The First Two Berths

A harbour is only a harbour once someone sails in. Tonight, Pirateport can announce its first two registered berths — the founding crews of this port, whose flags go up with the opening of the gates.

Berth No. 1 — Heart Shot Pirates

The first berth belongs to the Heart Shot Pirates, an egalitarian crew based on the Great Lakes, captained by Jace Krueger.

They sail under a motto worth setting down exactly as they keep it: "Sailing true, yesterday, today, and tomorrow too."

Egalitarian is not decoration in that description — it is the working arrangement: a crew run on articles its members stand under together, in the modern peaceful tradition this port was built to serve. Their berth is registered and their colours are hoisted in the harbour from opening night.

Berth No. 2 — Fancy Pants Pirates

The second berth belongs to the Fancy Pants Pirates, captained by Jason Montana Gates.

The Fancy Pants Pirates are an allied crew of the Heart Shot Pirates, sailing alongside them in the same Grand Fleet — an alliance that predates this port and, frankly, helped inspire it. Two crews who sail together deserve a harbour where they can berth side by side, and that is precisely the berth arrangement you will find here.

Awaiting their captains

Here is the honest state of things, because this gazette intends to report berths as they are, not as we might wish them: both founding berths stand registered and ready, and both await their captains to claim the helm in person.

That is by design, and it is how every berth at Pirateport works. A crew's page can be prepared — by the port, or by one of the crew's own members who knows the roster and wants to get the harbour ready — but the helm itself belongs to the captain. When Captain Krueger and Captain Gates come aboard and claim their berths, their rosters come fully under their own hand, and their crews' posts will fly their colours from their own accounts.

Any crew can do the same, starting tonight. If your crew is not yet in this harbour, a member can berth her: set down the crew's name and colours, lay out the roster as you know it, and invite your captain to claim the helm. If you are a captain yourself, berth your crew and take the helm directly. And if you hold no colours yet, make your free account, walk the harbour, and find the crew whose articles you would gladly sign.

The first two berths are taken. The rest of the harbour is open water.

Come and claim your berth.

— Jules Marlowe, Editor