Background advice for city

[Aleolus]

So, after some advice and a lot of consideration, I have decided to go ahead and scrap my original idea for the background of the city I am making, Kandis. Getting the whole 'war between seven kings, who eventually used the city as their meeting point to come to peace' proved to be too difficult to make things work from both sides of the situation, as well as being a bit of a stretch regarding pirate behavior. The full origins story I can worry about later, but my party is currently on route to the city, and there is a holiday coming up soon which is a celebration of the transition between 'illicit, off-the-record pirate port' and 'legitimate free trade city,' so I do need a rough idea at least of what happened in case one of my players asks about the story. Any possible suggestions or ideas? Keep in mind, one of the first lines in my description for the city is

Originally settled by pirates and ruffians, many who know of the city still think of it as a place of ill repute. And at first glance, that seems appropriate. However, those who spend time there and get to learn the ways of the city learn there is much more to it than that, as the residents of the city all share a mutual understanding of respect and liberty for all sentient beings.
You have my most profound thanks for everything :smallbiggrin:

[Batcathat]

Just because it feels like the "obvious" answer would be some heroic types kicking the pirates out, I would go for one of the pirate crews getting powerful enough to eliminate the competion and go legit (or at least become a classier kind of criminals).

[Aleolus]

I already know I want the pirates to have stuck around, the Aristos in the city actually take pride in the fact they are descended from well known pirates (mostly captains and their officers).

[Roninblack]

Went privateer maybe, started taking contracts against ships that were at war and they went official in that manner.

[Palanan]

Originally Posted by Aleolus
I already know I want the pirates to have stuck around, the Aristos in the city actually take pride in the fact they are descended from well known pirates (mostly captains and their officers).

Wealth justifies its own standing. The most successful pirates set themselves up as aristocrats, complete with finely forged genealogies, and their children and grandchildren no longer had to make their fortunes by going to sea. They inherited their fortunes, in some cases managed and increased them, and developed an aristocracy that paid homage to their forebears without overtly sullying their hands in crime themselves, but likely still maintaining connections.

And how to show off their wealth? Apart from mansions and mistresses, there’s patronage of the arts and sciences, which attracts those of a rather liberal and philosophical bent, given to spouting off about liberties, freedom, universal brotherhood and so forth.

Et voila, you have an intellectual class that sings the praises of their wealthy patrons, who have used their lucre to create a society of freedoms and ideals, never mind where that lucre originally came from. The aristocrats and shipping magnates use their wealth to support a stable of philosophers who celebrate their city with legends of equality, inventing a founding myth of an egalitarian pirate brotherhood rebelling against oppressive monarchies for the betterment of all humankind.

The Great Plaza has twenty-foot-high statues of the Seven Captains, all raising their swords together while each rests a mighty boot on the shoulders of a fallen king. Each Captain bears a sash carved with the name of a great virtue--Courage, Equality, Indomitable Spirit--while each of the nameless kings bears a symbol of authoritarian vice, such as manacles, taxation and the gallows.

[Aleolus]

Oooh, I like that one. I think that is perfect, especially the statue. The only thing left would be explaining how they obtained permission to act as actual, honest traders after having lived years as pirates, but I can figure that out later on. That also works perfectly for the holiday they'll be celebrating (currently calling it Libertalia, stolen from one of the Uncharted games), where they are celebrating the transition from pirate port to trade city.

[Palanan]

Glad you like it. I’d say the holiday celebrates the entirely fictitious date when the Seven Captains swore their oath of eternal brotherhood and pledged their swords to the cause of universal liberation and equality.

They never were pirates, just misrepresented freedom fighters. Fortunately their descendants can hire historians to set the record straight.

[BRC]

Oooh, I like that one. I think that is perfect, especially the statue. The only thing left would be explaining how they obtained permission to act as actual, honest traders after having lived years as pirates, but I can figure that out later on. That also works perfectly for the holiday they'll be celebrating (currently calling it Libertalia, stolen from one of the Uncharted games), where they are celebrating the transition from pirate port to trade city.

Historically, one of the most successful ways to deal with Pirates was to grant them Pardons.

If, after having this pirate port operate for years, the seven Captains basically reached out to the local Authorities and said "hey, we're done raiding your ships. For the low-low price of pardoning us, you can not have to deal with us raiding your ships anymore." Fighting pirates is expensive, and if you trust them to keep their word, that's a great deal. Especially if the pirates are willing to grease the right palms, or offer their fleets as privateers in some war or another.

Perhaps some "Quest" was concocted so the Pirates could be "Rewarded" with Pardons so the local rulers could save face. They teamed up against some rival Pirate who wasn't part of their coalition or whatever, and all the kings were like "YOU HAVE REMOVED ONE OF THE GREATEST MONSTERS EVER TO SAIL THE SEAS! FOR THIS WE PARDON YOU AND WELCOME YOU INTO THE BROTHERHOOD OF NATIONS!"

And you get a propaganda thing about how the guy they ganged up on was, like, an evil wizard pirate king who summoned sea monsters to attack ports and sacrificed his prisoners to Cthulu or whatever, when really the whole thing was just theater so the local kings could save face with pardoning the pirates.

[MesiDoomstalker]

It really depends if this illicit pirate port is in the lands of an established nation-state or in some wild or frontier lands where no one has a solid claim. If the latter, the matter is simple. It wasn't a conscious decision. Ports operate on trade and the movement of product in and out. Piracy moves product in; that creates a supply. Demand followed. Over years, this activity attracted 'legitimate' business, which slowly overtook the illicit business.

If it is within the lands of a sovereign nation-state, it could be a result of a treaty. The port was a well-known secret and the King of the nation at some point sent an army or armada to take care of it. But they failed and as party of the treaty of surrender gave the port its own sovereignty. This of course leaves their neighbor as a bitter enemy, but one that would be reluctant to try and repeat its mistake. And as a port city, it need not rely on its land-based neighbor for trade.

[Clementx]

Look up the Lies of Locke Lamora, and how Capa Barsavi established a semi-legitimate criminal government. Give a ruler a good reason to ignore you, and they will rather than try actual policing. See the sequel for an example how pirates should not try to establish a sovereign state. Don't gather all your ships into an armada and dare another navy to fight you.

[Aleolus]

It really depends if this illicit pirate port is in the lands of an established nation-state or in some wild or frontier lands where no one has a solid claim. If the latter, the matter is simple. It wasn't a conscious decision. Ports operate on trade and the movement of product in and out. Piracy moves product in; that creates a supply. Demand followed. Over years, this activity attracted 'legitimate' business, which slowly overtook the illicit business.

If it is within the lands of a sovereign nation-state, it could be a result of a treaty. The port was a well-known secret and the King of the nation at some point sent an army or armada to take care of it. But they failed and as party of the treaty of surrender gave the port its own sovereignty. This of course leaves their neighbor as a bitter enemy, but one that would be reluctant to try and repeat its mistake. And as a port city, it need not rely on its land-based neighbor for trade.

Technically it is the latter, but in actuality it is on an island in the middle of, to use the modern terminology, international waters.

[rel]

This of course leaves their neighbor as a bitter enemy, but one that would be reluctant to try and repeat its mistake.

And the leaders of nations understand that war is a tool and peace and trade is good for business.
Sure, the peasants that actually did the fighting might still be salty, but 10 years later, treaties are drawn up, businesses are well established and both nations are prospering from their cooperation.
As far as everyone in charge of both places is concerned, they're genuine allies.

[smetzger]

I like pirates so I would go with a Pirates gone good type thing. Similar to Freeport.
A little rough around the edges, pirates still dock there, no slavery, no holding captives for ransom while in port, no completely bloodthirsty pirates, a place where legit business rubs up against selling of stolen and smuggled goods.

There is even a free sidetrek Freeport Adventure called Holiday in the Sun that is centered around a holiday/celebration.

[Palanan]

Originally Posted by smetzger
…no completely bloodthirsty pirates….

It’s hard to sanitize pirates and still have them be pirates. Without the capricious brutality and aggressive disregard for all law and authority beyond their own decks, they’re not really pirates, just sailors who carry a little more than they admit to customs.


Originally Posted by MesiDoomstalker
Piracy moves product in; that creates a supply. Demand followed. Over years, this activity attracted 'legitimate' business, which slowly overtook the illicit business.

This seems pretty reasonable and likely. It’s also worth keeping in mind that piracy is inherently an extremely dangerous business, and honest shipping, while less exciting, also offers a better retirement plan.

The original pirates—the few who managed to escape the gallows and accumulate a little something—could have diversified into honest shipping relatively easily, and even built their own ships to avoid issues of carrying cargo in stolen vessels. If they could guarantee the safety of outside shipping, that’s a major step towards making this city a legitimate trade hub.

I would also expect a lot of street gangs in the formerly pirate city, made up of bitter ex-sailors who had been turned off their crews, as well as the sort of general riffraff and flotsam that ends up in ports like these. Those gangs would probably clash with crews of the “honest” shipping, and would likely spur the creation of some sort of civil gendarmerie to keep control of the streets.