Pirate



The term pirate now refers to a much wider selection of traits, and while several groups of criminals branded as pirates do sail the Great Sea and search for treasure, other factions prefer to remain secretive, reserving piracy for the inner ranks of their organizations. Needless to say, most pirates are considered less clean than your average sailor.

Synonym terms for a pirate includes: freebooter, privateer, corsair, buccaneer, raider, sea king, etc.

Many pirates have the buccaneer class, although not all pirates are buccaneers.

Areas directly under the control of pirates are Bloodsail Hold on Plunder Isle and Freehold in Tiragarde Sound in Kul Tiras.

Piracy is considered one of the most vile of crimes under Kul Tiran law. Those caught and charged with piracy are sentenced to death and publicly executed.

History
Following the Second War and the Invasion of Draenor, Kul Tiran fleets patrolled the trade lanes hunting pirates and marauders on the high seas. Azeroth's pirates raided one another in search of treasure, giving little thought to the risks they would undertake. The choice to create a pair of nimble cutlasses, Fate and Fortune, the sort of weapons favored on the high seas, meant that the eredar Talgath saw great potential in corrupting pirates to the Burning Legion's cause, including the Bellwether's crew and later a portion of the Bloodsail Buccaneers who splintered into the Dread Fleet.

Over the years, many pirate groups have formed on Azeroth, operating in many coastal areas and most importantly on the open seas between the continents.

The island of Tol Barad's location on sea lanes and lack of policing due to the collapse of many of the Alliance's states during the events of the Third War made it a very attractive location for pirates. The abandoned Rustberg Village was repurposed by a band of pirates into a base from which they would strike at the wealthy trade towns along the shores of the Baradin Bay. Over the years, some pirates had journeyed to Kalimdor and recruited or impressed various tauren into their crews, tauren who would later call Rustberg home just as their shipmates do. Other pirates in Rustberg include humans, orcs, and gnomes.

At some point after the Cataclysm, Feral Scar of Feralas "made a deal" with some pirates to transport his yetis and the Woodpaw gnolls to the Blasted Lands. The deal was that the pirate should help them unless they wanted to be pounded into dust by the yeti leader, so they agreed to give them ships.

Azeroth
What follows is a list of pirate organizations within Azeroth.
 * Blacksail Crew
 * Blackwater Raiders
 * Bloodsail Buccaneers
 * Brashtide Crew
 * Briona's Buccaneers
 * Defias Brotherhood
 * Dread Crew
 * Dread Fleet
 * Greenbelly's Raiders
 * Irontide Raiders
 * Blacktooth Brawlers
 * Bilge Rats
 * Cutwater Corsairs
 * Fogsail Freebooters
 * Hozen pirates of Unga Ingoo
 * Northsea Freebooters
 * Oona tribe
 * Red Blade
 * Rotting Mire pirates
 * Rustberg pirates
 * Seawing Saboteurs
 * Southsea Freebooters
 * Thalo'dan Privateers
 * Virtuous Blades
 * The Bloody Dawn's crew
 * Wastewander (formerly)
 * Southshore privateer fleet


 * Great Sea Privateers

Alternate Draenor
There are also pirate groups on alternate Draenor.
 * The Bonefleet
 * Giras the Guileful - His surprise attacks were legend, though he was just as infamous for his gambling addiction. He sails with his ship Snake Eyes and his submarine The Veiled Threat.
 * Vhaka the Vile - Cursed for their evil deeds for terrorizing Draenor's seas without remorse, they lash out at the living with their ship The Last Wish and their submarine The Shiv.
 * The Bloody Scimitar

Named

 * Captain Grayson
 * Captain Sanders
 * Generous Dan