The Magpies of the Great Ocean
Concept
The Magpies are a nomadic society living in reinforced boats on the Great Ocean. They survive by trading with settlements of all sizes along the coasts, as well as by trading with each other. They are broken up into 10 Families, each one recognizable by the colors they wear and decorate their ships with.
A Magpie's loyalty is first to their Family, then to the other Magpies, and only lastly to anyone else. Because of this they do not reveal their names to those outside their Family, instead asking that outsiders call them by their Family's color. Different Families are of different sizes, with some all living on one boat and others having a fleet of, at the largest, 15 ships. Certain Families have picked up unique reputations, such as the Crimson Magpies, who are in some places known as Vultures due to their tendency to seek out battle-ravaged towns- they take from the dead and trade supplies with the survivors.
Each Family has a Captain (often but not always the oldest surviving member of the Family) who leads them, but common Magpie superstition says that it is bad luck for a Captain to step ashore. Each Family then also has an Emissary who speaks for the Captain when required off the ship, and generally is responsible for handling authority figures when the Family is ashore trading.
Although they live and operate entirely within the Pan-Pacific Empire, the Magpies do not consider themselves citizens of it, and the PPE themselves largely consider the Magpies to be common criminals due to their disregard for tariffs and other regulations on trade. The Magpies take great pride in their avoidance of consequences- and those citizens of the PPE that trade with them appreciate the access to cheaper goods.
Magpies got their name from their extremely eclectic appearance. A magpie typically wears whatever they can find or trade for in their Family's color- whether thats a silken bedsheet they can repurpose, or a jacket bought from a townsfolk in exchange for fresh food. In addition, they tend to wear LOTS of accessories, often jewelry- collecting shiny things much like their namesakes.
Skills
-Loyalty
-Cowardice
-The Will To Survive
-Boats, I guess
Family Breakdowns
Not every family has been detailed as of yet, but here's a list of the families, with details and characters where they exist.
-Crimson Magpies
- As previously mentioned, sometimes called Vultures due to their tendency to wait just off the shore during conflict and swoop in after. They trade with survivors and take what the dead no longer need.
- Their Captain is, unusually, a young woman, about 25. She's the only one the whole Family is willing to listen to.
- Her Emissary is her twin sister- rumor holds they've swapped places at times to allow her to leave the ship against tradition.
- The Crimson Magpies are the only Magpies whose (adult) members regularly trade in sex work in addition to the usual goods and information.
-Amber Magpies
- One of the largest fleets, they sail in small groups of two or three ships.
- Their Captain is an old man now- the patriarch of the extended family tree, and a great-grandfather several times over.
- His Emissary is the youngest of his grand-daughters, and only 8 years old, but a master of haggling, and frankly adorable.
-Gold Magpies
- Not yellow, but a array of browns and metallics.
- They are known for a tradition of jewelry-making- they'll buy a broken piece and remake it to resell, as well as using whatever materials they can get their hands on to make more.
-Dandelion Magpies/Lellow Magpies
- The newest and smallest family, sometimes called the "Lellow" Magpies after the childish pronunciation of the word "yellow."
- Recently split off from the Verdant Magpies after a family argument that had previously lasted decades came to a head.
- Consists of one married couple, their siblings, and their children.
- The Captain is the husband of that couple, and his Emissary is his wife.
-Verdant Magpies/The Family Verdant
- One of the three "Strange" families, they have a passion for attempting to grow plants on their boat. interesting choice on a poison ocean.
- Also they reproduce like fucking rabbits. Hands down the largest family- at least of the ones where numbers are known.
- The Captain is a soft spoken old grandmother. Her Emissary is her son-in-law, a classic glasses-wearing agricultural nerd.
- Some other families consider them snobs for their alternate name, the Family Verdant. They hold that it is an inside joke and you wouldn't get it anyway.
-Teal Magpies
- Undetailed as of yet
-Cerulean Magpies
- Second of the "Strange" families, they are... "fishermen" of a sort.
- The fish of the Great Ocean are NOT safe to eat- unless prepared in specific ways. (Imagine pufferfish.) This is the family that figured those ways out.
- They're all a little unhinged, but they WILL sell edible fish.
-Rose Magpies
- Undetailed as of yet
-Lavender Magpies
- Undetailed as of yet
-Mist Magpies/Magpies of the Mists
- Final of the "Strange" families, the Magpies of the Mists take Magpie secrecy to an extreme. They veil their faces in grey cloth around outsiders, choosing to keep not only their name, but their entire identity for family members only.
- Not even the other Magpie families know how many ships they keep, or how many Magpies sail on them in total.
- Their colors are all tones of grey.