Richard Horthy — Roleplayer Guild

Barbary Free State of Bessaruga

Type of Government: Pirate Republic

Demographics & Population: 

The population is estimated to be around 9 million - although this is likely inaccurate due to the plethora of conflicting sources and the lack of any care to have a coherent census apparatus in Bessaruga.

What is known of Bessaruga is of its high ethnic diversity. Although it is a term only recently described by sociologists, the state of social consciousness in Bessaruga and its influence from various Eastern, Western, elven, human, orcish, and faye sources into a hegemonous identity that can only be called "Bessarugian". Originally a penal colony that was largely propelled by slave labor in its many plantations, a series of slave revolts a century ago transformed the long coast into a haven for smugglers and pirates. With it came people of countless ethnicities and backgrounds who now call the Bessarugian Coast their home.

Governance & Politics: 

Bessaruga's state as a pirate republic has unleashed a very libertine culture. Gambling, prostitution, money laundering, grand theft - it's all legal and openly practiced within its confines. Virtually anything that is desired can be found in its markets and little exists in the way of codified regulations - though countless honorific codes and mannerisms exist, and violating these informal codes tend to result in shunning or heavy suspicion. Bessaruga has little in the way of formal rule of law. Most disputes tend to be settled between the parties involved with the only hope for intervention being the involvement of much larger associations. From a certain perspective, Bessaruga is always in a low-intensity civil war - and that perspective would be, strictly speaking, absolutely correct.

Truces between the varied pirate clans that constituate what passes for the Bessarugian "state" come and go on a near-daily basis. Declaring a full state of war on all of Bessarugia is a maddening affair that few want to deal with: While an individual antagonistic pirate clan might prove themselves to be a rather irate annoyance, such an existential threat would almost immediately bog the attacker down in a massive war of attrition. All of the clans - small and large - would unite against their attackers, utilizing devastating raids and unprecedented acts of espionage, and such a thing is an occurrence that few truly wish to deal with. Besides: How could one possibly annihilate such a large thorn in the side of one's regional foes? 

Culture & Society:

Bessarugian culture is, if nothing else, quite accepting so long as one is willing to show the same modicum of respect towards others as one would themselves. People of all races and all sexes of all identifications have come and gone through Bessaruga, and more still call it home. Much to the dismay of many freebooters and would-be adventurers, there does exist many stringent "unspoken laws" and codes of conduct practiced by the various clans has seeped into wider society. Most people living in Bessaruga are disinterested in playing the role of "peacekeeper" - transgressions are typically punished with summary execution. 

Crime is the economy of Bessaruga. It is the lifeblood by which the entire apparatus is propelled, and it is through the inertia of the constant thrill that of loot and pillage that drives forth the massive stream of coin to and from Bessaruga. 

Magic & Technology: 

"Technology" is such a relative term, and it doesn't describe the true progress of Bessaruga's state of being quite too well. Bessaruga has a plethora of skilled artisans who come without fear of persecution. Poets and thinkers, inventors and tinkerers litter Bessaruga to the point of ubiquity. On the other hand, organized factories are few and far between, mostly limited to light industry and production of Bessaruga's essential consumer goods, like paper, canned fish, and firearm ammunition. Proper full-scale development of heavy industry has never been attempted: Simply, there was never much need for it. What could not be readily produced was either traded for or taken by force, and any attempt at such would be a nightmarish ordeal that even the most lucrative of Corsair Lords would never wish to try. 

Free from persecution, some of the most well-known wizards, sorcerers, and circus-performers have hailed from the Bessarugian Coast. A good number of these gifted mages go towards projects that most would not consider particularly contributional to the state of the the nation - such as magic-powered distilleries, stage-play effects, and pornography - yet all the same they have thrived and called Bessaruga their home for decades now. 

Bessaruga may not be a powerhouse of technological marvel, but it produces a cultural legacy that is truly difficult to understate. In the most unlikely of its ruly taverns and rancorous bars lie true masters of arts and sound, and across the alleys of its . Even if the Bessarugian state shall cease to exist, the legacy of its licentous, free-spirited culture will produce nostalgics and immitators for centures to come. 

Military Overview:

"Shooting" and "stabbing" in Bessarugian culture are skills that rank in importance with "walking" and "breathing". Very few people are unfamiliar with fighting in one way, shape or form, and some have experience that dates for decades, even centuries - for some races. 

Organization is a wholly different matter, for pirate clans vary from extremely disciplined paramilitary-like privateers-for-hire to motley crews of hastly-assembled farmer militias. Virtually no standardization for small arms, artillery, nor ships exist, and various cannibalized or carbon-copied templates for arms and armor across the world have been reproduced and found in use in Bessarugian raids.
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