⌠ LIGHTEN UP, BUTTERCUP — TNW GROUP PLANNING ⌡

[Asyli]

[align=center][div style="borderwidth; width: 450px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; line-height: 12px; font-size: 8pt"]NOTES

[✧] people who are born on the offshore are likely illiterate, many cannot read nor can they write; although, many are highly skilled in map-making and mathematics despite their inability to read. along with that, despite their illiteracy many are multilingual and can speak over two languages — living with such diversity has caused people to adapt even though they've lost a major skill they've managed to grow in a different area of communication. another fact for people who were likely born offshore is that their skin complexion will be a lot darker, however the offshore is incredibly diverse and spans over people and cultures from all over the world.

[✧] the pirates are not friendly and have been known to demand tribute from groups who want to use the sea to travel or trade and because crews work independently from each other it's not uncommon for a single group to have to pay tributes to multiple different crews. the offshore does not work as a single unit commonly, the only time the offshore have been known to work together when there is an immediate threat to their livelihoods. a good example of this would be if one of the pirate crews were to turn rogue (i.e. to break the unspoken rules of the capital or to simply be so disliked they are meant to be executed) or if an outside land-group or other sea based organization were to attack them.

[✧] that being said, i should definitely figure out what separates the offshore from other sea-based groups; the biggest part of being part of the offshore is to simply work on the seas and comply with the capital and other members. however, it's likely there are other sea groups who do not consider themselves part of that community — it's likely that the offshore differs from other groups because of how they govern themselves or something similar. maybe the way they deal with other sea groups is they just... destroy them, fight them or start shit until that sea group is forced so far away that it's pointless for many of the pirates to even interact with them. the pirates are vicious and territorial and over the years have taken up a very large portion of the ocean and while the capital is the most important city they probably have small villages and ports to help transfer goods and the like.
— if that's the case should i list important ports and how far away they are from the capital? that'd be important because the offshore spans so far that people would need to stop for food and supplies on different islands between trips from one mainland to another (personally, i see that offshore controlling almost as much territory as the entirety of the atlantic ocean to the indian ocean). which, definitely means they'd need port villages (the capital is likely located somewhere in the caribbeans and while they own that much territory many offshores rarely travel that far; likely they just get overly possessive about it and despite not needing it you bet your ass they're still going to fight over it).

*** this is messy, i need to clean up my notes a little more and come to a very conclusive decision about the group.

[Asyli]

[align=center][div style="borderwidth; width: 450px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; line-height: 12px; font-size: 8pt"]they believe in a lot of magical or spiritual things; the practice of voodoo and other types of spiritual folkways are fairly common and people who are well known for their craft are often feared and respected by the majority. to these people it is as real as the heart that beats in your chest, many pirates are very superstitious and because of how dangerous the things they do can be it often helps a lot of individuals to believe in something or to practice something that they feel will help them in some way. so many people die every day that the belief in the supernatural,of ghosts, and of hauntings are fairly common because what can it hurt to believe in something that could either help you or give you a little faith and hope?

— they probably have so many stories and folklore alongside the already built folklore about ocean seafarers; a lot of people who earn nicknames are probably dubbed something from history, i.e. davy jones's real name is not davy jones but because of her infamy that is simply what people have chosen to call her and over the years her original name has been lost and she is just davy.

[Asyli]

[align=center][div style="borderwidth; width: 450px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; line-height: 12px; font-size: 8pt"]— it's important to note that the name of the capital/main island will not actually affect where the island is located or what it looks like. these are names, the location will not actually be on any of the names which come from the names of real islands. if that even made any sense.

GREAT INAGUA inagua is the southernmost district of the bahamas, it currently consists of the islands great inagua (the second largest island in the bahamas) and little inagua. it was originally named heneagua from a spanish expression that means 'water is to be found there', which, is not the most creative of names but when in history were people actually good at naming things. inagua is of lucayan origin and simply means 'small eastern island'; again, much of inagua's history revolves around spanish control and the destruction of ships on inaguan reefs. the name is also a reference to assassin's creed: black flag where, in the game, great inague acts as a home-base for many of the pirates and is developed considerably throughout the game with your interference.

NEW TORTUGA tortuga is also commonly known as île de la tortue, latòti, isla tortuga, or turtle island; it is a caribbean island that forms a section of haiti. it is well known for it's role as a haven in caribbean piracy throughout the 17th century, for a long time it was at the mercy of english, french, dutch and spanish forces before being left due to it's seemingly unimportance which allowed piracy to quickly run rampant. many of the buccaneers who lived on the island where known as the best, the colonists who had been expelled repeatedly by spanish forces quickly made history by coming together and destroying small sections of the spanish army that were stationed on the island. it is often referenced in pirate literacy and has become known as one of the most important islands controlled by "pirates" and is seen, even today, in major media.

MATANZAS is the capital of the cuban province of matanzas, located on the northern shore of cuba by the bahia de matanzas (the bay of matanzas). it is known to be one of the greatest cities of cuba, often referred to as la atenas de cuba (the athens of cuba) or the venice of cuba; although, it's history is more aligned in the blood and sweat of thousands of slaves and the deaths of hundreds upon hundreds of people. the name matanzas itself means massacre or slaughter, which refers to the putative slaughter at a port of the same namesake. it famous for once having been one of the greatest of pirate havens, before being integrated into cuba in the 19th century and while there isn't much history about the piracy on the island (at least, not from my own research i could likely just be incompetent) matanzas was placed perfectly for a pirate stronghold.

LIBERTATIA it was also commonly known as libertalia, a claimed anarchist colony that settled on the shores of madagascar under the leadership of pirate captain james misson. however, it is a colony that many believe did not actually exist, despite being mentioned in a book describing the history of piracy. the colony was known for it's radical ideals that aligned with the thought process of many pirates at that period of time, it was meant to act as a utopia for pirates where there were no laws to bind you. there is not much known about libertatia, we don't even truly know if it actually existed or was written down referring to another colony that actually existed; however, it is referenced throughout literature as the most well known pirate haven.

ANARQUÍA this was not a real place nor did it ever exist in any literature concerning pirates; at least, if it truly does exist it is not based off any actual occurrences in pirate history. anarquía is of spanish origin and means 'anarchy' in reference to the offshore's political stance on laws and governmental control or leadership. the group itself is focused on the freedom of the individual and much of their ideals and way of governing themselves focuses on anarchy and thus it isn't hard to believe that they would have named their capital something that focused on this.

PUERTO REFUGIO again, while there is a place in the world that is actually named puerto refugio (a small bay located in  baja california, mexico) it was not named in reference to this. puerto refugio is also of spanish origin and simply means 'refuge/refugee harbor' something that is meant to explain what many of the people who flock to the offshore actually are. during the blackout there were many people stranded on boats, lost at sea and expected to die and there was a great deal of them who managed to find safety on the island thus making them refugees.

SINBAD'S ISLAND sinbad (or sindbad) the sailor (ٱلسِّنْدِبَادُ ٱلْبَحرِيّ‎ or as-sindibādu l-baḥriyy) is the fictional protagonist of a story-cycle of middle eastern origin; known for the fictional worlds, magical beasts and seven voyages across africa and southern asia. it is likely that the stories of sinbad were a late addition to one thousand and one nights, a collection of middle eastern folktales written in arabic during the islamic golden age. while sinbad is not depicted as a pirate he is considered to be one of the most famous fictional sailors and when one thinks of adventures on the high seas than the legend of sinbad is likely the most legendary of tales. sinbad wanted to expand his own fortune, a goal many of the pirates of the offshore share and combined with his daring adventures on the ocean it's not odd to think that many of the pirates would turn to his stories as inspiration.

TERRA DO NUNCA is actually a fictional place that many people know well, while terra do nunca is it's portuguese variant it means 'neverland'. i was hesitant to include this one here because, well, obviously the name and concept of neverland has been used far too many times but also i felt that it still fit concerning the offshore. neverland is an island of mystery referenced in the works of j. m. barrie; it was said to be a land where mythical creatures, peter pan, tinker bell and the lost boys lived alongside an array of pirates. it was a faraway land that focused on immortality, childhood and escapism along with very morally grey actions that many tend to forget when remembering the old stories. the island that the people of the offshore live on is their faraway place, the world they can escape to and be free of the world of adults and of responsibilities and thus it makes a lot of sense that comparing that island to neverland wouldn't be too far of a reach.

NASSAU is now the capital and commercial centre of the commonwealth of the bahamas, located on new providence island the city is now famous for it's beautiful and active harbor. originally named charles town, after the raid of charles town by the spanish it was renamed nassau after the house of nassau (in honor of the dutch stadhouder). the island struggled for a long time due to a lack of effective governors and after a brief occupation of the french and spanish in 1703 there were no governors at all to lead the people, which, quickly led to a boom in pirate population throughout the bahamas to the point where the mass majority of pirates outnumbered the native inhabitants. the pirates then named nassau a pirate republic and established themselves as the governors of nassau until 1718 when a british appointed governor managed to quell the amount of pirate activity on the islands; however, it does not erase the fact that for a short period of time nassua was one of the first completely pirate controlled "nation".

TRINIDAD the larger of the two major islands of trinidad and tobago, it lies a few miles off the northeastern coast of venezuela and while technically considered part of south america it is often counted as the southernmost island of the caribbean. the original name of the island was iëre, in the arawaks' language meant 'land of the humming bird', although another suspected translation was kairi which simply meant 'island'; it was later renamed by shitface gcgee (better known as christopher columbus) to la isla de la trinidad (the island of the trinity) later shortened to trinidad. trinidad is likely the most famous of all history for it's pirate inhabitants, almost synonymous with piracy trinidad was a spanish open-port controlled, laughably, by the smallest garrison of troops who were unable to stop english, dutch or french smugglers from bringing goods in. it was the unofficial port home for almost all privateers in the caribbeans and while it was not known for complete pirate control (governmental wise, the privateers were most definitely in control of trading) it is well known for the amount of wealth brought in for smuggling.

ROOK ISLAND the rook islands are actually a reference to far cry 3, where the entirety of the game takes place. i found it fitting because of the premise of fighting pirates on the island, the general anarchy, chaos and disaster that ensues on the islands. i took a lot of inspiration from vaas and the pirates to help me build the offshore so i felt it fitting to also include a part of that to the name, along with the fact that the word rook itself means 'to take money from (someone) by either defrauding, overcharging, or cheating them' and that also fits the pirates incredibly well.

[Asyli]

[align=center][div style="borderwidth; width: 450px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; line-height: 12px; font-size: 8pt"]finish this when you get home from work! basically it's the mass majorities belief on certain things, ideals.

— probably desensitized to death

[Asyli]

[align=center][div style="borderwidth; width: 450px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; line-height: 12px; font-size: 8pt"]TERRITORY / substituting the name of the island with Jason until the name is decided.

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Biome: Tropical Rainforest, Coastal.
Season: Wet Season
Climate:


The majority of the Offshore's land is just that, off the shore; they have conquered a great portion of the ocean and the coast and spend most of their time exploring it.


While the island itself is one of beauty, the capital that the pirates call home is far from it; many of the structures on the island were built from scrap metal and various other materials which has given it a raggedy and often dirty look.


IMPORTANT THINGS TO EXPLAIN
the meeting hall
the harbor
the "town" i.e. explain the shack-like conditions and differences between homes
the "great" reef (expands around the island, natural protection)
-- honestly, come up with more things that need to be listed.

[Asyli]

[align=center][div style="borderwidth; width: 450px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; line-height: 12px; font-size: 8pt"]RANKS-ISH

SPOKESPERSON It should be stated very clearly that the Spokesperson(s) are not the leaders of the Offshore and are merely what the name insinuates: representatives.

— Davy Jones played by

COUNCIL

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oof finish later

[OFFSHORE]

[align=center][div style="borderwidth; width: 500px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; line-height: 15px; font-size: 9.5pt; font-family: arial"]retesting the account that fucking almost killed me

[Asyli]

[align=center][div style="borderwidth; width: 450px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; line-height: 12px; font-size: 8pt"]Tonight I'm going to actually start the offshore's template! I know there's still a lot I have to figure out but I want to play around with coding really badly and I should at least be productive about it.

Note for self: think about history, you're a little stuck on titles and how exactly the ranks will work but maybe if you develop the history of the offshore things will make a little more sense to you.

Once school is finally out and graduation is over I'm actually going to get back into rping and just doing all these things and I'm really excited.

[Asyli]

[align=center]

THE OFFSHORE
[table]