Piracy

"Many people these days consider many pirates to have been rather progressive socialists with community-minded consciences, which I rather feel takes away from their mystique."

- Shaun Hastings.

Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence, typically at sea, and can also range to naval warfare and coastal raids. Acts of piracy can be committed on land, in the air, or in other bodies of water including shores.

An individual who participates in piracy is known as a pirate, though they should not be confused with privateers; state-sponsored sailors allowed to steal from the ships of enemy countries.

In the early 18th century, a large number of pirates, privateers and other sailors congregated in the recently captured settlement of Nassau and together formed the Brethren of the Coast, in order to better represent and coordinate their interests.

History
Pirates sailed the Mediterranean Sea during the Middle Ages, including a group of Cypriot pirates who allied with the Templars controlling Cyprus. During Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad's trip to Cyprus in 1191, a pirate named Pasha sailed him to Kyrenia. However, the majority of the pirates there attempted to capture him for the Templars. When Altaïr returned to Limassol, he assassinated their captain.

Around 1321, the Templars in Italy hired pirates to steal Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad's Codex from Domenico Auditore, murdering his wife in the process.

In 1511, Al-Scarab was an honorable pirate who sought revenge on Ezio Auditore da Firenze for humiliating him, but after they worked together to fight off some watchmen, he returned the favor by sailing him to Acre. Soon after, the Ottoman Assassins allied with the Hayreddin Barbarossa to undermine Spanish control of Algiers. Also active at the time were the Templar pirate, Eveline Guerra, and Blaise Legros, whose only loyalty was to money, transporting Templars and Assassins wherever they desired so long as they could pay him.

The Golden Age of Piracy was considered to have taken place from the late 17th century to the early 18th century in the Caribbean Sea. During this time, William Kidd was a Scottish privateer active in the area. He was captured and executed on charges of piracy in 1701, but in truth, the accusations were made by Templars hoping he would reveal the location of the Shard of Eden he had found.

Edward Kenway was a British privateer-turned-pirate active in the Caribbean, who joined the Assassins later into his life. In the pirate republic of Nassau, Edward interacted with many pirates such as Stede Bonnet, Mary Read, Edward Thatch, Benjamin Hornigold, Charles Vane, Jack Rackham and Anne Bonny, with many of them eventually banding together to form a coalition they referred to as "the Bretheren of the Coast". However their capital, Nassau, fell to the British in 1718. Most of the captains who had formed the group died over the years, leading to the Bretheren's dissolution by 1722.