Skull and crossbones
Sacred Animal: Parrot
Sacred Colors: Black, white