Corsairs, who are they?

[Dab]

Poll added, using the four choices from the original post.

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[HeeyFreelancer]

A House, like Liberty/Rheinland/Bretonia/Kusari/Gallia?
This one I choose, why?

Cause the corsairs are the largest group of that survived from the Hispanja. (Hispanja was a sleaper ship so they belong to a house) and (But the thing why they aren't a house = that the Hispanja was taken out by several coalition bombers so they couldn't make it far)

I like the corsairs... Outcast are dumb because they are the second group of survivers (they are the real crimenels.

[ProwlerPC]

I strongly believe that both Hispanics and yes even GMG are all at a stage of development that exceeds the individual NPCs factions that as a whole make up a house. Almost to the point that the ID can be split up into multiple IDs similar to houses with their form of unlawfuls to represent those that broke from local society the way the house unlawfuls broke from their respective local societies. They can't achieve house status, however, each are missing traits to attain that lofty level of development. Both Hispanics had unfortunate landings and the lack of their own resources lead to a necessity to become criminals in the eyes of the accepted model of advanced human civilization. GMG has the resources to do so as well as being organized and consolidated in their own space but they just don't have the territory nor a planet capable of supporting a larger needed population (Miura is a PoW camp at the moment not a settlement). Quasi type houses. There's a two other very large Guilds who are exceptionally large but IMG by lore is fractal, unorganized and spread out in independant holdings. BHG is very organized, particularly in Core ranks but have almost no territory to speak of as their business is working within the territories of others.

Just my opinion, nice thread.

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[Ceoran]

Underdeveloped - Lots of military but a lower standard of living than in the lawful houses. That of course goes for the average 'civilian' down on the planet noone would ever rp as.

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My Stories Outcast laws and structures Join Samura|-

Go play the game, within the given limitations. That is how role play games are played. Not by trying to work around those limitations or whining about them.

[Dark_Predator]

I think corsairs are pirates.

[blubba]

One mans pirate is another mans freedom fighter.....

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[Friday]

If the Corsairs were able to be self-sufficient in food, and decided to 'go straight' - then they could declare themselves House Hispania and probably be recognised by at least two other Houses (Kusari and Liberty).

But until those two conditions are met that is unlikely.

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[Unseelie]

What bothers me about the suggestion that the Corsairs are a quasi-house is that they have more marketable goods than simple artifacts, and have had them for some time. They're sitting, in vanilla lore and much more-so in discovery, on vast reserves of mineral resources, in both Corsair dominated Omicron, and in lower Omega, the money bucket of Rhienland, the IMG, the Hessians, etc. On top of that, they're supposedly among, if not the, best ship-builders in Sirius.

Even with the sort of control of such vast tracts of mineral wealth, more, I might suggest, than even Rhienland has access to: Gamma, Omicron 91, 93, 94, and 96, (Omicron Kappa, if you're counting that) Delta, Omega 41, Omega 5, omega 47, the Corsairs are for some reason stuck with only exporting artifacts, which are contraband only because their producers are notorious pirates.

Why they're pirates is because they've always been pirates, a circular explanation at best. They are, if one examines it, locked in conflict with the mostevilgroup™, the outcasts, as well as Rhienland's biggest rebellion, the Hessians. Why there isn't ripe ground for alliance, or at least treaty, with the great houses, why there hasn't been for the last two hundred years seems to be a sort of stymied cultural expansionism..

What's Crete like? How many corsairs are there, really? Are they starving, or simply greedy?
The Corsairs, as I see it, are a people victimized most by poor back-story, a boogieman for the Omega traveler, without any clear reason for enmity. There are severe problems with corsair motivation, history, and alignment, and their place in the market.

I imagine a more deeply examined corsair history would lead to them being partners with both Liberty and Rhienland, large exporters of ships (not that a market for spacecraft easily evidences itself in Disco lore) and minerals, and a major client of Synthfoods.

I believe this because I believe trade is the most effective way for intelligent beings to further themselves, that predation and piracy aren't sustainable behaviors, or behaviors likely to allow the greatest population growth, and I believe two hundred years are a long enough time-frame that pirate nations would fall well behind the curve, and quickly become irrelevant. By the same reasoning that I don't fear Gods or AI, I don't believe the corsair nation, if it can be called a nation, a culture, or an empire, could remain relevant in Sirius as a pirate nation for any amount of time which could be called 'history'.

Something has to give, the traders move away from the routes, if the Corsairs are draining enough to sustain themselves, and travel through Liberty instead, or the houses dispatch fleets. If they're hardly the nuisance, they cannot maintain the same level of sophistication as the markets of Sirius provide through their wealth, and if they're draining enough from the markets, the houses are going to react, violently, terminally, far before we reach the nomad war..and any atrocity is forgivable, up to and beyond nuclear bombardment of cities. History has shown that...why has the simple history of piracy locked the Corsair nation out of the markets of Sirius?

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[Carlos_Benitez]

The Corsairs cannot be easily defined. The size of their Empire, and diversity of their activities make it very difficult to say clearly what a Corsair is.

Bloodthirsty pirates of Cadiz (eg. Gentle) have a tough way of life, bred in battle and often out for their own profits.
Battlescarred pilots of Etna live in a constant battle against a powerful enemy, and are disciplined and single-minded in their devotion to the empire.
Young pilots of Crete (eg. most new Benitez) are often idealists, seeking to benefit the people by bringing home wealth or food to some of the poorest settlements, but often pressed into being pawns of greater conflicts, or enter the service of self-serving warlords.
The rich political class of Crete (high ranking Benitez and, I think, Brotherhood) like to think they care greatly about the poorer people of Crete but are more interested in managing conflicts, expansionism and maintaining the way of life in which they are accustomed.
The merchant class of smugglers and logistics pilots within the empire are less self-serving than many pirates, but more closely resemble tiny House corporations, aiming to maximise profit whilst also helping in their own way to keep the war-machine moving.

Given the many roles within the faction, I'd say it is more effective to view them from the perspective of a small underdeveloped house; the smuggler class are equivalent to trade corporations, the political class are equivalent to police. The warrior class are equivalent to a Navy, and the Pirate class would be equivalent to Pirate groups within houses, except for the fact the Corsair govt. encourages them rather than criminalises them.

Claims that the Corsair Government is unstable and lacks any real power used to by accurate. However, the reorganisation of the Corsair Government and creation of a Supreme Court has lead to increased stability and co-ordination.
Politically, the Empire has now been stable for years. If dissent is to occur, it would originate (if we exclude lolcaps) from the Pirate-class, and could lead to their criminalisation, paving the way for the transition of the Corsair Empire to a "lawful" house.
However, the odds against such a house surviving, when surrounded by so many enemies who's space effectively isolates them from other trade-hubs in Sirius, are extremely slim.
Much like during the early years of the British Royal Navy, when Britain stood alone against Spain, Holland and France, the Corsairs ability to survive so far has depended upon revenue and resources generated by piracy.
Ultimately, the Corsairs know that they cannot reform their society and lose the revenue of piracy until their enemies are either defeated or back down; something which is only likely to happen if Corsairs abandon piracy. This, in effect, is a vicious circle likely to lock the Corsair Empire in it's current state until it either succeeds or is ultimately defeated.

(And, this is if we ignore the Corsairs established Hispanic-supremacist dogma established by hundreds of years of hardship, which have seen Corsairs believing they have a right to other people's property, and a right to take the space and planets of other races.)

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[aerelm]

Nation of Crete are much more like a House than anything else,

Take Liberty as example,

Major Factions in Liberty:

• Liberty Police Incorporated: Security
  
• Liberty Navy: Military
  
• Ageira Technologies: Scientists, Engineers, Developers
  
• Universal Shippings: Trade & Exports
  
• Liberty Rogues: Pirates
  
• Xenos: Terrorist
  

Now take a look at Corsairs;

Major Factions in Corsairs Nation:

• The Brotherhood: Security
  
• Hispania Armed Forces (HAF): Military
  
• Benitez Familia: Diplomats
  
• OPG and After that Black Sails: Pirates & Terrorists
  
• Celestial Shipping: Trade & Exports - Not so active anymore
  

You see ? Corsairs are as developed as any other house, But with One Important difference, in order to survive and improve, The Nation had to stand together as One, not as separated forces fighting each other from inside. For this reason, You can't actually tell which corsair faction does what, OPG used to Pirate in neighboring systems, but whenever there was any danger in Gamma, they were there to protect Crete, Benitez Familia are known as Diplomats, but whenever they are in need of resources or credits, they either take their Correo Freighters and trade, or go to Omegas or Bretonia to push some traders off the lane.
Its true that corsairs are known to be 'Pirates' in general, but that doesn't mean they are an underdeveloped house, their ZoI contains much more systems than any 'Legal' house in Sirius, and also, they are not Unlawful, They are their own Law! A Corsair is a Lawful Force in Corsair Space, but they are known as Unlawful because their law differs from any other house.

P.S: Unselie stated everything about Corsairs in best way possible:)