Elena

Well, Chago (my mercenary) almost did it once, but he closed his mouth before letting the reference to Flamenco singers slip, as his statement could simply refer to Opera singers or whatever

I am praying for him too...

Guitars of all kind (Spanish guitars, cuatro llanero from Nueva Granada, requinto jarocho or jarana from Mexico, that French/ Breton thing which is not guitar, nor fiddle we have talked already about in another thread), a kind of harp used in Wales or Ireland, flutes and fifes of all kinds, were the appropriate instruments for the Caribbean Age of Sail music.

May I wish you a Happy Halloween too? or this one?

Welcome aboard!

Are you interested more in writing about piracy deeds and swashbuckling adventures? If yes, then join any of the games linked in my signature, depending on the athmosphere and time setting you like!

We have a resources link page too.

Welcome aboard!

It spilled into the Caribbean too, because privateers there were mostly on the prowl. And the colonies were copies of the mother country...

But my pirates have multi-national crews as well (because most crews were like this) and they knew where to go ashore... There were ports like Port-de-Paix, Hispaniola, where the governor preferred to close his eyes and open hands to receive the protection tax from the pirates, there were British ports where a ship wearing a Dutch convenience flag was welcomed...

There is a Spaniard (in wartime) who speaks English with foreign accent and he says he is a Venetian merchant sailor hired on a Dutch (or British) ship when asked...

I have a small crew on each of the two Age of Sail boards where Sol Picador is the pirate captain. Always needing more, of course... And "Before the Mast" has won two awards already (RPG Directory's 24-th Forum of the Fortnight and RPG Underground's 3-th Forum of the Month award), so it means I am still doing something well!

The Vikings - they were pirates too - game is barely starting, so Sigurd has a beautiful ship here, but no crew yet...

Beautiful. I "borrowed" them too for the case if I need a new cutlass for a character . I hope you don't mind, if I save them and rehost one of them when needed. I asked for this permission in all blades' threads... and I showed mine too, for a fair exchange, if anybody needs them.

Welcome aboard Gio

Join us up forward for some sweet coffee.

Jas. Hook

Only if it's flavoured with cardamon, like Middle Easterns like it . I happen to like that flavour too...

Welcome aboard, Gio, from the other part of the Black Sea!

It's not fair... (sulks in a corner)... This programe is valid for US only... But I'd be happy if some of you added me to their Facebook! This is an easier overseas communication tool!

My name on Facebook is Marina Costa - one of my characters' names. http://www.facebook....=1352241117 Feel free to befriend me!

I have a question - do you, guys, allow me to save some photos of the best blades you use and, upon saving them in my Photobucket, to further use them for reference? My pirates and mercenary would like something like this! For example, my boys' navaja is this one:

and I have read the barratero fighting style manual in order to describe the fighting scenes...

The machete is this one:

Feel free to use them for anything you need!

Many happy returns of this day... and take care of the hangover

Happy birthday from me too! May all your wishes come true!

Which sword do I like best?

The one I pull from my enemy's lifeless body, of course!

I think my characters would give the same answer!

This is the Toledo sword my pirate captain and my mercenary prefer:

But as they are one from Veracruz and one from Nueva Valencia (now Venezuela) they prefer for daily fights this machete (no cutlass, but of a similar length)

This is the sidesword (spada di latto) that Sword Angel prefers (of course, he is a Venetian citizen).

and this is the hanger my Navy character uses:

I hope you like them....

Vizcaina was the name of the left-hand daggers made in Biscaya Gulf (i.e. in Navarra and Basque country). They were as famous as Toledo was for swords and other type of daggers.

But they have also other, more specific names which your Spanish friends might be more likely to know: daga de ganchos or daga de vela (because of their hilt in the shape of a sail). It was a good left-hand dagger which was specially made so that it could grab a sword (if you knew the moves how to catchthe sword there) and let the adversary disarmed.

This is the vizcaina my mercenary wears:

My friend's bounty hunter (actually a character we drew up together and we share his use - when he interacts with her characters I'm playing him) uses such a sword cane. It was a hidden weapon used both by London gentlemen when they came from a gambling hell and by less savoury characters...

Actually it was me who got this idea for him when drawing up the character, and I was inspired by a movie in "Winnetou" series, where a British gentleman who seemed so out of place in the Wild West first admitted to have fought in India in his early years (so knowing something about weapons) and then, when needed, he defended himself with such a stick. "Where have you mastered thistechnique, in India?" "Rather on the streets of London slums!"

Pirates carried what ever they could lay hands on, military, or civilian. I'm sure ethnic background and regionality also came into play here, coloring what they may have carried.

Cheers!

Redhand

This is my opinion too. This is why my pirate captain Sol and my mercenary, Chago, besides the prized Toledo sword which is less used, have, for daily fights and work, not a cutlass but a machete. They also have navajas and are skilled in Sevillan baratero fighting style too. The mercenary has a vizcaina too...

I tried to put a small bodice dagger in my front,

Yes, on the games my friend and I (who are also playing Tortuga whores) have our girls wear bodice knives. And thanks to Red-handed Jill for the information about women'sadvantage in fencing - I'll use this information as spoken by one of my swordsmen Iron Bess and Callenish Gunner, I love your posts too...(It seems I am "stealing" a lot from here... but it is indeed interesting...)

I am thinking and praying and wish you best of luck!

Forgot to mention above.....but a guitar is perfectly acceptable for your character. There are pictures of lower class Spaniards of various ethnic extractions in the Casta paintings playing baroque guitars and vihuelas. I don't check this forum as frequently anymore as I probably should, and I don't have the time right now to gather and post a bunch of links, so feel free to shoot me an email or something if you're interested in the period guitar option. I haven't looked at any materials for Santo Domingo specifically, but you can almost guarantee that they were present there on the island....afterall, we had Vihuelas and Guitars here in La Florida on the Spanish frontier from the 1570s on up, and they were extremely popular in other parts of the Spanish empire.

Cheers,

Adam (who is currently building a 1570s Vihuela)

I agree with this too. I know they were. My pirate captain, Sol, who is from Veracruz, is playing the local requinto jarocho, a smaller, 4-chord guitar, and another South American character of mine, a mercenary, Chago (born in Nueva Granada - now Venezuela) is playing a similar local small 4-chord guitar, cuatro llanero.

And my roleplaying games which are different (not video, play-by-post) but they are also interesting... or rather more interesting because each player's imagination is the only limit (well, besides historical accuracy, because we are striving for it, this is why they are no-fandom. Even if "Beat to Quarters" might be slightly inspired from Hornblower and Bolitho series, but not visibly).

Before discovering this forum, whichhas some interesting historical aspects, I used the forum of the "Pirates of the Burning Sea" for some documentation. They have good stuff too and I wholeheartedly recommend it!

thank u all,now where begins the plunderin?

Well, I'd have an answer, but the people would complain that I am biased - I'd recommend you to join my pirate captain's crew and start the plundering with a Spanish galleon. It has lots of silver bars inside... (In each of the two games linked in my signature there is such a galleon, as they were the most sought prey of those times, but the naval strategy used to get it is different, and the ships are different too).

Thanks, it helps me too (but not the pirate characters - the Navy one helps the Doctor sometimes as a loblolly boy).

The West Indies were colonies of France, Britain, Spain and Holland. Therefore, what was in fashion in that time in the mother country, arrived to the colonies 1 year later too! Including musical instruments.

Red Dawn, I would like to know more about your Haitian pirate... I might find her a place aboard the "Caribbean Siren" if you want to spend some time with us "Before the Mast" .