Brethren of the Coast

The Brethren of the Coast is a pirate brotherhood in Windrose's alternative Age of Piracy. They once unified the Caribbean's independent pirates under a common code, operating from Tortuga. Their story is central to the game's narrative, as their betrayal by Edward Teach (Blackbeard) set the conflict in motion.

Values

The Brethren of the Coast stood for "freedom, equality, and brotherhood." These values defined their code and distinguished them from purely self-interested pirates. Their strength came from solidarity: individual pirate crews were vulnerable, but united under the Brethren's code, they held real power in the Caribbean.

Blackbeard's Betrayal

According to the developers' Devblog #4 ("Laying the Keel: Building the World of Crosswind"), Edward Teach was once a member of the Brethren but "quickly saw them as weak and limited in their views." He never believed in their ideals; the developers wrote: "He never believed in 'freedom, equality, and brotherhood.' He believed he was born to rule."

The sequence of events that shattered the Brethren:

1. Teach joined the Brethren of the Coast but viewed their principles as constraints

2. He had no intention of staying in second place. He built his own reputation and crew while still nominally part of the Brotherhood

3. When the time was right, he betrayed the Brethren

4. He stole a large sum of gold that was meant for Tortuga

5. He used the stolen wealth to build his own fleet

6. He forged a pact with dark powers, gaining the ability to command the undead

7. Since the betrayal, Teach has been "the most wanted pirate on the seas"

Current State

The Brethren were shattered by Blackbeard's betrayal. Surviving members are scattered across the archipelago. Tortuga, their former base of operations, has been reimagined as "a besieged outpost, where the living hold defense against the dead." The British Navy has been destroyed by Blackbeard's undead fleet, leaving no organized force capable of opposing him.

The developers have stated that "there's much more ahead: more factions, new faces, unexpected twists, and moments that will define your journey," suggesting the Brethren's scattered survivors will play a role in the full game's narrative. The main story is described as drawing the player "into a growing conflict between empires, pirate clans, and mysterious dark powers looming on the horizon."

Relationship to the Player

The player character is a freelance courier whose ship was attacked by Blackbeard's forces during the game's prologue. Edward Teach ordered Israel Hands to intercept a ship carrying cargo from the British East India Company, with the player serving as the courier. The player's journey of survival and revenge against Blackbeard aligns their interests with the Brethren's remnants.

Relationship to Tortuga

The Brethren operated from Tortuga and the stolen gold was specifically "meant for Tortuga," indicating a deep financial and operational connection between the Brotherhood and the settlement. In the current game timeline, Tortuga has transformed from a pirate haven connected to the Brethren into the last bastion of resistance against Blackbeard's undead forces.

Blackbeard's Crew

In contrast to the Brethren's code-bound brotherhood, Blackbeard's crew operates on fear and power. His motto, "Why settle for less when you can take it all?", represents the opposite of the Brethren's shared governance. His faction is hostile to everyone, including the player. His forces include Cutthroats (undead swordsmen), Musketeers (ranged undead), and Pirate Sergeants (elite fighters with pistol and sword).

Environmental Storytelling

The game's exploration design emphasizes discovering lore through the environment. The developers described their approach in Devblog #4: "many locations and objects are placed to spark a question; What happened here?; and to reward curiosity with a piece of lore, a hidden item, or a clue pointing to something bigger." Players can "uncover dozens of small clues through character dialogue, hidden quests, found diaries, and other discoverable locations or objects." This suggests the fate of the Brethren's scattered members may be revealed through environmental storytelling throughout the archipelago.

Historical Basis

The historical Brethren of the Coast were a confederation of buccaneers based in Tortuga (off the coast of Hispaniola, modern-day Haiti) during the 17th century. Key historical facts:

• By 1640, the buccaneers of Tortuga were calling themselves the Brethren of the Coast

• Originally landless hunters who smoked meat in "boucans" (hence "buccaneers")

• Population was mostly French and English, with some Dutch

• They were the real power structure of the West Indies; royal governors depended on them for colonial defense against Spain

• They operated under early forms of pirate democracy with codes of conduct

• Their heyday was approximately 1660 to 1688

• Declined in the 1690s as European governments abandoned the "no peace beyond the Line" policy

Windrose takes creative liberties with the timeline: the historical Blackbeard operated from 1716 to 1718, well after the real Brethren's decline. Devblog #4 explains the studio's approach: they blend "real historical events, like the rise of Tortuga in the 1630s as a stronghold for exiled settlers and seafaring outlaws, with fictional threads drawn from older sea legends." Their guiding principle is: "Start with fact, then let fiction breathe."

Named Characters

Characters connected to the Brethren in the game's lore:

No named current Brethren members have been publicly revealed. The developers have promised "new faces" as the game progresses through Early Access.