Pirates

Piracy in Endros is almost entirely controlled by Warlocks serving the Caballum. Centered in Bane and supported by hidden Warlock-aligned Merfolk communities, the Pirates raid merchant shipping to acquire wealth, supplies, captives, and especially intact Aethertech. Avarice directs the operation through trusted Warlock leaders, while the Syndicate supplies commercial contacts, shipping intelligence, provisions, and buyers for stolen goods.

Operations and Targets

Pirate vessels conceal their allegiance and intentions until they strike, often passing as ordinary merchant ships. Captains select opportunities where the expected prize justifies the risk and where their crews can escape before naval forces arrive. Caballum intelligence and compromised commercial contacts help identify valuable shipments, their defenses, and their routes.

Intact Aethertech is a major priority. Captured devices pass through the Syndicate to Calibra's supply networks, where they can be studied and corrupted into Miasmatech. Food, tools, materials, and other goods sustain Bane under siege or fund the Caballum through concealed resale. Entire ships are seized only when the Pirates have a practical way to recover them; otherwise, they take what cargo they can carry and withdraw.

The Pirates serve the Devils' objectives under Caballum direction. Captains decide how to conduct individual attacks, but depend on the network's intelligence, supplies, safe harbors, and markets to maintain their operations.

Warlock Merfolk

Warlock Merfolk are essential to piracy on this scale. Without an aquatic force to contest the waters beneath a vessel, loyal Merfolk defenders could readily destroy pirate ships or prevent them from reaching their targets. Pirate Merfolk scout shipping, engage or draw away aquatic escorts, interfere with propulsion and steering, and support boarding, cargo recovery, and escape. Raids therefore unfold both above and below the water, sometimes beginning beneath a merchant ship before its crew sees a hostile vessel.

Tidewalkers connect surface crews, merchants, and aquatic communities, while other Merfolk contribute underwater combat, reconnaissance, sorcery, and transport. Ships can close and secure their Aquagates against intrusion, and experienced sailors take those precautions when threatened. Pirates must overcome both surface defenses and the aquatic protection accompanying valuable shipments.

The Caballum continues recruiting Merfolk through infiltration, threats against families and pods, coerced bargains, and offers of wealth, power, or protection. Securing and maintaining this force is an important, ongoing part of Avarice's effort to expand his influence among the Merfolk.

Surrender and Captives

Pirates generally allow crews to live if they surrender without fighting, reducing their own casualties and preserving the prize. If a captain orders an attack against them, the Pirates kill everyone aboard. They will, however, accept a crew's mutiny and killing of its captain as a means of averting that retaliation.

Surrender still carries serious risks. On some raids, selected passengers or crew are taken hostage and brought to Bane, where threats against their lives or loved ones can be used to coerce Warlock conversion and binding service. The possibility of capture gives sailors a reason to resist even when the Pirates offer to spare them.

Bane and the Navy

The waters surrounding Bane are among the most dangerous for merchant shipping. Nearby pirate bases, Warlock Merfolk support, and access to Bane's harbor make attacks especially likely, forcing naval forces to concentrate patrols and protection in the region. Pirates also prepare raids in unexpected areas, using concealed contacts and hidden aquatic refuges to exploit opportunities beyond that concentration of defenses.

The Navy remains the dominant power at sea. Pirates rely on secrecy, selective attacks, and viable escape routes; sustained engagements with major naval forces invite devastating losses. Patrols destroy pirate crews, intercept stolen cargo, disrupt supply routes, and expose hidden communities, forcing Avarice to continually replace assets and rebuild arrangements.

Piracy remains extremely valuable to the Caballum, but maintaining it is costly and demanding. Avarice would welcome greater control of the seas, yet the Pirates' present strength lies in sustaining a dispersed threat through covert raids while the Navy retains overall control.

Origins

Before the Fall of Fairwater, Avarice's merchant collaborators helped establish the maritime contacts that would support Bane. During the city's capture in 2303 FC, Tidewalkers were coerced into protecting its harbor, and Warlock merchants helped sustain shipping and supplies. As the siege continued, that harbor force developed into organized piracy, supported by further Caballum infiltration and coercion of Merfolk communities.