OfficialPiratesMatureEN · FR
The Black Flag
A crew on the edge of mutiny, a pirate's map cut in three, and three rival ports that each hold a piece. Keep your ship, find the hoard, choose your flag.
47 places38 characters10 lore entries16 quests
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Options · Balanced · Narrative · ≈ 6 h · At random
The story so far
Seven years ago Captain Elias Harrow, the most famous pirate of the Saltwind Reach, was hanged at Gallowmere, and his hoard has never been found. Before he died, the story goes, he cut his map in three and sent each piece to a different port: the Company's white fortress of Gallowmere, the pirate haven of Rumhollow, and the free merchant city of Saint Ysolde, three ports that hate one another.
The crew of the brigantine Kestrel have just lost their captain, drowned in the night, and elected you as their officers by five votes. Their wages are three weeks late, the water is counted in days, and the Articles nailed to the great cabin's wall say they may vote you out again if you bring no prize. In the dead captain's sea-chest there is a letter.
Sail where you like. Trade cargo between the ports or take prizes at the Widow's Teeth, haggle with fences, hire a surgeon, a pilot and a deserter, win the favour of a governor, a queen of thieves or a merchant prince, and stay one step ahead of a rival captain with a ship three times the size of yours. A long sandbox for a crew of friends.
People you might meet
Mercy Tallow
Elected quarter-master of the Kestrel, keeper of the Articles, the stores and the shares
The Kestrel's elected quartermaster: keeper of the Articles, the shares and the vote, fair to the last penny and hard as a belaying pin.
Silas Crane
Boatswain of the Kestrel, master of the rigging, the boats and the deck crew
The Kestrel's boatswain: a superb seaman, a smiling talker, and the man who lost the captaincy vote by five marks.
Obadiah 'Cookie' Pike
Ship's cook of the Kestrel, galley-keeper and fiddler
The Kestrel's one-legged cook, the oldest man aboard: gossip, fiddler, keeper of the galley fire and of everybody's secrets but his own.
Wren
Powder monkey and messenger of the Kestrel
The Kestrel's powder monkey, twelve years old: fast, fierce, always underfoot and always overhearing.
Mother Brine
Fence, tavern keeper of the Drowned Parrot and banker of Rumhollow
The uncrowned queen of Rumhollow: fence, tavern-keeper, banker and peacemaker of the haven, who never forgets a debt or a kindness.
Ned Saltash
Old helmsman of Captain Harrow, singer at the Drowned Parrot
Captain Harrow's last living helmsman: a dying old man who sings for his supper and carries part of a treasure map tattooed across his back.
Grit Mallory
Deserter from the Company marines, duellist for hire on Careening Beach
A deserter from the Company marines who fights other people's duels on Careening Beach and wants a ship that will never fly Company colours.
Captain Annick Deverell
Captain of the Hungry Wolf, pirate and rival hunter of Harrow's Hoard
Captain of the Hungry Wolf and the most feared pirate in the Reach: brilliant, charming, utterly without loyalty, and hunting Harrow's map.
Governor Constance Ashgrove
Governor of Gallowmere for the Honourable Saltmarch Company
The Company's Governor in Gallowmere: a sharp, lonely widow who rules the Reach better than her husband did and is losing it to her own Commissioner.
Commissioner Thaddeus Vole
Commissioner of Trade of the Honourable Saltmarch Company in the Reach
The Company's Commissioner of Trade in the Reach: soft-spoken, ever-helpful, immensely rich, and the most dangerous man in Gallowmere.
Dr Hesper Quayle
Disgraced ship's surgeon working at Saint Elmo's Hospital
A brilliant ship's surgeon struck off by the Company, who works for nothing in a harbour chapel and would sail with anyone who takes her out of Gallowmere.
Jedediah Pell
Licensed ship's chandler and merchant on Company Quay
The Company's licensed chandler on Company Quay: a nervous, scrupulous merchant who sells at fixed prices and knows exactly which ships are lying about their papers.
Choose a heroBalanced · Narrative · ≈ 6 h · At random