Lore:The Pyrates of Antaloor - Volume I
| The Pyrates of Antaloor - Volume I | |||||||||||
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A General History of the Most Notorious Pyrates of Antaloor and Their Exploits
When "A General History of the Most Notorious Pyrates of Antaloor and Their Exploits" was first published, its anonymous author was actually accused of fabricating many of the details. After all, few primary sources still exist regarding the origins of these legends, and many of the purported "facts" therein were said by the day's scholarship to be little more than trumped-up tavern myths.
Today, however, it is considered the seminal work on the pirates of Antaloor, and so much of the history has been corroborated since, it is widely accepted as being an historically accurate account. What remains unknown is its author.
Researchers believe that, considering the information he gave, he must have been close to at least some of the events and men he described. Some propose the bulk of the book was actually written by the infamous Captain Gadfly, Sazarius Templeton, the Count of Chaledee and Governor of what is now Templeton Island. Templeton was a man of letters, unusual for a pirate. It was proposed that the volume was compiled out of his notes by a descendant of his, with further chapters - notably, the one devoted to Gadfly - written by this same individual, then either published by him, or discovered and printed later. Officially, the Templetons dismissed the idea of Count Sazarius as being the author of the book off-hand.
The second possible author is Father Jeremiah, the abbot of the Northern Order of the Costello monks. When a monk from the order made a confession several generations afterwards, he reported that one of the older brothers had once written an account of Pyrates whom he personally met during the day when, before relinquishing his life of crime, that brother had been a pirate himself. Supposedly, the monks kept these writings hidden for years, uncertain of what to do with them, whether or not the count would be embarrassing to the order or inspire the faithful, and it wasn't until the third abbot after Father Jeremiah was the decision made to expand and publish the volume.
The third candidate is shrouded in shadows and mystery: Captain Samuel Hain, better known as The Wraith, still considered to be one of the most blood-thirsty sea dogs in history. The idea of Hain as an author may be attributed to an (albeit legendary) account of his always keeping a leatherbound tome in his left hand. Redhood Robin, a pirate who sailed with Hain, stated that Hain treasured the volume dearly, and used it for strange, occult purposes. Robin claimed it looked bizarre, "more like skin than leather", and that Hain stated it came from "the sunken city of Old One, He who was before and who will be again", a kraken-like monster Hain was said to worship and spoke often of his future resurrection. Robin was famously skeptical of Hain's shadowy religion. Still, the detail of Hain's leatherbound book cannot be ignored.
[The tale should clearly be continued here, but the book has been badly damaged by seawater...)