Early on, Redbeard, before the namesake was given, found a place on a privateer. His fearless bravado served him well on the open sea, as no fight nor drink was beyond his means; it is said he dueled a man with no more than his pipe. After an hour unscathed, the man he fought put away his sword and bowed- at this, Redbeard lit his pipe and laughed. But as he watched his fellow sailors risk life and limb for a British commission which paid just enough to find their legs before they were destitute, he began to foster contempt for matters of government as all he knew was the strength of the sea and those brave enough to command it. He made a promise to himself that one day he and his shipmates would hold dominion over the water without obligation, let or lien. And as his love for his mates and the sea grew, so did his influence.
When the Captain of the privateer Maiden’s Breath died of consumption around 1576, the Quartermaster looked at Redbeard and the men in his company and knew what was to come. And so the Maiden’s Breath became the Cartographer, and Redbeard and his men spent the next 5 years exercising what they had learned of the mercantile trade to top the list of wanted men in Western Europe. At the peak of her infamy, the Cartographer attempted to board a merchant ship loaded with silks when the British galleon Dreadnought came out of the mists and blindsided them. Fortunately, the mist was heavy and even the Dreadnought was unprepared for the proximity, so all three ships became a battleground. The merchant ship struck a rock formation and for a period it seemed as though the Cartographer would be crushed, but in a final effort the crew cut the ropes that held the ships together and the pressure pushed them out from between the adjoining ships. This left the Dreadnought with enough space and inertia to crack it’s hull upon the sinking merchant ship and disable the galleon. In the ensuing madness, it was not until they were free that Redbeard saw that some of his men were still on the Dreadnought, completely outnumbered. He screamed into the mist that he would return for them- but this promise was not one he could keep. He tracked them to a prison… and then to the gallows- where all were hung for piracy. This was the first of many vows that defined him as a Captain, and as a man.
He and the remainder of the crew were now rich beyond their wildest dreams, but the desire for adventure led them away from the traveled routes. They sought out new places, new lands, new peoples. They ate with indigenous tribes that taught them of spirits and magic; of the darkness that lies in all things- and the soul that fights to remain pure. And though, more than any man, Redbeard believed, he was doomed to find darkness when he most desired light.
The Cartographer came upon an uncharted island that appeared as though a forest amidst the raging sea. So they let out anchor and he walked it’s natural paths, and sought peace. But, again, Redbeard would not be so blessed. He met a lady of the woods in the depths of the forest for although it appeared no larger than an islet, he spent days walking in a straight line. He knew that he had found a place of terrible power, and it chilled his bones. She warned him that the next promise he did not keep would reveal a magic to him that was a gift that never gives. Her words haunted him, so much so that he gave his ship to his men and returned home to seek atonement for the life he’d lived.
Two years later as a dock worker and honest man, he met what would become his wife. They had a child- a girl named Josephine, and Redbeard believed he had finally found the peace he sought. But when his daughter fell ill, his wife became distraught and in a moment of overwhelming compassion he promised her that he would always protect their child, always be there for her. When the girl recovered, his wife was filled with joy and he truly believed that he had built something real and honest.
And so it was, when on a day like any other Redbeard returned home to find a man with a knife at his daughter’s throat and his wife badly beaten upon the floor, that his past had finally caught up to him. His daughter died in another man’s arms, and though he killed this merchant who had lost everything to the Cartographer 8 years previous, he had to look his wife in her eyes and tell her that their child was dead. The mysterious woman appeared the next morning. She took his wife from him without even a goodbye and cursed him to live out eternity amongst men. She gave him a riddle that day: “To make amends, thy cannot fix, the wave it crests, the clock, it ticks. Betwixt the vow and those it claimed lies another path where she remains.”
Redbeard, filled with anger, and confusion, returned to a life of piracy and reclaimed his ship. For 13 years he sailed the seas he was cursed to. He fought, he killed, he died, again and again. His tattoo, which began as a symbol to face his fears: “death smiles at us all, all a man can do is smile back”, taunted him, for he did not know death. His men began to fear the curse, as they should. Many would take leave and never return to the ship even considering the incomparable shares they walked away with.
After continued abandons within his crew, Redbeard became more strict on who comes aboard. He stopped bringing those less fortunate looking to simply fill their gold pouches. His intentions were no longer to seek out glory. New lands did not feed his hunger anymore. No. Instead, he sought to conscript those with a desire for vengeance. Beings who were hardened through undesired tribulations in their life, that now seek retribution. Soon Redbeard had a proposal that anyone can find difficult to reject, especially those who will stop at nothing to achieve their goal.
