Lazarus Church

One of the main founders of Yartar. Before the Rising Tides, they were training and encouraging people to pillage other ships and take from others, but after the Rising Tides, they just encourage freedom, revelry, take whatever you want and if the other is too weak to keep it, it's their fault, and would still encourage strife between factions. It is said they're the main reason Yartar is not united, as they would always find a way to bolster the weaker side when conflict arises, in order to keep Yartar in perpetual conflict. The seas were always dangerous, even prior to the Rising Tides, and as such, sailors and pirates of all sorts needed some comfort of sorts. As such, many of them kept Lazarus in mind, using him as a way to ask for luck on any of their travels or raids, in order to survive.

While some travelers did worship Lazarus, most of his believers were pirates and other ne'er-do-wells, and the deity and his clergy always encourages people to raid other ships and even caravans to survive, always preaching survival of the fittest, but also preaching parties after a good heist, and above all, freedom. His teachings are what a lot of people believe led to such high levels of piracy on the high seas.

Of course, wherever freedom exists, the other side of the coin also exists, and as such, pirates were often faced with tyranny, and all pirates in the Northern Seas learned to fear the name of the Knights of Tartarus. Knights that were hired specifically to scour the high seas to protect ships but mostly find pirates, arrest and capture them, and lead them back to their sanctuary known as Tartarus, which would become the prison of many pirates, where they went supposedly to be reformed. Some did reform, turning into fishermen and joining a faction later known as the Whalers. But for most, they resisted until either the Knights found no redemption in them and hung them, or they died from the torture they endured. Nobody escaped their brutality.

Many members of the clergy of Lazarus managed eventually to infiltrate the prison and talk to the different prisoners, telling them to bide their time, as Lazarus had shown them a vision of a time when the Knights would be weak enough to be taken down. And thus they bid their time, and that moment eventually came, when the most powerful members of the Knights of Tartarus disappeared in a deep expedition in the wild and dangerous jungles of the island. They seized that opportunity and finally kicked off the rebellion, leading the pirates and other criminals, taking down their oppressors.

While Lazarus loves raids and piracy in general, the God of Pirates has never truly been one for cold-blooded murder, or plain slaughtering. When they noticed the Knights starting to surrender from their assault, they were the first to tell others to slow down their assault, and take the knights in temporary custody. There, they realized the dangers of the island, having only heard rumors of them beforehand. So, in exchange for the Knights' lives and freedom, they were to protect the town and its borders from the monsters, which was only a slight change in their vocations anyways. The Knights agreed, and left Tartarus, which the clergy renamed to Yartar, mainly as a way to mock the Knights.

Of course, many pirates disliked the idea of letting the knights live, and found the clergy 'weak-willed' by letting them live, unable to see the big picture. These elements separated from the main group, forming their own organization known as the Blimey Boys. As for the other pirates, many of them joined the Church of Lazarus and supported them. With the Rising Tides and most of the Old World lost to them, they changed their vocation partially. Instead of preaching raids upon ships, they preach freedom before all else, but also revelry in all good things. Of course, many of the members of the group also support the idea of stealing from the other factions... after all, if they're too weak to protect their assets, then they don't deserve them in the first place.