There have been two major eras of piracy in the history of The Land (sometimes called "great ages"), though it has never entirely ceased since the first wave. The first Great Age of Piracy began in roughly LY 362, less than two years after the founding of Ship. Between 361 and 380, eight more coastal villages were founded. As more and more ships were built and began trading and exploring, they became tempting targets for certain criminals. There is no agreement among historians which of the various pirates crews were the first to begin their operations in this period, but it's assumed they all got started in essentially the same way. That is, they would take a ship by force when it was docked, and thereafter use that ship to attack and plunder other ships. The most famous pirate captain of the era was Leonardo, who is credited with inventing the cannon, after first developing the explosive mixture called huo yao. The ever increasing threat of piracy led the police departments of Ship, and later other coastal villages, to establish a branch called the Coast Guard, which broke off from the police to become its own independent organization in 371. Because of their efforts, piracy greatly declined by the end of the 370s.
The second Great Age of Piracy began during the Coming of the Order in the early 900s, though piracy had been steadily building throughout the preceding half century, beginning shortly after the founding of Ristar in 850. When the Protestant Movement began raising its navies in 903, they were sometimes confused with pirates (and in fact, some of the ships that fought on the side of the Protestants were former pirate ships, some of which returned to piracy after the war; even some that hadn't been pirates before, turned to that life afterwards). Because of the former naval ships becoming pirate ships, as well as the now-unambiguous nature of pirates who'd never taken part in the war, many consider the second wave of piracy as not truly beginning until after the war. (It should also be noted that another cause of confusion for some is the fact that during the war, the Protestant navy often gathered at Shanty, which is now frequented by many pirate crews.) Meanwhile, the Coast Guard helped train the Order's navies during the war, and now both the Navy and the Coast Guard continue working toward the eradication of piracy, or at least toward the end of the second wave, reducing pirate activity to the levels that existed between roughly 380 and 900. It should be noted that a significant reduction in piracy also occurred beginning in 912 thanks to the fact that a number of pirate crews gave up that lifestyle to form the Chaos Navy, and some people have consequently suggested giving 912 as the official end of the Second Great Age.