The Emerald Coast

Longitude: Undisclosed

Latitude: Southern Hemisphere

Climate: Temperate

Note: The Emerald Coast is presently a member of the Tenka Fubu Alliance and a prefecture of The New Meritocracy.

The Emerald Coast is a NationStates Port-of-Call, boasting a proud and generous harbour that plays host to numerous vessels enroute between larger stations. A wealthy mix of indigents composed of immigrants from several cultures (Viking, South Seas, African, etc.) has created a hodge-podge stewpot of active mercantile and exploratory ventures.

The Emerald Coast collects a flat-rate modest stipend from all ships claiming it as a stop on their trade routes, sparing the necessity for more extensive harbourmaster practices. It can be honestly claimed that "never was a hold opened by warrant or on account of the governor, on the fine shores of the EC". Naturally this makes it rather difficult to summarize the extent and quality of trade being delivered via The Emerald Coast, but this freedom has led to its considerable popularity as a stopover for navigators. It has also created prosperity for those residents who entertain and house shore-leave visitors from the many ships of all makes, sizes and origins that frequent these waters.

Noteworthy Landmarks

Harbour Town, a.k.a. "The Colony"

Along Main Street - unmistakable where it follows the shoreline, and the first road you'll set foot upon off any wharf - a number of establishments have sprung up to serve their varied clientele. Most prominent and famous (some claim it infamous, who were too churlish with its mistress and landed outside on their ear) is the Wa Da Du Ga Inn with its high peak, broad porch, and unbeatable pie.

Harbour Defences

The Emerald Coast may consist of a fluid, unlawful mishmash of low and highbrow occupants, but its defences are far less haphazard. A sturdy collection of shore batteries at Dolphin's Head Point overlooks the harbour entrance, and an additional artillery garrison commands a 360-degree firing range from the prominent hill on Two-Bits Island at harbour's centre. The garrisons are all manned by a circulating gang of volunteers, but not one of them lacks for depth of cannon firing experience from their years at sea - "and sightin' upon a target from a steady aim ain't nothin' by comparison," says one veteran volunteer.

Historical Lore

• 45BF - Government emerald mining operation installed in the vicinity of Harbour Town
• 3BF - 'Piratical elements' engage in battle with mining outpost; mine is dynamited
• 0AF - Harbour Town is founded by these 'piratical elements'
• 5AF - Final government recapture attempt resisted
• 10AF - Dolphin's Head Point & Two-Bits Island defences achieve their present standards
• 17AF - Harbour Town is refounded by Milk and Honeys, following the demise of its original founder
• 18AF - Milk and Honeys opens the Wa Da Du Ga Inn, Harbour Town's most famous landmark
• 20AF - Warring Minorities elected as the region's first Captain
• 25AF - Population of The Emerald Coast soars to 100+ ships

Origins

The Emerald Coast is said to have earned its monikor from the brisk trade in emeralds once shipped through the area from a natural cave discovered by government surveyors. The mines were a 100% government operation, as was their transport, but when piratical elements caught wind of the secret location they descended in a storm of gunshot and cutlasses, harassing the local militia to such an extent that the mine ceased to operate. Before retreating, government employees dynamited the mine entrance. It is believed a considerable portion of the mine, if not its entirety, collapsed as a result of this action. The mine has never been re-opened, due in large part to a lack of organization and trust among any company formed thus far to ressurect its operation.

In the course of assaulting the crown's mining operation, a small settlement sprung up within the main harbour in the same location where the town resides today. The raid had brought together so many like-minded individuals (and continued to draw more by rumour even long after the mine episode was ended), and the previously little-known harbour so ideally located, these independents could scarce resist the opportunity to create a safe haven where all would be welcomed - and none questioned.

It did not escape the memory of these founders, however, that the government was well aware of this location and its value. Several skirmishes, arson attempts and militia raids later, government elements were finely repelled for good by early defences established by the harbour's new owners, later evolving into the current defence arrangement.

Government patrol ships are now satisfied to remain outside of the core area of The Emerald Coast, doing what they can to interfere with trade moving in and out of the port. This is piteously little and amounts to a token gesture, since there are many exits from amongst the isles surrounding the main harbour and the entire region is prone to experiencing fog banks that obscure naval activity.

"Government" Structure

Following several early disputes resolved only by strength of cutlass and pistol, a congregation of citizens of The Emerald Coast eventually formed an Assembly to create a judicial structure. This pseudo-government's sole purpose is to maintain at least some semblance of coordinated order in the colony, modelled on the universally honoured tradition by which the harbour is defended.

The regional 'Captain' (usually a ship's captain, but the title may be awarded to anyone upon whom the Assembly agrees) bears ultimate responsible for overseeing the colony's activities and conduct. To share the task he may appoint a First Mate and various Lieutenants to assist him/her. Appointment of these assistants does require the concurrence of the Assembly, although this is largely a formality since the Captain's opinion is generally trusted (normally). This arrangement usually works to the satisfaction of all. If it does not, a majority vote by the assembly can wipe the slate clean and new nominations will be sought.

Essential Pirate Glossary of Terms

Addled -- Mad, insane, or just stupid. An "addlepate" is a fool.

Ahoy -- "Hello!" A hail or call for attention.

Arr! - An exclamation.

Avast! -- "Hey!" Could be used as "Stop that!" or "Who goes there?"

aye -- Yes; an affirmation. I understand and will comply.

Begad! -- By God!

Belay -- Stop that. "Belay that talk!" would mean "Shut up!"

belay - (1) To secure or make fast (a rope, for example) by winding on a cleat or pin. (2) To stop, most often used as a command.

Bilge! -- Nonsense, or foolish talk.

bilged on her anchor - A ship holed or pierced by its own anchor.

Bilge-sucking -- A very uncomplimentary adjective.

bilge rat - (1) A rat living in the bilge of a ship. It is considered the lowliest creature by pirates, but many pirates take to eating the animals to survive. (2) An insulting name given by a pirate.

black jack - A leather tankard.

Black Spot -- To "place the Black Spot" on another pirate is to sentence him to death, to warn him he is marked for death, or sometimes just to accuse him of a serious crime before other pirates.

black spot - A black smudge on a piece of paper used by pirates as a threat. A black spot is often accompanied by a written message specifying the threat. Most often a black spot represents a death threat.

Blimey! -- An exclamation of surprise.

blow the man down - To kill someone.

boatswain (also bosn or bosun) - A warrant officer or petty officer on a merchant ship who is in charge of the ships rigging, anchors, cables, and deck crew.

Booty -- Loot.

bounty - Reward or payment, usually from a government, for the capture of a criminal, specifically a pirate.

bring a spring upon her cable - To come around in a different direction.

broadside - a general term for the vantage on another ship of absolute perpendicular to the direction it is going. To get along broadside a ship was to take it at a very vulnerable angle. This is of course, the largest dimension of a ship and is easiest to attack with larger arms. A "Broadside" has come to indicate a hit with a cannon or similar attack right in the main part of the ship.

Buccaneer -- A general term for the Caribbean pirates.

Bucko -- Familiar term. "Me bucko" = "my friend."

Cap'n -- Short for "captain."

Cat o'nine tails, or just "cat" -- a whip with many lashes, used for flogging. "A taste of the cat" might refer to a full flogging, or just a single blow to "smarten up" a recalcitrant hand.

Chantey -- A sailor's work song. Also spelled "shantey" or "shanty."

Chase -- The ship being pursued. "The chase is making full sail, sir" = "The ship we're after is going as fast as she can."

Corsair -- A more romantic term for pirate. But still a pirate.

Cutlass -- A curved sword, like a saber but heavier. Traditional pirate weapon. Has only one cutting edge; may or may not have a useful point.

Davy Jones' locker -- The bottom of the sea. Hell, or the afterlife.

Deadlights -- Eyes. "Use yer deadlights, matey!"

Dead men tell no tales -- Standard pirate excuse for leaving no survivors.

Dog -- A mild insult, perhaps even a friendly one.

Doubloon -- A Spanish gold coin. At different times, it was worth either 4 or 16 silver pesos, or "pieces of eight."

Fair winds! -- Goodbye, good luck!. Fair winds and following seas or Godspeed

Feed the fish -- What you do when you are thrown into the sea, dead or alive.

Fore, or forrard -- Toward the front end of the ship.

Flogging -- Punishment by caning, or by whipping with the cat.

Gangway! -- "Get out of my way!"

Godspeed! -- Goodbye, good luck!

Grog -- Generically, any alcoholic drink. Specifically, rum diluted with water to make it go farther.

Grub -- Food.

Hands -- The crew of a ship; sailors.

Head -- The toilet facilities aboard a modern ship. This will do for modern piratical talk. The toilet facilities aboard an ACTUAL pirate ship do not bear thinking about.

Jack Tar, or tar -- A sailor.

Jolly Roger -- The pirates' skull-and-crossbones flag. It was an invitation to surrender, with the implication that those who surrendered would be treated well. A red flag indicated "no quarter."

Keelhaul -- Punishment by dragging under the ship, from one side to the other. The victim of a keelhauling would be half-drowned, or worse, and lacerated by the barnacles that grew beneath the ship.

Kiss the gunner's daughter -- A punishment: to be bent over one of the ship's guns and flogged.

Lad, lass, lassie -- A way to address someone younger than you.

Landlubber or just lubber -- A non-sailor.

Maroon -- A fairly common punishment for violation of a pirate ship's articles, or offending her crew. The victim was left on a deserted coast (or, of course, an island) with little in the way of supplies. That way, no one could say that the unlucky pirate had actually been killed by his former brethren.

Letters of Marque -- Papers issued by a national government during wartime, entitling a privately owned ship to raid enemy commerce, or even attack enemy warships. Early letters of reprisal were issued to merchants to make it legal for them to counter-raid pirates! A ship bearing such letters, and operating within their limits, is a privateer rather than a pirate . . . that is, a legal combatant rather than a criminal and murderer. The problem is that letters of marque aren't always honored, even by the government that issued them. Captain Kidd had letters of marque; his own country hanged him anyway.

Me -- A piratical way to say "my."

Me hearties -- Typical way for a pirate leader to address his crew.

Matey -- A piratical way to address someone in a cheerful, if not necessarily friendly, fashion.

No quarter! -- Surrender will not be accepted.

On the Account -- The piratical life. A man who went "on the account" was turning pirate.

Piece of eight -- A Spanish silver coin worth one peso or 8 reales. It was sometimes literally cut into eight pieces, each worth one real.

Pillage -- To raid, rob, and sack a target ashore.

Pirate -- A seagoing robber and murderer. Contrast with privateer.

Poxy, poxed -- Diseased. Used as an insult.

Privateer -- A ship bearing letters of marque (q.v.), or one of her crew, or her captain. Thus, she can only attack an enemy ship, and only in time of war, but does so as a representative of her country. A privateer is theoretically a law-abiding combatant, and entitled to be treated as an honorable prisoner if captured.

Reef -- (1) An underwater obstruction of rock or coral which can tear the bottom out of a ship. (2) To reef sails is to shorten them, tying them partially up, either to slow the ship or to keep a strong wind from putting too much strain on the masts.

Rope's end -- another term for flogging. "Ye'll meet the rope's end for that, me bucko!"

Rum (adjective) -- Strange or odd. A "rum fellow" is a peculiar person, the sort who won't say "Arrrr!" on Talk Like A Pirate Day.

Sail ho! -- "I see a ship!" The sail, of course, is the first part of a ship visible over the horizon.

Salt, old salt -- An experienced seaman.

Scurvy -- (1) A deficiency disease which often afflicted sailors; it was caused by lack of vitamin C. (2) A derogatory adjective suitable for use in a loud voice, as in "Ye scurvy dogs!" Limey is another word that should be included here. Vitamin C from Limes = Limeys

Sea dog -- An experienced seaman.

Shark bait -- (1) Your foes, who are about to feed the fish (q.v.). (2) A worthless or lazy sailor; a lubber who is no use aboard ship.

Shipshape -- Well-organized, under control, finished.

Shiver me timbers! -- An expression of surprise or strong emotion.

Sink me! -- An expression of surprise.

Smartly -- Quickly. "Smartly there, men!" = "Hurry up!"

Splice the mainbrace -- To have a drink. Or, perhaps, several drinks.

Spyglass -- A telescope.

Sutler -- A merchant in port, selling the various things that a ship needed for supplies and repairs.

Swab (noun) -- A disrespectful term for a seaman. "Man that gun, ye cowardly swabs!"

Swab (verb) -- To clean something. Being put to "swabbing the decks" would be a low-level punishment for a disobedient pirate.

Swag -- Loot.

Walk the plank -- A piratical execution. The victim, usually blindfolded or with bound hands or both, is forced to walk along a plank laid over the ship's side, to fall into the water below. Except this seems to be a total invention; it first appeared in 19th-century fiction, long after the great days of piracy.

Weigh anchor -- To haul the anchor up; more generally, to leave port.

Wench -- An individual of the female persuasion. "Saucy" is a good adjective to add to this, and if ye can get away with "Me proud beauty!," more power to ye.

Yo-ho-ho -- A very piratical thing to say, whether it actually means anything or not.

Example: "Git yer hands off me treasure, arrr, afore I string ya up by the starboard yardarm ya scallywag!" translates as "Cease touching at once my valued treasure, oh my goodness, in advance of my 'stringing up' [turn and run] you whom I am addressing, adjacent to the right side [as opposed to left] crossbeam attached to the tall pole to which the sails are also attached, you insufferable insult."

Essential Pirate Glossary of Ship Anatomy

Aft -- Short for "after." Toward the rear of the ship.

ballast - Heavy material that is placed in the hold of a ship to enhance stability.

barkadeer - A small pier or jetty vessel.

barque (also bark) - A sailing ship with from three to five masts, all of them square-rigged except the after mast, which is fore-and-aft rigged; a small vessel that is propelled by oars or sails.

Belaying pin -- A short wooden rod to which a ship's rigging is secured. A common improvised weapon aboard a sailing ship, because they're everywhere, they're easily picked up, and they are the right size and weight to be used as clubs.

Bilge! -- The bilges of a ship are the lowest parts, inside the hull along the keel. They fill with stinking bilgewater -- or just "bilge."

bilge water - Water inside the bilge sometimes referred to as bilge itself.

boom - A long spar extending from a mast to hold or extend the foot of a sail.

Bowsprit -- The slanted spar at a ship's prow.

brigantine (also brig) - A two-masted sailing ship, square-rigged on both masts.

cable - A heavy rope or chain for mooring or anchoring a ship.

capstan - An apparatus used for hoisting weights, consisting of a vertical spool-shaped cylinder that is rotated manually or by machine and around which a cable is wound.

careen - To take ia ship into shallower waters or out of the water altogether and remove barnacles and pests such as mollusks, shells and plant growth from the bottom. Often a pirate needs to careen his ship to restore it to proper speed. Careening can be dangerous to pirates as it leaves the ship inoperable while the work is being done.

case shot - A collection of small projectiles put in cases to fire from a cannon; a canister-shot.

Chain Shot - Two cannonballs chained together and aimed high in order to destroy masts and rigging.

chase guns - cannon situated at the bow of a ship, used during pursuit.

Crow's nest -- A small platform, sometimes enclosed, near the top of a mast, where a lookout could have a better view when watching for sails or for land.

deadlights - (1) Strong shutters or plates fastened over a ship's porthole or cabin window in stormy weather. (2) Thick windows set in a ship's side or deck.

draft - The depth of a vessel's keel below the water line, especially when loaded; the minimum water depth necessary to float a ship.

driver - A large sail suspended from the mizzen gaff; a jib-headed spanker.

fluke - The broad part of an anchor.

Fo'c's'le (or Forecastle) - (1) The section of the upper deck of a ship located at the bow forward of the foremast. (2) A superstructure at the bow of a merchant ship where the crew is housed.

fore (also forrard) - At, to, or toward the front end of the ship.

gaff - A spar attached to the mast and used to extend the upper edge of a fore-and-aft sail.

gangplank - A board or ramp used as a removable footway between a ship and a pier.

gangway - (1) A passage along either side of a ships upper deck. (2) A gangplank.

gunwalls - The sides of the top deck which act as a railing around the deck, and have openings where heavy arms or guns are positioned.

jury mast - a temporary or makeshift mast erected on a sea vessel after the mainmast has been destroyed. Often, in combat, the mast was the most damaged (providing the ship didn't sink). Without the mast, a ship was powerless, so a term grew out of the need to make masts to power damaged ships.

keel - The underside of a ship which becomes covered in barnacles after sailing the seas.

killick - A small anchor, especially one made of a stone in a wooden frame.

lanyard (or laniard) - A short rope or gasket used for fastening something or securing rigging.

lateen sail - A triangular sail set on a long sloping yard.

lee - The side away from the direction from which the wind blows.

Line -- A rope in use as part of the ship's rigging, or as a towing line. When a rope is just coiled up on deck, not yet being used for anything, it's all right to call it a rope.

lugsail - A quadrilateral sail that lacks a boom, has the foot larger than the head, and is bent to a yard hanging obliquely on the mast.

main sheet - The rope that controls the angle at which a mainsail is trimmed and set.

mizzen - A fore-and-aft sail set on the mizzenmast.

mizzenmast - The largest and, perhaps, most important mast located in the mizzen; the third mast or the mast aft of a mainmast on a ship having three or more masts.

nipper - A short length of rope used to bind an anchor cable.

parrel (also parral) - A sliding loop of rope or chain by which a running yard or gaff is connected to, while still being able to move vertically along, the mast.

Poop deck -- The highest deck at the aft end of a large ship. Smaller ships don't have a poop; the highest part aft is the quarterdeck.

Port -- The left side of the ship when you are facing toward her prow.

Prow -- The "nose" of the ship.

quarterdeck - The after part of the upper deck of a ship.

rigging - The system of ropes, chains, and tackle used to support and control the masts, sails, and yards of a sailing vessel.

Scuppers -- Openings along the edges of a ship's deck that allow water on deck to drain back to the sea rather than collecting in the bilges. "Scupper that!" is an expression of anger or derision: "Throw that overboard!"

sheet - A line running from the bottom aft corner of a sail by which it can be adjusted to the wind.

shrouds - One of a set of ropes or wire cables stretched from the masthead to the sides of a vessel to support the mast.

skysail - A small square sail above the royal in a square-rigged vessel.

spanker (see also driver)- The after sail of a ship or bark, being a fore-and-aft sail attached to a boom and gaff.

Starboard -- The right side of the ship when you are facing toward her prow.

tack - (1) The lower forward corner of a fore-and-aft sail. (2) The position of a vessel relative to the trim of its sails or the act of changing from one position or direction to another.

tackle - A system of ropes and blocks for raising and lowering weights of rigging and pulleys for applying tension.

topgallant - Of, relating to, or being the mast above the topmast, its sails, or its rigging.

topmast - The mast below the topgallant mast in a square-rigged ship and highest in a fore-and-aft-rigged ship.

topsail - A square sail set above the lowest sail on the mast of a square-rigged ship or a triangular or square sail set above the gaff of a lower sail on a fore-and-aft-rigged ship.

transom - Any of several transverse beams affixed to the sternpost of a wooden ship and forming part of the stern.

trysail - A small fore-and-aft sail hoisted abaft the foremast and mainmast in a storm to keep a ship's bow to the wind.

yard - A long tapering spar slung to a mast to support and spread the head of a square sail, lugsail, or lateen.