Editing Pirates of the Baltic Sea (section)

===Guild of the Victual Brothers===

''Mare Nostrum Balticum''

In the period between the 8th and 14th centuries, there was much piracy in the Baltic, and the Victual Brothers held Gotland. They were a loosely organized guild of privateers who later turned to piracy.

The present day Guild is a relatively recent arrival to the Baltic. It was founded as a mercenary corporation by Captain Evert Kron, a former Captain of the Swedish Navy. In large part as a response to the Buccaneers. A right wing ultra-nationalist, Captain Kron longs for the lost glory days of Mare Nostrum Balticum or "Our Baltic Sea" when Sweden dominated the Baltic. He dislikes the government’s stance of neutrality and Swedish Navy’s status as a small defensive fleet. In his opinion, the result has been that Sweden has become too reliant on outsiders such as the Buccaneers to act as a buffer and deterrent to other groups such as the Raiders of Thule. He does not have a high opinion of Buccaneers either, considering them foreign rabble. If Kron got to decide, Åland would be annexed and the Buccaneers driven out.

But Kron is not in a position to decide, so he left the Navy and formed his own fleet. As a native of Gotland, he based the fleet there and took for them the historic name of Victual Brothers. A bigot, Kron only hires men of Swedish ethnicity, most of whom share his right-wing leaning. They hire themselves out as naval security detachments for Swedish corporations and their allies, but never to their competitors. They do take assigments to harass the shipping of those competitors, and other kinds of corporate black ops. They have also been offering their services to the Swedish Navy, but the Navy has so far been reluctant to hire them for anything.

The assignments of Victual Brothers sometimes bring them into conflict with the Buccaneers. In fact, Victual Brothers go out of their way to harass the Buccaneers if they come across them. Victual Brothers have taken on the motto of Mare Nostrum Balticum. They consider the Baltic theirs, and would see the other groups driven off or destroyed.

The vessels of Victual Brothers are almost exclusively CB90-type fast assault craft, mostly decommissioned Navy craft. This makes the Victual Brothers a genuine threat for Buccaneers. Unlike the Raiders of Thule, most Victual Brothers are not as skilled as true Naval military, but CB90 is an exceptionally fast and agile boat that can execute extremely sharp turns at high speed, decelerate from top speed to a full stop in 2.5 boat lengths, and adjust both its pitch and roll angle while under way. Its light weight, shallow draught, and twin water jets allow it to operate at speeds of up to 40 knots (74 km/h). It can also carry and deploy 18 fully equipped men in addition to its three person crew. CB90 is also well armed, with three .50 cal machine guns, a grenade launcher, and even depth charges. It is also versatile and easy to modify. Victual Brothers have at least one command and control vessel, a few with armor and upgraded engines to compensate for the added weight, and some with troop carrying capacity exchanged for bunks, pantry and auxiliary fuel tanks to provide extended operating time. The vessels of Victual Brothers can match most Buccaneer craft, and they usually carry marines, outnumbering the Buccaneer crew. Any clash with them is a threat. Which is why there is prestige in managing to beat them.