T.J. Bell Is Here

The Lighthouse — Family Pirate Network

"A digital craftsman, reluctant Montanan, and keeper of strange corners of the internet."

Who I Am What I Build Observatory Gallery Captain's Log

Who I Am

T.J. Morris

T.J. Morris — PirateMouse

PirateMouse Mascot

PirateMouse — The Drifting God

T.J. Morris is a digital craftsman, amateur pirate, and reluctant Montanan — though after twenty-some years in the Treasure State, the mountains have mostly claimed him. Originally from Oregon, he landed in Montana in 2003 and hasn't found a good reason to leave.

He's a husband, father of three daughters, and keeper of two cats, one horse, and a goldfish of questionable ambition. When he's not working at a local dispensary or building strange corners of the internet, he can be found deep in a VR headset, arguing with an AI, or simply sitting still and listening to music — which he considers an underrated skill.

The Family Pirate Network is his flagship project — a slow-growing digital universe built for the love of craft, not the chase of metrics. This site is the lighthouse at the edge of that fleet.

LocationMontana, USA — since 2003
OriginOregon (the old country)
CrewWife, 3 daughters, 2 cats, 1 horse, 1 goldfish
InterestsVR, AI, music, building things
Pirate HandlePirateMouse
Flagship ProjectFamily Pirate Network

What I Build

NODE 01 — FLAGSHIP

The Family Pirate Network

thefamilypirate.com

A multi-realm digital universe anchored by a custom MUD called Ebon Tides. A tavern, not a theme park. A kingdom, not a product. Slow-growing and family-rooted.

LiveBridgeFlagship

NODE 02 — WORLD ENGINE

Ebon Tides MUD

ebon-tides.com

A dark nautical MUD set in Aethermara — a world changed by the Wandering Star. Built on Evennia 6.0, Python-powered, with custom combat, guilds, and lore systems.

LiveMUDEvennia

NODE 03 — KINGDOM

Kingdom of Aethermara

thefamilypirate.net

The world archive for Ebon Tides. Seven Lands, the Veiled Court, religions, guilds, artifacts, holy sites, and forbidden texts. The lore lives here.

LiveLoreArchive

NODE 04 — HAUNTED ARCHIVE

Ghost Ships

ghostships.live

The Ghost Ship Protocol. A haunted library of digital archaeology — retired services, pirate archives, lore-wrapped memorials, and old logs from the fleet.

BuildingArchive

NODE 05 — OBSERVATORY

Pirate Observatory

pirate-observatory.com

Real-world pirate history. Essays, maps, timelines, and artifacts. The grounded historical counterpoint to Aethermara's fiction.

BuildingHistory

NODE 06 — HONEYPOT

Honeypot Observatory

tjbellishere.com/honeypot

Live attack monitoring dashboard. SSH, FTP, and HTTP honeypots tracking real-world intrusion attempts. Watch the bots knock on doors that were built to catch them.

LiveSecurityMonitoring

Status Monitors

⚓ Fleet Services

The Bridge (thefamilypirate.com) Checking
The Kingdom (thefamilypirate.net) Checking
Game Portal (ebon-tides.com) Checking
The Lighthouse (tjbellishere.com) Checking
Ghost Ships (ghostships.live) Checking
Ebon Tides MUD — Port 4000 Checking
Uptime Kuma Checking
AnubusIV Online
AnubusV Checking
📊 Full Status Board →

🌐 World Systems

NASA Systems Checking
Internet Archive Checking
NOAA Weather API Checking
US Power Grid (EIA) Checking
HestiaCP Control Panel Checking
Loading Missoula weather...

📄 Naval & Goofy

Pirate Threat Level Loading
Kraken Activity Loading
Tide Status (Portland) Loading
Moon Phase Loading
Port of Portland Traffic Loading
Coffee Levels Loading
Calculating moon phase...

From the Tumblr

Hauling in dispatches from apiratemouse...
Read More on Tumblr →

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