Any port city worth its salted pork has rumors and stories of pirates abounding. Due to the Empire maintaining a limited naval presence, pirates are known to exist in the waters outside of the safe harbor of ports, raiding other ships for their expensive cargo.

Most pirate vessels do not have the luxury of gnomish blasting powder and its various additions to the arsenal of the Empire's navy; fortunately most of their targets don't, either. Instead, most ship-to-ship battles are conducted with archery as a primary form of attack, whatever magic the pirates have on their side, and ballistas or other seige weaponry for specialized purposes.

One gnomish invention that has managed to reach the waves, the winch, allows pirates to throw a grappling line or fire a cable attached to a ballista bolt to the target ship, then reel it in with mechanical power. Once close, pirates prefer to board, either by jumping over or using a device such as a corvus to create a stable gangplank, and if necessary, fight the remaining combatant crew in hand-to-hand combat. This also provides a reliable way to offload any goods won in the event that the captured ship is too badly damaged to salvage.

Pirates prefer to cripple vessels rather than destroy them, and as such they may use fire attacks on rigging and sails, but seldom on the main body of the ship. They do occasionally use ramming to damage other vessels, but more commonly sideswipe other ships to destroy oars and bring them in range of boarding actions.

Most good pirates make a point to attract a magician of some sort or another to their cause, if only for morale's sakes, but many cleric and wizard spells are quite useful when involved in ship-to-ship combat… or the aftermath thereof. Pirates are also quite fond of alchemical concoctions that can be thrown onto the target ship's decks, especially if they can launch them safely from great range. Clerics of the Lady of the Sea, obviously, are in high demand.

Pirates tend to focus attacks on disabling the ship and its crew, aiming for the helmsman and anyone attempting to disengage their lines first and foremost. They usually accept surrender and give quarter, although their 'mercy' may be limited to leaving the survivors in a leaking, damaged boat without supplies of any kind, or chaining the survivors below-decks to be ransomed or sold as slaves!

Most pirates have as their goal the boarding of an enemy vessel, the better to take its goods, persons, and control for themselves. As such, the elimination of anyone who might disagree (via death or capture) is considered the best method of obtaining these goals. Pirates often also have to fend off boarding parties from other pirates (who said there's honor among thieves?) and enemy naval vessels.

Most pirates use whatever sword they can get their hands on as a personal weapon, with favoritism going to relatively short, thick blades usable in the cramped confines of below-decks combat such as shortswords or cutlasses. Broadswords and cavalry sabers are common amongst ex-military or neophyte pirates, and a few swashbuckling romantics prefer the rapier or smallsword.

Boarding axes are quite common, and may be throwable; they were most commonly used for fighting fires and climbing the wooden sides of larger ships, and also were very useful for severing rigging and sails to ruin a ship's maneuverability. They also were excellent at breaking open locked doors and chests, as well as the skulls of anyone unfortunate enough to meet them in close combat.

Boarding pikes, essentially spears between four and six feet long, are often kept in racks around the base of a ship's mast; their reach advantage typically gives them superiority against swords and knives when repelling boarders from the decks, though they are less useful in combat below decks. Harpoons, more commonly used for hunting sea beasts, may also be pressed into service to hunt smaller adversaries.

Crossbows are commonly prepared in advance and used as a fire-and-forget weapon; however, the strings on crossbows without proper treatments often suffered, failing at awkward moments. A few fanciful pirates even make use of repeating crossbows or multiple hand crossbows in order to get multiple shots in. However, this is more traditionally used as a precursor to boarding actions, or on ship decks, as the close confines of ship corridors are seldom ideal for crossbow firing.

Bows are almost exclusively reserved for picking adversaries off of the ship's deck before boarding, as there is seldom sufficient time to draw and loose arrows in close combat aboard an enemy ship, and too much risk of hitting fellow crewmembers involved in such a melee. Bows are also useful for firing 'cutting' arrows to sever rigging, or fire arrows to light the enemy's rigging or ship on fire, though again this is typically a precursor to boarding.

Daggers are typically carried by sailors of all stripes due to their versatility as a cutting tool and dining implement, as well as a weapon of last resort. Daggers are quite effective in close-quarters combat, and easily concealed when not needed.

Belaying pins are designed to secure the ropes of a ship's rigging, and are easily found on most ships, making them readily available as improvised clubs if the need arises. They are typically constructed of dense hardwood to resist the ravages of life on the sea, and range between one and three feet in length.

Marlinespikes are tools made of metal, bone, or wood, with a round shaft that ends in a sharp point, used to separate strands in ropes. They typically have a round handle suitable for pounding, and are commonly used when securing rigging lines. While many ships keep other weapons stowed during peacetime (out of concerns for their use in mutinies), belaying pins and marlinespikes are easily found, making them the most common tools of mutineers, as well as the most basic tool of sailors attempting to repel hostile boarders.

Most pirates wear little armor when engaging in boarding combat, relying on superior skill and training to outpace their unfortunate adversaries (and being unwilling to invest in the maintenance such armor on the high seas would require). With that said, some pirates (and those who face pirates) wear leather armor as a compromise between protection and mobility. Lightweight breastplates that can be donned and removed easily are sometimes used by defenders to protect against the literal slings and arrows of would-be boarders, although they are not commonly worn unless combat is expected (and the chance of going overboard is low.)

Shields are uncommon amongst pirates, but fairly common amongst land warriors forced to engage naval opponents. That said, they are easily dropped when they become inconvenient, and preferable to an arrow in the sternum, so they do have their uses.

Some enterprising traders sell 'float armor' and 'float shields' - essentially, padded or leather armor with pockets that contain lightweight cork to help improve buoyancy should the unfortunate fall into the water, and shields that use a very thin layer of steel backed with a large amount of cork to be useful as a flotation device. In practice, many sailors argue that the loss of mobility from the bulky cork is worse than any potential gain from maybe-not-drowning should one fall overboard, although non-swimmers may find these augmentations useful.

As with the heroes of folklore, so too are there plentiful tales of pirates who exceed the rest in their acts of bravery and terrifying competence.

• The Sea Wraith. A pirate who seems to call the very fog of war with him wherever he goes, the Sea Wraith is responsible for capturing ships and hostages from several major countries, trading them to other pirates to use as they see fit. His (or her) true identity is a mystery, as nobody (not even the dead) has seen his true face. Descriptions of the Wraith's ship vary widely, bolstered in part by the fact that few have ever gotten a good look at it outside of the swirling fog and storms that seem to follow in his wake.

• The Bloodblades. A band of pirates with odd red-metal sabres, who fight to the death wherever they're encountered. The Bloodblades own a fleet of twelve ships of varying sizes and descriptions, and are most notable for their flag, a piece of white sailcloth traditionally dyed red with blood.

• The Merry Women. A group of loosely connected female pirates of varying races who have chosen a life of piracy, with their symbol a white rose with black thorns. They are one of the few pirates known to wear any form of armor in combat, for which there are arguments over whether this is a sort of weakness or good sense. Many of them also wear heavily modified and customized clothing and equipment.