Commission

The word commission can refer to several areas of Puzzle Pirates.

Portraits
When you order a portrait, you commission its creation. This coincides with the same usage of the term in everyday life. When a work of art is to be created, an artist is commissioned (as opposed to hired) to produce the work.

Officers
Coinciding with military terminology, to promote a person in your crew to the rank of Officer or higher is to commission that person. For example, one can say, "Jen was commissioned a Senior Officer last week."

A person's status as an officer can also be referred to as their commission, and that applies to any officer rank. This more comes into play when a Captain threatens to strip an officer of their commission, or an officer voluntarily resigns their commission by either being self-demoted to Pirate or Cabin Person, or leaving the crew.

Those with military experience will be familiar with this usage of the word. It would refer not only to the action of promoting someone to an officer rank ("He was commissioned an Ensign in the Navy"), but also to the document conferring the rank ("an officer's commission"). In Puzzle Pirates there is no such document, but one can be mocked up using the scroll trinket if desired.

Ships
A ship is commissioned when named and put into service. In Puzzle Pirates this would coincide with the completion and delivery of a ship order. The ship's commission is reflected by its deed.