“Carve your name on the ever-changing sea. With a saber of terror and triumph. Fight for plunder, fame, and glory. And earn you place among the legends of the sea”
- Besmara’s Code
Besmara – The pirate queen and Goddess. She has also been referred to as:
- The Black Lady
- The Sea Banshee
- The Sailor’s Doom
Most commonly worshiped by the sailor-folk. They would pay respect to her in hopes of making it home in one piece. She was the Goddess of piracy, sea monsters and strife. She loved chaos, trickery, war and water. She was notorious for her deception, tactics, and thievery. She was the captain of the legendry ship called “Sea Wrath”. Her crew was chosen wisely for their bravery and cunning skills. She taught her followers to sow chaos, and harvest gold from the bellies of the capture ships. Her weapon of choice was the rapier, which is a type of sword.
She was brash, lusty, confrontational and greedy. However, she followed a code of honor and was loyal to her crew and allies as long as it served her interest. She wanted her crew to NOT betray each other and for everyone to be treated fairly.
She cared little for senseless murders and unprofitable acts. She did not care about good and evil, only the pursuit of battle and reward. It has been said that she even raided Hell itself. She had the heart and mind of a buccaneer and allowed her prey a head start because she loved a challenge.
In mythology it is said she was thought to be a powerful water spirit that could manipulate sea monsters. She gained fame among primitive tribes for her willingness to drive creatures towards rival costal villages. She loves conflict between two nations because it is more opportunity to plunder both sides.
In religion some of her most faithful worshipers called upon her only in times of great need. Sometimes she intervened on the behavior of their faithfulness. Other times she would turn away as the sunk beneath the waves of the sea. Her congregation was scattered and disorganized. Some pirates had small shrines abord the ships. Others had cats to help ward off evil spirits. Some would pour of alcohol and rum on the deck of the ship to aide in good luck. She loved the occasional sacrifice of valuable goods dumped into the sea.
Her code was simple and she was loyal to her crew and did not allow fighting amongst her crew. Some examples were “End quarrels on shore & Thirty stripes lacking one”
End quarrels on shore: Disagreements that sailors had with one another onboard ships was NOT allowed. Everyone’s survival depended on the crew working together. If there was a disagreement that came up it had to be settled on shore, port or just a sandy beach somewhere.
Thirty stripes lacking one: Punishment was not taking lightly and for serious infractions on the ship 30 lashes on the bare back. She may choose to reserve the last one (the 30th) lash as an act of mercy if the repent or were unconscious. However, she still can reserve that last lash as an option to make at any time a threat came up to ensure better behavior. Usually the last lash means that crew member was banned and had to leave the ranks.