Lore:The Pyrates of Antaloor - Volume V
| The Pyrates of Antaloor - Volume V | |||||||||||
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A General History of the Most Notorious Pyrates of Antaloor and Their Exploits
Captain Benjamin Vauader (?) alias Black Ben.
Despite the fact that "Black Ben" spent most of his days claiming to be the miraculous descendant of the legendary dynasty of Verrendorfs, the last scion of the ancient house, it is virtually certain that this was a fabrication. Black Ben's real name is not known, but there are records of one Benjamin Vauader having served on a slave ship that "Black Ben" was also said to have sailed in his day.
Little else is known of his early life; it appears that Black Ben went on to become the first mate aboard the slave ship (No.7, it was called, for slave ships were often given numbers rather than names to avoid attention from pirates on port registers), and there simply sailed until the crew found themselves caught in the midst of war. "Black Ben" conspired to stage a mutiny with the other sailors and many of the younger male slaves. The plan succeeded, and "Black Ben" became captain. The original captain of No.7, whose name has been lost to the annals of time, is said to have been shackled and chained on the spot, made to serve the very slaves he was running.
"Black Ben's" career was short, but brutal. His piracy lasted only a year, after which he was caught by an enemy vessel and marooned on a volcanic island with no vegetation or fauna. There, hungry and exposed to elements, most of the crew perished, and soon only "Black Ben" and one other sailor - his cook - were left alive. Reports from the passing ship that found them, "Yatholen's Wake", are equally short-lived, as "Black Ben" immediately staged another mutiny as soon as he was brought in.
"Black Ben", according to these scant ship's log entries, was the only man taken from that volcanic shard sticking from the seas. Rumors abound that "Black Ben" cannabilized the other man, who for certain exists in the ship's logs and primary sources recovered from the mutinied slave ship, No.7.
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[The story of Captain "Black Ben" Verrendorf should be continued here, but the book has been badly damaged by seawater and the remaining pages of the volume are missing. Perhaps the rest still exists somewhere...]