There Be Pirates
The Pirate Reality in Cap-Lamò
The Brotherhood of the Coast remembers Jaragua fondly. During the revolt, Admiral Casiguaya passed intelligence to certain captains in exchange for weapons and disruption of Company supply lines. Brotherhood ships intercepted Company convoys, misdirected patrols, and occasionally “misplaced” munitions in Mawon hands.
The Brotherhood did not do this out of charity. They did it because weakening the Atabean Trading Company weakened their greatest rival. Now the war is over, but the relationship remains in that uncomfortable space between gratitude and caution.
Cap-Lamò is not a pirate republic. But it is the one of the few places in the Atabean Sea where pirates can dock without being immediately hunted.
The Politics of Pirates
Pirate ships are not officially welcomed. They are also not officially refused. If a known Brotherhood captain enters the harbor and behaves; no open violence, no slave trading, no Company collaboration; the harbor pilots will guide them in. They pay docking fees like anyone else. They are expected to keep their crews disciplined.
The ward delegates know that if they push too hard, the Brotherhood could turn from quiet ally to opportunistic predator. So Cap-Lamò walks a careful line. No slave ships are permitted under any flag. No open Company colors. No raiding Jaraguan merchant traffic. Which allows for quiet trade to be tolerated.
It is not written law. It is understanding. It is Cap-Lamò remembering those that assisted their freedom. No matter what their motives were.
Who Calls Cap-Lamò Their “Harbor in the Storm”?
The Idealists
Captains who genuinely supported the revolt. They see Jaragua as proof that empires can fall. For them, Cap-Lamò is sanctuary not just from weather, but from corruption. They bring news, contraband pamphlets from Théah, and rumors of Company movements. These captains dock flying the colors of Jaragua proudly.
The Opportunists
Jaragua is young. Its tariffs are fluid. Its defenses are still stabilizing. For clever pirates, that means opportunity. They call it “their harbor” because it is politically sheltered. Théah pretends it does not exist. The Company cannot openly assault it without exposing itself. To them, Cap-Lamò is neutral ground. A place to sell stolen indigo one week and buy clean food cargo the next. They behave because it benefits them.
The Exiles
There are captains who cannot dock elsewhere. Former Company privateers who defected. Mixed-heritage officers who burned their commissions. Sailors who refused to transport slaves. For them, Cap-Lamò is not just convenient. It is personal. Jaragua’s revolution gave them a narrative they could live with.
The Tension
Some ward delegates see pirates as necessary allies, others see them as a temptation. Merchants fear raids. Veterans remember who sailed beside them. And somewhere in the merchant quarter, Étienne Vallière keeps careful track of which pirate captains dock most often, because if the Company cannot invade Cap-Lamò openly, it can always encourage someone else to test its defenses.